|
Lesson 4 Sea Stories About three years ago, something terrible happened to me. Those six hours of terror have broken my body and soul. You think I am a very old man - but I am not. It took less than a single day to change my hair from black to white. One day, my two brothers and I were coming back from the islands, our boat full of fish. All at once, the sky was covered with dark clouds and in less than a minute we were in a terrible storm. An enormous wave covered our boat and my younger brother fell into the sea. Our boat survived, and I was trying to recover when my elder brother put his mouth close to my ear, and screamed out the terrifying word “Whirlpool!” With the wind and waves we were going in the direction of the whirlpool, and nothing could save us! It may seem strange, but at that moment, when we were on the edge of the whirlpool, I felt calmer than when we were moving towards it. We went round and round, nearer and nearer to the horrible edge of the whirlpool. Suddenly, we went over the edge. I thought my life was over. But moment after moment passed, and I was still safe. The boat was on the inside of the huge whirlpool and we were going round in circles at great speed. I saw clearly that there were other objects in the whirlpool - trees and barrels. I noticed that the heavier objects went down more quickly than the smaller, lighter ones. So I tied myself to a barrel to help me float. I tried to make my brother understand, but he was terrified and stayed in the heavy boat. Without waiting, I dived into the sea to try and escape. As you can see, I did escape. I will bring my story quickly to a conclusion. Some time after I left the boat, with my brother in it, it sank into the bottom of the whirlpool. Soon afterwards, the whirlpool became less violent. Then the sky was clear, the wind calmer and the moon was shining. I was still tied to the barrel and the waves soon carried me to an area where the other fishermen were. In the end, a boat picked me up. I was very tired. The fishermen were my old friends, but they were unable to recognise me. When I told them my story, they did not believe it. Now I have told you, and I cannot expect you to believe me more than the fishermen did. (Adapted from A Descent into the Maelstrom by Edgar Allan Poe) 第四课 海洋故事 大约3年前，我身上发生了一些可怕的事。 那可怕的六个小时，击垮了我的身体和心灵。 你以为我是一个年纪很大的人—但我不是。 我几乎一夜白头。 一天，我和两个兄弟从岛上回来，船上装满了鱼。 突然，天空被乌云笼罩，刹那间，我们就卷入了可怕的暴风雨中。 一个巨浪拍在我们的船上，而我弟弟掉进海里。 我们的船幸免于难，我在设法修船，哥哥把嘴附到我耳边， 大声尖叫着可怕的字—“漩涡！” 在风浪的作用下，我们正朝着漩涡的方向靠近，谁也救不了我们！ 那看起来可能很奇怪，但我们在漩涡边上的瞬间， 我感觉比我们朝它移动的时候镇定。 我们旋转着，越来越靠近可怕的漩涡边缘。 突然，我们越过边缘。我想我没命了。 但时间一点点过去，而我仍安然无恙。 船在巨大的漩涡里面，而我们在漩涡里高速旋转。 我清楚地看到漩涡里有其他物体-大树和桶。 我注意到较重的物体比较小、较轻的物体下落要快。 所以，我把自己绑在一个桶上帮我飘浮。 我努力使我哥哥明白这一点，但他十分恐惧，呆坐在沉重的木船里。 没有再等，我跳进海里逃生。 如你所见，我真地逃生了。 我的故事很快就结束了。 我离开以后的某个时间，船载着我哥哥沉到漩涡的底部。 后来不久，漩涡没那么猛烈了。 接着，天空晴朗，风小了，月亮也出来了。 我还绑着桶，一会儿，浪把我带到一个有很多渔夫的地方。 最后，一条船把我救了。我疲惫不堪。 这些渔民是我的老朋友，但他们认不出我了。 我跟他们讲我的故事是，他们不相信我。 现在我已经告诉你了，而我也不期望你能比那些渔民相信我。 （根据埃德加o爱伦o坡的《卷入大漩涡》改编） |
