29

The lava at the crater's centre had looked harmless enough as we had driven in.Now,it had burst into life,throwing up fountains of molten rock high into the air.Jameson turned around in his seat.

‘Not to worry!'he shouted.‘It won't reach us here.We're sticking to the edge until we reach the north wall.We leave the crater there and head down to a ski resort called Piano Provenzana.There's transport there to take us to Linguaglossa.I've got a car waitng at Linguaglossa that should get us to Taormina in good time for your fishing trip.'

I had begun to enjoy the natural‘firework'display when I noticed that Jameson kept looking in the driving mirror.

‘We've got a tail-another jeep close behind us.In all this light from the fireworks,I'm pretty sure I know who.It's Filippo Gela,Lippari's lieutenant-one of the best “hit”men to crawl out of the slums of Palermo.'

He tossed a pistol into the back of the jeep.( 文章閱讀網(wǎng)：www.sanwen.net )

‘I'm going to try to lose him.Get down on the floor and hang on.The gun's a “Magnum”-not a toy!I'll tell you if I want you to use it.'

I could see nothing out of the back of the jeep because of the canvas cover,but I threw myself to the floor just as we lurched forward into a wild swerve.I coud feel that we were travelling downhill.The bumping got worse and the increasing sensation of speed more frightening .

Ash started to rain down on the canvas above me.Suddenly,it burst into flame and hot rock splattered the floor around.Jameson had gone mad!I eased myself off the floor,Jameson had gone.The driver's seat was empty!I could see nothing ahead but fountains of molten lava!The canvas at the back of the jeep was already burning.I flung myself through it.

I landed in hot,soft ash.Before I could move,there was a roar in my ears and a wave of heat shot over me.The jeep had exploded!

I had to get away from the heat.Hot ash and small rocks were scorching my skin and burning my clothes.I staggered upwards towards the rim.Was there a boat at Taormina(33)?Could I make it to Palermo and hope that someone would believe my story(35)?

注釋：

1，lava：火山巖漿，熔巖。harmless：無(wú)害的；harm：有害的。

2，burst into life：突然有了生命。

3，throwing up fountains of molten rock high into the air：熾熱的石塊像噴泉般高高地射向天空。

fountain：噴泉；molten：熔化的，熾熱的。

4，stick to ：堅(jiān)持；edge：邊緣；wall：墻一般的崖壁。

5，head down to a ski resort called Piano Provenzana：下山到達(dá)一個(gè)叫皮亞諾·普羅文扎諾的滑雪場(chǎng)。

6，I've got a car waitng at··· that should get us ：我搞了輛車在林瓜羅薩等著，那輛車會(huì)帶我們及時(shí)趕到陶爾米納送你上漁船。a car有兩個(gè)定語(yǔ)：waitng at和定語(yǔ)從句that should get us···，關(guān)系代詞that在從句中作主語(yǔ)。

7，firework display ：焰火表演，燃放煙花。when：突然，就在那時(shí)。driving mirror：（汽車）后視鏡。

8，pretty sure：相當(dāng)?shù)卮_定?！癶it”men ：“成功”人士。此處用引號(hào)有特殊意義。crawl out of the slums：從平民窟爬出來(lái)。

9，tossed a pistol into:扔過(guò)來(lái)一支手槍。

10，try to lose him：想法甩掉他。

11，Get down on the floor and hang on：趴在車底板上，抓緊扶手。

12,Magnum:馬格南牌的手槍。

13,because of：由于，因?yàn)?；because of是介詞，后接名詞或名詞性短語(yǔ)；because 是連詞，后接句子；canvas cover:帆布頂篷。

14，just as：正當(dāng)；lurched forward into a wild swerve：急轉(zhuǎn)彎而向一側(cè)傾斜。lurch：突然傾斜，搖晃； swerve：轉(zhuǎn)彎，突然轉(zhuǎn)向。

15,bumping got worse···the increasing sensation of speed more frightening ：顛簸更加厲害，感到車速越來(lái)越快，也越加令人恐懼。

16，Ash started to rain down ：火山灰開始雨點(diǎn)般落下。

17，burst into flame：著火。splatter：（液體）飛濺，濺落。go mad：發(fā)瘋，發(fā)狂。

18, ease··· off：把······輕輕移開。had gone：不見了。

19，I flung myself through it：我飛身穿越火焰，（躍出車外）。fling：投擲；it：指火焰。

20，land：著陸，著地。

21，move：移動(dòng)，動(dòng)彈。roar：呼嘯，巨響； a wave of heat shot over me：一波熱浪蓋過(guò)了我。explode; 爆炸。

22，scorch：燒焦，灼傷。stagger：（步履蹣跚/搖搖晃晃地）走。upwards:向上； towards：向前；

rim：邊緣。

23，make it to：到達(dá)，及時(shí)趕到。

29

我們駛進(jìn)火山口的時(shí)候，中心的熔巖看起來(lái)還在酣睡。此刻，它突然迸發(fā)出了生命，一下子活躍了起來(lái)：熾熱的石塊像噴泉般高高地射向天空。詹姆森轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭來(lái)。

“別擔(dān)心！”他大聲說(shuō)，“那些巖石落不到我們這兒來(lái)。我們緊貼著邊緣開到北面那堵像墻一樣的山壁，從那兒下山，到達(dá)一個(gè)叫皮亞諾·普羅文扎諾的滑雪場(chǎng)；滑雪場(chǎng)有交通工具帶我們到林瓜羅薩；我搞了輛車在那兒等著，那輛車會(huì)帶我們及時(shí)趕到陶爾米納送你上船。”

我正要好好地欣賞一下這大自然展示的煙花美景，突然注意到詹姆森不停地看著后視鏡。

“后面有個(gè)尾巴——另一輛吉普緊緊咬住了我們。憑借這些亮光，我可以肯定是菲利普·杰拉，李帕利的副官，他是從巴勒莫貧民窟里爬出來(lái)的最‘成功’的人士之一?！?/p>

他扔過(guò)來(lái)一支手槍。

“我得想辦法甩掉他。趴在車底板上，抓緊扶手。這是馬格南手槍，可不是玩具。需要用槍時(shí)，我會(huì)叫你。”

因?yàn)榉柬斉駬踔?，我朝后面什么也看不見。吉普突然向一?cè)傾斜，狂野地轉(zhuǎn)著急彎，我撲到在地板上。我感覺(jué)到已在下坡；顛簸越來(lái)越猛，車速越來(lái)越快，恐懼越來(lái)越烈。

火山灰開始雨點(diǎn)般地打在車篷頂上。突然，車篷燃了起來(lái)，滾燙的巖石濺落下來(lái)。車子發(fā)瘋般地疾駛。我輕輕移開地板，卻見駕駛員座位上空空如也，詹姆森已不知去向！除了噴泉般的熔巖，前面什么也看不見！此刻，吉普車頂篷的后半部分也已經(jīng)燃起來(lái)了！我飛身穿越火焰，躍出車外。

我掉進(jìn)了灼熱而松軟的火山灰里。還未來(lái)得及動(dòng)彈，只聽一聲巨響，熱浪鋪天蓋地：吉普車爆炸了！

必須立即脫離這灼熱之地。滾燙的火山灰和那些小石塊灼傷我的皮膚，燃燒著我的衣服。我掙扎著爬起來(lái)，搖搖晃晃地朝上走向火山口的邊緣。

陶爾米納果真有船接我（33）？我還能夠成功地回到巴勒莫并有望讓人相信我的經(jīng)歷嗎（35）？

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