評論
打印
Who Shall Dwell?
生的機(jī)會留給誰？
H. C. Neal
H·C·尼爾
It came on a Sunday afternoon and that was good, because if it had happened on a weekday the father would have been at work and the children at school, leaving the mother at home alone and the whole family disorganized with hardly any hope at all. They had prayed that it would never come, ever，but suddenly here it was.
事情發(fā)生在一個(gè)星期日的下午，幸好如此，因?yàn)槿绻窃诠ぷ魅眨赣H去工作，孩子們?nèi)ド蠈W(xué)，只留下媽媽一人在家，全家聚不到一起，幾乎沒有任何希望。他們祈禱事情永遠(yuǎn)不要發(fā)生，但它還是突然就發(fā)生了。
The father, a slender, young-old man, slightly stooped from years of labor, was resting on the sofa and half-listening to a program of waltz music on the radio. Mother was in the kitchen preparing a chicken for dinner and the younger boy and girl were in the bedroom drawing crude pictures of familiar barnyard animals on a shared slate. The older boy was in the shed out back, cleaning some harnesses.
父親是一位身材偏瘦、老當(dāng)益壯的人，多年的勞動使他脊背微駝。他正靠在沙發(fā)上休息， 漫不經(jīng)心地收聽著收音機(jī)里播放的華爾茲音樂節(jié)目。母親在廚房里準(zhǔn)備晚飯要吃的雞肉，小兒子和女兒在臥室里的一塊石板上畫農(nóng)場里常見的動物。大兒子在屋后的牲口棚里清洗馬具。
Suddenly the program was cut off. The announcer almost shouted:
突然，電臺節(jié)目中斷了。播音員幾乎是大聲地喊叫道：
"Bomb alert! Bomb alert! Attention! Attention! A number of missiles have just been launched across the sea, heading this way. Attention. They are expected to strike within the next sixteen minutes. This is a verified alert! Take cover! Keep your radios tuned for further instructions."
“空襲警報(bào)！空襲警報(bào)！注意！注意！大海的對岸剛剛發(fā)射了若干枚導(dǎo)彈，正向此處飛來。注意！預(yù)計(jì)導(dǎo)彈16分鐘內(nèi)抵達(dá)。這是經(jīng)核實(shí)后發(fā)布的警報(bào)！請隱蔽！請不要關(guān)掉收音機(jī)，注意收聽進(jìn)一步的指示。”
"My God!" the father gasped. His face was ashen, puzzled, as though he knew beyond a shadow of doubt that this was real—but still could not quite believe it.
“我的上帝！”父親喘著氣說。他臉色灰白，驚疑不定，盡管他知道這是真的——但仍不能完全相信。
