美国语文第五册 第297期:野鸽过客(6)

 　　Here and there the perches¹ gave way under the weight with a crash,  接连不断的坠落冲力，使得方才落脚来及站稳的鸟们纷纷坠下，压翻甚至撞死下端的同类；

　　and falling to the ground destroyed hundreds of the birds beneath, forcing down the dense² groups with which every stick was loaded.  每一根坠弯的树枝上，到处站满了密密麻麻的鸽子，骚动混乱的恐怖气息，在偌大森林里铺开弥漫。

　　It was a scene of uproar³ and confusion. I found it quite useless to speak or even to shout to those persons who were nearest to me.  我感到自己的孤零无助，无法与哪怕离我最近的人说上几句话，甚至叫上几嗓子；

　　Even the reports of the guns were seldom heard, and I was made aware of the firing only by seeing the shooters reloading.  我几乎听不见任何枪声，直到看到持枪的人们不停地装卸子弹，才惊悚意识到一场疯狂嗜血的屠杀正在紧锣密鼓进行。

　　The uproar continued the whole night; and as I was anxious to know to what distance the sound reached,  血腥喧嚣持续了整整一夜。我当时急切想知道这场残忍的杀戮究竟传及多远，

　　I sent off a man, accustomed to perambulate the forest, 于是便派出一位熟悉当地森林地形的人前去了解情况。

　　who, returning two hours afterwards, informed me he had heard it distinctly when three miles distant from the spot.  两小时后，他回来告诉我，哪怕距此三英里开外的地方，激烈的枪声亦能清晰听见。

　　Towards the approach of day, the noise in some measure subsided⁴; long before objects were distinguishable,  天将破晓时，嘈杂声逐渐平息下来。其实，天亮前很久，

　　the pigeons began to move off in a direction quite different from that in which they had arrived the evening before,  鸽群已开始飞离，与当晚它们飞来降落的方向截然不同。

　　and at sunrise all that were able to fly had disappeared.  太阳冉冉升起，所有再度起飞的野鸽早已消逝得无影无踪。

1 perches   

栖息处( perch的名词复数 )； 栖枝； 高处； 鲈鱼

参考例句：

• Other protection can be obtained by providing wooden perches througout the orchards. 其它保护措施是可在种子园中到处设置木制的栖木。
• The birds were hopping about on their perches and twittering. 鸟儿在栖木上跳来跳去，吱吱地叫着。

2 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

3 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

4 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》