美國語文第四冊 第172期：火警（03）
The heat soon became suffocating.
熱浪很快變得令人窒息。
We were parched with thirst, and there was not a drop of water in the house, and none to be procured nearer than the lake.
我們都口干舌燥，房子里沒有一滴水，除非到湖邊。
I turned once more to the door, hoping that a passage might have been burnt through to the water.
我又朝門望去，希望看到已經(jīng)燒出來一條到湖泊的路。
I saw nothing but a dense cloud of fire and smoke—could hear nothing but the crackling and roaring of flames, which were gaining so fast upon us that I felt their scorching breath in my face.
可是除了濃濃的煙火以外，什么都看不見——除了火焰的噼噼啪啪聲和呼嘯聲什么也聽不見，火焰正迅速向我們逼近，我感到了臉上的焦烤。
"Ah," thought I—and it was a most bitter thought— what will my beloved husband say when he returns and finds that his poor wife and his dear girls have perished in this miserable manner?
“噢，”帶著苦澀，我想，我可愛的丈夫返回時看到他可憐的妻子和可愛的女兒們這么痛苦地消失會怎么說呢？
But God can save us yet.
上帝會拯救我們的。
The thought had scarcely found a voice in my heart before the wind rose to a hurricane, scattering the flames on all sides into a tempest of burning billows.
我甚至還沒來得及想，臺風(fēng)驟起，四周的火焰被臺風(fēng)吹得四散，
I buried my head in my apron, for I thought that all was lost, when a most terrific crash of thunder burst over our heads,
就像燃燒的巨浪在翻滾。我把頭埋在圍裙里，心想一切都完了，這時頭上響起了一聲巨雷，
and, like the breaking of a waterspout, down came the rushing torrent of rain which had been pent up for so many weeks.
就像水管裂開了，幾周來醞釀著的大雨傾盆而下。
In a few minutes the chip yard was all afloat, and the fire effectually checked.
幾分鐘內(nèi)，貯存場的木片就全漂浮了起來，大火得到了有效地遏制。
The storm which, unnoticed by us, had been gathering all day, and which was the only one of any note we had that summer, continued to rage all night,
我們沒有注意到整天都在醞釀著暴雨，那是那個夏天的唯一一場雨，猛下了一晚，
and before morning had quite subdued the cruel enemy whose approach we had viewed with such dread.
終于在黎明到來前制服了那曾經(jīng)向我們襲來，讓我們?nèi)f分恐懼的殘酷的敵人。
