33

Once I was clear of the rain of hot ash,I paused to catch my breath.I looked around me,but there was no sign of Filippo Gela,or the other jeep.I only had Jamesom's word that it had ever exisisted,but what had happened to Jamesom?Had he been shot?Had he been thrown out?Had he jumped?Now I began to wonder whether it was Jameson who was the killer.Had I been intended to disappear with the jeep into the firey furnace below me?I refused to belived it.

I started to search for Jameson,but the jeep must have run many miles down the hill.It would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.I scrambled slowly up to what I thought must be the north wall of the crater.Once through it ,I ran down the hillside.By good luck more than judgement,I found Piano Provenzana,but the ski resort was closed and there was no one about.

I struggled on downhill through the pine woods,stopping at several of the many streams to ease my burns.A rough road led me into Linguarlossa.An early farm worker,pushing a bicycle,nearly turned tail when he saw my wild appearance,but the offer 10,000 lira,quikly persuaded him to lend me the ancient machine.I told him that I would leave it at the harbour at Taormina.

The road down to Taoemina was steep and I made the journey in record time.There were only two fishing boats in the harbour.I propped the bicycle against a wall and ran towards them.A young man was leaning over the stern of the one nearest to me.

‘Notta needa run!'he shouted.‘We notta leave five,ten minutes.'( 文章閱讀網(wǎng)：www.sanwen.net )

I stopped；gasping for breath.

‘How did you know···How did you know it was me you were expecting?'

He laughed.

‘You look like you just escaping“Devil's Island”!Only thing issa missing is warders and sound of dogs barking!'

He held out a hand.

‘I'll explain-later,'I said.

‘No need,'he told me.'I notta get paid for asking questions.'

Notes:

1,Once I was clear of the rain of hot ash:我一旦把滾燙的火山灰抖落掉。clear of：清除。

2，pause：暫停；catch one's breath：喘氣;sign:跡象。or：也沒有。

3，I only had Jamesom's word that it had ever exisisted：我只記得詹姆森的話。that it had ever exisisted是word的同位語從句。exisist：存在。本句中的it指菲利普駕駛的吉普車。

4，what had happened to Jamesom：詹姆森怎么樣了？

5，began to wonder whether it was Jameson who was the killer：開始懷疑殺手是否正是詹姆森。it was···who ：強(qiáng)調(diào)句型。

6，Had I been intended to disappear with the jeep into the firey furnace below me?他是否本來打算，讓我與吉普車一起消失在那下面烈焰騰騰的熔爐中？Had I been intended：難道我被有意地······；這是過去完成時(shí)被動(dòng)態(tài)的一般疑問句；intend：意圖，打算；firey furnace：燃著火的熔爐。

7，search for：尋找；the jeep must have run many miles down the hill：吉普車準(zhǔn)是已經(jīng)駛下山有好幾英里了；must have done：表示對已發(fā)生情況的推測；searching for a needle in a haystack：在干草堆中尋找一顆針，大海撈針；haystack：干草堆。

8， what I thought must be the north wall of the crater：我所認(rèn)為的準(zhǔn)是火山口北面像一堵墻一樣的山壁；must be：表示推測。

9,By good luck more than judgement:靠運(yùn)氣而不是判斷正確；Piano Provenzana：皮亞諾·普羅文扎諾滑雪場； ski resort：滑雪勝地。about：在周圍，在附近。

10，pine woods：松樹林；ease my burns：減輕我燒傷之痛。

11，rough：粗造的，起伏不平的。

12，turned tail：轉(zhuǎn)身欲逃；wild appearance：野人般的樣子。the offer 10,000 lira：主動(dòng)提出給他10，000里拉。ancient ：老式的，很舊的。

13，made the journey in record time：以創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的時(shí)間完成了這段旅程。

14，propped the bicycle against a wall：靠墻架起自行車。

15，leaning over the stern：倚靠在船尾。notta needa run：不必跑（注意這個(gè)小伙子講的英語不規(guī)范）。

16，gasping for breath：喘著氣。expect：等待，期待。

17，‘You look like you just escaping“Devil's Island”!Only thing issa missing is warders and sound of dogs barking!'： “你這模樣，就像剛剛從“惡魔島”逃出來的！只差莫有警察和狗叫聲了！”

18，get paid for：因······而獲得報(bào)酬。

33

一旦把滿身滾燙的火山灰抖落干凈，我就停下來喘口氣。我看了看四周，根本就沒有什么菲利普·杰拉，也不見那輛吉普車的影子。我只聽詹姆森說過，菲利普開著吉普車跟蹤，但我并沒有看見；而詹姆森呢，他怎么樣了？——中槍而亡？被顛出車外，還是已經(jīng)跳車脫險(xiǎn)？我現(xiàn)在倒開始懷疑，殺手是否正是詹姆森？他是否本來就打算，讓我與吉普車一起消失在那下面烈焰騰騰的熔爐中？我真不愿相信！

我開始尋找詹姆森，但是那輛吉普車肯定已經(jīng)下了山并且跑了好遠(yuǎn)了；我這樣尋找，簡直是在一大堆干草里尋找一顆針！我慢慢地向上爬去，向著我認(rèn)為那就是火山口北面像一堵墻一樣的山壁。一穿過火山口，我就向山坡下跑去。主要靠運(yùn)氣而不是判斷，我找到了皮亞諾·普羅文扎諾滑雪場，但這個(gè)滑雪勝地卻關(guān)門閉鎖，四望空無一人。我只好掙扎著獨(dú)自下山，穿過松樹林，經(jīng)過了幾條小溪，并在小溪邊歇息過，以減輕燒傷的疼痛。一條崎嶇不平的路把我引進(jìn)了林瓜羅薩。一位推著自行車上早班的農(nóng)場工人，一見我這副野人一般的樣子，嚇得掉頭就要跑；一聽我說打算出價(jià)一萬里拉借用他這輛老古董，很快就同意了。我給他說，將把這輛自行車放在陶爾米納碼頭。

到陶爾米納的下坡路很陡，我以創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的時(shí)間完成了這段旅程。只有兩艘漁船停靠在碼頭。我靠墻架穩(wěn)自行車就跑過去。離我最近那一艘，一個(gè)小伙子斜靠在船尾。

“用不著跑！”他叫道，“我們不會(huì)在五分鐘或十分鐘內(nèi)開船?！?/p>

“你怎么······怎么知道，你等的人就是我？”

他笑了起來。

“你這副模樣，活脫脫就是剛從“惡魔島”逃出來的！豆差莫得約警和狗叫聲了！”

他伸出手來握手。

“我待會(huì)兒······解釋?！?/p>

“用不著，”他說，“我們不靠提問來掙錢?！保?4）

注釋：

1，惡魔島：世界上有兩座“惡魔島”，一處是美國舊金山惡魔島（Alcatraz Island，英語俗稱The Rock）是位于美國加州舊金山灣內(nèi)的一座小島，面積0.0763平方公里，四面峭壁深水，聯(lián)外交通不易，因而被美國政府選為監(jiān)獄建地，曾設(shè)有惡魔島聯(lián)邦監(jiān)獄，關(guān)押過不少知名的重刑犯，于1963年廢止，現(xiàn)與金門大橋同為舊金山灣的著名觀光景點(diǎn)。另一處是南美洲法屬圭亞那有座“貨真價(jià)實(shí)”的惡魔島（Devil's Island），巧合的是它也曾設(shè)立過監(jiān)獄。

2，豆差莫得約警和狗叫聲了！【這小伙子的發(fā)音不太好，他說的是：就差沒有獄警和狗叫聲了！】

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