英语听力 暮光之城•暮色 第90期:第六章 惊悚故事(16)

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According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. 根据传说的内容，我的曾祖父曾经认识他们中的一些人。

He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land." He rolled his eyes. 他和他们订下了条约，让他们远离我们的土地。”他转了转眼睛。

"Your great-grandfather?" I encouraged. “你的曾祖父？”我鼓励着他说下去。

"He was a tribal¹ elder, like my father. “他是部落的长老，和我爸爸一样。

You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf—well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. 你知道，冷族和狼是天生的死敌——嗯，好吧，不是普通的狼，而是那些可以化成人形的狼，比方说我们的祖先。

You would call them werewolves." 你可以称他们为狼人。”

"Werewolves have enemies?" “狼人会有敌人吗？”

"Only one." “只有一个。”

I stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise my impatience² as admiration³. 我诚恳地看着他，希望能掩饰住自己不安，让他理解为钦佩。

"So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. “所以，你看，”雅克布继续说道。“冷族向来是我们的敌人。

But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. 但在我曾祖父的时候，我们的领地里来了一群不太一样的冷族。

They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. 他们不像别的冷族一样狩猎——他们也不会威胁到我们的部族。

So my great-grandfather made a truce⁴ with them. 所以我的曾祖父和他们签下了休战协定。

If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." He winked⁵ at me. 只要他们保证离我们的领土远远的，我们就不拆穿他们苍白的真面目。”他向我眨着眼睛。

"If they weren't dangerous, then why… ?" “如果他们并不危险，那为什么……？”

I tried to understand, struggling not to let him see how seriously I was considering his ghost story. 我试图理解他的话，但努力不让他发现我在认真地思考着他的幽灵故事。

"There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they're civilized⁶ like this clan⁷ was. “人类和冷族靠得太近总是有风险的，即使他们像这个小团体一样已经文明开化了。

You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." 你永远不能知道他们什么时候会忍耐不住饥饿。”

He deliberately⁸ worked a thick edge of menace into his tone. 他故意让自己的口吻里带上了浓浓的恐吓的味道。

1 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

2 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

3 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

4 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

5 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

7 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。