Before they knew it, the road had entered the mountains, which were plain and ordinary in shape and devoid of vegetation?apart from withered grasses and vitex?vines in the crevices of the gray rocks. Over the course of hundreds of millions of years, the mountains, weary?of standing, had lain down, sunken?into flatness amid time and sunlight, and turned anyone walking among them just as indolent. “The mountains here are like old villagers basking in the sun,”?she said, but they hadn’t seen any of those old men in the villages they passed through; none more at ease than the mountains. More than once their car had been stopped by a flock?of sheep crossing the road. Beside the road there at last appeared the kind of villages they had imagined, with cave houses and persimmon?and walnut trees and stone-tiled low buildings, roofs piled high with stripped corn cob. Even the dogs were larger and more fierce.

不知不覺，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)路進(jìn)山了。這里的山形狀平淡無奇，沒有深谷懸崖，植被貧瘠，只有灰色巖縫中的枯草和荊條叢。幾億年間，這些站累了的山躺了下來，在陽光和時(shí)間中沉于平和，也使得行走在其中的人們感到自己變得和這山一樣懶散?！斑@里的山像坐在村頭曬太陽的老頭兒們?！彼f，但他們路過的幾個(gè)村子里都沒有見到那樣的老頭兒，沒有誰比這里的山更悠閑。不止一次，車被橫過公路的羊群擋住了，路邊也出現(xiàn)了他們想象中應(yīng)該是那樣的村子——有窯洞和柿子樹核桃樹，石砌的平房頂上高高地垛著已脫粒的玉米芯，狗也變得又大又兇了。

They started and stopped as they went through the mountains, and before they knew it the entire afternoon was spent. The sun was setting, and the road had entered the shadows long ago. He drove along a dirt road pitted with potholes up onto a high ridge?where the sun still shone, and they decided that this would be the terminus?of their journey: They would watch the sun set and then head back. Her long hair blew in the light evening breeze, seemingly striving to seize hold of the last golden rays.

他們?cè)谏介g走走停停，不知不覺消磨了一個(gè)下午，太陽西下，公路早早隱在陰影中了。羅輯開車沿著一條坑洼的土路爬上了一道仍被夕陽映照的高高的山脊，他們決定把這里作為旅行的終點(diǎn)，看太陽落下后就回返。她的長發(fā)在晚風(fēng)中輕揚(yáng)，仿佛在極力抓住夕陽的最后一縷金輝。

They had only just turned onto the highway when the car broke down. The rear?axle?had broken, meaning they had to call for help. A while later he was able to learn the name of the place from the driver of a small passing truck. He was comforted by the fact that his phone had a signal. When he gave his location to the person at the repair station, he was informed that the repair truck would take at least four or five hours to get there.

車剛駛回公路上就拋錨了，后輪軸壞了，只能打電話叫維修救援。羅輯等了好一會(huì)兒，才從一輛路過的小卡車司機(jī)那里打聽到這是什么地方，讓他感到欣慰的是這里手機(jī)有信號(hào)，維修站的人聽完他說的地名后，說維修車至少要四五個(gè)小時(shí)才能到那里。

The mountain air chilled quickly after sunset. After their surroundings began to grow dusky, he collected some corn stalks from a nearby terraced field?and started a fire.

日落后，山里的氣溫很快降下來，當(dāng)周圍的一切開始在暮色中模糊時(shí)，羅輯從附近的梯田里收集來一大堆玉米秸稈，生起了一堆火。

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before sb. knew it：在某人知道之前（某事就發(fā)生了）→不知不覺，很快，突然（某事發(fā)生了）

plain：

n.平原

adj.樸素的;清楚的;明顯的;淺白的;坦誠的;直率的;直接的;不尚修飾 的;簡單的;素的;極普通的;相貌平平的

devoid： adj.缺乏;完全沒有

be devoid of sth. 缺乏……

vegetation： n.植被;(統(tǒng)稱)植物;(尤指某地或環(huán)境的)植物群落;草木

apart from： prep.除了;除了…外(都);要不是;此外;加之

wither： v.枯萎;萎縮;凋謝;(尤指漸漸)破滅，消失

vitex：荊

vine：

n.葡萄藤;藤本植物;攀緣植物;藤;藤蔓

vi.形成藤蔓

crevice： n.裂縫;(巖石或墻壁的)裂隙;裂口

weary：

adj.疲倦的;(尤指長時(shí)間努力工作后)疲憊的;使人疲勞的;使人厭煩的;(對(duì)…)不再感興趣，不再熱心，感到不耐煩

v.使疲勞;使疲倦;(對(duì)…)失去興趣，失去熱情

be weary of sth. （對(duì)…）不再感興趣，不再熱心，感到不耐煩

sunken： adj.沉沒的;沉入水底的;凹陷的，低于周圍平面的;低洼處的

indolent： adj.懶惰的;懶散的;好逸惡勞的

bask： vi.曬太陽;取暖

at ease： 自由自在;=stand at ease.

flock：

n.(尤指同類人的)一大群;(羊或鳥)群

vi.聚集;蜂擁;群集

persimmon： n.柿子

walnut： n.核桃

tile：

n.瓦片;(貼墻或鋪地用的)瓷磚;地磚;片狀材料;(鋪屋頂?shù)?瓦;

vt.鋪瓦;鋪地磚;貼瓷磚;平鋪顯示;瓦片式顯示(視窗)

pile：

n.摞;垛;沓;堆;成堆的東西;大量;許多;絨頭;樁;宏偉建筑物

v.堆放;摞起;疊放;放置;裝入;蜂擁;擁擠

strip：

n.帶;(紙、金屬、織物等)條;(陸地、海域等)狹長地帶

v.脫光衣服;脫掉大部分衣服;扒光…的衣服;剝?nèi)?一層);(尤指)剝光;從（某處）拿走所有東西;拆卸;剝奪

corn cob：玉米棒子;玉米芯;玉米棒;玉米穗;玉米穗軸

pit：

n.礦井;深坑;深洞;麻子

vt.使…表面有斑點(diǎn);在…上打洞

pothole： n.(路面的)坑洼;巖石中的溶洞

ridge：

n.山脊;山脈;隆起;脊;壟;(大氣層的)高壓脊，高壓帶

vt.使隆起;使形成脊?fàn)?/p>

terminus： n.終點(diǎn);(鐵路或公共汽車路線的)終點(diǎn)站

seize hold of sth. 抓住……

rear： adj.后方的;后面的;后部的

axle： n.軸;車軸;輪軸

learn： v.聽到;得知;獲悉

chill： v.使很冷;使冰冷;(使)冷卻

dusky： adj.昏暗的;暗淡的;(顏色)暗的，柔和的

corn stalk： 玉米秸；去穗整株玉米

terraced field：梯田