美国小学英语教材6:第12课 森林恐怖之王(1)

 　　Tiger, terror of the jungle. By Mary Hastings Bradley 老虎，森林恐怖之王，马里·哈斯丁·布莱德利

　　To us in America the tiger is an interesting animal; but to the people of the jungle he is a constant terror, 对于美国人，老虎是一种有趣的动物，但对于生活在丛林的人们而言，它一直让我们恐惧，

　　inspiring fear in every living thing. This story tells how one feels when he meets a tiger face to face in the jungles of Asia. 也让所有生物感到恐惧，这个故事讲述了在亚洲丛林中，与老虎面对面的感受。

　　Mary Hastings Bradley, the author of the story, and her husband Herbert, live in Chicago. 马里·哈斯丁·布莱德利是这则故事的作者，她和丈夫哈波特住在芝加哥。

　　They are both great lovers of the out-of-doors, and have made many trips to Africa and Asia 他们都喜欢户外生活，并多次前往非洲和亚洲，

　　to study the animals and the wild tribes who live there. 研究当地的动物和原始部落。

　　A day of waiting 一天的等待

　　Before dawn we were up, in the blackness of the early tropic hours, buckling¹ on cartridge² pouches³ and seeing to the guns, 我们黎明之前就起床了，那是热带丛林的凌晨两三点，四下漆黑，我们扣紧子弹袋，检查枪支，

　　in order to start the moment the light permitted tracking. 只等待追踪信号灯亮起。

　　Suddenly a native appeared like a ghost out of the darkness by our tents. 突然，一个土著人像幽灵一样从黑暗中冒了出来，走到我们的帐篷处。

　　The tiger had eaten of the dead buffalo⁴ with which we had hoped to bait him! 老虎吃了所有的死水牛，这些水牛是我们用来逮它的诱饵。

　　Excitement gripped us. A tiger, our chance at last! 我们激动不已，一只老虎，我们的机会来了。

　　Are you sure that it is a tiger which has eaten? We wanted to know, 你确定是老虎吃的吗？我们想知道答案，

　　remembering the day when we had waited and waited and a giant reptile⁵, not a tiger, had appeared. 记得那天我们等了很久，结果发现是一只巨大的爬行动物冒了出来。

　　The tracker was positive. The buffalo had been eaten as a tiger begins eating at the tail. 追踪者的答案是肯定的，水牛的尾部被吃掉了，老虎就是如此。

　　The tiger must be somewhere near, ready to return. We must hurry to reach our bush before the light came. 老虎一定在这周围，准备回去，我们要马上前往灌木丛，要等到太阳到来之前。

　　Hastily we swallowed some hot coffee and snatched a bite or two of bread while the horses were led up; 我们急匆匆地喝了热咖啡，吃了点东西，几口面包，马准备上路；

　　then we mounted and set out, the tracker running along ahead of us as guide. 我们上了马，开始我们的征程，跟踪者作为向导跑在我们前面。

1 buckling   

扣住

参考例句：

• A door slammed in the house and a man came out buckling his belt. 房子里的一扇门砰地关上，一个男子边扣腰带边走了出来。
• The periodic buckling leaves the fibre in a waved conformation. 周期性的弯折在纤维中造成波形构成。

2 cartridge   

n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子

参考例句：

• Unfortunately the 2G cartridge design is very difficult to set accurately.不幸地2G弹药筒设计非常难正确地设定。
• This rifle only holds one cartridge.这支来复枪只能装一发子弹。

3 pouches   

n.（放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的）小袋( pouch的名词复数 )；（袋鼠等的）育儿袋；邮袋；（某些动物贮存食物的）颊袋

参考例句：

• Pouches are a peculiarity of marsupials. 腹袋是有袋动物的特色。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Under my eyes the pouches were heavy. 我眼睛下的眼袋很深。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

5 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。