美國語文第四冊 第180期：白蘭地酒河淺灘（02）
What was that? A strange, rustling, hissing sound, as of cattle trampling through dry reeds,—a sound which quivered and shook, even in the breath of the hurrying wind!
那是什么？一種奇怪的嘶嘶的聲音傳來，就像牛群踩過蘆葦叢的聲音，即使是在風(fēng)里，這聲音也令人震顫！
Roger snorted, stood still, and trembled in every limb; and a sensation of awe and terror struck a chill through Gilbert's heart.
羅杰打了個響鼻，一動不動，四肢發(fā)抖；一絲敬畏使吉爾伯特心寒。
The sound drew swiftly nearer, and became a wild, seething roar, filling the whole breadth of the valley.
聲音迅速靠近，變成了翻騰的咆哮聲，響徹山谷。
"The dam! the dam!" CRIed Gilbert, "the dam has given way!"
“大壩！大壩！”吉爾伯特叫了起來，“大壩決口了！”
He turned Roger's head, gave him the rein, struck, spurred, cheered, and shouted.
他轉(zhuǎn)向羅杰的頭，抓住韁繩用力拍打、喊叫、給馬加油。
The brave beast struggled through the impeding flood, but the advance wave of the coming inundation already touched his side.
勇敢的羅杰在洪水中奮力掙扎，可是洪水已經(jīng)漲到了馬的身體。
He staggered; a line of churning foam bore down upon them, the terrible roar was all around and over them, and horse and rider were whirled away.
馬踉蹌了一下；洪水夾雜著漩渦和泡沫襲來，四周都是洪水的咆哮聲，馬和騎手被卷走了。
What happened during the first few seconds, Gilbert could never distinctly recall.
吉爾伯特?zé)o法清楚記得最初幾秒發(fā)生了什么。
Now they were whelmed in the water, now riding its careering tide, torn through the tops of brushwood, jostled by floating logs and timbers of the dam,
他們一會被洪水淹沒，一會又被沖到奔騰的浪尖，有時水底的灌木撕扯著身體，有時被水中漂浮的木材撞得東倒西歪，
but always, as it seemed, remorselessly held in the heart of the tumult and the ruin.
就這樣困在了無情的洪水和雜物中間。
