Chapter16 Fire in the Chimney 烟囱起火-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《草原小屋Little House on the Prairie》下

Chapterl Fire in the Chimney THE prairie had changed. Now it was a dark yellow, almost brown, and red streaks^{①} of sumac②} lay across it. The wind wailed in the tall grass, and it whispered sadly across the curly, short buffalo{③ grass. At night the wind sounded like someone crying. Pa said again that this was a great country. In the Big Woods he had had to cut hay④and cure it and stack it and put it in the barn for winter. Here on the High Prairie, the sun had cured the wild grass where it stood, and all winter the mustangs} and the cow could mow^}their own hay. He needed only a small stack, for stormy days. Now the weather was cooler and he would go to town. He had not gone while the summer was hot, because the heat would be too hard on Pet and Patty. They must pull the wagon twenty miles a day, to get to town in two days. And he did not want to be away from home any longer than he had to. He stacked the small stack of hay by the barn. He cut the winter's wood and corded{③} it in a long cord against the house. Now he had only to get meat enough to last while he was gone, so he tood his gun and 236 乙 烟肉起火 ① streak /stri:k/ n. 条 大草原变了样儿。绿色的草原现在变成深黄色 理,斑纹,倾向 的,近似褐色,盐肤木果子形成的红色条纹横卧在 ② sumac /'su:maek,'fu:-/ n. 大草原上。风在高高的草丛中呼啸,鸣咽着越过拳 盐肤木:漆树 ③ buffalo /bafoloo/ n 曲,低矮的野牛草。到了夜间,风声就像是人在哭 水牛 泣。 ④hay/hei/n. 干草 stack /staek/v. 堆积 爸爸一再说,这个地方很大。过去在大森林里, mustang /mAstaen/ n.野马 他要割晒干草,堆积起来,放在马棚里过冬用。在 mow /mao.mou/ v. 这大草原上,太阳自然晒干长在地里的野草,整个 割草 冬天,马匹和母牛可以自给自足。爸爸只需要储存 一小堆草,供暴风雨天用就可以了。 眼下天气凉了些,爸爸该到镇上去了。炎热的 夏天他没有去,因为暑天上路,对皮特和帕蒂来说 太辛苦了。它们要一天拉着车走20英里路,走两 天才能到镇上。再说,除非万不得已,爸爸不愿轻 ⑧cord/ko:d/ n. 绳索. 易离开家。 束缄 爸爸在马既旁边积了一块干草。他砍了过冬用 的木柴,用绳子捆起来放在房子旁边。现在,他只 237 cittfe 3House on the Prairie went hunting. Laura and Mary played in the wind outdoors. When they heard a shot echo{①} in the woods along the creek, they knew that Pa had got some meat. The wind was cooler now, and all along the creek bottoms flocks② of wild ducks were rising, flying, settling again. Up from the creek came long lines of wild geese, forming in V's for their flight③ farther south. The leader in front called to those behind him. "Honk?" he called All down the lines the wild geese answered, one after another. "Honk." “Honk.""Honk."Then he cried,"Honk!"And,"Honk-honk!Honk- honk!" The others answered him. Straight away south he flew on his strong wings, and the long lines evenly followed him. The tree-tops along the creek were colored now. Oaks were reds and yellows and browns and greens. Cottonwoods and sycamores④ and walnuts were sunshiny yellow. The sky was not so brightly blue, and the wind was rough. That afternoon the wind blew fiercely and it was cold. Ma called Mary and Laura into the house. She built up the fire and drew her rocker near it, and she sat rocking Baby Carrie and singing softly to her. "By lo,baby bunting. Papa's gone a-hunting, To get a rabbit skin To wrap{the baby bunting in." Laura heard a little crackling in the chimney. Ma stopped singing. She bent forward and looked up the chimney. Then she got up quietly, put Carrie in Mary's arms, pushed Mary down into the rocking-chair, and hurried outdoors. Laura ran after her. 238 草原小屋 需要捕足野味,供家人在他离开这段时间吃就行 了,于是他拿上枪打猎去了。 ①echo/ekou/ n. 回 劳拉和玛丽在门外风中玩要。 她们听到沿河森 声,回音 林里的枪声,就知道爸爸捕获了猎物。 风吹得更凉了,一群群野鸭沿河边低地飞起 ② flock/flpk/n. 群 来,飞一会儿,又落下来。河边低地上游飞来一 行行大雁,组成“V”字形向遥远的南方飞行。 ③flight /flait/n. 飞行 前面领头的大雁向后面的伙伴呼唤着。 “哇?” 它叫道。后面行列里的大雁依次回答“哇” “哇”“哇”,然后,它又叫一声“哇!”其他大 雁答应:“哇--哇!”“哇--哇!”,头雁鼓 起有力的翅膀径直向南飞去,长长的雁阵平稳地 跟随着它。 ④ svcamore Psikamo:.-mpo/ n 沿河的树梢都变了颜色。橡树一片片红,一片 枫树,美国梧桐 walnut /wo:lnat/ n. 片黄,一片片绿,还有的变成了褐色,五彩纷呈。 胡桃 三角叶杨、梧桐,还有胡桃树都染上了阳光的金 fiereely /fiasl/ ad. 好列地,厉害地 辉。天空不再像以前那么湛蓝,风吹得急了。 那天下午,风刮得凶猛,天气很冷。妈妈把玛 丽和劳拉叫进屋。她架起炉火,把摇椅拉到炉火跟 前,她坐下摇着小卡里,温柔地对她唱着歌; bunting /bAntin/ n. 白颊鸟:(婴儿的)睡 袋 “噢噢,宝宝睡着了。 爸爸出门去打猎, 打只野兔剥下皮, ⑧wrap/raep/vt. 包,离 宝宝睡在免皮里。” 劳拉听到烟肉里有辟瞎啪啪的声音。 妈妈立刻 止住歌声。她区下身子朝烟囱上面看了看,然后轻 轻地站起来,把卡里放在玛丽的怀里,一把将玛丽 239· cittfe 3House on the Prairie The whole top of the chimney was on fire. The sticks that made it were burning up. The fire was roaring{①} in the wind and licking toward the helpless roof. Ma seized a long pole and struck and struck at the roaring fire, and burning sticks fell all around her. Laura didn't know what to do. She grabbed a pole, too, but Ma told her to stay away. The roaring fire was terrible. It could burn the whole house and Laura couldn't do anything She ran into the house. Burning sticks and coals were falling down the chimney and rolling out on the hearth②. The house was full of smoke. One big, blazing③} stick rolled on the floor, under Mary's skirts Mary couldn't move, she was so scared④. Laura was too scared to think. She grabbed the back of the heavy rocking-chair and pulled with all her might}. The chair with Mary and Carrie in it came sliding back across the floor. Laura grabbed up the burning stick and flung{} it into the fireplace just as Ma came in. "That's a good girl, Laura, to remember I told you never to leave fire on the floor," Ma said. She took the water-pail and quickly and quietly poured water on the fire in the fireplace. Clouds of steam came out. Then Ma said, "Did you burn your hands?" She looked at Laura's hands, but they were not burned, because she had thrown the burning stick so quickly. Laura was not really crying. She was too big to cry. Only one tear ran out of each eye and her throat choked{} up, but that was not crying. She hid her face against Ma and hung on to her tight. She was so glad the fire had not hurt Ma. “Don't cry, Laura,"Ma said, stroking her hair."Were you afraid?" 240 草原小屋 推进摇椅,急急忙忙地跑到门外。劳拉跟着跑了出 去。 ①roar /ro:/v. 吼 整个烟肉顶上全是火。搭烟肉的木条在燃烧。 火在风中怒吼,火舌向无能为力的房顶舔去。妈妈 抓起一根长杆子抽打那怒吼的火,燃烧的木条一根 根掉下来落在她的周围 劳拉不知道该怎么办。她也抓起一根棍子,可 是妈妈叫她躲开。呼啸的火势很可怕。它会烧毁整 ② hearth /ha:/n. 炉 个房子,而劳拉却使不上劲。 床,姓台,炉边 ③blazing /bleizin/ a. 她跑进房子。燃烧的木条和烧焦的木头从烟肉 强烈的,燃烧的,炫 里掉下来滚在壁炉底。房子里满屋烟。一根烧旺的 日的 ④ scared /skeod/ a. 害 大木条滚到地板上,滚到玛丽的裙子底下。玛丽不 怕的 能动弹,她被吓呆了。 might /mait/n. 力 量,威力 劳拉也惊慌失措。她抓住沉重的摇椅椅背,拼 flung /flAn/ fling 的 过去式(分词) 命地向后拖。坐着玛丽和卡里的椅子在地板上向后 滑动了。劳拉抓起燃烧的木条,扔进壁炉里,恰在 这时,妈妈进来了。 “真是个好孩子,劳拉,记住我的话,不要让火 掉在地板上。”妈妈说着,拿起水桶麻利而稳稳地 将水泼在壁炉里的火上。顿时,壁炉里冒出了团团 烟雾。 然后,妈妈问: “你的手烧伤了吗?”她看看劳 拉的双手,没有烧伤,劳拉扔那根着火的木头时, 动作很快。 7 choke /tfook/ v. 空 劳拉真的没有哭。她大了,不能再哭哭啼啼了。 息 只是眼晴里滚出一滴泪水,喉咙嘻住了,但那不是 哭。她把脸埋在妈妈怀里,紧紧地靠着妈妈。她真 高兴妈妈没有烧伤。 stroke /strook/v. 抚 “别哭,劳拉,”妈妈抚摸着她的头发说, “你 241· cittfe 3House on the Prairie "Yes," Laura said. "I was afraid Mary and Carie would burn up.I was afraid the house would burn up and we wouldn't have any house. I'm-I'm scared now!" Mary could talk now. She told Ma how Laura had pulled the chair away from the fire. Laura was so little, and the chair was so big and so heavy with Mary and Carrie in it, that Ma was surprised. She said she didn't know how Laura had done it. "You were a brave girl, Laura," she said. But Laura had really been terribly scared. "And no harm's done,"Ma said. "The house didn't burn up, and Mary's skirts didn't catch fire and burn her and Carrie. So everything is all right." When Pa came home he found the fire out. The wind was roaring over the low stone top of the chimney and the house was cold. But Pa said he would build up the chimney with green sticks and fresh clay^①, and plaster②} it so well that it wouldn't catch fire again. He had brought four fat ducks, and he said he could have killed hundreds. But four were all they needed. He said to Ma, "You save the feathers③ from the ducks and geese we eat, and I'll shoot you a feather bed." He could, of course, have got a deer, but the weather was not yet cold enough to freeze④} the meat and keep it from spoiling} before they could eat it. And he had found the place where a flock of wild turkeys roosted{}."Our Thanksgiving{⑧} and Christmas turkeys," he said."Great, big, fat fellows. I'll get them when the time comes." Pa went whistling to mix mud and cut green sticks and build the chimney up again, while Ma cleaned the ducks. Then the fire merrily crackled, a fat duck roasted, and the cornbread baked. Everything was snug{①and cozy{①} again. 242 草原小屋 害怕啦?” “是的,”劳拉说, “我害怕烧坏玛丽和卡里, 我害怕房子烧毁,咱们就没有房子了。我......我现 在还怕!” 玛丽这时能说话了。她告诉妈妈,劳拉是怎样 把椅子从火边拉开的。劳拉那么小,而椅子那么 大、那么重,加上里面坐着玛丽和卡里,妈妈听了 很惊奇。她说,她不知道劳拉刚才是怎么拉动椅子 的。 “你是一个勇敢的孩子,劳拉。”她说。不过, 劳拉当时真的是吓懵了 “没有什么损失,”妈妈说, “房子没着火,玛 丽的裙子没烧着,她和卡里也没受伤。一切都平安 无事。” ①clay/kle/n. 粘土 爸爸到家时,他发现火已经灭了。风在烟 泥土 肉的矮石顶上吼叫,屋子冷冰冰的。不过,爸 ② plaster /pla:sta/ v. 涂以灰泥 爸说没关系。他要用青木条和新和的粘土重新 砌一个烟图,用泥抹得光光的,让它再不会着 火。 ③ feather /feoo/n. 羽 毛 爸爸带回来4只肥鸭子,他说,他可以打几百 ④ freeze /fri:z/ v. 冻 结,冷动,僵硬 只。不过,4只足够他们吃了。他对妈妈说: “你 spoil /spoil/v. 腐坏 turkey /ta:k/n. 火 保存好咱们吃掉的鸭子和大雁的羽毛,我要多打一 鸡 些,给你做一张羽绒床。” roost /ru:st/v. 栖息 ⑧ Thanksgiving 当然,他还可以捕到鹿,但天气还不够冷,鹿 /0enks'gvin/n. 感 恩节 肉冻不起来,来不及吃,就会变质。他还找到火鸡 merrily /merilr/ ad. 栖息的地方。“咱们在感恩节和圣诞节吃的火鸡,” 欢乐地,愉快地 o snug/snAg/a. 舒适 他说,“都是些又大又肥的家伙。临近过节的时 候,我去打回来。” cozy /kaoz/a. 舒 适的 爸爸吹着口哨,和泥、砍木条,又砌起了烟肉, .243· cittfe 3House on the Prairie After supper Pa said he supposed he'd better start to town early next morning."Might as well go and get it over with,"he said. "Yes, Charles, you'd better go,"Ma said. “We could get along all right, if I didn't,"said Pa. "There's no need of running to town all the time, for every little thing. I have smoked better tobacco^{①} than that stuff{② Scott raised back in Indiana, bu it will do. I'll raise some next summer and pay him back. I wish I hadn't borrowed those nails from Edwards." "You did borrow them, Charles,"Ma replied. "And as for the tobacco, you don't like borrowing any more than I do. We need more quinine③. I've been sparing④ with the cornmeal, but it's almost gone and so is the sugar. You could find a bee-tree, but there's no cornmeal tree to be found, so far as I know,and we'll raise no corn till next year A little salt pork would taste good, too, after all this wild game. And, Charles, I'd like to write to the folksin Wisconsin. If you mail a letter now, they can write this winter, and then we can hear from them next spring." "You're right, Caroline. You always are,"Pa said. Then he turned to Mary and Laura and said it was bedtime}. If he was going to start early in the morning,he'd better start sleeping early tonight. He pulled off his boots while Mary and Laura got into their nightgowns. But when they were in bed he took down his fiddle. Softly he played and softly sang, "So green grows the laurel{}, And so does the rue{, So woeful^{},my love, At the parting with you." 244 草原小屋 这时,妈妈腿洗了鸭子。炉火兴冲冲地瞬哩啪啦 响,一只肥鸭烤熟了,玉米面包也烤好了。一切又 是那么温馨而舒适 晚饭后,爸爸说他想最好是第二天一大早 就动身去镇上。“迟早的事,还是早点去吧。” 他说。 ① tobacco /ta'baekao n.烟草 “对,查尔斯,早点去好。”妈妈说。 ② stuff /stAf/ n. 东西 “要是我不去,咱们的日子也能过得去,”爸爸 说, “没有必要为每一件小事总往城里跑。斯科特 从印第安纳州带回来的烟叶子,我抽着味道是差 ③ quinine /kwr'ni:n: 些,但也凑和。明年夏天我种了还他。要是没有借 (US) 'kwanan/ n. 爱德华兹那些钉子就好了。” 奎宁 ④ spare /speo/v. 节约 “可是你借了,查尔斯,”妈妈回答说, “至 于烟叶子,你比我更不愿意多借。咱们需要一些 奎宁。尽管我尽量节省玉米面,但也快吃完了, folk/fook/n. 人们 Wisconsin 还有糖也是。据我知道,咱们能找到蜜蜂树,可 /wis'kpnsin/n. 威 找不到玉米面树呀,而咱们要到明年才能种玉 斯康辛(美国州名) 米。弄点庵猪肉回来,味道也一定不错,整天吃 这些野味怪腻的。还有,查尔斯,我想给威斯康 bedtime /bedtaim/ 星州的家人写一封信。如果你现在发,他们今年 n. 就寝时问 冬天收到,明年春天我们就能收到他们的回信 啦。” “卡罗琳,你说得对,你总是对的。”爸爸说。 然后,他转身对玛丽和劳拉说,该睡觉了。他明天 早上要早点动身,今晚最好早点睡。 ③ laurel /lprol/n. 月 桂树 他脱下靴子,玛丽和劳拉穿上睡衣。可是她们 rue /ru:/n.芸香 躺到床上时,爸爸又摘下他的小提琴,轻轻地拉起 o woeful /waofol/ a 悲伤的,悲哀的 来,温柔地唱道: “月桂树呀绿油油, .245·