(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
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.
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.
重点解析
1.take place 发生
A total solar eclipse is due to take place some time tomorrow.
明天某个时刻会发生日全食。
2.race through （使）匆忙地阅过
Don't race through the list like that, read each name carefully.
不要那样匆忙地念名单, 要仔细地念出每个名字。
3.die of 死于（疾病、过度悲伤等）
Millions could die of hunger as an indirect result of the war.
作为战争的间接后果，数百万人可能会死于饥饿。
4.tear off 撕掉
Please tear off the partial sample tape and take out the Bottles.
请撕开部分样品的密封条，取出样品瓶。
5.run into 快速进入…
One of the students saw them run into the forest.
有个学生看见她们跑进森林了。
参考译文
我们今天的故事叫做《枭河桥记事》，作者安布鲁斯·毕尔斯。
本书中的故事发生在19世纪60年代美国内战时期，故事双方是美国的南北方的各州。
一队士兵正在绞死一位南方农民，因为他试图阻止北方士兵穿越枭河桥的军事行动。
在他生命的最后时刻，这位被囚禁的农民幻想着自己已经逃走了。
而这个故事中所发生的一切都只是这个被囚禁的人死前的幻想而已。
演播者谢普·奥尼尔。
一个人站在亚拉巴马州一座铁路桥上，眼睛俯视着桥下二十英尺处湍激的河水。
这人双手放在身后，手腕用绳子绑着。一根粗索紧紧套住他的脖子。
绳索拴在他头顶上方一根结实的横木上面。
北方的三个士兵站在囚犯旁边，等着他们队长的命令，把他绞死。
每个人都准备好了。囚犯静静地站着。
他的眼睛没有蒙上。他向下看，看到奔腾翻滚的河水。
他把眼睛闭起来，以便让最后的心思集中到他的妻子和子女身上。
在他思念亲人的当儿，他听到一个声音在响。
开始声音很轻柔。但是后来声音却越来越响，越来越尖，声音刺痛他的耳朵。
疼痛剧烈。他想要尖叫出声。但他听到的只是桥下河水湍急的流淌声。
他睁开眼睛，又一次见到了脚下的河水。
“要是我能挣脱双手，”他思忖着，“我就可以甩掉绞索，跳到河里去。
我可以在水下来躲避子弹，我就能到达河对岸，穿过森林回到家中。
我的家园在他们的战线外面，我的妻子和孩子在那里很安全。我也会……”
当这些思绪在囚犯的脑海里疾驰而过时，上尉下令士兵们绞死他。
一名士兵赶快响应。这名士兵把绳索紧紧地套在囚犯的脖子上。然后把他从桥洞上推下。
当那个囚犯倒下时，一切似乎是漆黑和空洞的。
但是他感到脖子刺痛，继而不能呼吸。
难以忍受的疼痛从脖子遍及全身，胳膊、腿。
他不能思考，仅能感觉到在一个痛苦的世界中活着。
然后，突然他听到响声……有东西落入水中。
耳朵一声大的声响。周围的一切又冷又黑。
他能思考了。他相信绳索已断，他在河里了。
但是绳索依然套着他的脖子，他的手被绑着。
他想：“多么滑稽。在河底被处绞刑好滑稽！”
而后，他感到他的身体朝水面上移。
这囚犯不知自己在干什么，但是他的手伸到脖子上的绳索，将它扯开了。
现在他感受到从未体验过的最剧烈的疼痛。他想把绳索再次套在脖子上。
他尽力了，但却没做到。他的双手击打着水，将自己升到水面上。
他的头露出水面。太阳光刺着他的眼睛。
他的口张着，吞噬着空气。对于他的肺来说，那空气太多了。他尖叫着将空气吐出来。
囚犯能够更加清晰地思考。他所有的感觉已恢复。这些感觉甚至比以前更加敏锐。
他听到了先前从未听过的声音——任何人的耳朵都未听过的----小昆虫飞动的翼翅声，鱼的游动声。
他的眼睛看到了不仅仅是沿河的树木。他的眼睛看到了看到了树上的每一片叶子，还有叶子上的细纹。
他看到了桥，桥的一头有墙。
他看到了桥上的士兵和上尉。他们喊叫着，他们指着他。
他们看上去像巨大的怪物。当他看时，他听到了枪响。
有东西在他的头附近击打着水。又有一声枪响。他看到一名士兵向他开枪。
他知道他必须到林子里而后逃脱，他听到一名军官命令其他士兵射击。
囚犯潜入水中，尽可能地潜到深处。
水在他的耳朵中巨响着，但是他听见了枪响。
当他再次到了水面上，他看到子弹射到水上。一些子弹触到他的脸和手。
一颗子弹落到他的衬衫上。他感到背部子弹热乎乎的。
当他的头伸到水面呼吸空气时，他看到他已远离了那些士兵们。他开始狠劲地游。
在他游时士兵们用步枪向他射击。继而他们用大炮向他射。
但是没有击中他。突然，他游不动了。
他陷入漩涡之中，不断的打转。
末日到了，他这样想着。正如突然困住他那样，突然漩涡将他托举起来，抛出水面。他到了陆地上！
他亲吻着大地。环顾四周。空中有粉红色的光。
风儿吹过树林，似乎在奏乐。他想呆在那里。
但是大炮又朝他开火，他听到头顶上的子弹声。
他站起来，朝森林奔去。最后他找到了通向他房子的路。
那是一条宽阔的笔直的路。然而那看上去却没有任何行人走过。
路的两侧没有任何农场、房屋，只有高高的黑色树木。
在那高大的黑色的树上，囚犯听到了奇怪的说话声。有些话是用他听不懂的词在说。
他的脖子开始疼痛。当他摸自己的脖子时，感觉非常巨大。
他的眼睛疼得那样厉害以至于他不能合上眼睛。他的脚挪动着，但是感觉不到路。
当他走路时，他感到处于一种睡眠状态中。
半醒半睡，他发现自己在自家的房门口。他的爱妻朝他跑过来。
啊，最后。他张开双臂去拥抱美丽的妻子。就在这时，他感到脖子后面剧烈的地痛。
他的周围有白光，还有大炮的声音。然后……然后—是漆黑和寂静。
囚犯死了。他的脖子断了。他的身体悬挂在绳索的一端。
不断地荡来荡去。慢慢地在枭河桥的桥洞下荡着。
