欧尼大喊:“最后一次机会 下一颗子弹会打中你 ”
“Last chance!” yelled Ernie. “Next one’s gonna get you!”
彼得等待着
Peter waited.
他看着站在金凤花地里的男孩
He watched the boy among the buttercups
就在下方远处的草地 另一个男孩站在他身后
in the meadow far below with the other boy beside him.
枪再次被举到肩上
The gun came up once again to the shoulder.
这次他听到了劈啪声 因为子弹击中了他的大腿
This time he heard the crack as the bullet hit him in the thigh.
一点都不疼 但子弹的冲击极具破坏性
There was no pain, but the force of it was devastating.
就像有人用大锤重击了他一下
Like someone had whacked him with a sledgehammer,
让他双脚都滑下了原本站着的树枝
and it knocked both feet off the branch he was standing on.
他双手乱抓 悬在半空
He scrabbled with his hands to hang on.
他抓住的这根小树枝被压弯并裂开了
The small branch he was holding onto bent over and split.
有些人 当他们承受过多
Some people, when they have taken too much
超出忍♥耐的极限时
and been driven beyond the point of endurance,
就会崩塌 退缩 然后放弃
simply crumble and collapse and give up.
但有些人 尽管为数不多
Others, however, though they are not many,
出于某些原因 他们总是不可征服的
who will for some reason always be unconquerable.
你在战争或者和平时期都碰得见
You meet them in time of war and also in time of peace.
他们具有不屈不挠的精神
They have an indomitable spirit
任何事情 连疼痛 酷刑 死亡威胁
and nothing, neither pain nor torture nor threat of death,
都不会让他们放弃
will cause them to give up.
小彼得·沃森就是这类人
Little Peter Watson was one of these.
他尽全力抓着
And as he fought and scrabbled
防止自己从那棵树的顶部摔落
to prevent himself from falling out of the top of that tree,
他突然想到他马上就胜利了
it came to him suddenly that he was going to win.
他往上看 见到湖面上有一个亮光
He looked up and saw a light shining over the waters of the lake
它是如此闪耀和美丽 他没办法移开眼睛
that was of such brilliance and beauty he was unable to look away from it.
那个光线在朝他招手 吸引着他
The light was beckoning him, drawing him on,
他向着光线纵身一跃 然后展开双翼
and he dived towards the light and spread his wings.
有三个人报告说看见一只白色大天鹅
Three different people reported seeing a great white swan
那天在村庄上方盘旋
circling over the village that morning:
一位是教师
a schoolteacher,
一个是在药店屋顶换瓦片的男人
a man replacing tiles on the roof of the chemist’s shop,
还有一个是在附近田地玩耍的男孩
and a boy playing in a nearby field.
沃森夫人正在厨房♥水槽边洗碗
Mrs. Watson, washing dishes in her kitchen sink,
碰巧在那个瞬间抬头看了一眼窗外
happened to glance up through the window at the exact moment
有个巨大的白色东西猛撞下来
something huge and white came crashing down
落入她后花♥园♥的草地上
onto the lawn in her back garden.
她冲了出去
She rushed outside.
她双膝跪地
She dropped to her knees
跪在她唯一的儿子扭曲的小小身体旁
beside the small crumpled figure of her only son.
她大喊:“我的宝贝啊 我的宝贝儿子
“My darling!” she cried. “My darling boy!
发生了什么事 ”
“What’s happened to you?”
(《天鹅》的灵感 源于报纸刊登的真实事件)
(达尔把它收录在 “创意本”里长达30年)
(最终在1976年10月 写了这篇故事)