原版英文小故事 17. A Mad Adder

A zoo employee was bitten by an African puff¹ adder², a large poisonous snake. He was trying to put the snake into a bag so that it could be moved to a new snake house. The snake handler was wearing heavy gloves and thick boots, but the adder sank its fangs³ into the man's neck. The handler squeezed the snake’s neck tightly, forcing it to withdraw its fangs. He then put the snake into the bag and tied the bag.

He called the zoo administration to report that he had been bitten. When an ambulance arrived at the new snake house, neither snake nor man was there. The paramedics started walking back toward the old snake house. A few moments later, they found the man lying unconscious on the trail. Curiously⁴, the bag with the snake in it was covering the man's head and part of his chest.

The paramedics handed the bag to another zoo employee, who delivered the snake to its new home. They then delivered the handler to the city hospital. A hospital spokesman said that the man was in good condition. He said that viper⁵ bites can cause a lot of tissue damage in the immediate⁶ area of the bite if not treated properly and quickly, but it looked like this victim would recover completely.

The zoo director said that this particular adder had a nasty reputation. This was the third time in six years that it had managed to bite someone. Fortunately, the previous two victims also recovered fully⁷. In the future, he smiled, they might call the bomb disposal unit to handle the snake.
 

1 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

2 adder   

n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇

参考例句：

• The adder is Britain's only venomous snake.蝰蛇是英国唯一的一种毒蛇。
• An adder attacked my father.一条小毒蛇攻击了我父亲。

3 fangs   

n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座

参考例句：

• The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

5 viper   

n.毒蛇；危险的人

参考例句：

• Envy lucks at the bottom of the human heart a viper in its hole.嫉妒潜伏在人心底，如同毒蛇潜伏在穴中。
• Be careful of that viper;he is dangerous.小心那个阴险的人，他很危险。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。