美国小学英语教材5:第132课 纽伦堡火炉(8)

 He had hard work getting through the straw and twisted ropes; 他费了好大的劲才穿过稻草和扭曲的绳子；

but get through them he did, and found the door of the stove. 但是，他还是穿了过去，找到了炉门。

He slipped through, as he had often done at home for fun, and curled¹ himself up there. 他溜了进去，蜷缩在那里，就像他经常在家里玩的那样。

Air came in through the brass² fret-work of the stove. 空气从炉子上的黄铜微孔里进来。

With great care he leaned out, drew the hay³ and straw together, and replaced the ropes. 他小心翼翼地探出身子，把干草和稻草拉在一起，把绳子放回原处。

Then he curled himself up again, and, being safe inside dear Hirschvogel and very cold, he fell asleep. 然后，他又把自己蜷缩起来，安全地躺在亲爱的赫斯渥格尔的身体里，感到很冷，就睡着了。

The slow train took the short winter’s day and the long winter’s night and half another day to go over the ground that the mail-trains cover in a forenoon. 缓慢的火车花了一整个短暂的冬日和漫长的冬夜，又花了半天的时间，才在一个上午走过邮车经过的地方。

Happily for August, the thick wrappings of the stove protected him from the cold, else he must have died—frozen. 对于奥古斯特来说幸运的是，厚厚的炉皮使他免受寒冷，否则他一定是冻死了。

He still had some of his loaf and a little of his sausage. 他还有一些面包和香肠。

But he began to suffer from thirst, and this frightened him more than anything else. 但是他开始感到口渴，这比什么都让他害怕。

At last the train stopped with a jar and a jerk⁴, and he could hear men crying the name of some town. 火车终于停了下来，发出一声震耳的响声，他听到有人在喊某个城镇的名字。

Then he felt himself carried on the shoulders of men, rolled along on a truck, and set down, where he knew not; 然后他觉得自己被人扛在肩上，滚上一辆卡车，在他不知道的地方坐了下来。

only he knew he was thirsty—so thirsty! 没有人知道他渴了——那么渴！

 

1 curled   

adj.卷曲的，卷发状的，卷缩的v.（使）弯曲( curl的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）卷曲；盘旋；缠绕

参考例句：

• She lay curled up in a foetal position . 她像胎儿一样蜷曲地躺着。
• The snake was curled up in the long grass. 在深草中，这条蛇盘着身子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

3 hay   

n.(用作饲料或覆盖的)干草

参考例句：

• Cows feed on hay.奶牛以干草为生。
• They usually keep the hay in the barn.他们通常将干草存放在谷仓中。

4 jerk   

n.（口语）笨蛋，性情古怪的人，急拉，肌肉抽搐；v.痉挛，急拉，急推，急动

参考例句：

• Just keep that jerk off me.让那个笨蛋离开我。
• The knife was stuck but she pulled it out with a jerk.那把刀子被卡住了，她猛地一拔，把它拔了出来。