美国语文第四册 第172期:火警(3)

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　　We were parched² with thirst, and there was not a drop of water in the house, and none to be procured³ nearer than the lake. 我们都口干舌燥，房子里没有一滴水，除非到湖边。

　　I turned once more to the door, hoping that a passage might have been burnt through to the water. 我又朝门望去，希望看到已经烧出来一条到湖泊的路。

　　I saw nothing but a dense⁴ cloud of fire and smoke—could hear nothing but the crackling and roaring of flames,  可是除了浓浓的烟火以外，什么都看不见——除了火焰的噼噼啪啪声和呼啸声什么也听不见，

　　which were gaining so fast upon us that I felt their scorching⁵ breath in my face. 火焰正迅速向我们逼近，我感到了脸上的焦烤。

　　"Ah," thought I—and it was a most bitter thought,  “噢，”带着苦涩，我想，

　　what will my beloved husband say when he returns and finds that his poor wife and his dear girls have perished in this miserable⁶ manner? 我可爱的丈夫返回时看到他可怜的妻子和可爱的女儿们这么痛苦地消失会怎么说呢？

　　But God can save us yet. 上帝会拯救我们的。

　　The thought had scarcely found a voice in my heart before the wind rose to a hurricane,  我甚至还没来得及想，台风骤起，

　　scattering⁷ the flames on all sides into a tempest of burning billows. 四周的火焰被台风吹得四散，

　　I buried my head in my apron⁸, for I thought that all was lost, when a most terrific crash of thunder burst over our heads, 就像燃烧的巨浪在翻滚。我把头埋在围裙里，心想一切都完了，这时头上响起了一声巨雷，

　　and, like the breaking of a waterspout, down came the rushing torrent⁹ of rain which had been pent up for so many weeks. 就像水管裂开了，几周来酝酿着的大雨倾盆而下。

　　In a few minutes the chip yard was all afloat, and the fire effectually checked. 几分钟内，贮存场的木片就全漂浮了起来，大火得到了有效地遏制。

　　The storm which, unnoticed by us, had been gathering¹⁰ all day,  我们没有注意到整天都在酝酿着暴雨，

　　and which was the only one of any note we had that summer, continued to rage all night, 那是那个夏天的唯一一场雨，猛下了一晚，

　　and before morning had quite subdued¹¹ the cruel enemy whose approach we had viewed with such dread¹². 终于在黎明到来前制服了那曾经向我们袭来，让我们万分恐惧的残酷的敌人。

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