J_00795_ch0401

Lesson Four 
"Take Over, Bos'n!"
　
Oscar Schisgall
Learning Guide 


　　一艘失事船只的10名幸存水手在救生艇上漂流了20天，水手们干渴难忍，三副因不许他们碰艇上最后一小壶淡水，成了众矢之的，尤其是副水手长，对他是更是恨之入骨。为了保住那壶水，3天来，他没有合眼，一直把枪口对准了其他水手，不许他们轻举妄动。他明白，那点水是10个人活下去的动力。他疲乏至极，就在他倒下之际，他低声说："水手长，接过去!"后来……
　　


1. Hour after hour I kept the gun pointed at the other nine men. ①From the lifeboat's stern, where I'd sat most of the twenty days of our drifting, I could keep them all covered. ②If I had to shoot at such close quarters, I wouldn't miss. They realized that. Nobody jumped at me. ③But in the way they all glared I could see how they'd come to hate my guts. 


　　① From the lifeboat's stern, where I'd sat most of the twenty days of our drifting, I could keep them all covered. 
　　　从救生艇的尾部，我可以把他们全纳入我的射程之内，在我们漂浮的20天里，大部分时间我都坐在船尾。
　　　For most of the twenty days while the lifeboat was drifting, I had sat at the back where I could shoot every one of them. 
　　② If I had to shoot at such close quarters. I wouldn't miss.
　　　要是我不得不开枪的话，离这么近他们谁也逃不掉。
　　　If I had to shoot when they were so near (when any of them attempted to jump at the canteen), I would hit my target without fail 
　　③ But in the way they all glared I could see how they'd come to hate my guts.
　　　不过从他们瞪着我的那副神态，我能看出来他们对我已是恨之入骨。
　　　They all looked at me angrily; from their expressions I knew that they hated me very much. 
 
2. Especially Barrett, who'd been bos'n's mate; Barrett said in his harsh, cracked voice, "You're a fool, Snyder. ①Y-you can't hold out forever! You're half asleep now!"


　　① “Y-you can't hold out forever! You're half asleep now!”
　　　你……你不可能这样坚持下去。
　　　You can't hold out forever! You're so sleepy that you’ll doze off any minute. 
3. I didn't answer. He was right. How long can a man stay awake? ①I hadn't dared to shut my eyes in maybe seventy-two hours. ②Very soon now I'd doze off, and the instant that happened they'd jump on the little water that was left.


　　① I hadn't dared to shut my eyes in maybe seventy-two hours.
　　　So for about seventy-two hours I didn't dare to have a wink of sleep (I was fully aware what would happen if I dozed off).
　　② Very soon now I'd doze off, and the instant that happened they'd jump on the little water that was left.
　　　我很快就会打盹，只要我一打盹，他们就会向剩下的那点水扑过来。
　　　I knew I could no longer keep my eyes open. I'd fall asleep in no time. The moment I shut my eyes they'd rush to get the little water left in the canteen. 
4. The last canteen lay under my legs. There wasn't much in it after twenty days. Maybe a pint. Enough to give each of them a few drops. ①Yet I could see in their bloodshot eyes that they'd gladly kill me for those few drops. ②As a man I didn't count any more. I was no longer third officer of the wrecked Montala. I was just a gun that kept them away from the water they craved. And with their tongue swollen and their cheeks sunken, they were half crazy.


　　① Yet I could see in their bloodshot eyes that they'd gladly kill me for those few drops.
　　　不过我可以从他们那充满血丝的眼睛里看出，为了那几滴水他们会毫不犹豫地把我宰了。
　　　The expression in their red and swollen eyes told me that they'd readily kill me to get a few drops of the water. 
　　② As a man I didn't count any more. I was no longer third officer of the wrecked Montala. 
　　　作为人，我不再有什么价值，我不再是蒙难的“蒙塔拉”号的三副；这会儿，我只不过是一杆枪，不让他们喝到梦寐以求的水的一杆枪。
　　　Now they no longer looked upon me as a human being (To them I was merely a gun that prevented them from drinking the water and, therefore, they’d gladly get rid of me.) 
5. ①The way I judged it, we must be some two hundred miles east of Ascension. ②Now that the storms were over, the Atlantic swells were long and easy, and the morning sun was hot — so hot it scorched your skin. ③My own tongue was thick enough to stop my throat. ④I'd have given the rest of my life for a single gulp of water.


　　① The way I judge it, we must be some two hundred miles east of Ascension. 
　　　根据我的判断，我们很可能是在阿森松岛以东两百英里左右。
　　　I didn't know where we were, but my knowledge and experience as a sailor told me were about two hundred miles east of Ascension Island, a remote island in the south Atlantic Ocean. 
　　② Now that the storms were over, the Atlantic swells were long and easy, and the morning sun was hot-so hot it scorched your skin.
　　　风暴已经过去，大西洋上波浪平稳，上午的阳光无比灼热，热得把你的皮肤烤疼。
　　　Now the sea was still, and the boat drifted gently up and down on the Atlantic Ocean, and the hot morning sun was burning and made our skin hot and painful. 
　　③ My own tongue was thick enough to stop my throat.
　　　我自己的舌头也粗得能把嗓子堵死。
　　　My tongue was swollen and it almost blocked my throat completely, making it difficult for me to swallow . 
　　④ I'd have given the rest of my life for a single gulp of water. 
　　　我早就用下半辈子的生命换取了一口水。
　　　I would have exchanged my life for a drink of water./I would have given up my life to have a few drops of water(if I weren’t thinking of the life of the others). 
6. ①But I was the man with the gun — the only authority in the boat — and I knew this: once the water was gone we'd have nothing to look forward to but death. ②As long as we could look forward to getting a drink later, there was something to live for. We had to make it last as long as possible. ③If I'd given in to the curses, we'd have emptied the last canteen days ago. By now we'd all be dead.


　　① But I was the man with the gun-the only authority in the boat -and I knew this: once the water was gone we'd have nothing to look forward to but death.
　　　但是我是惟一有枪的人，此时枪是船上惟一的权威，我明白一旦那点水喝光，我们除了死亡，再也没有别的东西可盼望的了。
　　　But with the gun I was the only man who was in control in the boat. I was keenly aware of the situation: the water had been keeping us going. If it were drunk, we'd have nothing to crave for. When our hope was dead, we'd all die, too
　　② As long as we could look forward to getting a drink later, there was something to live for. 
　　　只要我们一直盼着待会儿还能喝上一口水，我们就有了活下去的目标。
　　　As long as we were eagerly expecting a drink of water, we'd try to stay alive to achieve our goal.
　　③ If I'd given in to the curses，we'd have emptied the last canteen days ago. 
　　　我要是因为他们的诅咒和谩骂而屈服，好几天之前最后一壶水就会喝得精光。
　　　If I hadn't held out against their curses, we'd have drunk all the water many days ago. 
7. ①The men weren't pulling on the oars. They'd stopped that long ago, too weak to go on. ②The nine of them facing me were a pack of bearded, ragged, half-naked animals, and I probably looked as bad as the rest. Some sprawled over the gunwales, dozing. ③The rest watched me as Barrett did, ready to spring the instant I relaxed.


　　① The men weren’t pulling on the oars. 
　　　The men had stopped rowing the boat; it was drifting. 
　　② The nine of them facing me were a pack of bearded, ragged, half-naked animals...
　　　面对着我的那九个人是一群胡子拉扎、衣衫褴褛、衣不遮体的野兽。
　　　I had before me a group of nine unreasonable, half crazy savages to deal with. 
　　③ The rest watched me as Barrett did, ready to spring the instant I relaxed.
　　　The other men watched me the way Barrett watched me ,and they were ready to jump at the canteen the moment I stopped watching them and holding the guns on them.
8. When they weren't looking at my face they looked at the canteen under my legs.
9. Jeff Barrett was the nearest one. A constant threat. The bos'n's mate was a heavy man, bald, with a scarred and brutal face. He'd been in a hundred fights, and they'd left their marks on him.
10. Barrett had been able to sleep — in fact, he'd slept through most of the night — and I envied him that. His eyes wouldn't close. They kept watching me, narrow and dangerous.
11. Every now and then he jeered at me in that hoarse, broken voice:
12. "Why don't you quit? You can't hold out!"
13. "Tonight," I said. ①"We'll ration the rest of the water tonight."
14. "By tonight some of us'll be dead! We want it now!"
15. "Tonight," I said.


　　① “We'll ration the rest of the water tonight.
　　　“Tonight, we’ll each be allowed to have a gulp of the remaining water.” 
16. ①Couldn't he understand that if we waited until night the few drops wouldn't be sweated out of us so fast? ②But Barrett was beyond all reasoning. ③His mind had already cracked with thirst. ④I saw him begin to rise, a calculating look in his eyes. I aimed the gun at his chest — and he sat down again.


　　① Couldn't he understand that if we waited until night the few drops wouldn't be sweated out of us so fast?
　　　难道他不明白要是我们等到天黑，我们喝下去的那几滴水就不会那么快变成汗流掉吗？
　　　As a sailor, he should understand that if we drunk the water at night when it was cool it would last longer in our bodies.
　　② But Barrett was beyond all reasoning.
　　　He had almost lost his sense because of thirst. 
　　③ His mind had already cracked with thirst.
　　　口渴已经使他失去了理智。
　　　He had already lost control of himself because of thirst.
　　④ I saw him begin to rise, a calculating look in his eyes.
　　　我看到他开始站起身来，目光露出一种老谋深算的神色。
　　　It seemed as if Barrett could no longer wait. He was obviously thinking of how to deal with Synder. 
17. I'd grabbed my gun on instinct, twenty days ago, just before running for the lifeboat. Nothing else would have kept Barrett and the rest away from the water.
18. These fools — couldn't they see I wanted a drink as badly as any of them? But I was in command here — that was the difference. I was the man with the gun, the man who had to think. Each of the others could afford to think only of himself; I had to think of them all.
19. Barrett's eyes kept watching me, waiting. I hated him. I hated him all the more because he'd slept. As the boat rose and fell on the long swells, ①I could feel sleep creeping over me like paralysis. I bent my head. ②It filled my brain like a cloud. I was going, going...


　　① I could feel sleep creeping over me like paralysis.
　　　我觉着困倦之意渗透了全身，使我浑身无力。
　　　I was so sleepy that I felt weak all over.
　　② It filled my brain like a cloud. I was going, going... 
　　　瞌睡使我的脑子如坠云里雾里。
　　　I was almost overcome by sleepiness. I was becoming unconscious. 
20. Barrett stood over me, and I couldn't even lift the gun. In a vague way I could guess what would happen. He'd grab the water first and take his drop. ①By that time the others would be screaming and tearing at him, and he'd have to yield the canteen. Well, there was nothing more I could do about it.


　　① By that time the others would be screaming and tearing at him, and he’d have to yield the canteen.
　　　As soon as Barrett grabbed the water, the others would start shouting and striking him, and seize the canteen from him. 
21. I whispered, "Take over, bos'n."
22. Then I fell face down in the bottom of the boat. I was asleep before I stopped moving...
23. When a hand shook my shoulder, I could hardly raise my head. Jeff Barrett's hoarse voice said, "Here! Take your share o' the water !"
24. Somehow I propped myself up on my arms, dizzy and weak. ①I looked at the men, and I thought my eyes were going. Their figures were dim, shadowy; but then I realized it wasn't because of my eyes. It was night. The sea was black; there were stars overhead. ②I'd slept the day away.


　　① I looked at the men, and I thought my eyes were going.
　　　When I looked the men, I realized that my eyesight was declining.
　　② I slept the day away. 
　　　我把白天睡过去了。
　　　I slept all day.
25. So we were in our twenty-first night adrift — the night in which the tramp Croton finally picked us up — but now, as I turned my head to Barrett there was no sign of any ship. He knelt beside me, holding out the canteen, his other hand with the gun steady on the men. 
26. I stared at the canteen as if it were a mirage. Hadn't they finished that pint of water this morning? When I looked up at Barrett's ugly face, it was grim. He must have guessed my thoughts. 
27. "You said,‘Take over, bos'n, ' didn't you?" he growled. ①"I've been holding off these apes all day." He lifted the gun in his hand.②"When you're boss-man," he added, "in command and responsible for the rest — you — you sure get to see things different, don't you?"


　　① “I've been holding off these apes all day.
　　　我一直都防备着这帮笨蛋不让他们靠近。
　　　“I've been keeping these savages away from the water all day.” 
　　② “When you're boss-man,” he added, “in command and responsible for the rest-you-you sure get to see things different, don't you?”
　　　“当你成了主事的人，”他接着说，“你负起了责任，你要对他人负责的时侯，你，你看问题肯定就不一样了，对不？”
　　　When you are in the position of leadership and responsible for the survival of others, you are sure to see things differently as you have to think not only of yourself, but of others as well. 







请认真答题，答题结果将记入知识点测评的成绩！
（单选题）8.The teacher was so angry that he ______ that guy who was late for school again and again .
A． gazed at
B． glanced at
C． glared at
D． stared at
【答案】C
【解析】本题考查近义短语gaze at / glance at / glare at / stare at辨析。gaze at意为“久久凝视”，glance at意为“匆匆一看，一瞥”，glare at意为“怒视，生气地看”，stare at意为“盯着，注视”，根据句意，C选项为最佳选择，该句句意是“老师那么气愤，他生气地看着那个屡次迟到的家伙。”
【知识点】近义短语gaze at / glance at / glare at / stare at辨析
请认真答题，答题结果将记入知识点测评的成绩！
（单选题）9.After writing that pretty girl a love letter, he was looking forward to _____ all the time.
A． her accepting his love
B． she accepting his love
C． he to accept his love
D． she accepts his love
【答案】A
【解析】本题考查固定短语look forward to的用法。look forward to意为“期待，盼望”，to是介词，而不是不定式的符号，因此后面接名词或动名词，动名词的逻辑主语要用宾格或形容词性物主代词，故选择A。句意是“在给那个漂亮女孩写了情书之后，他就一直期盼着她能接受他的爱。”
【知识点】固定短语look forward to的用法