1级-《奥米茄文件》第9课

前情提要  

有天晚上，他们看到了一个庞大的黑影，它杀死了5只羊。次日晚上，他们在湖面上遇到了一些穿灰衣服的军人，这些军人们告诉霍克和祖德根本没有什么怪物，还让他们赶紧回去。但是，阿拉继续催促霍克和祖德务必找到怪物并杀了它，而且他似乎对于军事实验室毫不知情……

故事原文  

The Omega Files L9

奥米茄文件 L9

The monster came out of the loch and killed sheep nearly every night. Everybody around the loch wanted to help Hawker and Jude, and their mobile phones never stopped ringing. A lot of people thought the monster was Nessie, but Archie knew it wasn't.

怪物几乎每晚都要从湖里出来杀羊。住在湖边的每个人都想帮霍克和祖德，他们的手机响个不停。许多人认为这个怪物就是内西，可阿奇却认为不是。

'Nessie never killed anything in fifteen hundred years,' he said. 'This is something different, and it's going to start killing people soon. Look, you need some sheep.'

“在这1，500年里，内西从不伤害任何东西，”他说，“这个东西就不一样。它就要开始杀人了。对了，你们得弄几只羊来。”

'Sheep?' said Hawker. 'Do you mean sleep?' He was very tired after ten nights on the loch.

“羊？”霍克说，“你是说睡觉吧？”在湖上转了十个晚上，他已疲惫不堪了。

'Of course!' said Jude. 'Clever Archie. Can you get us some old sheep then? Or perhaps we can use Hawker. He's nearly an old sheep by now.'(1)

“当然了！”祖德回答，“你太聪明了，阿奇。那你能为我们弄几只老羊吗？没准儿霍克也能算一个。他现在差不多是一只老羊了。”

'Oh, shut up,' said Hawker.

“行了，你给我闭嘴！”霍克说。

They found a good place between Invermoriston and Urquhart Castle with some trees by the water, and took their six old sheep there. For three nights they watched, but no monster came. The men in grey were out every night too. They were never far away from Hawker and Jude, but never came to speak to them.

他们在英弗莫利斯通与厄克特城堡之间发现了一个水边有树林的好地方，于是就把他们的六只羊带到那儿去了。他们接连观察了三天都不见怪物的踪影。穿灰衣服的男人每晚也会出现，就在离霍克和祖德不远的地方，但从不和他们交谈。

On the fourth night Hawker and Jude arrived at their sheep place later than usual.(2) It was a warm, rainy night—soft Scottish rain that never stops.(3)

第四天夜里，霍克和祖德比平时晚一些来到羊群那里。那是个温润的雨夜——天空一直飘着苏格兰的绵绵细雨。

When they turned the engine off, everything was quiet—just the rain whispering on the loch. Hawker got out of the boat and stood with the flashlight, watching and listening. Jude sat in the boat, with her gun in her hand.

他们关掉引擎后，四周便一片寂静——只听见雨滴落在湖面上发出的“沙，沙”的声音。霍克下了船，拿着手电筒站在那儿静静地看着、听着。祖德坐在船上，手里拿着枪。

'Where are the men in grey?' whispered Hawker.

“穿灰衣服的人哪儿去了？”霍克悄声问道。

'Don't know,' Jude whispered back. 'Behind us, I think.'

“不知道，”祖德轻声回答，“我想可能在我们后面。”

Then everything happened at once. There was a sudden noise of boats' engines behind them, and at the same time something moved in the water in front of them. A head and two long arms came out of the water.

一切都在瞬间发生了。他们身后突然响起船发动引擎的声音，同时他们看见有个东西在面前的水里移动，接着一个头和两个长胳膊露出了水面。

'Light!' shouted Jude. 'Quick!'

“用手电照一下！”祖德大叫，“快！”

Hawker turned on the flashlight, and at once the monster stood up and ran at Hawker through the water. its long arms going for Hawker's head.

霍克拧亮手电，怪物突然在水中直立起来，朝霍克扑过去，长胳膊伸向他的头。

'Get down, Hawker!' screamed Jude. In a second Hawker was under the water, and then came the sound of Jude's gun—once, twice, and then a third time.

“霍克，低头！”祖德尖叫。霍克一下子就钻到了水里，然后是祖德开枪的声音——一声，两声，三声。

When the monster stopped moving, Hawker and Jude went to look at it. It was a greeny-black colour, bigger than a man, and with very long arms and legs.(4) It had a small head on a long neck. It was a strange. horrible thing.

怪物不动了，霍克和祖德走过去看它。它的皮肤是墨绿色的，比人类高大，胳膊和腿极长。它那长脖子上长着一个小脑袋，看起来怪异恐怖。

A minute later, the men in grey arrived in their two boats. They got out and came to look at the dead monster.

一分钟以后，穿灰衣服的人开着那两条船过来了。他们下了船，看着怪物的尸体。

'Oh dear,' the tall man said. 'Poor old Nessie.'

“天哪！”高个儿男人说，“可怜的老内西。”

'That,' said Hawker, 'is not Nessie. So what is it?'

“这个东西，”霍克说，“不是内西。它究竟是什么？”

'Visitors, aren't you?' said the tall man. 'Where from?'

“你们就是那两个来旅游的，对吗?”高个子说，“从哪儿来的？”

Hawker and Jude stared at him and said nothing. Then Jude took something out of her pocket and held it up, in front of the tall man's eyes.(5)

霍克和祖德盯着他，并不作声。祖德从口袋里拿出一件东西，把它举到高个子眼前。

He looked at it. 'Oh,' he said. 'I see. EDI. Don't see many of those. OK, what do you want to know?'

他看了看。“哦，”他说，“原来是EDI呀。我还没见过多少EDI呢。好吧，你们想知道什么？”

'What—is—that thing?' said Jude.

“那——是——什么——东西？”祖德说。 

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点  

1. by now 到现在；到目前为止

例句：

I should know your name by now.

到现在为止我应该知道你的名字。

2. arrive at+ 小地点 到达（小地点）

    arrive in+ 大地点 到达（大地点）

拓展：

arrive at a small village 到达一个小乡村

arrive at a town 到达一个城镇

arrive in Beijing 到达北京

arrive in China 到达中国

3. soft rain 绵绵细雨

    heavy rain 倾盆大雨

4. greeny-black 墨绿色的

例句：

The water in the river goes greeny-black.

河里的水变成墨绿色。

5. take sth. out of one’s pocket 从某人口袋掏出……

例句：

He took a lot of money out of his pocket.

他从口袋里掏出很多钱。