英语灵异故事-The Cry 01 哭声 01

A long plaintive¹ wail² emanated³ from the cardboard box. Whether Jacob had seen the box or heard the cry first, he could not be sure, but he was certain that the pitiful sound came from the box. At once he was regretting taking the short cut from the Burger bar to the car park, he had always felt uncomfortable using it after dark. The passage between the Record shop and the Butchers was only just wide enough for one person and it was badly lit with a single bulb. Where it opened out behind the shops, anyone could be hiding in the dark out of sight of the High Street, hardly visible in the shadows from the vast empty car park.

Still he had something else to worry about this time because there was that cry again audible above the sound of the fans on the refrigeration unit at the back of the Butchers shop. It was a heart rending⁴ sound of loneliness, pain and hunger that brought back memories of childhood punishments, when Jacob's mother locked him in his bedroom without any dinner or supper. He could hear her voice even now, all these years later, "You disgusting little monster". What was that awful sound? What should he do about it? Leave it probably, let some one else sort it out. Nobody had helped him then locked in his bedroom or in the dark under stairs cupboard, shivering in his wet pajamas⁵, his cries drowned out by his mothers ranting⁶ and the loud rumble⁷ of the washing machine.

纸箱里发出一声长长的悲鸣。雅各布不确定自己是先看到纸箱还是先听到喊声，但他确信声音是从箱子里传来的。他立刻就对自己走捷径从博格酒吧到停车场的决定感到后悔，天黑以后走捷径总会让他有种不舒服的感觉。唱片店和肉店之间的通道仅容一人穿过，只亮着一盏昏暗的灯。任何人都能藏在店铺后边的暗处，那儿离主街道比较远，而且停车场的黑影也让人无法辨认是否有人藏在暗处。

但此时他还有别的事需要担心。那个声音又响了起来，都盖过了肉店后边冷藏间风扇的声音。那听起来孤单、痛苦和饥饿的声音让人揪心，不禁让雅各布想起自己童年时被母亲惩罚，被锁在卧室里连饭都不给吃的情形。这么多年过去了，他还能想起她的声音：“你这个可恶的小怪物。”那个可怕的声音是什么？他该怎么办？也许什么都不该做，留给其他人去解决。当年他被锁在卧室或是漆黑的楼梯间里，穿着湿漉漉的睡衣瑟瑟发抖时，他的哭声被母亲的咆哮声和洗碗机的隆隆声压过，当时也没人帮过他啊。

1 plaintive   

adj.可怜的，伤心的

参考例句：

• Her voice was small and plaintive.她的声音微弱而哀伤。
• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。

2 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

3 emanated   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的过去式和过去分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Do you know where these rumours emanated from? 你知道谣言出自何处吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rumor emanated from Chicago. 谣言来自芝加哥。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 rending   

v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破

参考例句：

• The cries of those imprisoned in the fallen buildings were heart-rending. 被困于倒塌大楼里的人们的哭喊声令人心碎。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She was rending her hair out in anger. 她气愤得直扯自己的头发。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 pajamas   

n.睡衣裤

参考例句：

• At bedtime,I take off my clothes and put on my pajamas.睡觉时，我脱去衣服，换上睡衣。
• He was wearing striped pajamas.他穿着带条纹的睡衣裤。

6 ranting   

v.夸夸其谈( rant的现在分词 )；大叫大嚷地以…说教；气愤地)大叫大嚷；不停地大声抱怨

参考例句：

• Mrs. Sakagawa stopped her ranting. 坂川太太戛然中断悲声。 来自辞典例句
• He was ranting about the murder of his dad. 他大叫她就是杀死他父亲的凶手。 来自电影对白

7 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。