《书虫》双语听读4级下 洛娜.杜恩08「建议收藏」

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前情提要：

里德看到了洛娜留下的信号，知道她的祖父去世，情况危急，于是就动身前往山谷，洛娜已经被关了很多天了，由于长期挨饿，她的身体极度虚弱，里德用雪橇带着洛娜和她的仆人回了家，洛娜送给里德一枚戒指，这是她的祖父送给她的，也是她唯一佣有的东西。

故事原文：

8.The attack 农庄遭袭

Soon everybody in our part of Exmoor knew that Lorna Doone was at Plover’s Barrows farm. So I knew the Doones would come looking for Lorna as soon as they could. But, for now, the weather saved us. They could not move in the snow, and when the rains came in spring, they had even bigger problems. The rains were heavy, and when the snow also turned to water, the rivers became very high. In Doone valley the robbers’ homes were almost under water. They needed most of their men to take care of their village. If they attacked us, we knew it could not be with as many men as they would like.

很快，我家附近的埃克斯莫尔人全都知道了洛娜·杜恩住在普罗沃斯巴若斯农庄。因此，我知道杜恩家族的人很快就会来寻找洛娜的。不过眼下恶劣的天气暂时救了我们。他们在雪地里无法行动，而当春雨降临时，他们的麻烦就更大了。雨下得很大，再加上冰雪融化，河水迅速上涨。杜恩山谷里的强盗老巢几乎被水淹没了。他们中的大部分人手都得留守村庄。我们知道，如果他们想袭击我们，他们是来不了多少人的。

Spring also brought a visitor for Annie. The snows had kept Tom Faggus away from the farm all winter, but now he came to see her, and he had something to tell her.

春天还为安妮带来了一位客人。大雪使得汤姆·费格斯整个冬天无法前来农庄，不过现在他来看望她了，并且还有些事要告诉她。

Before the snows came,’ he said, ‘I went to London. And I have something to show for it.’ Then out of his pocket, he took a letter. It looked very important, and had the King’s sign on it. ‘What do you think it is?’

“在下雪之前，”他说，“我去过伦敦。我有东西要给你们看。”接着，他从衣兜中掏出一封信。那封信看起来很重要，上面有国王的印鉴。“你们觉得这是什么？”

We all looked at it, but it was full of long lawyers’ words and no one could understand what it meant.

我们看了看，但里面全是律师们惯用的冗长的句子，没人能理解那是什么意思。

I’ll tell you what it means,’ laughed Tom. ‘It means that I am not a criminal any more. This letter says that the King is ready to forget all my years as a robber, and I am a free man.’

“我来告诉你们这封信意味着什么吧，”汤姆笑着说：“它意味着我不再是一名罪犯了。信上说，国王准备宽恕我多年来的强盗生涯，我现在是一名自由人了。”

We all wondered how this could be, but then Tom explained. ‘I spoke to Judge Jeffreys. He knows me. He said, “If you promise never to rob again, you can go free. There’s enough for the King to worry about in this country already, with all his enemies. So if we can forget about you, that’s good enough for us.”‘

我们都想知道这是怎么回事，汤姆接着解释道：“我跟杰弗里斯法官谈过了。他认识我。他说：‘如果你发誓不再抢劫，就可以得到自由。国内的敌人已经够让国王操心的了，所以如果你能不让我们操心，那对我们而言就够好了。’”

Everyone felt proud of Tom. We thought it had been very brave of him to go to Judge Jeffreys. But now he had something even better to tell us. With the money he still had, Tom had bought some land. He was going to live an honest life, and be a farmer again.

大家都为汤姆感到骄傲。我们都觉得他很勇敢，有胆量去见杰弗里斯法官。而现在，他还有更好的消息要告诉我们：他用自己剩下的钱买了一些地，要开始过正正当当的生活，重新做一名农夫。

So we were not surprised when Tom asked Mother if he could marry Annie. Mother was not very sure of the new ‘farmer Faggus’. She was afraid that he would get bored with farming and go back to being a robber. But she could see that he loved Annie very much, and between us, Annie and I managed to persuade her.

因此，当汤姆问母亲他是否能娶安妮为妻时，我们毫不惊奇。母亲对新的“农夫费格斯”仍有所怀疑，担心他会厌倦农活、重操旧业。但她看得出他很爱安妮，而我和安妮在私底下说服了她。

*　　*　　*

Now we began to prepare for the Doones’ attack. Though the rivers were still high, people had begun to see a few of the robbers out on the roads, and we knew it would not be long before we would have to fight them.

现在，我们开始为应付杜恩家族的袭击做准备了。虽然河水水位仍然很高，但人们已经开始在路上看到零星的强盗出没了。我们也知道，过不了多久就得跟他们决战了。

As we were preparing, we received another visitor: my old friend Jeremy Stickles. This time, though, he had not been sent to find me. To our surprise, he told us that he had been spying in Exmoor for many months. He had been sent down this way again by Judge Jeffreys and the King.

正当我们做准备的时候，又迎来了另一位访客：我的老朋友杰里米·斯蒂克尔斯。但这一次，他不是奉命来找我的。令我们惊讶的是，他说自己已经在埃克斯莫尔秘密侦察了好几个月。是杰弗里斯法官和国王再次派他来的。

You must not tell anyone what I’m doing,’ he said. ‘But I have been sent to do important work. The King has many enemies, and now I have been given some soldiers — though only a few — to help me look for them. But I have to ask you: can my soldiers and I stay here for a while?’

“你们千万不要将我正在做的事告诉任何人，”他说。“我奉命前来是有重要的工作要干。国王的敌人众多，而现在我手下配备了一些士兵——虽然只有为数很少的几个——来协助我寻找国王的敌人。但我得问问你：我和我的士兵们能在这儿呆一阵子吗？”

I agreed immediately. When the Doones attacked, it would be a great help to have soldiers staying in the house. I told Jeremy all about Lorna, and he promised to help defend our farmhouse against any Doone attack.

我立刻答应了。等到杜恩家族发动袭击的时候，有士兵呆在我家将会起到很大的作用。我将洛娜的事全都告诉了杰里米，他答应帮忙保卫农庄，抵抗杜恩家族的任何袭击。

The next day Stickles came with his men. There were only six of them, but even to have these was a help. All we could do now was wait, and be ready each night for an attack.

第二天，斯蒂克尔斯带着他的手下来到了我家。他们只有六个人，但就算这样也非常管用。我们现在所能做的就只有等待，每晚都做好抵抗袭击的准备。

One day I came home late from the fields, and found all the women trembling with fear. Lorna had seen Carver Doone !

有一天，我在地里干活，回家稍晚了点儿，到家后发现所有女人都吓得发抖。洛娜看见了卡弗·杜恩！

She had gone out in the evening to look at some flowers by our stream. There were thick bushes on the other side, and when Lorna looked up, she saw two cruel black eyes staring at her. She was too frightened to move. Carver could not cross the stream because the water was too high, but he lifted his gun and fired at the ground by Lorna’s feet.

那天傍晚洛娜出门到小溪边看花。溪流对岸是茂密的灌木丛，她抬头看去，发现一双残酷的黑眼睛正瞪着她。她吓得一动也不敢动。由于水位过高，卡弗没法穿过小溪，但他举起枪，朝洛娜脚边的地上开了一枪。

Unless you come back tomorrow,’ he said, ‘and tell me how to destroy that farmer, Ridd, who will soon be a dead man because of you, this will be the place of your death.’

“除非你明天就回来，”他说，“并且告诉我如何干掉里德——就是那个很快就要因你而送命的农夫，否则这里就将是你的葬身之地。”

Lorna told us this, trembling. We knew that Carver would not wait until tomorrow, and we got ready for an attack that night.

洛娜颤抖着将这一切告诉了我们。我们知道卡弗不会等到明天，于是准备好当晚迎敌。

When the Doones attacked a farm, they always started fires in the hay ricks first — to frighten everyone and show what they could do. So when darkness came, I went with my best gun and a heavy stick to one of the hay ricks, and waited beside it.

杜恩家族的人在袭击农庄时，通常会先在于草堆里放火——为的是惊吓众人并展示自己的本事。于是，当夜幕降临时，我带着自己最好的枪和一根粗重的棍子来到一个干草堆旁等候。

I had made sure that Lorna stayed in the house, but little Gwenny climbed a tree near the river. From there she could see up the river to the only place where it was possible to cross. Soon the moon came up, and before very long, Gwenny came running towards me.

我已事先让洛娜呆在屋里了，而小格温妮则爬上了河边的一棵树。在那儿，她能看见河流上游唯一可以渡河的地方。月亮很快升了起来，没过多久，格温妮便朝我跑了过来。

Ten of them, coming across the river,’ she said. ‘They’ll be here in a minute.’

“他们有十个人，正在渡河，”她说，“很快就会到这儿了。”

Go into the house and tell Mr Stickles and his men. I’ll stay here and watch,’ I said.

“到屋里去告诉斯蒂克尔斯先生和他的手下。我留在这儿放哨，”我说。

The robbers broke down our gate, and rode towards the house. I could see the soldiers hiding in the shadows, waiting for the order to fire, but the Doones then turned towards the hay ricks.

强盗们砸烂了我们的大门，骑着马朝房子冲过来。我能看见士兵们躲藏在阴影中，等待着开火的命令。而杜恩家族的人随后转向了干草堆。

Kill every man and every child, and burn the farm,’ came the deep voice of Carver Doone. ‘Start over there.’ He was pointing to the hay rick where I was, though he could not see me. ‘But remember, Lorna is mine, and I will kill any man who touches her.’

“杀掉所有男人和小孩，烧掉农庄，”卡弗·杜恩阴沉的声音传了过来，“从那边开始。”他指着我所在的干草堆，不过他看不见我。“但你们要记住，洛娜是我的，谁敢碰她我就杀了谁。”

As Carver spoke, I pointed my gun at him, but — will you believe me? — I didn’t shoot. I had never killed a man, nor even badly hurt one. I did not think it was an easy thing to do. Now, I can say that I wish I had killed him. But I put my gun down, and picked up my stick — a more honest weapon than a gun, I thought.

就在卡弗说话的时候，我用枪瞄准了他，但是——你信不信？——我没有开枪。我从没杀过人，甚至都没有重伤过别人。我觉得那可不是一件容易的事。而现在，可以说我真希望自己当时杀了他。但当时我放下了枪，拾起木棍——我觉得这是一件比枪支要实在得多的武器。

Two young Doones came towards me, with burning sticks. The first put his stick to the hay rick I was standing near, and it started to burn. I hit him on the arm, and heard his bone break as he fell over with a shout of pain. The other man ran to see what had happened, and I took his fire stick and broke it. Then he jumped at me, but I caught him, broke his arm, and threw him on top of his friend.

两名年轻的杜恩家族的人举着火把朝我这边冲过来。前面那人将火把伸向我身边的干草堆，草堆燃烧了起来。我击中了他的胳膊，听见他骨头断裂的声音，而他则痛得大叫一声跌倒在地。另一人跑过来看发生了什么事，我夺过他的火把，折成两段。接着，他朝我扑过来，但我抓住了他，扭断了他的胳膊，将他扔到他的同伙身上。

I could still see Carver and wanted to jump at him — but I knew he would simply shoot me. While I was thinking about it, there came a loud noise and six tongues of flame from near the farmhouse. Stickles had ordered his men to fire at the Doones as they came towards the house. Two fell and the others ran back. They had something to think about now; no one had ever fought the Doones as we were doing that night.

我仍能看见卡弗，并想朝他扑过去——但我知道他自然会朝我开枪。我刚想到这儿，便传来一声巨响，只见农庄的屋子附近喷出六道火舌。当杜恩家族的人朝屋子冲过去时，斯蒂克尔斯命令自己的手下朝对方开枪了。两名杜恩家族的人栽倒在地，其余的人则扭头狂奔。他们总算尝到滋味了；没有人像我们当晚那样痛击过杜恩家族。

Now my moment had come. I came out from my place near the burning rick. I knew Carver Doone by his size even in the shadowy moonlight, and I took hold of him by the beard. ‘Do you call yourself a man?’ I said.

现在，轮到我出马了。我从燃烧的干草堆附近的藏身处走了出来。就算是在昏暗的月光下，我也能根据身形辨认出卡弗·杜恩。我揪住了他的胡子。“你能称自己是个男子汉吗？”我问。

For a second he was too surprised to do anything. No one had ever looked at him the way I did now. He lifted his gun, but I was too quick for him and knocked it out of his hand.

一时间，他惊讶得不知所措。以前从来没有人像我这样盯着他。他举起自己的枪，但我还没等他有所动作，便抢先将枪从他手中击落了。

Now, Carver Doone, take warning,’ I said. ‘You think you are so much better than everyone else, but you are no more than an evil robber. Lie low in the dirt from which you came.’

“卡弗·杜恩，现在我警告你，”我道，“你自以为比所有人都强，但你只不过是一个邪恶的强盗。还是滚回你那肮脏的老巢去吧。”

Then I kicked his feet from under him and knocked him down. When they saw that he was down, the other Doones ran, but Carver simply got up and walked away, shouting at me and everyone.

接着，我从下面踢中了他的双脚，将他放倒在地。杜恩家族的其他人看见他栽倒后便落荒而逃了，但卡弗站起身，冲着我们大吼大叫着离开了。

We wondered whether to chase the Doones, but Mr Stickles said it would be too dangerous on the moor in the dark. One thing was certain: the robbers had known defeat that night on our farm — something they had never experienced since the day they came to Exmoor. And they went home without four of their men. Two were dead, shot by the soldiers, and the other two were the men whose arms I had broken by the hay ricks. We buried the dead men in the fields, and Jeremy Stickles sent the two wounded men to the prison in Taunton.

我们思量着是否追击杜恩家族的人，但斯蒂克尔斯先生说，夜晚过沼泽地太危险了。有一件事是肯定的：那天晚上，这帮强盗在我们的农庄上领教了失败的滋味——这是他们自从到埃克斯莫尔以来从未经历过的事。而且他们当中有四个人没能回去，其中两人被士兵们击毙，另两个家伙则在干草堆边被我折断了手臂。我们将死者埋葬在田野里，杰里米·斯蒂克尔斯将两名伤者送进了道恩顿监狱。

核心语言点：

• between us in confidence 私底下
• unless conj. except when; if not 除非
• hay n. grass that has been cut and dried 干草
• rick n. a large pile of straw or grass that is kept in a field until it is needed 干草堆；草垛
• make sure confirm or ensure 设法确保
• weapon n. a thing designed or used for inflicting bodily harm or physical damage 武器

• moor n. 沼泽地