读者文摘:我不知道自己还能活多久(4)

When the muscles were cut through and the last tendon severed¹,

当肌肉被割断，切断最后一根肌腱时，

Kurt swung his leg—what remained of it—away from the machine and dropped his knife to the dirt.

库尔特把剩下的一条腿从机器上甩开，把刀扔到地上。

Now on autopilot, he crawled to the tractor, way up into the cab, and shut down the auger².

现在，他爬到拖拉机前，钻进驾驶室，关上了螺旋钻。

Then he crawled to his idling truck and shut it off too.

然后，他爬到空转的卡车上，把车也关了。

No need to waste the diesel³, he surely would have been thinking, had he been thinking at all.

没有必要浪费柴油，他肯定是这样想的，一直在这样想。

After maneuvering⁴ himself down off the truck, he dug his elbows into the gravel⁵ and slowly began pulling himself toward the garage,

从卡车上下来后，他把胳膊肘伸进碎石地里，慢慢地把自己拽向车库，

toward the phone in the office, a long, silent crawl over roughly 70 yards.

拽向办公室里的电话，大约70码安静又漫长地爬行。

Several times along the way he slowed down, stopped, thought maybe he'd just rest a minute.

一路上有好几次，他放慢速度，停了下来，觉得自己可以休息一会儿。

Then he thought again. To stop, to pass out, meant death.

然后他又想了想，要是停下来、昏过去，就意味着死亡。

So he kept clawing his way toward the garage, one foot and a few breaths short, the longest 70 yards of his life.

于是，他一直向车库爬去，用一只脚、伴着急促的呼吸，这是他生命中最长的70码。

Finally inside, Kurt crawled to the desk and hoisted⁶ himself up just enough to grab the receiver.

最后，库尔特爬到桌边，把自己拉起来，刚好能抓住听筒。

He collapsed⁷ back onto the floor and immediately called not 911 but his 31-year-old son, Adam Kaser,

他瘫倒在地上，立即拨打电话，他没有打911，而是打给他31岁的儿子亚当·卡斯尔，

who'd spent about half his life volunteering with the Pender Fire and Rescue Department.

他在彭德消防救援部门做了大约一半的志愿工作。

Kurt didn't waste his words."I need an ambulance now," he said. "I lost my foot."

库尔特没有废话，“我现在需要一辆救护车，”他说，“我失去了一只脚。”

In the midst of buying tractor parts from the local John Deere dealership⁸, in the midst of a routine day,

在这个平淡的日子里，阿达姆正在从当地约翰·迪尔经销商处购买拖拉机零件，

Adam was certain he'd misheard, especially when his father mentioned the "auger" and "hopper."

他确信自己听错了，尤其是当他父亲提到“螺旋钻”和“装料斗”的时候。

"Get me an ambulance now," his father repeated, and the line dropped cold.

“现在给我叫辆救护车来，”他父亲重复着，然后电话断了。

Adam darted⁹ away from the checkout¹⁰.

亚当匆匆离开了收银台，

He jumped in his pickup¹¹, stomped¹² the pedal to the floor, and raced around four miles west to the farm, calling 911 on the way.

他跳上他的小货车，猛踩踏板，然后向西飞驰四英里来到农场，途中拨打了911。

Hands strangling the wheel, he feared the worst: that his father would bleed out before he arrived.

1 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 auger   

n.螺丝钻，钻孔机

参考例句：

• We make a hole in the ice with an auger.我们用螺旋钻在冰上钻洞。
• Already the Snowblast's huge auger blades were engorging snow.扬雪车上庞大的钻头叶片在开始大量吞进积雪。

3 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

4 maneuvering   

v.移动，用策略( maneuver的现在分词 )；操纵

参考例句：

• This Manstein did, with some brilliant maneuvering under the worse winter conditions. 曼施坦因在最恶劣的严冬条件下，出色地施展了灵活机动的战术，终于完成了任务。 来自辞典例句
• In short, large goals required farsighted policies, not tactical maneuvering. 一句话，大的目标需要有高瞻远瞩的政策，玩弄策略是不行的。 来自辞典例句

5 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

6 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

7 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

8 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

9 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

11 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

12 stomped   

v.跺脚，践踏，重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She stomped angrily out of the office. 她怒气冲冲，重步走出办公室。
• She slammed the door and stomped (off) out of the house. 她砰的一声关上了门，暮暮地走出了屋了。 来自辞典例句