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Then suddenly, he understood. Bimbo was telling him the way out—urging him there. The sea gate, of course. The sea gate—and then the sea. Far from falling buildings, heaving ground. He turned, Bimbo guiding him across open pits and dangerous pools of bubbling mud, away from buildings that had caught fire and were dropping their burning beams. Tito could no longer tell whether the noises were made by the shrieking sky or the agonized people. He and Bimbo ran on—the only silent beings in a howling world.
忽然他意識到賓博是要告訴他出去的路，趕著他往通海閘門走，然后到海里去。那里遠離倒塌的建筑和抖動的地面。他轉過身來，賓博領著他穿過深坑和冒著泥泡的危險水池。他們躲避著冒著火光的、燒著的橫梁不斷往下掉的危險建筑。蒂托已經分不清那些聲音是天空的尖叫還是憤怒的人們發出的。他和賓博繼續跑著，他們是那個咆哮的世界里唯一默不作聲的生靈。
New dangers threatened. All Pompeii seemed to be thronging toward the marine gate and, squeezing among the crowds, there was the chance of being trampled to death. But the chance had to be taken. It was growing harder and harder to breathe. What air there was choked him. It was all dust now—dust and pebbles, pebbles as large as beans. They fell on his head, his hands—pumice stones from the black heart of Vesuvius. The mountain was turning itself inside out. Tito remembered a phrase that the stranger had said in the Forum two days ago: "Those who will not listen to men must be taught by the gods." The people of Pompeii had refused to heed the warnings; they were being taught now—if it was not too late.
新的危險出現了。龐貝所有的人似乎都向著通海閘門涌過來，擠在這樣的人群中，有被踩踏致死的可能。但是這個險一定要冒。他周圍的空氣很渾濁，充滿了塵土和像黃豆那么大的石頭，讓他越來越難以呼吸。這些石頭落到了他的頭上、手上——是從維蘇威山地心來的浮石。 維蘇威山自己翻了個底朝天。蒂托想起了兩天前有個陌生人在廣場上說過的話，那個人說：“不聽勸告的人終將會受到上帝的懲罰。”龐貝人沒有聽從警告，現在他們正在接受懲罰——希望為時不晚。
