美國語文第四冊 第170期：火警（01）
The day was sultry, and towards noon a strong wind sprang up that roared in the pine tops like the dashing of distant billows, but without in the least degree abating the heat.
天氣濕熱，快到中午的時候，一陣大風(fēng)在松樹梢上呼嘯而過，就像遠(yuǎn)方大海的滾滾波濤，可是天氣一點也不見涼快。
The children were lying listlessly upon the floor, and the girl and I were finishing sunbonnets, when Mary suddenly exclaimed, "Bless us, mistress, what a smoke!"
孩子們無精打采地躺在地板上，女孩和我在給遮陽帽收尾，突然瑪莉喊叫起來：“上帝保佑，太太，怎么這么大的煙??！”
I ran immediately to the door, but was not able to distinguish ten yards before me.
我立刻跑向門邊，眼前十碼遠(yuǎn)的地方什么也看不見了。
The swamp immediately below us was on fire, and the heavy wind was driving a dense black cloud of smoke directly towards us.
我們下面的沼澤地一片火海，大風(fēng)正把大片的濃煙吹向我們。
"What can this mean?" I CRIed. "Who can have set fire to the fallow?"
“這意味著什么？”我喊道。“誰把休耕地點著了？”
As I ceased speaking, John Thomas stood pale and trembling before me. "John, what is the meaning of this fire?"
這時，約翰.托馬斯臉色蒼白顫抖地站到我面前。“約翰，這火意味著什么？”
Oh, ma'am, I hope you will forgive me; it was I set fire to it, and I would give all I have in the world if I had not done it.
噢，太太，我希望你原諒我；是我放的火，真希望我沒有這么做，為此讓我放棄世界上的一切都愿意。
What is the danger?
到底有什么危險？
"Oh, I'm afraid that we shall all be burnt up," said John, beginning to whimper. "What shall we do?"
“哦，恐怕我們都會被燒死，”約翰說，開始啜泣，“我們該怎么辦？”
Why, we must get out of it as fast as we can, and leave the house to its fate.
還能怎么辦，我們必須盡快離開，房子只能聽天由命了。
"We can't get out," said the man, in a low, hollow tone, which seemed the concentration of fear;
“我們出不去了，”男孩說，聲音低沉、空洞，似乎充滿了恐懼；
I would have got out of it if I could; but just step to the back door, ma'am, and see.
如果能出去，我早就出去了；可是太太，你看看后門。
Behind, before, on every side, we were surrounded by a wall of fire, burning furiously within a hundred yards of us, and cutting off all possibility of retreat;
后面，前面，每個方向，火墻把我們包圍了，距離我們一百碼的地方大火猛烈地燃燒著，切斷了我們的退路。
for, could we have found an opening through the burning heaps, we could not have seen our way through the dense canopy of smoke;
即使我們從熊熊火焰中找到縫隙，濃煙中我們也無法辨別方向，
and, buried as we were in the heart of the forest, no one could discover our situation till we were beyond the reach of help.
而且由于我們在森林的中心，誰也無法及時發(fā)現(xiàn)我們的狀況。
I closed the door, and went back to the parlor.
我關(guān)上門，回到客廳。
Fear was knocking loudly at my heart, for our utter helplessness destroyed all hope of our being able to effect our escape.
恐懼撞擊著我的心，我們身處絕地，逃生無望。
The girl sat upon the floor by the children, who, unconscious of the peril that hung over them, had both fallen asleep.
女孩站在孩子們旁邊，孩子們對于面臨的巨大危險一無所知，都已沉沉入睡。
She was silently weeping; while the boy who had caused the mischief was crying aloud.
女孩悄悄地哭泣著，而造成這場危害的男孩子也不停地哭。
