美国语文第五册 第214期:波士顿惨案(3)

 　　"There is the soldier who knocked me down," said the barber's boy; and they began pushing one another towards the sentinel.  “就是这个哨兵把我打倒在地。”那位理发师的孩子说，一群少年蜂拥冲向站岗的哨兵，

　　He loaded and primed his musket¹. “The lobster² is going to fire,” cried a boy.  那家伙忙着装弹应付局面，“英国红虾兵要开枪了。”一个孩子尖叫，

　　Waving his piece about, the sentinel pulled the trigger.  那位哨兵端枪晃动几下，打开了扳机。

　　"If you fire you must die for it," said Henry Knox, who was passing by.  “只要开枪，你就必死无疑。”地方官亨利·诺克斯说，他当时刚巧路过。

　　"I don't care," replied the sentry³, "if they touch me, I'll fire."  “我不在乎，”那哨兵回答，“如果他们胆敢碰我，我就开枪。”

　　"Fire!"shouted the boys, for they were persuaded he could not do it without leave from a civil officer;  “开枪！”那群少年连声高叫，事先有人向他们透风，假若市政官员在场的话，英国哨兵就不敢开枪。

　　and a young fellow spoke⁴ out, “We will knock him down for snapping,” while they whistled through their fingers and huzzaed.  突然，一位年轻人叫道，“把他揍倒，折断他的枪，”四下响起一片呼哨和连声哄叫。

　　"Stand off !" said the sentry, and shouted aloud, "Turn out, main guard!"  “往后退！”那英国兵高声叫唤。“快走，士兵们！”

　　"They are killing⁵ the sentinel," reported a servant from the customhouse, running to the main guard.  “暴徒们在袭击哨兵。”有人从海关处赶到驻防军总部禀告，

　　"Turn out! why don't you turn cut?" cried Preston, who was captain of the day, to the guard.  “快走！火速赶去那里。”当天执勤的上尉普雷斯顿冲着士兵们吼叫。

　　A party of six, two of whom, Kilroi and Montgomery, had been worsted at the ropewalk, formed, with a corporal in front and Preston following.  六人一行迅速赶到海关处，士兵基诺、蒙哥马利两人也其中，这些士兵与当地制绳厂工人一直交恶，冲突不断。一位下士疾走在前面，普雷斯顿上尉紧随其后。

　　With bayonets fixed⁶, they "rushed through the people" upon the trot⁷, cursing them, and pushing them as they went along.  他们手端刺刀“冲进人群”，边跑边咒骂推搡聚集的人群。

　　They found about ten persons round the sentry, while about fifty or sixty came down with them.  那时，他们看见大约十来人围着那位英国哨兵，还有五六十人随其身后围拢过来。

　　"For God's sake," said Knox! holding Preston by the coat, “看在上帝的份上，”地方官诺克斯抓住普雷斯顿的衣领警告，

　　take your men back again; if they fire, your life must answer for the consequences.  把你的人赶快再带回去，如果开火，你要用性命承担后果。

　　“I know what I am about,” said he hastily, and much agitated⁸. “我知道怎么做。”普雷斯顿忙不迭地辩白，显得极为焦躁不安。

1 musket   

n.滑膛枪

参考例句：

• I hunted with a musket two years ago.两年前我用滑膛枪打猎。
• So some seconds passed,till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and fired.又过了几秒钟，突然，乔伊斯端起枪来开了火。

2 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

3 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

7 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

8 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。