四签名 100琼诺赞·斯茂的奇异故事（10）

As the guard was a good two hundred paces away, however,

可是我们那里离着堡垒的中央足有二百多步，

and as the space between was cut up into a labyrinth¹ of passages and corridors,

并且还要经过许多象迷宫似的曲折长廊和甬道。

I had great doubts as to whether they could arrive in time to be of any use in case of an actual attack.

我万分怀疑，在真的受到攻击的时候，救兵是否能及时赶到。

Well, I was pretty proud at having this small command given me, since I was a raw recruit, and a game-legged one at that.

我是一个新入伍的士兵，又是个残废人，当了个小头目，很是得意。

For two nights I kept the watch with my Punjabees.

头两夜我和我的两个来自旁遮普省的印度兵把守堡门。

They were tall, fierce-looking chaps, Mahomet Singh and Abdullah Khan by name,

他们的名字一个叫莫郝米特·辛格，一个叫爱勃德勒·克汗。他们全是个子高高、面貌凶恶的家伙，

both old fighting men, who had borne arms against us at Chilian Wallah.

久经战场，并且都曾在齐连瓦拉战役中和我们交过手。

They could talk English pretty well, but I could get little out of them.

他们虽然英语都说得很好，可是我并没有听到他们谈什么。

They preferred to stand together, and jabber² all night in their queer Sikh lingo³.

两人总是喜欢站在一起，整夜用古怪的锡克语嘀哩嘟噜地说个不停。

For myself, I used to stand outside the gateway⁴,

我常是一个人站在堡门外，

looking down on the broad, winding⁵ river and on the twinkling lights of the great city.

向下望着那宽阔而弯曲的河流和那大城里闪烁的灯火。

The beating of drums, the rattle⁶ of tomtoms, and the yells and howls of the rebels, drunk with opium⁷ and with bang,

咚咚的鼓声和印度铜锣的声音，吸足了鸦片的叛军们的狂喊乱叫，

were enough to remind us all night of our dangerous neighbours across the stream.

整夜里都提醒着我们：河对面有着危险的邻人。

Every two hours the officer of the night used to come round to all the posts to make sure that all was well.

每隔两点钟就有值夜的军官到各岗哨巡查一次，以防意外。

The third night of my watch was dark and dirty, with a small driving rain.

值岗的第三夜，天空阴霾，小雨纷纷。

It was dreary⁸ work standing⁹ in the gateway hour after hour in such weather.

在这种天气里连续站几小时，确是苦恼得很。

I tried again and again to make my Sikhs talk, but without much success.

我又试着和那两个印度兵攀谈，他们还是不爱理我。

1 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。

2 jabber   

v.快而不清楚地说；n.吱吱喳喳

参考例句：

• Listen to the jabber of those monkeys.听那些猴子在吱吱喳喳地叫。
• He began to protes,to jabber of his right of entry.他开始抗议，唠叨不休地说他有进来的权力。

3 lingo   

n.语言不知所云，外国话，隐语

参考例句：

• If you live abroad it helps to know the local lingo.住在国外，学一点当地的语言自有好处。
• Don't use all that technical lingo try and explain in plain English.别尽用那种专门术语，用普通的词语解释吧。

4 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

5 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

6 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

7 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

8 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。