四签名 97琼诺赞·斯茂的奇异故事（7）

Well, one fine day the crash came.

好啦，有一天变故来了。

I had been away on a distant plantation¹ and was riding slowly home in the evening,

那天我正到远处一个园子去办事，黄昏时缓缓地骑着马回来。

when my eye fell upon something all huddled² together at the bottom of a steep nullah.

在途中我的目光被陡峭的峡谷谷底上的一堆蜷伏着的东西吸引住了。

I rode down to see what it was, and the cold struck through my heart when I found it was Dawson's wife,

我骑马走下去一看，不禁毛骨悚然，正是道森的妻子

all cut into ribbons, and half eaten by jackals and native dogs.

她被人割成一条条的又被豺狼和野狗吃去了一半的残尸。

A little further up the road Dawson himself was lying on his face, quite dead,

道森的尸体就趴在不远的地方，

with an empty revolver in his hand, and four sepoys lying across each other in front of him.

手握着放空了的手枪，在他前面还躺着彼此压在一起的四个印度兵的尸首。

I reined³ up my horse, wondering which way I should turn;

我控着马缰，正不知往什么地方去才好，

but at that moment I saw thick smoke curling up from Abel White's bungalow⁴ and the flames beginning to burst through the roof.

忽然看见园主的房子烧了起来，火苗已经冲出屋顶。

I knew then that I could do my employer no good, but would only throw my own life away if I meddled⁵ in the matter.

我知道赶过去对主人绝无益处，也只能把自己的性命搭进去。

From where I stood I could see hundreds of the black fiends,

从我站的地方可以看见成百个穿红衣的黑鬼子

with their red coats still on their backs, dancing and howling round the burning house.

正在对着燃烧的房子手舞足蹈，

Some of them pointed⁶ at me, and a couple of bullets sang past my head:

其中有几个人向我指了一指，跟着就有两颗流弹从我头上掠过去。

so I broke away across the paddy-fields, and found myself late at night safe within the walls at Agra.

我扭转马头就向稻地里狂奔而去，深夜才逃到了阿格拉城内。

As it proved, however, there was no great safety there, either.

可是事实上阿格拉也不是很安全的地方，

The whole country was up like a swarm⁷ of bees.

整个印度已变成好象一群马蜂。

Wherever the English could collect in little bands they held just the ground that their guns commanded.

凡是英国人能聚集一些人的地方，也仅能保住枪炮射程以内的一小块地方，

Everywhere else they were helpless fugitives⁸.

其他各处的英国人都成了流浪的逃难者。

1 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

2 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

3 reined   

勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理

参考例句：

• Then, all of a sudden, he reined up his tired horse. 这时，他突然把疲倦的马勒住了。
• The officer reined in his horse at a crossroads. 军官在十字路口勒住了马。

4 bungalow   

n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房

参考例句：

• A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。
• The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子，搬进了小平房。

5 meddled   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Someone has meddled with the photographs I laid out so carefully. 有人把我精心布置的照片弄乱了。 来自辞典例句
• The gifts of charity meddled with a man's private affair. 慈善团体的帮助实际上是干涉私人的事务。 来自互联网

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

8 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分