美国语文第四册 第159期:河口剧场(3)

 　　I shall never be able to banish¹ that awful moment from my memory. 我永远不会忘记那可怕的一刻。

　　Pepper's roar, expressive² of astonishment³, indignation, and pain, is still ringing in my ears. 佩珀嚎叫着，充满吃惊、愤怒和痛苦，这声音至今还回响在我的耳边。

　　I looked upon him as a corpse⁴,  我像看一具尸体一样看着他，

　　and, glancing not far into the dreary⁵ future, pictured myself led forth⁶ to execution in the presence of the very same spectators then assembled. 同时想象着在不久的将来，我当着这些人的面被处决。

　　Luckily, poor Pepper was not seriously hurt; 幸运的是，可怜的佩珀伤势并不重。

　　but Grandfather Nutter⁷, appearing in the midst of the confusion (attracted by the howls of young Tell), 混乱中爷爷努特出现了（被小退尔的嚎叫吸引来的），

　　issued an injunction against all theatricals⁸ thereafter, and the place was closed; 下令从此停止一切演出，剧场关闭了。

　　not, however, without a farewell speech from me, 我没忘发表告别演说，

　　in which I said that this would have been the proudest moment of my life if I hadn't hit Pepper Whitcomb in the mouth. 我说如果不是射中了佩珀.惠特科姆的嘴，这一定是我一生中最骄傲的时刻。

　　Whereupon the audience (assisted, I am glad to state, by Pepper) cried, "Hear! hear!" 对此，观众（我得说，佩珀起了不小的作用）喊叫起来：“听！听！”

　　I then attributed the accident to Pepper himself,  后来我把过错归于佩珀自己，

　　whose mouth, being open at the instant I fired, acted upon the arrow much after the fashion of a whirlpool, and drew in the fatal shaft⁹. 我射击的时候，他大张的嘴像旋涡一样，把箭吸了进去。

　　I was about to explain how a comparatively small maelstrom¹⁰ could suck in the largest ship,  我正要解释小旋涡是怎么吸进大船的，

　　when the curtain fell of its own accord, amid the shouts of the audience. 在观众的喊叫声中，舞台的幕布自己掉了下来。

　　This was my last appearance on any stage. 这是我最后一次和舞台沾边。

　　It was some time, though, before I heard the end of the William Tell business. 可是很久以后人们还会提到威廉·退尔。

　　Malicious¹¹ little boys who hadn't been allowed to buy tickets to my theater used to cry out after me in the street,—"Who killed Cock Robin¹²?" 未获准买票进入剧场的小孩子们心怀恶意，常常在我身后喊——“谁杀死了知更鸟?”

1 banish   

vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除

参考例句：

• The doctor advised her to banish fear and anxiety.医生劝她消除恐惧和忧虑。
• He tried to banish gloom from his thought.他试图驱除心中的忧愁。

2 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

3 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

4 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

5 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。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 nutter   

n.疯子

参考例句：

• Don't call him nutter because it is such a bad term.别叫他“疯子”，这不是个好词。
• But it's awfully ruthless and cold-blooded for a nutter from the other side.但是对那边的疯子们来说，却也实在太冷血无情了。

8 theatricals   

n.（业余性的）戏剧演出，舞台表演艺术；职业演员；戏剧的( theatrical的名词复数 )；剧场的；炫耀的；戏剧性的

参考例句：

• His success in amateur theatricals led him on to think he could tread the boards for a living. 他业余演戏很成功，他因此觉得自己可以以演戏为生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I'm to be in the Thanksgiving theatricals. 我要参加感恩节的演出。 来自辞典例句

9 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

10 maelstrom   

n.大乱动；大漩涡

参考例句：

• Inside,she was a maelstrom of churning emotions.她心中的情感似波涛汹涌，起伏不定。
• The anxious person has the spirit like a maelstrom.焦虑的人的精神世界就像一个大漩涡。

11 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

12 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。