绿野仙踪 第3期:旋风来了(3)

 Toto was not gray; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. 托托不是灰色的，它是一只小黑狗，有着柔软滑顺的长毛，一对小黑眼睛，在它那只有趣的极小的鼻子两边，快乐地眨着。

Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly. 多萝茜整天跟它在一块儿玩着，并且十分喜欢托托。

Today, however, they were not playing. 然而，今天他们没有一块儿玩。

Uncle Henry sat upon the doorstep and looked anxiously at the sky, which was even grayer than usual. 亨利叔叔坐在门口的阶沿上，烦恼地望着比平时更加灰暗的天空。

Dorothy stood in the door with Toto in her arms, and looked at the sky too. 多萝茜抱着托托，站在门口，也望着天空。

Aunt Em was washing the dishes. 爱姆婶婶正在洗盆子。

From the far north they heard a low wail¹ of the wind,  他们听到北风的低低的哀叫声，

and Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass bowed in waves before the coming storm. 亨利叔叔和多萝茜看到风暴到来之前的草原，像波浪似的起伏着。

Then now came a sharp whistling in the air from the south,  接着，从南方的高空中，也传来了一种尖锐的呼啸声。

and as they turned their eyes that way they saw ripples² in the grass coming that direction also. 他们转眼望去，只见在那个方向的草同样掀起了波浪。

Suddenly, Uncle Henry stood up. 亨利叔叔突然站了起来。

"There's a cyclone³ coming, Em." he called to his wife. "I'll go look after the stock." “爱姆，旋风就要来了！”他向他的妻子说：“我要去照料家畜。”

Then he ran for the sheds where the cows and horses were kept. 说着他就迅速奔向栏舍去，牛和羊都关在那里。

Aunt Em dropped her work and came to the door. 爱姆婶婶立即放下洗着的盆子，跑到门口。

One glance told her of the danger close at hand. 看了一眼之后，她明白危险马上就要来到了。

"Quick, Dorothy, " she screamed. "Run for the cellar!" 多萝茜，快一点儿！”她高声尖叫着；“立刻到地洞里去！”

Toto jumped out of Dorothy's arms and hid under the bed, and the girl started to get him. 托托从多萝茜怀抱里跳下来，钻到床底下去，多萝茜跑过去抓它。

Aunt Em badly frightened, threw open the door in the floor and climbed down the ladder into the small, dark hole. 爱姆婶婶非常害怕，打开地板上活动的门，爬下梯子，就躲到那又小又暗的地洞里去。

Dorothy caught Toto at last and started to follow her aunt. 多萝茜捉到了托托，就跟着她的婶婶奔向屋子的中央。

When she was halfway⁴ across the room there came a great shriek⁵ from the wind,  当她刚刚穿过房间的一半，传来呼啸的风声，

and the house shook so hard that she lost her footing and sat down suddenly upon the floor. 屋子猛然摇晃起来，她失足摔倒在地板上。

1 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

2 ripples   

逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moon danced on the ripples. 月亮在涟漪上舞动。
• The sea leaves ripples on the sand. 海水在沙滩上留下了波痕。

3 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

4 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 shriek   

v./n.尖叫，叫喊

参考例句：

• Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
• People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧，气愤或疼痛而尖叫。