How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil?
我怎么也忘不了那次可怕的守夜。
I could not hear a sound, not even the drawing of a breath,
我聽不見一點聲響,甚至連喘氣的聲音也聽不見,
and yet I knew that my companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me,
可是我知道,我的伙伴正睜大眼睛坐著,和我只有咫尺之隔,
in the same state of nervous tension in which I was myself.
并且一樣處于神經(jīng)緊張的狀態(tài)。
The shutters cut off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness.
百葉窗把可能照到房間的最小光線都遮住了,我們在伸手不見五指的漆黑中等待著。
From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird,
外面偶爾傳來貓頭鷹的叫聲,
and once at our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that the cheetah was indeed at liberty.
有一次就在我們的窗前傳來兩聲長長的貓叫似的哀鳴,這說明那只印度獵豹確實在到處亂跑。
Far away we could hear the deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of an hour.
我們還聽到遠處教堂深沉的鐘聲,每隔一刻鐘就沉重地敲響一次。
How long they seemed, those quarters!
每刻鐘仿佛都是無限漫長!
Twelve struck, and one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for whatever might befall.
敲了十二點、一點、兩點、三點,我們一直沉默地端坐在那里等待著可能出現(xiàn)的任何情況。