(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Now, and an American story from the voice of American. We present "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte. Here is Jim Tedder. John Oakhurst was a gambler. He had lived in the small western town of Poker Flat for only a short time. He had defeated many people at cards. He had also won a lot of their money. For that reason alone, he was not well liked. On the morning of November twenty-third, eighteen fifty, he saw some men talking as he walked down the main street of town. As he came near, they got quiet. He said to himself, "Hmmm, I guess they are talking about me. And that can't be good." Oakhurst was right. Some of the town's leaders had met secretly and decided to force some people to leave. They thought Poker Flat would be a better place to live if those people were gone. Besides Oakhurst, two women of low morals were led to the edge of town. They were the "Duchess" as she was called, and "Mother Shipton." A man called "Uncle Billy" was added to the group. He was known to drink too much. Some people thought that he had also stolen some gold. They had no proof. But that did not matter. Uncle Billy was just no good, and he had to go. The "outcasts" were told that if they ever came back, they would be killed. An picture of men at a bar used with one of Bret Harte's stories in Harper's magazine in 1902. So, the four of them slowly rode out of town.
The "Duchess" cried and said she would probably die on the road. Mother Shipton and Uncle Billy cursed. "Mother" said she would like to "cut the heart out" of the people who done this to them. But John Oakhurst rode in silence. He thought all of life was a gamble. He had just run into some bad luck. That was all. The outcasts were headed for Sandy Bar, a camp not too far away. But it was high up in the cold Sierra Mountains, and the path was anything but smooth. Around noon, Mother Shipton became so tired she fell off her horse. She said that was as far as she was going today. Oakhurst tried to make them move on because they had no food or fuel. But the three would not listen. Instead they began to drink alcohol that Uncle Billy had hidden. Soon they were quiet and asleep. Oakhurst did not drink. He stood nearby and watched them. He began to think about his life and about how lonely he was. Yet he was stronger than his three companions. He could have left them there and set off alone. But he did not. Then, he heard someone call "John Oakhurst." A young man named Tom Simson came riding up. The gambler knew Tom. They had once played cards and Oakhurst had won. But after the game, he told young Tom that he was too easy to beat. And he gave him back his money. Tom said Oakhurst would be his friend for life. Tom was not alone. From behind a tree came his new wife, a girl named Piney Woods.
Her father had not wanted her to marry Tom. So they had run away. Tom told Oakhurst that he had a little food. He also showed him an old log house just off the path. Years of harsh weather had nearly ruined it. But it was all they had, and it would have to do. The women could spend the night in there. The men would make a fire and sleep on the ground by the door. The night seemed to pass quickly. But the weather became colder. The wind increased, and it began to snow. Oakhurst had a bad feeling. He turned to where Uncle Billy had slept, and found him gone. He had left the others and even taken their horses. Oakhurst said Uncle Billy had probably gone for help. But he knew better. The group of five decided to wait for the snow to stop before traveling farther. They no longer had horses. From here on, they would be on foot. By the third day out from Poker Flat, the snow had gotten deep. They could no longer see the path. Food was running low. Everything around them was white and cold. One week later they still had not moved. The snow was deeper than ever, and it continued to fall. It formed a prison they could not escape. Still, they could see smoke rising from the warm fires in the houses down below in Poker Flat. The site seemed especially cruel. But the little group of outcasts tried to keep up their spirits.
They tried to stay as warm as they could. They sat together by their own open-air fire. And Tom Simson pulled a small accordion from his pack. Piney Woods played the instrument. They all sang songs. The music took on a defiant quality, a quality of resistance. But the outcasts had to listen to the sad cries of their mostly empty stomachs. The hunger got worse with each passing day. At midnight on the tenth day, Mother Shipton called Oakhurst to her side. She said, "Give this to the young ones." In a bag was all her food. She had not eaten for days. She had saved the food for the others. She turned quietly to the wall of the log house, and died. John Oakhurst began to think that none of them would live out the storm. He gave Tom Simson a pair of snowshoes and asked him to try to walk back to Poker Flat for help. He guessed it would take Tom at least two days, if not more, to get there. Tom kissed his new bride and left on foot. Soon he was out of sight. The Duchess and Piney were surprised, and frightened, when Oakhurst also turned to leave. "You're not going, too," they cried. He said, "Only a little way. I need to find us some help. "At that time of year, daylight did not last long. When night came, Oakhurst had not returned. The two women were too hungry, weak, and cold to even add more wood to the fire.
They passed the stormy night holding each other close. And that is the way they were found the next morning when help arrived from Poker Flat. They had frozen to death during the night. The rescuers from town said that they had been right to force the outcasts to leave Poker Flat. But they never thought the punishment would end up like this. Justice was one thing, but freezing people to death was not their aim. And then they thought of the gambler. Where was he? What had happened to him? They searched as best they could. And then, they found him. Under a tall tree a playing card was stuck into the wood by a knife. On the card was written: "Beneath this tree lies the body of John Oakhurst, who had some bad luck starting the twenty-third of November, eighteen fifty. He handed in his cards on the seventh of December, the same year. "Oakhurst sat there, cold and still. They said he looked peaceful. A single bullet from a small hand gun nearby had ended his life. John Oakhurst had been both the strongest, and the weakest, of the outcasts of Poker Flat.
重点解析
1.Stuck into 插入伸入使刺入
And I stick into that rope, I attach to the rope this wheel, just like so.
我插入绳子，我将车轮绑在,绳子上，像这样。
2.no longer 不再
The order was no longer effective.
这项命令已不再生效。
3.set off 出发；引起；
The next morning, we set off.
次日上午我们出发了。
4.out of sight 看不见；在视野之外
The boy waved until it was out of sight.
男孩一直向它挥手，直到看不见为止。
5.run away 逃跑；失控
I tell them to go and stay with a friend, run away.
我告诉她们逃跑，和朋友待在一起。
参考译文
现在为您播放的是VOA美国故事我们今天的故事叫做《扑克滩放逐的人们》，作者布勒特·哈特，吉姆·特德为您讲述。赌徒约翰·奥克赫斯特先生在西部小镇扑克滩只住了很短的一段时间。奥克赫斯特打牌赢了许多人，他还赢了他们很多钱。就因为这个原因，他不太受欢迎。一八五O年十一月二十三日清晨，奥克赫斯特在街上漫步，两三个人原本在热切地谈论着，看见他走来，都停住不说了。奥克赫斯特对自己说：“我猜想他们是在谈论我，肯定不是什么好事。”奥克赫斯特先生猜得很对，一个秘密委员会已经决定把镇上所有不正派的人都清除掉。他们认为，如果他们都走了，扑克滩会是一个更好的居住地。除了他之外，被放逐的人还有两个女人，一个通称“公爵夫人”的年轻妇人，一个赢得“席浦顿妈妈”称号的女人，还有比莱大叔。大家都知道他喝得太多，有些人认为他也偷了一些金子，他们没有证据，但这并不重要，比莱大叔也好不到哪去，他不得不走。领队说，放逐的人是不准回来的，回来就有生命危险。
1902年，《哈泼斯》杂志刊登了布莱特·哈特的小说故事，配了一幅男人们在酒吧的照片。公爵夫人把郁结的情绪发泄到几滴歇斯底里的眼泪上，一再地说她要死在路上，席浦顿妈妈和比莱大叔却来上一场临别的咒驾，席浦顿妈妈粗鄙地骂了几声说她要挖出那个人的心来，只有冷静的奥克赫斯特闷声不响，他认为所有的生命都是一场赌博。他只是碰上了一些坏运气，就让它到这里吧。这些被驱逐者们前往不远的桑迪·巴尔营地。但它位于内华达山干燥、寒冷的高地上，小路又窄、又不好走。晌午，公爵夫人从鞍上翻身落马，说她不打算再朝前走了，奥克赫斯特先生试图让她们走，因为他们没有装备或是干粮可以多耽搁。 但三个人都不听，相反，他们开始喝比莱大叔藏起来的酒。不久他们昏然睡去，唯独奥克赫斯特先生没有倒下，他靠着一块大石头，镇静地仔细察看着他们。 他开始思考自己的生活，思考自己有多孤独，然而他比他的三个同伴更强壮。他本可以把他们留在那里，独自出发，但他没有。接着，他突然听见有人唤他的名字， 一个骑马的人缓缓走上小路来。赌徒奥克赫斯特先生立刻认出是汤姆·辛姆逊，奥克赫斯特先生在一场“小赌局”里遇见了他，赌局结束之后，奥克赫斯特先生说他是个挺不错的孩子，但是一点儿不会赌钱。
奥克赫斯特先生把钱全还给了他，这使汤姆·辛姆逊死心塌地忠实于他。 汤姆并不是自己一个人，他的媳妇皮尼害臊地从她藏着的松树后面走了出来，她父亲不想让她嫁给汤姆，所以两人一块私奔了。汤姆告诉奥克赫斯特他吃过了，他还带他去了路边的一间旧木屋。多年的坏天气把它摧残的不成样子，但他们也只剩下这件木屋了。女的可以在那里过夜，男的会生火，睡在门边的地上。黑夜似乎过得很快，空气已经变冷了。风越来越大，要下雪了，奥克赫斯特有种不祥的预感。他转向比利叔叔睡过的地方，发现他不见了。比利叔叔走了，还带走了马，奥克赫斯特说比利叔叔可能是去求救了。可他心中有数，五人小组决定等雪停了再继续前进。马没了，从这里开始，他们将步行。从扑克滩出来的第三天，外面的雪积得很深，看不到路，食物快吃完了，周围一片茫茫白海，一周后，他们仍然没有动，雪继续下着，比以前更深了。雪还在下，像一个无法逃脱的牢笼。尽管如此，他们仍然可以看到扑克滩下面的房子里的炉火升起的浓烟。这个地方似乎像是个灾难地。但这一群被驱逐者试图让自己精神振奋，尽量维持身体的温度。他们一起坐在露天火炉旁，汤姆·辛普森从背包里拿出一个小手风琴。皮尼·伍兹演奏乐器，大家一块儿唱着歌。歌声里透露着反抗和挑衅。但是这些被驱逐的人不得不听着他们满腹悲伤的哭喊。饥饿感每况愈下。到了第十天半夜的时候，公爵夫人把奥克赫斯特先生唤到身旁。 她说：“把这个给孩子们。”
袋子里都是吃的，她好几天没吃东西了。她把食物留给了其他人，静静地转向木屋的墙边，死了。约翰·奥克赫斯特开始认为他们谁也活不过这场暴风雨。他给了汤姆·辛普森一双雪鞋，让他试着走回扑克滩寻求帮助。他猜想汤姆至少要花两天的时间才能到达那里。汤姆吻了吻新娘，然后步行离开了，不久他就不见了。当奥克赫斯特也转身离开时，公爵夫人和皮尼又惊讶又害怕。“你也不去，”他们叫道。他说：“只剩这一条路了，我需要找人帮忙。”一年中的那个时候，白昼并不长，夜幕降临，奥克赫斯特还没有回来。这两个女人太饿、太虚弱、太冷了，甚至连往火里添些木柴的力气都没有。她们依旧紧紧相抱在一起。 第二天早上，当救援人员从扑克滩赶来时，发现了他们的尸体。她们在夜里冻死了。镇上的救援人员说，迫使被驱逐者离开扑克滩是正确的。但他们从未想过结果是这样。正义是一回事，但把人冻死不是他们的目的。之后他们想到了奥克赫斯特，他在什么地方？他出了什么事？他们竭尽全力地寻找，接着，他们找到了赌徒。一把猎刀将一张扑克牌插在树上。上面用铅笔很坚定地写着： 约翰·奥克赫斯特 长眠于此树下， 他于一八五O年十一月二十 日遭到厄运， 于一八五O年十二月七日 ，交还了筹码。约翰·奥克赫斯特躺在那儿，尸骨全寒，不过样子依旧和生前一样镇静心口有粒子弹，身旁放着一把德吉林枪约翰·奥克赫斯特特成为扑克滩放逐者当中最坚强而又最软弱的人。
