驚險(xiǎn)的旅程
The preparations had taken place in the lee of the tent, but the fisherman now pushed the sled out into the wind and gave it as good a start as his strength would permit. For a moment it seemed as if the scheme would prove a failure. The sled seemed to lose speed, rather than gain it, although the sail bellied out with a force that almost jerked Pat from his seat on the pig. But slowly the sled responded to the force of the wind, and the strain on Pat’s arms gradually lessened. “Oho!” he cried happily. “Sailin’ is a fine sport when ye get goin’. ’Tis restin’ to the legs, anyhow.”
漁夫已經(jīng)在帳篷的背風(fēng)處進(jìn)行了準(zhǔn)備工作，但是他現(xiàn)在把雪橇推到風(fēng)中，盡可能給它一個(gè)良好的開端。過了段時(shí)間，經(jīng)證實(shí)，計(jì)劃似乎失敗了。雪橇似乎失去了速度，而不是增加速度，盡管船帆使風(fēng)力聚集，幾乎把帕特從座位上猛拉到豬身上。但雪橇漸漸地受到了風(fēng)力影響，帕特手臂上的壓力逐漸減輕。“哦！”他開心的叫了起來。“冰上滑行是一項(xiàng)很好的運(yùn)動(dòng)。起碼我解放了雙腿。”
Presently, however, he became nervous. His speed was steadily increasing, and he found that the slightest move on his part made the sled swerve a little. Once or twice he almost lost his balance, and only by experimenting could he adjust himself properly. He saw Marion Island looming up ahead of him in the moonlight, and this gave him another fright. “If I hit it, goin’ like this,” he exclaimed, “I’ll take it along or leave the sled behind and go sailin’ over it like a bird! And I can’t stop! Oho! I got the fiyin’- machine now, and no brake on it!” His only hope of avoiding the island was to change his course slightly, which was no easy matter. And to which side should he go? It would be easier to take the east passage, but two or three miles beyond, on that side, Neahtawanta jutted out from the peninsula. He would have to swerve to the east for the island and to the west for Neahtawanta. Unquestionably it would be better to go to the west of both—if possible.
然后，他不久就變得緊張起來。他的速度在穩(wěn)步地增加，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己身體上的一點(diǎn)輕微的移動(dòng)都會(huì)使雪橇有點(diǎn)轉(zhuǎn)向。有一兩次他幾乎失去了平衡，他只能通過試驗(yàn)來不斷適當(dāng)?shù)卣{(diào)整自己。他看見瑪麗安島在月光下若隱若現(xiàn)，就在他面前，這使他又嚇了一跳。“如果我撞到島，像這樣，”他喊道，“雪橇?xí)粼谠夭⒈晃衣湓诤竺妫視?huì)像鳥一樣在上面飛過！我停不下來！哦！我現(xiàn)在抓住了那臺(tái)機(jī)器，沒有剎車！”他避開這個(gè)島的唯一希望就是稍微改變一下航向，這可不是件容易的事。他應(yīng)該去哪邊？走東邊的通道比較容易，但是在兩到三英里以外的東邊，尼塔萬塔佇立在半島上。他遇見島的的時(shí)候向東轉(zhuǎn)，遇到尼塔萬塔時(shí)向西轉(zhuǎn)。毫無疑問，如果可能的話，最好一直向西走。
來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/xiaoxue/202009/617495.shtml
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