A shilling
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2009-12-11 01:22 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

Three old men were sitting on the wall of Kilmilik Pier码头,桥墩 with their backs to the sea and their faces to the village and the sun. Suddenly there was the sound of a sail flapping in the wind, and a little white yacht游艇,快艇 swung around the corner of the pier1 and came alongside the old men.

"Where's the nearest public house?" asked a red-faced man in a white cotton shirt and trousers. The three old men told him, all together. "Let's go and have a drink, Totty," said the red-faced man. "Right-o," said the other.

When the red-faced man was climbing the iron ladder fixed2 to the pier, a shilling先令 dropped out of his back pocket. It fell noiselessly on to some rope that lay on the deck of the yacht at the foot of the ladder. The red-faced man did not notice it, and he walked on along the pier chatting with his friend.

The three old men noticed it, but they did not tell the red-faced man. Neither did they tell one another. As soon as the shilling landed on the rope and lay there shining, the three of them became so painfully conscious of it that they lost all power of speech.

Each old man knew that the other two had seen the shilling, yet each was silent about it in the hope of keeping the discovery his own secret. Each knew that it was impossible for him to go down the iron ladder to the deck, pick up the shilling, and get back to the pier with it without being seen. For there was a man wearing a round white cap doing something in the cabin客舱,船舱 of the yacht.

Every third moment or so每隔一会儿 his cap appeared through the doorway3 and there was the noise of plates being washed or something. And the shilling was within two feet of the doorway. Besides, the old men, except perhaps Patsy Conroy, were too old to climb down the ladder and climb back up again.

Furthermore, each knew that even if there were nobody in the cabin, and even if he could climb down the ladder, the others would prevent him from getting the shilling, since each preferred that no one should have the shilling if he couldn't have it himself.

Yet, such was the attraction of that shining shilling that the three of them stared with painfully beating hearts and feverishly兴奋地,狂热地 working brains at objects within two feet of it. They stared in a painful silence that was as loud with sound as a violent and quarrelsome喜欢吵架的,好争论的 conversation.

The sun shone warmly, and there was excellent cool beer in Kelly's. And the salt, healthy smell of the sea awakened5 their thirst, so that not one of the three old men ever thought of the fact that the shilling belonged to somebody else. Indeed, each of them was so angry at the shameless greed of the other two that he felt as if he almost wished to kill them. Thus three minutes passed.

The two owners of the yacht had passed out of sight. Brian Manion and Mick Feeney were trembling, their mouths watering口水,垂涎 at the thought of the beer that they now wanted so much. Then Patsy Conroy bent6 down and picked up a small stone from the pier. He dropped it on to the deck of the yacht. The other two made a slight movement to intercept拦截,窃听 the pebble卵石 with their sticks, a foolish, unconscious movement.

The next thing that happened was so unexpected that their jaws9 dropped: Patsy Conroy was speaking.

"Hey there," he shouted between his cupped杯形的,凹的 hands.

A palefaced sad-looking man stepped out of the cabin. "What do you want?" he said.

"Beg your pardon, sir," said Patsy Conroy, "but would you hand me up that shilling that just dropped out of my hand?"

The man nodded, picked up the shilling, said "Catch," and threw it on to the pier, Patsy touched his cap and dived for it.

The other two old men were so lost in amazement10 that they didn't even try to stop him getting it. They simply watched him put it in his pocket. Then they watched him walk up the pier, his long, thin, grey-backed figure with a yellow scarf around his neck, moving as straight and as solemn庄严的,严肃的 as a policeman.

They looked at each other, their faces twisted with anger. And each, with an upraised举起的,抬高的 stick, snarled11纠结,咆哮 at the other: "Why didn't you stop him, you fool?"



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1 pier U22zk     
n.码头;桥墩,桥柱;[建]窗间壁,支柱
参考例句:
  • The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害,专家担心它已不能负重。
  • The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。
2 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
3 doorway 2s0xK     
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径
参考例句:
  • They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
  • Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。
4 feverishly 5ac95dc6539beaf41c678cd0fa6f89c7     
adv. 兴奋地
参考例句:
  • Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。
  • The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。
5 awakened de71059d0b3cd8a1de21151c9166f9f0     
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到
参考例句:
  • She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
6 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
7 intercept G5rx7     
vt.拦截,截住,截击
参考例句:
  • His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
  • Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。
8 pebble c3Rzo     
n.卵石,小圆石
参考例句:
  • The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋,想去孵它。
  • The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
9 jaws cq9zZq     
n.口部;嘴
参考例句:
  • The antelope could not escape the crocodile's gaping jaws. 那只羚羊无法从鱷鱼张开的大口中逃脱。
  • The scored jaws of a vise help it bite the work. 台钳上有刻痕的虎钳牙帮助它紧咬住工件。
10 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
11 snarled ti3zMA     
v.(指狗)吠,嗥叫, (人)咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 );咆哮着说,厉声地说
参考例句:
  • The dog snarled at us. 狗朝我们低声吼叫。
  • As I advanced towards the dog, It'snarled and struck at me. 我朝那条狗走去时,它狂吠着向我扑来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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