读者文摘:魔术改变了我的生活(2)

One of the lessons you learn very early on as a magician is that the most amazing part of a trick has nothing to do with the secret.

作为魔术师，你很早就学会了一个道理，那就是魔术中最神奇的部分没有什么秘密可言。

The secret is simple and often dull: a hidden piece of tape, a small mirror, a duplicate playing card.

秘密很简单，通常也很枯燥：一段隐藏的带子，一面小镜子，一张复制的扑克牌。

In this case, the secret was a series of covert¹ maneuvers² to hide the coin behind my hand in the act of opening it,

在这种情况下，秘诀在于打开硬币的时候通过一系列的隐秘动作把硬币藏在手的后面，

a dance of the fingers that I learned so completely I didn't even have to think.

一种手指舞蹈，甚至不用思考我就完全学会了。

I would close my hand, then open it, and the coin would vanish not by skill but by real magic.

合上然后打开手，硬币就会消失，不是因为技巧，而是真正的魔法。

One day I made the coin vanish on the playground.

有一天我在操场上把硬币弄消失了。

We had been playing football and were standing³ by the backstop in the field behind the school.

我们一直在踢足球，站在学校足球场后面的场地里。

A dozen people were watching. I showed the coin to everyone.

有十几个人在看。我向大家展示硬币。

Then it disappeared.

然后硬币就消失了。

The kids screamed. They yelled, laughed, scrambled⁴ away.

孩子们尖叫、喊着，大笑着，逃之夭夭。

Everyone went crazy. This was great.

每个人都很着迷，好极了。

This was Bilbo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings terrifying the guests at his birthday party by putting the One Ring on his finger and vanishing.

这是《魔戒》里的比尔博·巴金斯，生日派对上，他的魔戒戴在手指上然后消失了，吓到了在场的客人。

The teacher on duty crossed the playground to investigate.

值班老师穿过操场去查看原因。

Mrs. Tanner was a wiry, vengeful woman who dominated her classroom with an appetite for humiliation⁵ and an oversize plastic golf club she wielded⁶ like a weapon,

坦纳太太是一个身材瘦削、复仇心重的女人，她在课堂上很强势，喜欢羞辱别人，手里拿着的硕大无比的塑料高尔夫球杆就像件武器。

slamming it down on the desks of the unruly and uncommitted.

重重地摔在那些不守规矩人的桌子上。

1 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

2 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

6 wielded   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气
• He was nominally the leader, but others actually wielded the power. 名义上他是领导者，但实际上是别人掌握实权。