动物农场Animal Farm 第8章(8)

 　　But Benjamin was watching the movements of the men intently.

　　但本杰明仍在急切地注视着那些人的活动。

　　The two with the hammer and the crowbar were drilling a hole near the base of the windmill.

　　拿着钢钎和大铁锤的两个人，正在风车的地基附近打孔。

　　Slowly, and with an air almost of amusement, Benjamin nodded his long muzzle¹.

　　本杰明带着几乎是戏谑的神情，慢腾腾地呶了呶他那长长的嘴巴。

　　"I thought so," he said.

　　"我看是这样"他说。

　　"Do you not see what they are doing?

　　"你们没看见他们在干什么吗？

　　In another moment they are going to pack blasting powder into that hole."

　　过一会儿，他们就要往打好的孔里装炸药。"

　　Terrified, the animals waited.

　　太可怕了，动物们只好等待着。

　　It was impossible now to venture out of the shelter of the buildings.

　　因为此时此刻，他们不敢冒险冲出窝棚。

　　After a few minutes the men were seen to be running in all directions.

　　过了几分钟，眼看着那些人朝四下散开。

　　Then there was a deafening² roar.

　　接着，就是一声震耳欲聋的爆炸声。

　　The pigeons swirled³ into the air, and all the animals, except Napoleon, flung themselves flat on their bellies⁴ and hid their faces.

　　顿时，鸽子就立刻飞到空中，其它动物，除了拿破仑外，全都转过脸去，猛地趴倒在地。

　　When they got up again, a huge cloud of black smoke was hanging where the windmill had been.

　　他们起来后，风车上空飘荡着一团巨大的黑色烟云。

　　Slowly the breeze drifted it away.

　　微风慢慢吹散了烟云。

　　The windmill had ceased to exist!

　　风车已荡然无存！

　　At this sight the animals' courage returned to them.

　　看到这情景，动物们又重新鼓起勇气。

　　The fear and despair they had felt a moment earlier were drowned in their rage against this vile⁵, contemptible⁶ act.

　　他们在片刻之前所感到的胆怯和恐惧，此刻便被这种可耻卑鄙的行为所激起的狂怒淹没了。

　　A mighty⁷ cry for vengeance⁸ went up, and without waiting for further orders they charged forth⁹ in a body and made straight for the enemy.

　　他们发出一阵强烈的复仇呐喊，不等下一步的命令，便一齐向敌人冲去。

　　This time they did not heed¹⁰ the cruel pellets that swept over them like hail.

　　这一次，他们顾不上留意那如冰雹一般扫射而来的残忍的子弹了。

　　It was a savage¹¹, bitter battle.

　　这是一场残酷、激烈的战斗。

　　The men fired again and again, and, when the animals got to close quarters, lashed¹² out with their sticks and their heavy boots.

　　那帮人在不断地射击，等到动物们接近他们时，他们就又用棍棒和那沉重的靴子大打出手。

　　A cow, three sheep, and two geese were killed, and nearly everyone was wounded.

　　一头牛、三只羊、两只鹅被杀害了，几乎每个动物都受了伤。

　　Even Napoleon, who was directing operations from the rear, had the tip of his tail chipped by a pellet.

　　就连一直在后面指挥作战的拿破仑也被子弹削去了尾巴尖。

　　But the men did not go unscathed either.

　　但人也并非没有伤亡。

　　Three of them had their heads broken by blows from Boxer's hoofs¹³; another was gored¹⁴ in the belly¹⁵ by a cow's horn; another had his trousers nearly torn off by Jessie and Bluebell¹⁶.

　　三个人的头被鲍克瑟的蹄掌打破；另一个人的肚子被一头牛的犄角刺破；还有一个人，裤子几乎被杰西和布鲁拜尔撕掉。

　　And when the nine dogs of Napoleon's own bodyguard¹⁷, whom he had instructed to make a detour¹⁸ under cover of the hedge, suddenly appeared on the men's flank, baying ferociously¹⁹, panic overtook them.

　　给拿破仑作贴身警卫的那九条狗，奉他的命令在树篱的遮掩下迂回过去，突然出现在敌人的侧翼，凶猛地吼叫起来，把那帮人吓坏了。

　　They saw that they were in danger of being surrounded.

　　他们发现有被包围的危险。

　　Frederick shouted to his men to get out while the going was good, and the next moment the cowardly enemy was running for dear life.

　　弗雷德里克趁退路未断便喊他的同伙撤出去，不一会儿，那些贪生怕死的敌人便没命似地逃了。

　　The animals chased them right down to the bottom of the field, and got in some last kicks at them as they forced their way through the thorn hedge.

　　动物们一直把他们追到庄园边上，在他们从那片树篱中挤出去时，还踢了他们最后几下。

1 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

2 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

3 swirled   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The waves swirled and eddied around the rocks. 波浪翻滚着在岩石周围打旋。
• The water swirled down the drain. 水打着旋流进了下水道。

4 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

5 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

6 contemptible   

adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的

参考例句：

• His personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.他气貌不扬，言语粗俗。
• That was a contemptible trick to play on a friend.那是对朋友玩弄的一出可鄙的把戏。

7 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

8 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

11 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

12 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 hoofs   

n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The stamp of the horse's hoofs on the wooden floor was loud. 马蹄踏在木头地板上的声音很响。 来自辞典例句
• The noise of hoofs called him back to the other window. 马蹄声把他又唤回那扇窗子口。 来自辞典例句

14 gored   

v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破( gore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was gored by a bull. 他被公牛顶伤。
• The bull gored the farmer to death. 公牛用角把农夫抵死了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

16 bluebell   

n.风铃草

参考例句：

• The girl picked herself up and pulled a bluebell out of her hair.姑娘坐起身来，从头发里摘出一枝风铃草。
• There is a branch of bluebell in the vase.花瓶里有一束风铃草。

17 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

18 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

19 ferociously   

野蛮地，残忍地

参考例句：

• The buck shook his antlers ferociously. 那雄鹿猛烈地摇动他的鹿角。
• At intervals, he gritted his teeth ferociously. 他不时狠狠的轧平。