第二冊(cè)第18篇：火災(zāi)見聞
Jacob August Rits 雅各布·里斯
Thirteen years have passed since, but it is all to me as if it had happened yesterday, -- the clanging of the fire-bells, the hoarse shouts of the firemen, the wild rush and terror of the streets; then the great hush that fell upon the crowd; the sea of upturned faces(1) with the fire glow upon it; and there, against the background of black smoke that poured from roof and attic, the boy clinging to the narrow ledge so far up that it seemed humanly impossible that help could ever come.
事情已經(jīng)過去十三年了，然而對(duì)我來說，它仿佛是昨天才發(fā)生似的--報(bào)火警鐘的當(dāng)當(dāng)聲，消防隊(duì)員聲嘶力竭的喊叫聲，大街上人們狂奔亂跑，驚恐萬分。突然，人群寂靜無聲。熊熊的火光照著那無數(shù)張向上仰望著的臉。那邊，小男孩緊緊地拽住墻壁上狹窄的突出部分，后面是屋頂和頂樓里噴涌而出的黑煙，他離地面是那么高，看來人力是無法搭救他的了。
But even then it was coming. Up from the street, while the crew of the truck-company were labouring with the heavy extension ladder that at its longest stretch was many feet too short, crept four men upon long slender poles with cross- bars, iron-hooked at the end. Standing in one window, they reached up and thrust the hook through the next one above, then mounted a storey higher. Again the crash of glass, and again the dizzy ascent. Straight up the wall they crept, looking like human flies on the ceiling, and clinging as close, never resting, reaching one recess only to set out for the next; nearer and nearer in the race for life, until but a single span separated the foremost from the boy. And now the iron hook fell at his feet, and the fireman stood upon the step with :the rescued lad in his arms, just as the pentup flame burst lurid from the attic window, reaching with impotent fury for its prey(2). The next moment the) were safe upon the great ladder waiting to receive them below.
但是，盡管這樣，還是有人來搭救了。消防梯車上的救火隊(duì)員正在費(fèi)勁地架起笨重的伸縮梯，但是那梯子伸足后還是太短，差了一大截。這時(shí)候，四名消防隊(duì)員緣著細(xì)長(zhǎng)的桿子從街面往樓上爬，桿子上裝有橫檔，頂端用鐵鉤鉤住。他們站上一扇窗口，把桿子伸上去，用鉤子鉤住上面的窗子，隨后又爬上一層樓。接著，又一陣砸碎玻璃的砰砰聲，又一次令人頭暈?zāi)垦５呐实?。他們沿著墻壁筆直地往上爬，看上去小得好似天花板上的蒼蠅。四名消防隊(duì)員緊貼著墻，不歇?dú)獾匾粋€(gè)窗臺(tái)接著一個(gè)窗臺(tái)向上爬。在這場(chǎng)爭(zhēng)奪生命的競(jìng)賽中，他們愈爬愈近了，爬在最前面的消防隊(duì)員離小孩只剩下一柞的距離了。這時(shí)候，鐵鉤落到了孩子的腳下，接著，消防隊(duì)員站在踏腳上，用雙手抱下了小男孩。就在這一剎那，一片火光，烈焰終于沖破濃煙，猛地從頂樓窗口噴了出來，想攫住它嘴邊的獵物，可是卻只能白白地冒火了。接著，消防隊(duì)員和小男孩安然踏上了在下面候著他們的大梯子。
Then such a shout went up ! Men fell on each other's necks, and cried and laughed at once. trangers slapped one another on the back with glistening faces, shook hands, and behaved generally like men gone suddenly mad. Women wept in the street. The driver of a car stalled in the crowd, who had stood through it all speechless, clutching the reins, whipped his horses into a gallop and drove away, yelling like a Comanche(3), to relieve his feelings(4). The boy and his rescuer were carried across the street without anyone knowing how. Policemen forgot their dignity and shouted with the rest. Fire, peril, terror, and loss were alike forgotten in the one touch of nature(5) that makes the whole world kin.
一下于，爆發(fā)出一陣熱烈的歡呼聲。男人們互相摟著脖子，又是叫，又是笑。互不相識(shí)的人拍打著對(duì)方的背脊，相互握手，臉上喜氣洋洋，一個(gè)個(gè)象突然瘋了似的。女人們?cè)诮稚峡奁?。一個(gè)馬車夫連車帶入被阻塞在人群牛，他緊握韁繩，自始至終沒說過一句話，這時(shí)一聲響鞭，策馬驅(qū)車，飛馳而去，象科曼契人那樣叫喊著，以發(fā)泄他心中的情感。那個(gè)小男孩和他的救命恩人被人們高抬著穿過大街，誰也不知道怎么會(huì)這樣的。警察也忘了他們自己的身分，跟著別人高聲歡呼。這四海之內(nèi)皆兄弟的本性使人們把大火、險(xiǎn)情、恐懼和損失全都忘得一千二凈。
Fireman John Binns was made captain of his crew, and the Bennett medal was pinned on his coat on the next parade day.
救火員約翰.賓斯被任命為消防隊(duì)長(zhǎng)。在下一次檢閱中，賓斯的外衣上給佩上了一枚貝內(nèi)特獎(jiǎng)?wù)隆?/p>
英文注釋：
(1) the sea of upturned faces：無數(shù)張仰起的臉。一般用a sea of...表示"許許多多，一大片"。這里作者回憶從前的情景，一切都?xì)v歷在目，所以用定冠詞。
(2) prey：獵物，犧牲品。這里是指火焰所要攫取的小男孩。
(3)Comanche：科曼契人(美國(guó)印地安人)。
(4)to relieve his feelings：發(fā)泄其感情。
(5)the one touch of nature：自然賦予人類的感情，本性。
