书城教材教辅新课标英语学习资源库-好孩子的故事
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第9章 A Dog is Tale(4)

Then came the winter. One day I was standing a watch in the nursery. That is to say, I was asleep on the bed. The baby was asleep in the crib, which was alongside alongside adv.在旁prep.横靠 the bed, on the side next the fireplace. It was the kind of crib that has a lofty tent over it made of gauzy stuff that you can see through. The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. A spark from the woodfire was shot out, and it lit on the slope of the tent. I suppose a quiet interval interval n.间隔, 距离, 幕间休息 n.时间间隔 followed, then a scream from the baby awoke me, and there was that tent flaming up toward the ceiling! Before I could think, I sprang to the floor in my fright, and in a second was halfway to the door, but in the next halfsecond my mothers farewell was sounding in my ears, and I was back on the bed again. I reached my head through the flames and dragged the baby out by the waistband, and tugged tug v.用力拖, 吃力地搬运, 苦干, 用拖轮拖, 拖拉 n.拖, 苦干, 拖船, (牵引用的)绳索 it along, and we fell to the floor together in a cloud of smoke. I snatched a new hold, and dragged the screaming little creature along and out at the door and around the bend of the hall, and was still tugging away, all excited and happy and proud, when the masters voice shouted:

随后就到了冬天。有一天我在育儿室里担任守卫。这就是说,我在床上睡着了。娃娃也在小床上睡着了,小床和大床是并排的,在靠近壁炉那一边。这种小床上挂着一顶很高的罗纱尖顶帐子,里外都看得透。保姆出去了,只剩下我们这两个瞌睡虫。燃烧的柴火迸出了一颗火星,掉在帐子的斜面上。我猜这以后大概是过了一阵没有动静,然后娃娃才大叫一声,把我惊醒过来,这时候帐子已经烧着了,直向天花板上冒火焰!我还没有来得及想一想,就吓得跳到地下来,一秒钟之内就快要跑到门口了;可是在这后面的半秒钟里,我母亲临别的教训就在我耳朵里响起来了,于是我又回到床上。我把头伸进火焰里去,衔住娃娃的腰带把他拉出来,拖着他往外跑,我们俩在一片烟雾里跌倒在地下,我又换个地方把他衔着,拖着那尖叫的小家伙往外跑,一直跑出门口。跑过过道里拐弯的地方,还在不停地拖,我觉得非常兴奋、快活和得意,可是这时候主人的声音大嚷起来:

“Begone you cursed beast! ” And I jumped to save myself, but he was furiously quick, and chased me up, striking furiously at me with his cane, I dodging this way and that, in terror, and at last a strong blow fell upon my left foreleg, which made me shriek and fall, for the moment, helpless. The came went up for another blow, but never descended, for the nurses voice rang wildly out, “The nurserys on fire! ” And the master rushed away in that direction, and my other bones were saved.

“快滚开,你这该死的畜生!”我就跳开来逃避。可是他快得出奇,一下就追上了我,拿他的手杖狠狠地打我,我这边躲一下,那边躲一下,吓得要命,后来很重的一棍打在我的前左腿上,打得我直叫唤,一下子倒在地下,不知怎么好。手杖又举起来要再打,可是没有打下来,因为保姆的声音拼命地嚷起来了,“育儿室着火啦!”主人就往那边飞跑过去,这样我才保住了别的骨头。

The pain was cruel, but, no matter, I must not lose any time. he might come back at any moment, so I limped on three legs to the other end of the hall, where there was a dark little stairway leading up into a garret where old boxes and such things were kept, as I had heard say, and where people seldom went. I managed to climb up there, then I searched my way through the dark among the piles of things, and hid in the secretest place I could find. It was foolish to be afraid there, yet still I was, so afraid that I held in and hardly even whimpered whimper vi.呜咽, 哀诉, though it would have been such a comfort to whimper, because that eases the pain, you know. But I could lick my leg, and that did some good.

真是痛得难受,不过没有关系,我一会儿也不能耽搁,他随时都可能回来;所以我就用三条腿一瘸一瘸地走到过道的那一头,那儿有一道漆黑的小楼梯,通到顶楼上去,我听说那上面放着一些旧箱子之类的东西,很少有人上那儿去。我勉强爬上楼,然后在黑暗中摸索着往前走,穿过一堆一堆的东西,钻到我所能找到的一个最秘密的地方藏起来。在那儿还害怕,真是太傻,可是我还是害怕,我简直怕得要命,只好拼命忍住,连小声叫唤都不敢叫一声,虽然叫唤叫唤是很舒服的,因为,您也知道,那可以解解痛。不过我可以舐一舐我的腿,这也是有点好处的。

For half an hour there was a commotion commotion n.骚动, 暴乱 downstairs, and shoutings, and rushing footsteps, and then there was quiet again. Quiet for some minutes, and that was grateful to my spirit, for then my fears began to go down, and fears are worse than pains—oh, much worse. Then came a sound that froze me. They were calling me—calling me by name—hunting for me!

楼下乱哄哄的,一直经过半个钟头的工夫,有人大声嚷,也有飞快跑的脚步声,然后又没有动静了。总算清静了几分钟,这对我的精神上是很痛快的,因为这时候我的恐惧心理渐渐平定下来了,恐惧比痛苦还难受哩——啊,难受得多。然后又听到一阵声音,把我吓得浑身发抖。他们在叫我——叫我的名字——还在找我哩!

It was muffled muffle v.包, 蒙住, 压抑(声音) n.围巾, 头巾, 消声器 by distance, but that could not take the terror out of it, and it was the most dreadful sound to me that I had ever heard. It went all about, everywhere, down there: along the halls, through all the rooms, in both stories, and in the basement and the cellar. Then outside, and farther and farther away—then back, and all about the house again, and I thought it would never, never stop. But at last it did, hours and hours after the vague vague adj.含糊的, 不清楚的, 茫然的, 暧昧的 twilight of the garret had long ago been blotted out by black darkness.

这阵喊声因为离得远,不大听得清楚,可是这并没有消除那里面的恐怖成分,这是我从来没有听到过的最可怕的声音。楼下的喊声处处都跑到了:经过所有的过道,到过所有的房间,两层楼和底下那一层和地窖通通跑遍了;然后又到外面,越跑越远——然后又跑回来,在整幢房子里再跑过一遍,我想大概是永远永远不会停止的。可是后来总归还是停止了,那时候顶楼上模模糊糊的光线早已被漆黑的暗影完全遮住,过了好几个钟头了。

Then in that blessed stillness my terrors fell little by little away, and I was at peace and slept. It was a good rest I had, but I woke before the twilight had come again. I was feeling fairly comfortable, and I could think out a plan now. I made a very good one, which was, to creep down, all the way down the back stairs, and hide behind the cellar door cellar door n.地窖门, and slip out and escape when the iceman came at dawn, while he was inside filling the refrigerator refrigerator n.电冰箱, 冷藏库. Then I would hide all day, and start on my journey when night came, my journey to—well, anywhere where they would not know me and betray me to the master. I was feeling almost cheerful now, then suddenly I thought: Why, what would life be without my puppy!

然后在那可喜的清静之中,我的恐惧心理慢慢地消除了,我才安心睡了觉。我休息得很痛快,可是朦胧的光还没有再出来的时候,我就醒了:我觉得相当舒服,这时候我可以想出一个主意来了。我的主意是很好的,那就是,走后面的楼梯悄悄地爬下去,藏在地窖的门背后,天亮的时候送冰的人一来,我就趁他进来把冰往冰箱里装的时候溜出去逃跑,然后我又整天藏着,到了晚上再往前走,我要到……唉,随便到什么地方吧,只要是人家不认识我,不会把我出卖给我的主人就行。这时候我几乎觉得很高兴了,随后我忽然想起:咳,要是丢掉了我的小仔仔,活下去还有什么意思呀!

That was despair. There was no plan for me, I saw that, I must say where I was, stay, and wait, and take what might come—it was not my affair, that was what life is—my mother had said it. Then—well, then the calling began again! All my sorrows came back. I said to myself, the master will never forgive. I did not know what I had done to make him so bitter and so unforgiving, yet I judged it was something a dog could not understand, but which was clear to a man and dreadful dreadful adj.可怕的, <;口>;讨厌的.

这可叫人大失所望。简直没有办法:我明白这个情形,只好待在原来的地方,待下去,等待着,听天由命——那是不归我管的事情,生活就是这样——我母亲早就这样说过了。后来——唉,后来喊声又起来了。于是我一切的忧愁又回到心头。我心里想,主人是决不会饶我的。我不知道究竟是干了什么事情,使他这么痛恨、这么不饶我,不过我猜那大概是狗所不能理解的什么事情,人总该看得清楚,反正是很糟糕的事吧。