听美国故事练听力 20

　　The truck brought up dust as it moved over the road less flat land. Itstopped where two cowboys² stood at the edge³ of a deep canyon⁴.
"Where is he?" Tanner⁵ asked. The older cowboy¹ named John pointed⁶ tothe canyon.
"Down there," he said.
Tanner Walked to the edge. "What is he doing?""Barry said he heard him crying. I heard nothing." John answered.
"You heard him?" Tanner asked the younger man.
Barry took off his cowboy hat and smoothed his long brown hair, "Yes,I heard him.""Maybe heard something else." John said.
Barry shook his head, "Sounded like crying." Tanner stepped away fromthe edge. "How long is he being gone?"John looked at his watch, "One two hours since I told him.""Is that why he's down there?""Sure that's why," Barry said roughly⁷, "John should not have saidanything.""I just told him what everybody says. I did not know the boy was goingto run off."Tanner looked from one to the other. "It is down," He said, " No oneis to blame. Call down to him." He said to Barry, "See, if he is downthere.""Rail, Hey Rail. It's Barry. Are you down there? Rail, listen. We wantyou to come out."He could see the aspen trees in the canyon. Their leaves were shakingwhite and then dark in the last light of day. But only the sound ofhis own voice came back.
"he is not down there." John said.
Barry went on. "Rail, John says he is sorry. We want to help you getout.""I am not sorry." John shouted, "I did not do anything."Tanner stepped between them. "If he is down there, he is not going toanswer."For a moment they all stood, not knowing what to do. The sky was bluegray and getting darker.
"We might it well go on," Tanner said at last. "And leave them?" Barryasked.
"There is nothing wrong with spending a cold night outside once in thewild." Tanner answered.
"I am not worried about the night." Barry said, "I am worried aboutwhat Rail is thinking. You two go back. I will stay here a while andtalk to him."The two other men turned to go back to the truck.
Then Barry called out, "John, maybe you should wonder what Rail isthinking down there."Somewhere below in the aspen trees, Rail was sitting. Barry imaginedhim sitting and not walking. He tried to listen for Rail's crying. Hehad heard it so clearly before.
He had called out once softly⁸, "Rail."And the low moaning⁹ sound has stopped. Barry lit a cigarette. Hewondered if Rail could see the light. He thought about the youngcowboy, small not as strong as most men, thin, skinny as a Rail. Barrylooked down into the blackness.
"Rail, You do not have the answer. Just listen to me. I will talkslowly or play a little. And you can listen."The stars were out by the thousands. He played a little more and thenstopped. The silence seemed welcome.
"You know, Rail. When I was a kid, I, I did some funny things, notthings to laugh at but strange things. I never knew where I was goingthe way you do. You know what you want." He did not know if Rail waslistening, but he did not stop. He had a firm belief that Rail wasthere.
"I had a boy once." His voice was strong, "No one else at the ranchknows that I had a boy. It is one of those things you keep hidden fromthe people you see everyday like a secret only much more severe¹¹, likea dream too, only more real. The boy's mother did not even know that Iknow about my own son. I read it in a newspaper when he was born."Barry laughed, "Maybe you think she was ugly to go with someone likeme, but she was beautiful. I met her in a drinking place, a placewhere she did not belong. She just came up to my table and looked atme. I have never seen a look like that anywhere else."Barry felt his voice was getting too loud. He calmed himself down.
"You know me, Rail. My mouth is too big and thick. My face is toolong. I could use some way just like you, but she chose me."Then, Barry looked up at the sky. He could remember often seeing thestars as thick as they were at that night. But never before had heunderstood the great deep blackness behind them. It was like lookinginto nothing. No air, no color, nothing. It hurt him to look at thesky like that.
"Rail," He said, "Sometimes, your feeling is all gone, like thatevening when Lerwin came down. Remember? Lerwin said she was going tosee you. You believed her. And then, she did not even look at you. Iknow it affected¹² you. That is the way you are."He expected an answer. "Rail, you down there, Rail. I will stay outhere with you all nights. I just wish I knew you wanted me to stay."The wind stopped it up again. "She took me white out of that place.
That is the way my boy was begun. I found out later what she was, adoctor's wife, a smart girl who lived in a big house on the hill. Shehad my boy."Then a thought struck him. Maybe Rail did not want to be found. Hestood up. "I am going home now, Rail. Just speak up if you want me tostay."The silence was heavy. He waited half an hour. It seemed like two.
Then, he walked to the edge of the canyon again.
"Rail, listen. I never went away. I have been waiting for you to starta fire or make some signs. But it is all right to be quiet. I will behere."The wind came up stronger. There was the smell of rain.
"That was fourteen years ago. I was 20, just a year older than you. Inever married the woman. As soon as she knew she was pregnant¹³, shecame to me." He saw it all again in his mind. She had come to him inhis small room. She had no time to wait. She had to get home to herhusband. She came flying across the room toward¹⁴ him. He thought shewas going to hate him. I am going to have your baby, she said. He hadspoken a little aloud. The words seemed to float out over the canyon.
"I thought she were going to blame me. But she said she wanted toleave her husband and come with me."Rain began to fall. It washed through quickly without thunder orlightning. Barry turned his back to it. He said nothing until the landwas quiet again. "I could not do it. I saw it was impossible. We didnot belong to the same world. We could never have been happy. So,Rail. I know a little about growing up too. You are going to be OK."The buildings of the ranch¹⁰ spread out through the trees. One was thebunkhouse where Barry, John and Rail lived. Barry got there early inthe morning as John was coming out.
"Find him?" John asked.
"No," Barry answered, "He must still be down in the canyon. I talkedto him all last night.""What did he say?""Lots of things you would not understand."Another cowboy stepped out the bunkhouse. Each morning, Tanner metthem in the yard and gave them their tasks for the day. He was walkingtoward them now. "Just got a telephone call," Tanner said, "He is allright.""Where is he?" Barry asked.
"In *. He is in jail¹⁵.""What do you mean?""Rail was in town last night. He had too much to drink. Somebody gotmad and called the sheriff. It will cost 30 dollars to get him out ofjail.""I have it." Said Barry.
"Ok. Let me know when you get back."He turned and walked to the barn¹⁶. After a while, Barry went into thebunkhouse to change his clothes. There was no hurry to get to town.
Rail could wait a little longer.
You have been listening to the American story Looking into Nothing byKent Nelson. It appeared in the publication¹⁷ the Transatlantic Reviewand was adapted by Donald Discenctus. Your narrator¹⁸ was Shep O'Neal.
For VOA Special English. This is Doug Johnson.
肯特?尼尔森（Kent Nelson，1943-）美国小说家,共发行了100多部短篇小说。
2004年，其作品LAND THAT MOVES, LAND THAT STANDS STILL, Viking Penguin获奖(the Edward Abbey Prize for Ecofiction)。

1 cowboy   

n.牛仔，牛郎，牧童

参考例句：

• I felt sure I had all the skills to be a cowboy.我确信自己具备当牛仔的一切本领。
• He loved to see cowboy movies.他爱看牛仔影片。

2 cowboys   

n.牧牛工( cowboy的名词复数 )；牛仔；冒失鬼；（尤指无能的）缺德的商人

参考例句：

• children playing a game of cowboys and Indians 玩美国西部牛仔与印第安人游戏的孩子们
• There are too many cowboys in the business these days. 近来商界中，瞎吵胡闹的家伙太多。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 edge   

n.边(缘)；刃；优势；v.侧着移动，徐徐移动

参考例句：

• Sight along the edge to see if it's straight.顺着边目测，看看直不直。
• She lived on the extreme edge of the forest.她住在森林的最边缘。

4 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

5 tanner   

n.制革工人；（英国旧时的）六便士币

参考例句：

• Now you tell me how Bob Tanner done it, Huck." 那么哈克你说说鲍勃 - 唐纳怎么试的吧。” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• The tanner got up and interrupted him. 皮匠站起来，打断了他的话。 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

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 roughly   

adv.概略地，粗糙地，粗鲁地

参考例句：

• If you treat your coat so roughly,it will be worn out soon.你如果这么糟蹋你的外套，它很快就不能穿了。
• The island is roughly circular in shape.这个岛屿大致是圆形的。

8 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

9 moaning   

v.呻吟，悲叹( moan的现在分词 )；抱怨；发出萧萧声

参考例句：

• They were moaning over the death of their father. 他们正在哀悼他们的父亲。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She's always moaning that she has too much work to do. 她总是抱怨她有太多的事要做。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

11 severe   

adj.严格的，凶猛的，严肃的，严重的，严厉的，朴素的

参考例句：

• The severe storm did for most of the crops.猛烈的暴风雨毁掉了大部分庄稼。
• The pace was too severe to be kept up for long.跟上这步伐太难了，无法持久。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

14 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

15 jail   

n.监狱，看守所；vt.监禁，拘留

参考例句：

• The castle had been used as a jail.这城堡曾用作监狱。
• If she carries on shoplifting,she'll end up in jail.她如果还在店铺里偷东西，最终会被抓进监狱的。

16 barn   

n.谷仓，饲料仓，牲口棚

参考例句：

• That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
• The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。

17 publication   

n.出版，发行；出版；公布，发表

参考例句：

• They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
• The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。

18 narrator   

n.讲述者；解说员；旁白者

参考例句：

• He listens and waits for the narrator to explain more.他听著，等待讲的人进一步解释。
• The story's narrator is an actress in her late thirties.故事的叙述者是位年近四十的女演员。