24

Jameson spent the morning on the telephone.At lunchtime,he announced that it was all'finished'.I was to board a fishing boat at Taormina,a small port on the east coast.We would leave Adrano that night and be there by dawn.

He handed me an anorak,three thin sweaters and a pair of heavy walking boots.

‘If we don't want to be noticed,'he said,‘then we've got to do it the hard way-up there and over the top.'He was pointing towards Mount Etna,still smoking gently in the distance.

‘You mean round the crater,'I said.

‘I mean through the crater-and tkake my word,it's cold up there at night-unless you manage to fall into some molten lava!'( 文章閱讀網(wǎng)：www.sanwen.net )

I might have felt better if Jameson had told me that night trips to see the the crater of Etna were well organised tourist attractions.Jameson's car took us to a spot about two thirds of the way up the south face of the mountain.There we boarded a cable railway that brought us to within striking distance of the top.There were guides,waiting to conduct parties on foot.There were also several old wartime jeeps for hire,complete with drivers.Jameson wanted a jeep but not a driver.I don't know how much money exchanged hands,but when Jameson returned he was driving the jeep himself.He told me to get in the back and to hang on.It wuld be a rough ride.

There were no roads,but rim of the crater was broken by wide cracks or ‘fissures'.From these,streams of solid lava spread down the hillside;evidence of recent eruptions.It was up one of these lava ‘roads'that the jeep set off.

The night glow in the sky abvove the rim of the crater was a reminder that Etna was still an active volcano.Even the ‘road'we were following was pitted with small craters which would suddenly belch clouds of steam or envelope us in choking sulphurous fumes!

At last,we bumped our way through the crack in the rim and were into the crater itself.It was bigger than I expected;a shallow,dusty bowl,several miles wide,the glowing lava like a tiny shimmering lake,far below us in the centre(29).

注釋：

1，I was to board a fishing boat at Taormina：我將在陶爾米納登上漁輪。 be to do：表示按計(jì)劃或安排要做的事。board：上（車、船、飛機(jī)等）。Taormina：陶爾米納，西西里島東海岸小鎮(zhèn)，旅游名勝。

2，by dawn：黎明前。by：不遲于。

3，anorak：連帽風(fēng)雨衣。

4，we've got to do it the hard way-up：我們得走一條艱險(xiǎn)難走的山路。we've got to:we have to。

5，Mount Etna：埃特納火山，意大利西西里島東岸活火山，海拔3200米以上，為歐洲最高的活火山。1979年噴發(fā)時(shí)間持續(xù)三年，最近兩次噴發(fā)時(shí)間分別為2007年9月4日，2011年5月11日。

6，crater：火山口。

7，tkake my word：相信我說(shuō)的話；manage to do sth：想方設(shè)法做成某事。

8，molten lava：熔巖。

10，I might have felt better if Jameson had told me that：假如詹姆森當(dāng)時(shí)就告訴了我······我就會(huì)感到輕松一些（事實(shí)上他并沒(méi)有告訴我，我也就一直提心吊膽的）。虛擬的條件句，從句用過(guò)去完成時(shí)，主句用would（could/might ）have done，表示與過(guò)去事實(shí)相反。

11，well organised tourist attractions：精心組織的游覽旅游景點(diǎn)的活動(dòng)。tourist attractions：旅游風(fēng)景名勝。

12，a spot about two thirds of the way up the south face：從南坡上山行至約三分之二的一個(gè)地點(diǎn)。

13，boarded a cable railway that brought us to within striking distance of the top，乘坐纜車到了離峰頂只有一步之遙的地方。that引導(dǎo)定語(yǔ)從句，其先行詞是cable railway，在從句中作主語(yǔ)；within striking distance of：離······只有一步之遙。

14，guides：tourguides，導(dǎo)游；parties：游客。

15，wartime jeeps for hire,complete with drivers：參加過(guò)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的吉普車，連同司機(jī)一起出租。

16，hang on：抓緊（扶手）。rough ride：艱險(xiǎn)的旅程。

17，but rim of the crater：除了（只有）火山口的邊緣。

18，cracks or ‘fissures'：裂口或“裂縫”。

19，streams of solid lava spread down the hillside：巖漿曾順坡流淌，現(xiàn)已凝成固體。

20，evidence of recent eruptions：表明最近噴發(fā)過(guò)。evidence：證據(jù)。

21，It was up one of these lava ‘roads'that the jeep set off：正是在這樣的一條巖漿凝結(jié)成的“路”上，我們的吉普車出發(fā)了。It was···that：強(qiáng)調(diào)句。

22，active volcano：活火山。

23，Even the ‘road'we were following was pitted with small craters which would suddenly belch clouds of steam or envelope us in choking sulphurous fumes! 甚至在我們行車的“路”上，也有不少小火山口造成的坑坑洼洼；這些坑坑洼洼會(huì)突然噴發(fā)出一團(tuán)團(tuán)水蒸氣，或把我們包裹在嗆人的的硫磺氣味的煙霧中。we were following是road的定語(yǔ)從句，關(guān)系代詞在從句中作賓語(yǔ)，故省。was pitted with：由···形成的坑。which到句末是craters的定語(yǔ)從句，which在從句中作主語(yǔ)。belch：打嗝,噴出,噴射，吐出；choking ：令人窒息的。

24，bumped our way through ：顛來(lái)簸去地穿過(guò)。

25，shallow：淺淺的。

26，shimmering ：微光的，閃爍的。shimmer：（發(fā)）微光，閃爍。比較：glow：發(fā)熱，發(fā)光，發(fā)紅。

24

一上午，詹姆森都在打電話。午飯時(shí)，他宣布一切“搞定”。我將在東海岸的一個(gè)小港，陶爾米納，登上一艘漁輪。我們晚上就從阿德拉諾出發(fā)，黎明前到達(dá)陶爾米納。

他給我一件帶有帽子的風(fēng)雨衣，三件薄毛衣和一雙結(jié)實(shí)的適合步行的靴子。

“不想引起注意，”他說(shuō)，“就得走那條很難走的路——從那上面翻越過(guò)去?！彼钢h(yuǎn)處的埃特納火山；那兒，煙霧依然冉冉升起。

“你的意思是繞著火山口······”

“是穿過(guò)火山口。相信我，那上面晚上較冷——除非你想方設(shè)法掉進(jìn)熔巖里！”

要是詹姆森當(dāng)時(shí)就告訴我，夜游埃特納火山口本來(lái)就是當(dāng)?shù)鼐慕M織的旅游活動(dòng)的話，我也許就不會(huì)那么提心吊膽的了。

詹姆森開(kāi)車帶我從埃特納火山南坡上山，到了離山頂三分之二的一個(gè)地點(diǎn)，換乘纜車。一下纜車，距頂部就只有一步之遙了。有一些導(dǎo)游等在那兒，接待徒步旅行者。也有幾輛戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)時(shí)期的軍用吉普，連帶司機(jī)一起出租。詹姆森想租一輛吉普，但不要司機(jī)。我不知道他到底花了多少錢，但他終于自己開(kāi)了一輛吉普回來(lái)。他要我坐在后排，并且抓緊扶手。這將是一次艱險(xiǎn)的旅程。

除了火山口的邊緣，根本就沒(méi)有路；邊緣上有較寬的裂口或裂縫，從這些裂縫中，巖漿曾經(jīng)流出，順山坡流淌，現(xiàn)已凝結(jié)成固體；它們表明，火山不久前才噴發(fā)過(guò)。正是在這樣的一條巖漿凝結(jié)成的“路”上，我們的吉普車出發(fā)了。

火山口上面的天空中閃著微光；這微光提醒我們：埃特納火山此刻仍然是一座活火山！甚至在我們行車的“路”上，也有不少小小的火山口組成的小小的坑坑洼洼；這些坑坑洼洼會(huì)突然噴發(fā)出一團(tuán)團(tuán)水蒸氣，或把我們包裹在嗆人的硫磺氣味的煙霧中。

顛來(lái)簸去地，我們終于穿過(guò)了邊緣的裂縫地帶，進(jìn)入了火山口里面。它比我想象的還要大，像一個(gè)淺淺的、鋪滿灰塵的大碗，有幾英里寬；火山口的中心——在我們下面深深的最低處——巖漿發(fā)出紅光，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)望去像一個(gè)波光閃閃的小小的湖泊（29）。

注釋：

1，陶爾米納：西西里島東海岸小鎮(zhèn)，旅游名勝。

2，埃特納火山：位于意大利西西里島東岸，海拔3200米以上，為歐洲最高的活火山。1979年那次噴發(fā)，時(shí)間持續(xù)三年；最近兩次噴發(fā)時(shí)間分別為2007年9月4日，2011年5月11日。

首發(fā)散文網(wǎng)：http://www.277762.cc/subject/439387/