美国语文第五册 第293期:野鸽过客(2)

 　　Whilst waiting for dinner at Young’s inn, at the confluence¹ of Salt River with the Ohio, 在当地青年旅馆就餐前的闲暇期间，在盐湖与俄亥俄州一处接壤地带，

　　I saw, at my leisure, immense legions still going by, with a front reaching far beyond the Ohio on the west, 我看到黑云压顶的庞大鸽群军团大军压境般飞扑涌来。野鸽队伍前列早已长驱直入俄亥俄州西部，

　　and the beech² wood forests directly on the east of me. 恰好抵达我所在位置东面的榉木森林。

　　Not a single bird alighted, for not a nut or acorn³ was that year to be seen in the neighborhood. 今年，就在周边地区，我观察到没有一只鸟儿落地不是为了觅食坚果或是橡果，

　　They consequently flew so high that different trials to reach them with a capital rifle proved ineffectual; 但这些野鸽通常飞得很高，哪怕想方设法，甚至用最好的步枪猎杀也是徒劳无益，

　　nor did the reports disturb them  in the least. 至于枪声干扰更是毫不奏效。

　　I can not describe to you the extreme beauty of their aerial evolutions when a hawk⁴ chanced to press upon the rear of a flock. 实在无法描述野鸽群空中队列变化的奇异壮观。我碰巧看见一只老鹰逼近鸽群尾部，

　　At once, like a torrent⁵, and with a noise like thunder, they rushed into a compact mass, pressing upon each other towards the center. 旋即，鸽群翻卷起一道狂涌气流，嘶鸣如雷，巨型队列迅速麇集成团，一只只叠起翅翼向中心靠拢，整个鸽群急遽地掠过空中；

　　In these almost solid masses, they darted⁶ forward in undulating and angular lines, 那排列齐整、棱角分明的队形波浪起伏，

　　descended⁷ and swept close over the earth with inconceivable velocity⁸, mounted perpendicularly⁹ so as to resemble a vast column, 以迅雷不及掩耳之势，时而俯冲直下，时而横扫而过，时而扶摇直上，犹如庞大柱体径直腾空而起。

　　and, when high, were seen wheeling and twisting within their continued lines, which then resembled the coils of a gigantic serpent. 它们不停地翻扭旋转，连绵不断地幻变组合队形，偌大天空中整齐划一的凌空翱翔，犹如一条巨龙倒海翻江。

　　As soon as the pigeons discover a sufficiency of food to entice¹⁰ them to alight, they fly round in circles, reviewing the country below. 每当鸽群发现可引诱其降落的充足食物，它们便在天空盘旋不停，观察地面动静。

1 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。

2 beech   

n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的

参考例句：

• Autumn is the time to see the beech woods in all their glory.秋天是观赏山毛榉林的最佳时期。
• Exasperated,he leaped the stream,and strode towards beech clump.他满腔恼怒，跳过小河，大踏步向毛榉林子走去。

3 acorn   

n.橡实，橡子

参考例句：

• The oak is implicit in the acorn.橡树孕育于橡子之中。
• The tree grew from a small acorn.橡树从一粒小橡子生长而来。

4 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

5 torrent   

n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发

参考例句：

• The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。
• Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

6 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

8 velocity   

n.速度，速率

参考例句：

• Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
• The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。

9 perpendicularly   

adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地

参考例句：

• Fray's forehead was wrinkled both perpendicularly and crosswise. 弗雷的前额上纹路纵横。
• Automatic resquaring feature insures nozzle is perpendicularly to the part being cut. 自动垂直功能，可以确保刀头回到与工件完全垂直的位置去切割。

10 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。