美國語文第四冊 第181期：白蘭地酒河淺灘（03）
He saw at last that they had fallen behind the furious onset of the flood,
雖然洪峰把他們落在后面，
but Roger was still swimming with it, desperately throwing up his head from time to time, and snorting the water from his nostrils.
羅杰仍然絕望地游著，不時探頭從鼻孔噴出水。
All his efforts to gain a foothold failed; his strength was nearly spent, and unless some help should come in a few minutes it would come in vain.
他想找到落腳地，可是他的努力都失敗了；他幾乎用盡了力氣，除非幾分鐘后有人來救援，否則一切都是徒勞。
And in the darkness, and the rapidity with which they were borne along, how should help come?
可是天又黑洪水又急，怎么會有人救援呢？
All at once Roger's course stopped.
吉爾伯特停了下來。
He became an obstacle to the flood, which pressed him against some other obstacle below, and rushed over horse and rider.
吉爾伯特突然感到身體下方有一股力量在吸引他的身體，
Thrusting out his hand, Gilbert felt the rough bark of a tree.
他費力向外伸出手，摸到了粗糙的樹干。
Leaning towards it, and clasping the log in his arms, he drew himself from the saddle, while Roger, freed from his burden, struggled into the current and instantly disappeared.
他向樹靠近，雙臂抱住樹干，離開了馬鞍，同時羅杰由于減少了分量，被奔騰的洪流沖走，立刻消失了。
As nearly as Gilbert could ascertain, several timbers, thrown over each other, had lodged, probably upon a rocky islet in the stream, the uppermost one projecting slantingly out of the flood.
正如吉爾伯特想到的，幾根木材摞在一起，堆在水中一處小島上，最上面那根傾斜著伸出水面。
It required all his strength to resist the current which sucked, and whirled, and tugged at his body, and to climb high enough to escape its force, without overbalancing his support.
他使出全身力氣對抗著吸引他的旋渦，向更高處爬才躲開，又避免抱住的大樹失去平衡。
At last, though still half immerged, he found himself comparatively safe for a time, yet as far as ever from a final rescue.
最后，盡管半個身體還在水里，但他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己相對安全了，可是離最后獲救仍然很遙遠。
Yet a new danger now assailed him, from the increasing cold.
這時新的危險襲來，水越來越冷。
There was already a sting of frost, a breath of ice, in the wind.
風(fēng)也帶著寒霜和冰的氣息。
In another hour the sky was nearly swept bare of clouds, and he could note the lapse of the night by the sinking of the moon.
一個小時后，天空中烏云被吹散了，從正在落山的月亮知道夜晚即將過去。
But he was by this time hardly in a condition to note anything more.
可是他這時已經(jīng)沒法注意更多東西了。
