纽约时报 美国国会警察与1月6日事件的伤疤(3)

Edwards had gathered herself and spent more than an hour — or was it days, time lost all sense — fighting off rioters or helping¹ other officers on the lower west terrace of the Capitol.

爱德华兹已经振作起来，花了一个多小时——或者是几天，时间失去了意义——在国会大厦西边的下层平台上击退暴徒或帮助其他警察。

She was positioned near a friend from her shift, Brian Sicknick, when they were hit with chemical spray directly in their faces.

当他们被化学喷雾直接击中脸部时，她正位于她轮班的朋友布莱恩·希尼克的附近。

Edwards’s hands flew to her eyes as she bowed down in pain and stumbled.

爱德华兹的手飞快地按在她的眼睛上，此时，她痛苦地弯着腰，踉跄着。

Sicknick retreated to wash out his eyes, then returned to the fight.

希尼克退到一边，洗了洗眼睛，然后又继续搏斗。

Another officer escorted Edwards, her lungs searing from toxic² spray, away from the scene to get medical treatment.

另一名警官护送爱德华兹离开现场接受治疗，她的肺部因吸入毒喷雾而灼伤。

Anton, a 34-year-old Navy veteran in Gonell’s unit, had been ordered, along with the rest of the officers on the west front, to retreat into the Capitol.

安东是戈内尔分队的一名34岁的海军老兵，他和西线的其他军官接到命令，撤退到国会大厦。

Inside, a friend grabbed his tactical vest, screaming, “They’re in the building!”

在大厦里，一个朋友抓住他的作战背心，尖叫着，“他们在大楼里!”

They realized that if the rioters came down the interior stairs near the lower west terrace entrance, they would attack, from behind, Gonell and other officers who were fending³ off the crowd at that door.

他们意识到，如果暴徒从靠近低层西阳台入口的内部楼梯下来，他们就会从后面攻击戈内尔和其他在门口挡住人群的警察。

Anton (who asked to be identified by only his middle name to protect his privacy) ran up two flights, using his shield to shove clusters of rioters back up the stairs.

安东(为了保护自己的隐私，他要求只透露他的中间名)跑上两层楼，用他的盾牌把成群的暴徒推到了楼梯上。

Arriving two floors up, at the Rotunda⁴, amid paintings of American generals courteously⁵ accepting their enemies’ surrender, he joined a melee⁶ that was savage⁷, without rules or limits.

他上了两层楼，来到圆形大厅，周围是美国将军彬彬有礼地接受敌人投降的绘画，他加入了一场野蛮的、没有规则和限制的混战。

By then, the District of Columbia Metropolitan⁸ Police had arrived in force as allies in the fight, its only audience the presidential statues encircling the room: a beaming Ronald Reagan, a fierce Andrew Jackson, Dwight Eisenhower in a pose of resolve.

那时，哥伦比亚特区大都会警察局已经作为战斗盟友赶到了这里，这场战斗唯一的观众是环绕在房间周围的总统雕像：笑容满面的罗纳德·里根，气势汹汹的安德鲁·杰克逊，摆出坚定姿态的德怀特·艾森豪威尔。

Anton took none of it in: He was punching, his fists bloody⁹, hitting men, women, equipment, trying to push the crowd back.

安东没有置身事外:他挥拳出击，拳头沾满了鲜血，拳打男人，女人，器械，试图把暴徒推开。

Even as he fought, his mind was flooding with questions: Was he going to die here?

即使在战斗的时候，他的脑海里也充斥着各种问题:他会死在这里吗?

And if he did, would these demonic faces be the last thing he saw?

如果他死了，这些恶魔的脸会是他最后看到的东西吗?

What would it take for him to actually use his gun?

他要怎样才能真正使用他的枪?

And — what the hell happened to Hoyte?

霍伊特到底怎么了?

He had been separated from his friend, Lennox Hoyte, a 32-year-old U.S. Army veteran who served in the military police in Afghanistan.

他与战友霍伊特失散了。霍伊特今年32岁，是美国陆军老兵，曾在阿富汗担任宪兵。

Only later did Anton learn, stricken with guilt¹⁰, just how badly the day had gone for him.

直到后来，充满愧疚的安东才明白，这一天对他来说是多么的糟糕。

Hoyte was pulled into the crowd, yanked so hard that his gear ripped.

霍伊特被拉进暴徒中，猛地用力，他的装备都被扯破了。

Someone beat his hand with a pipe; another rioter swung a piece of scaffolding at him before he was able to tear himself free.

有人用管子打他的手; 另一名暴徒在他还没来得及挣脱之前就挥舞着一块脚手架砸向他。

He ended up trapped with another officer in an enclosure beneath the inaugural¹¹ stage, its doors, embedded¹² with electric circuitry, serving as their barricade¹³.

最后，他和另一名警官被困在就职典礼台下的围栏里，那里的门上嵌有电路，充当着他们的路障。

Injured, he spent hours there surrounded by a mob that kept trying to break through those doors, unable to leave as chemical spray rained down between the planks¹⁴ of wood overhead.

受伤后，他在那里待了几个小时，周围是一群一直试图破门而入的暴徒，由于化学喷雾从头顶的木板间倾泻而下，他无法离开。 

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

3 fending   

v.独立生活，照料自己( fend的现在分词 )；挡开，避开

参考例句：

• He is always spending his time fending with the neighbors. 他总是与邻里们吵架。 来自互联网
• Fifth, it is to build safeguarding system and enhance the competence in fending off the risk. 五是建立政策保障体系，提高防范和抵御风险的能力。 来自互联网

4 rotunda   

n.圆形建筑物；圆厅

参考例句：

• The Capitol at Washington has a large rotunda.华盛顿的国会大厦有一圆形大厅。
• The rotunda was almost deserted today,dotted with just a few tourists.圆形大厅今天几乎没有多少人，只零星散布着几个游客。

5 courteously   

adv.有礼貌地，亲切地

参考例句：

• He courteously opened the door for me.他谦恭有礼地为我开门。
• Presently he rose courteously and released her.过了一会，他就很客气地站起来，让她走开。

6 melee   

n.混战；混战的人群

参考例句：

• There was a scuffle and I lost my hat in the melee.因发生一场斗殴，我的帽子也在混乱中丢失了。
• In the melee that followed they trampled their mother a couple of times.他们打在一团，七手八脚的又踩了他们的母亲几下。

7 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

8 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

9 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

10 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

11 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

12 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

13 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

14 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。