(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
FAITH LAPIDUS: Now, the V.O.A. Special English program, AMERICAN STORIES. Our story today is called, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. " It was written by Ambrose Bierce. The occurrence, or event, in our story takes place during the Civil War of the eighteen sixties between the American states of the north and the states of the south. A group of soldiers is hanging a southern farm owner for trying to stop northern military movements across the Owl Creek Bridge. In the last moments of his life, the southern prisoner dreams he has escaped. And everything that happens in the story is really the images in the prisoner's mind just before he dies. Here is Shep O'Neal with our story.
SHEP O'NEAL: A man stood on a railroad bridge in Alabama looking down into the swift waters of the Owl Creek River below. The man's hands were tied behind his back. There was a rope around his neck. The rope was tied to part of the bridge above him. Three soldiers of the northern army stood near the prisoner, waiting for their captain's orders to hang him.
Everybody was ready. The prisoner stood quietly. His eyes were not covered. He looked down and saw the water under the bridge. Now, he closed his eyes. He wanted his last thoughts to be of his wife and children.
But, as he tried to think of them, he heard sounds -- again and again. The sounds were soft. But they got louder and louder and started to hurt his ears. The pain was strong. He wanted to shout. But the sounds he heard were just those of the river running swiftly under the bridge.
The prisoner quickly opened his eyes and looked at the water. "If I could only free my hands," he thought. "Then I could get the rope off my neck and jump into the river. I could swim under the water and escape the fire of their guns. I could reach the other side of the river and get home through the forest. My house is outside of their military area, and my wife and children are safe there. I would be, too..."
While these thoughts raced through the prisoner's mind, the captain gave the soldiers the order to hang him. A soldier quickly obeyed. He made the rope firm around the prisoner's neck. Then he dropped him through a hole in the bridge.
As the prisoner fell, everything seemed black and empty. But then he felt a sharp pain in his neck and could not breathe. There were terrible pains running from his neck down through his body, his arms and his legs. He could not think. He could only feel, a feeling of living in a world of pain.
Then, suddenly, he heard a noise...something falling into the water. There was a big sound in his ears. Everything around him was cold and dark. Now he could think. He believed the rope had broken and that he was in the river.
But the rope was still around his neck, and his hands were tied. He thought: "How funny. How funny to die of hanging at the bottom of a river!" Then he felt his body moving up to the top of the water.
The prisoner did not know what he was doing. But his hands reached the rope on his neck and tore it off.
Now he felt the most violent pain he had ever known. He wanted to put the rope back on his neck. He tried but could not. His hands beat the water and pushed him up to the top. His head came out of the water. The light of the sun hurt his eyes. His mouth opened, and he swallowed air. It was too much for his lungs. He blew out the air with a scream.
Now the prisoner could think more clearly. All his senses had returned. They were even sharper than before. He heard sounds he never heard before -- that no man's ears ever heard -- the flying wings of small insects, the movement of a fish. His eyes saw more than just the trees along the river. They saw every leaf on the trees. And they saw the thin lines in the leaves.
And he saw the bridge, with the wall at one end. He saw the soldiers and the captain on the bridge. They shouted, and they pointed at him. They looked like giant monsters. As he looked, he heard gunfire. Something hit the water near his head. Now there was a second shot. He saw one soldier shooting at him.
He knew he had to get to the forest and escape. He heard an officer call to the other soldiers to shoot.
The prisoner went down into the river, deep, as far as he could. The water made a great noise in his ears, but he heard the shots.
As he came up to the top again, he saw the bullets hit the water. Some of them touched his face and hands.
One even fell into the top of his shirt. He felt the heat of the bullet on his back.
When his head came out of the water for air, he saw that he was farther away from the soldiers. And he began swimming strongly.
As he swam, the soldiers fired their rifles. Then they fired their cannon at him. But nothing hit him. Then, suddenly, he could not swim. He was caught in a whirlpool which kept turning him around and around. This was the end, he thought. Then, just as suddenly as it had caught him, the whirlpool lifted him and threw him out of the river. He was on land!
He kissed the ground. He looked around him. There was a pink light in the air. The wind seemed to make music as it blew through the trees. He wanted to stay there. But the cannon fired again, and he heard the bullets above his head. He got up and ran into the forest. At last, he found a road toward his house. It was a wide, straight road. Yet it looked like a road that never had any travelers on it. No farms. No houses on its sides, only tall black trees.
In the tall black trees, the prisoner heard strange voices. Some of them spoke in words that he could not understand.
His neck began to hurt. When he touched it, it felt very large. His eyes hurt so much that he could not close them. His feet moved, but he could not feel the road.
As he walked, he was in a kind of sleep. Now, half-awake, half asleep, he found himself at the door of his house. His lovely wife ran to him. Ah, at last.
He put his arms about his beautiful wife. And just then, he felt a terrible pain in the back of his neck. All around him there was a great white light and the sound of a cannon. And then...then...darkness and silence.
The prisoner was dead. His neck was broken. His body hung at the end of a rope. It kept swinging from side to side. Swinging gently under a hole in Owl Creek Bridge.
FAITH LAPIDUS: You have just heard the American story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." It was written by Ambrose Bierce. Your storyteller was Shep O'Neal. Listen again next week at this same time for another American story told in Special English on the Voice of America. This is Faith Lapidus.
重点解析
1.look down 轻视
I wish you wouldn't look down on this kind of work.
我希望你不要看不起这种工作。
2.move up 提升
Share prices moved up.
股票价格上涨了。
3.came out of 出来
In a big stride he came out of the room.
他一个箭步出了房间。
4.They shouted, and they pointed at him.
他们呼喊着，用手指着他。
point at 指向
He camped it up, he told bad taste jokes and endless anecdotes with no point at all.
他耍宝逗乐，讲荤段子，没完没了地说一堆毫无头绪的八卦。
5.The prisoner went down into the river, deep, as far as he could.
他迅速潜入水中，并尽可能潜入最深处。
go down into 走入
If his enemies came against him he could go down into this cave and hide here.
如果他的敌人来和他作对，他可以下到洞里躲着。
6.He got up and ran into the forest.
他站起来跑进了森林。
ran into 冲向
Pandemonium broke out as they ran into the street shouting.
他们叫嚷着冲到大街上，大街上顿时乱作一团。
参考译文
费思·拉皮德斯：现在为您演播，美国之音慢速英语节目，美国故事。今天我们的故事叫做《鹰河桥事件》，作者安布鲁斯·毕尔斯。这个故事发生在18世纪60年代美国南北战争期间。当时一队士兵正在对一个南方农民实施绞刑，惩罚他试图阻止北方士兵横跨鹰河桥的军事行动。在弥留之际，这个南方农民幻想着自己已经逃走。而这个故事中所发生的一切都不过是这个囚徒死前的幻想。演播谢普·奥尼尔。
谢普·奥尼尔：一个男人站在亚拉巴马州的一座铁路桥上俯视着桥下湍急的鹰河。这个人双手反扣，一根绳索套住脖子，另一端系在他头部上方的桥梁上。行刑人是联邦军的两个士兵，随时等待着他们的长官发出行刑的命令。
准备就绪，两个哨兵肃然矗立。他的眼睛张开，低头注视着桥下的流水。现在，他合上双目，以使临死前的心绪专注在老婆和孩子身上。
但是，正当他凝神之际，一些声音扰乱了他的思绪，这些声音一遍又一遍地回荡。起初很轻，但却越来越响，像刀子一样刺痛他的耳朵，他想要呼喊。但他听到的其实只是桥下的急流。
他迅速睁开眼睛，重新望着河水，心想：要是我能松开双手，就可以挣开绞索跳进河里，潜入水中，避开子弹，使劲游到岸上，跑进树林然后逃回家。我的家还没有卷入战火，我的妻儿还远离硝烟。
正当这些思绪狂飞时，长官对士兵发出了命令，士兵立即执行。他将绳子紧紧地绑在囚犯的脖子上，然后将他推下桥洞。
这名死囚直直向下坠落，一切在他看来全部暗淡空洞。但随后他感到了脖子上尖锐的刺痛，他透不过气。强烈深刻的濒死感从颈部下方延伸到他身体及四肢的每寸肌肤。他的理智本性早已不复存在，只剩下感觉，而且仅有疼痛。
接着他的耳朵突然听到一个声音，有东西掉进了河里。这个巨大的声音响彻耳际，黑暗即刻向他袭来。现在他恢复了思考，他知道绳子断了，而他摔进了河里。
他脖子上的绞索还在那里，他想：这真可笑。在河底受绞而死多么可笑！随后他感到自己的身体浮上了河面。
他未意识到自己求生的努力，但是他的手摸到颈上的绳子，把它松开。
现在脖子上又出现了他从未经历过的剧烈疼痛。他想要将绳子重新套回颈上，但已没有可能。他的双手向下拍打河水，用力推向水面。他感觉他的头浮出水面，刺眼的阳光让他不得不眯起眼睛，他嘴巴张开，吸进空气。他的肺部无法承受，伴随着一声尖叫，他的肺排出了空气。
现在他的思绪更加清晰，并且完全掌握了身体知觉，这种知觉比从前更加机警。他听到了以前从未听到过的声音——人的耳朵未曾捕捉过的声音——嗡嗡作响的小虫在空中翻飞，鱼儿欢畅地游动。他看到了树木分列河流两旁，看到了树上的树叶，以及经脉分明。
接着他看到了桥与堡垒，看到了桥上的士兵和长官。他们呼喊着，用手指着他。他们庞如巨人，看起来令人毛骨悚然。他正看着，突然听到一声枪响，离他头部不远处有东西打在水上，接着他听到第二声巨响，并看到其中一位哨兵肩上顶着步枪，向他射击。
他知道，他必须逃进森林。他听到一名长官命令其他士兵向他射击。
他迅速潜入水中，并尽可能潜入最深处。河水在他耳边呼啸而过，但他仍能听到射击的轰隆声。
于是他再度回到水面，看到子弹击中河水。有些擦到了他的脸颊和手臂。
还有一个弹头甚至打在了他的衣领上，他感受到了子弹在他背部的热度。
当他再次回到水面上呼吸时，他才发现自己已经远远地甩开了士兵。于是他开始没命地游开。
他游着泳，士兵们扫射着。然后又向他开炮。但一无所中。然后突然，他游不动了。他陷进漩涡并不停地旋转，这下完了，他想。然后，就像突然卷住他一样，旋涡将他高高举起，把他从河里扔了出来。终于，他上了陆地！
他激动地亲吻着大地，环视四周。空中闪出一道粉红色的光。清风绕过林间，似乎在演奏悦耳的音乐。他想在此驻足停留。但大炮又响了起来，子弹在他头顶上飕飕掠过。他站起来跑进了森林。最后，他找到了一条回家的路。这条路宽广笔直，但似乎很少有人涉足。这里四周没有田野围绕，视线所及也没有任何住宅寓所，有的只是两旁漆黑的树木。
道路两旁竖立的树林间不停传出奇异的噪音。他清楚听到的是一种未知语言所发出的低声细语。
他的脖子疼痛难耐，当他举起手触碰脖子时，他发现脖子竟极其肿大。他的双眼感到红肿，他几乎无法闭上眼睛。他挪动双脚，却几乎感觉不到脚下的路。
他走着路，却感觉睡着了。现在，半醒半睡，他发现自己就站在他家门口。他可爱的妻子向他跑来。啊，终于。
他趋身向前展开双臂，就当他要抱紧他美丽的妻子时，他感到后颈遭到了猛烈一击，此时令人目眩的白光将他围绕，并伴随着如炮火般的巨大声响，刹时间他的眼前一片黑暗，四周陷入了无声的静默。
他早已命丧黄泉，他顶着折断脖子的身体在鹰河桥梁下缓缓地晃来晃去。
费思·拉皮德斯：您刚刚听到的是美国故事《鹰河桥事件》，作者，安布鲁斯·毕尔斯。演播谢普·奥尼尔。下周同一时间，请您继续收听VOA慢速英语——美国故事。我是费思·拉皮德斯。
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