評論
打印
He woke early. Or, rather, he was pulled awake. Bimbo was doing the pulling. The dog had dragged Tito to his feet and was urging the boy along. Somewhere. Where, Tito did not know. His feet stumbled uncertainly; he was still half asleep. For a while he noticed nothing except the fact that it was hard to breathe. The air was hot. And heavy. So heavy that he could taste it. The air, it seemed, had turned to powder—a warm powder that stung his nostrils and burned his sightless eyes.
他醒得很早。確切地說，他是被拖醒的，拖著他的是賓博。這只狗把蒂托拉了起來，然后讓他跟著它走，但是蒂托不知道它要帶他到哪里去。蒂托半睡半醒，跌跌撞撞地走著。一時間，除了呼吸困難，他什么也感覺不到。空氣很熱，很濃重，濃到他仿佛都能夠嘗到空氣的味道。空氣仿佛變成了粉末——一種熱乎乎的粉末。這粉末刺激著他的鼻孔，灼痛了他本就看不到任何東西的眼睛。
Then he began to hear sounds. Peculiar sounds. Like animals under the earth. Hissings and groanings and muffled cries that a dying creature might make dislodging the stones of his underground cave. There was no doubt of it now. The noises came from underneath. He not only heard them—he could feel them. The earth twitched; the twitching changed to an uneven shrugging of the soil. Then, as Bimbo half pulled, half coaxed him across, the ground jerked away from his feet and he was thrown against a stone fountain.
然后他聽到了聲音，聲音很特別，像是地底下的動物發出來的。那是一種垂死的生物在從地洞里往外搬石頭時會發出的嘶嘶聲、呻吟聲和壓抑的鳴咽聲。確實是這樣的，那些聲音來自地下。他不僅聽到了這些聲音，而且能感受到它們。地面動了一下，接著開始上下起伏，然后就在賓博半拉半哄地將他帶到一邊去時，他腳下的地面突然搖晃了一下，他被扔到一個山泉邊上。
The water—hot water—splashing in his face revived him. He got to his feet, Bimbo steadying him, helping him on again. The noises grew louder; they came closer. The cries were even more animal-like than before, but now they came from human throats. A few people, quicker of foot and more hurried by fear, began to rush by. A family or two—then a section—then, it seemed, an army broken out of bounds. Tito, bewildered though he was, could recognize Rufus as he bellowed past him, like a water buffalo gone mad. Time was lost in a nightmare.
山泉里的熱水濺到了他的臉上，讓他清醒了過來。賓博協助他站了起來，并幫著他繼續前進。那些聲音越來越大，他們離聲源也越來越近。那叫聲聽起來更像是動物的叫聲了，但實際上是人們發出的聲音。一些嚇壞的人步履匆忙地跑過。剛開始的時候是一兩家人，后來是一小 隊人，再后來仿佛是一支突破約束的軍隊沖了出來。盡管蒂托有點暈頭轉向，但是在魯弗斯像發瘋的水牛一樣叫喊著從他身邊經過的時候，他還是認出他來了。時間陷入了噩夢中。
