(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Our story today is the Riverman, it was written by Stewart Edward White. Here is Shep O'Neal with our story. I first met him in a small lumber town; I was sitting in front of a hotel watching people pass by. It was a warm day, now and then a group of laughing rivermen marched by. One group especially caught my eye, they wore bright red shirts and heavy boots. Suddenly one of them came up to me, "Say, Mister," he said," You look mighty interested. Are we your long lost friends?" His voice was friendly enough, but he seemed ready for any answer, trouble if I wanted it or help if I needed it. "Can you tell me where all these people are going?" I asked. He pushed his little cap farther back on his head. "Burling match," he said, "come on." I joined him and we followed the crowd to the river. There we saw 6 men running toward a river with the peaveys they used to control logs. They used the round metal hooks on the end of the peaveys to push a heavy log into the water. Then one of the men took a long leap and landed on the end of the log. The force of his jump pushed the log out into the middle of the river. The man, arms folded over his chest, stood straight up like a statue of bronze. The crowd roared its approval.
The man's name was Darrell. He was a small man, but he had wide shoulders and long arms. He walked to the center of the long heavy log and turned to face the crowd. Then slowly he began to walk, not forward or backward, but in the same place, in the center of the log. The log began to turn under his feet. His folded arms, his straight back did not move only his legs and feet. Soon the log was spinning. Suddenly the man jumped up in the air, he came down on the log with both feet, the log stopped turning. It rested under him like a great moving animal. The man on the log then dropped his arms and stood still for a moment, he jumped into the air again, but this time he turned completely over in the air then landed on the log with both feet. The crowd roared again. Someone then pushed a long pole out toward the log. The log with Darrell on top was pulled toward shore. Another man then ran to the river and jumped on the log with Darrell. They stood facing each other. Then they began to walk, slowly at first, then faster. The log began to turn around under them, spinning faster and faster, soon it became clear that the other man could not keep up with Darrell. The man was being forced off the top of the log. Suddenly the man fell backward into the water.
"Cling burl." my friend said. 12 other men one after the other tried to get Darrell to fall into the water, but none of them could move their feet as fast as he could. The crowd now shouted for someone to stop Darrell. It wanted the best and began to shout," We want Powers." Jimmy Powers was my new friend. He got up and ran to the river and jumped onto the log with Darrell. At first the two men just stood looking at each other waiting for the first move. Suddenly Darrell burled the log three times quickly then jumped up and down to stop it. The log shook under Powers but he kept his balance. The battle started. Sometimes the log rolled left to right, then right to left. They moved their feet together, faster and faster. At every move the crowd shouted for Powers to throw Darrell into the water. Suddenly there was a big splash. There was Powers swimming toward shore. I walked over to him. "How did he do it?" I asked. He turned to me and I saw the anger in his red face. "Ah, it's you, well that's how he did it." and he showed me a row of holes in his boot, blood was running from the holes. He jumped on my foot with his boots and pushed the metal spikes right through. "Why didn't you say something?" I asked. "Look, Mister," he said. "I am big enough to take care of myself. Don't lose any hair over this, I'll stop Darrel on next time."
The following year, I visited the old lumber town again. But this time, the town was empty. "Everybody has gone to see the logjam." said an old woman. The jam was up the hill above the town. When I got there, everybody was looking down at the river. There in the middle of the water was a mountain of logs, thousands of them, one on top of the other, blocking the river. About 50 men were using peaveys to free the logs. Sometime one would break loose and 10 others followed, all floated down the river away from the jam. At noon the men came to shore for lunch. "Hello, Powers," I said," Do you remember me?" "Sure," he said," aren't you a little bit early this year?" "No," I said, "this is better than a burling match, it will be a great sight when the logs break loose." "You bet it well." he said. We talked of many things and finally I asked, "Did you ever get a chance to burl Darrell off a log?" "Mister, " he said, "those little marks are still on my foot. Just you remember this, Dick Daral will get his from me."
About 3 o'clock that afternoon, the logjam began to break up, there was no warning just a loud cracking sound that got louder and louder as the rows of logs began to hit each other. At first a few hundred broke loose and fell into the swift water. Others quickly followed, the rivermen separated, they raced away in all directions, leaping and hopping from log to log to get to shore. One man fell into the water and started to swim to shore. It was Darrell, he was caught in the river. A thousand logs were rushing toward him. Suddenly another riverman raced across the floating logs, seized Darrell by the coat collar and started to climb up the mountain of logs, pulling Darrell with him. It was an exciting rescue. The logs were falling and rolling down toward them, but they finally got to the top of the pile. Without stopping for thanks or shaking hands, the two men immediately went to work. They pushed and pulled the logs on top to keep the others moving. 40 other men attacked the logs. Then with a mighty roar, the mountain broke free. The falling logs leaped forward like animals down into the swift water. The logjam was broken. One by one, the town people left. The sun moved down behind the trees. A cool evening breeze came up to the river. Jimmy Powers walked toward me. "And now," he said," the owner of the largest lumber mill saw me work today and offered me a job as a boss. Imagine that, me, a boss." There was a strange look on his face. "Well," I said, "You earned it. I'm not going to call you a hero because you wouldn't like that. But what you did this afternoon showed courage. It was a brave act. But it was better because you saved your enemy. You are a leader of men." I stopped. Jimmy kept looking at me. "Mister," he said, "if you are going to hang stars on my Christmas tree, just start right now. I didn't rescue Darrell because I had a Christian feeling for him. I was just saving him. For the burling match next fourth of July.
重点解析
1.jump up 跳起来
He wanted to jump up and run outside, screaming like a madman.
他想跳起来跑到外面去，像疯子那样尖叫一番。
2.fall into 落入；陷于
Both women fall into the highest-risk group.
两个女人都属于高危人群。
3.at first 起先；最初
It was love at first sight, and he proposed to me six weeks later.
我们一见钟情，他6周后就向我求婚了。
4.move down 向下移动；向下移
Gold prices moved down.
金价回落了。
参考译文
我们今天要讲述的故事是《河工》，作者斯图尔特·爱德华·怀特，夏普·奥尼尔为我们讲述这个的故事。我第一次见到他是在一个木材小镇；我坐在一家旅馆前，看着人们经过。那天天气很温暖，不时有一群欢笑的河工走过。其中一群人特别吸引我，他们穿着鲜红色的衬衫和厚重的靴子。突然，他们中的一个人走到我跟前，“说吧，先生，”他说，“你看起来很感兴趣。我们是你久违的朋友吗？”他的声音很友好，如果我遇到麻烦，或是如果我需要帮助，他似乎已经准备好接受任何回答。 “你能告诉我这些人要去哪儿吗？”我问。他把小帽子往后推了推。“浮木比赛，”他说，“来吧。”我和他一道，来到河边。我们在那看到六个人带着他们用来控制原木的钩棍，朝河边跑去。他们用钩棍末端的圆形金属钩把一根沉重的原木推入水中。然后，其中一个人跳了一大步，落在了原木的末端。他跳跃的力量把原木推到河中央。那人双臂交叉在胸前，像铜像一样笔直地站立着，人群欢呼着表达着赞许。
这个男子叫达雷尔，他个子很小，但有着宽阔的肩膀，手臂很长。他走到那根又长又重的原木中间，转身面对着人群。然后，他开始慢慢地走，没有向前，也没有向后，就在原地没动，在原木的中心。这根原木开始在他脚下转动，他双臂交叉，背部挺直，只是腿和脚动了动。很快，原木开始旋转。突然，那人在空中跳了起来，他用两只脚踩在原木上，原木停止了转动。它像一只移动中的大型动物一样躺在他下面。随后，原木上的这个人放下双臂，站了一会儿，他又跳到了空中，但这次他完全翻了个身，然后两只脚落在原木上，人群中又发出咆哮声。后来，有人把一根长竿向圆木推去。雷尔站着的那根原木被拉向岸边，另一个人跑到河边，跳到木头上和达雷尔站在一起。他们面对面站着，然后他们开始走动，一开始走得很慢，后来又变快了。木头在他们下面开始转动，旋转得越来越快，很快就清楚了，另一个人跟不上达雷尔的速度。那人被从原木顶上压下来。突然，那个人倒在水里。
“要站牢。”我的朋友说道。另外12个人一个接一个地试图让达雷尔掉进水里，但没有人能像他那样快速地移动双脚。现在，人群大声要求让人来阻止达雷尔。让最好的出来，人们开始喊道，“我们需要鲍尔斯。”吉米·鲍尔斯是我的新朋友。他站起来，跑到河边，跳到达雷尔站着的那根原木上。起初，这两个人只是站在那里看着对方，等待着一个人先动。突然，达雷尔迅速地转动了原木三次，然后跳上跳下让它停下来。原木在鲍尔斯的作用下摇晃，但他保持住了平衡。对抗开始了，有时原木从左向右滚动，然后从右向左滚动。他们一起移动双脚，速度越来越快。每动一步，人群都叫喊着让鲍尔斯把达雷尔扔进水里。突然，一声巨响，鲍尔斯向岸边游去，我走到他跟前。“他是怎么做到的？”我问。他转向我，我看到他憋红的脸上显露出的愤怒。“啊，是你，他就是这么做的。”他给我看了他靴子上的一排洞，血从洞里流出来。他穿着靴子踩到我的脚上，金属钉子直穿了进去。“你为什么不说呢？”我问。“听着，先生，”他说。“我大到足可以照顾自己。别因为这个大动干戈，下次我会阻止达雷尔的。”
第二年，我又参观了老木材城。但这一次，镇上空无一人。“每个人都去看浮木比赛了。”一位老太太说。比赛在镇上的山上进行。我到那里时，每个人都在往下看着那条河。河水中央有一座用原木堆成的小山，成千上万的原木，一根落在另一根上，挡住了河水。大约有50个人在用钩棍来放开木头。有时，一根原木会挣脱束缚，接着又有十根跟着，都从河里漂了下来，脱离了场地。中午，这些人到岸边吃午饭。“你好，鲍尔斯，”我说，“你还记得我吗？”“当然，”他说，“你今年有点早啊？”“不，”我说，“这比浮木比赛要好，木头都散开的时候，会很漂亮。”“一定会是这样的。”他说。我们谈了很多事情，最后我问：“你有没有机会把达雷尔从木头上弄下来？”“先生，”他说，“那些小痕迹还在我脚上。你要记住，我会还给迪克·达雷尔的。”
当天下午三点左右，浮木比赛开始崩塌。一排排原木开始互相撞击，没有任何征兆，只是一声巨大的劈啪声，声音越来越大。起初是几百根原木挣脱，掉进湍急的水中。其他木头很快接着挣脱，河工向四面八方散开了，从一根原木跳到另一根原木上，然后准备上岸。一个人掉进水里，开始向岸边游去。那个人是达雷尔，他困在了水中。一千根原木朝他冲过来。突然，另一个河工迅速游向漂浮的原木，抓住达雷尔的衣领，拉着达雷尔开始往原木山上爬。这是一次激动人心的营救。原木不断地落下来，向他们滚去，但他们终于爬到了木堆的顶端。两人没有停下来道谢，也没有握手，立即开始工作。他们推拉上面的原木以保持其它木头能够移动。另有40人袭击了原木。然后，随着一声巨响，这座原木山挣脱了束缚。落下的圆木像动物一样向前跳跃，跃入湍急的水中。浮木阵被打破了。镇上的人一个接一个地离开了。太阳落到大树的后面。凉爽的晚风吹来了，吉米·鲍尔斯向我走来。“现在，”他说，“最大的木材厂老板看到我今天的工作，让我去做老板。想象一下，我做老板。”他脸上有一种奇怪的表情。“好吧，”我说，“这是你应得的。我不会说你是英雄，因为你不喜欢那样。但是，你今天下午显示出你的勇气，这是一种英勇的行为。但更好的是，你挽救了自己的敌人。你是工人们的领袖。”我停了下来，吉米一直看着我。“先生，”他说，“如果你要在我的圣诞树上挂星星，现在就开始吧。我不是因为对达雷尔抱有基督教的感情，而去救他，我只是救了他，去参加下次7月4日的浮木比赛。
