阿拉莫岗哨(2)
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2016-03-09 04:52 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
I had just moved to San Antonio, Texas. I had gotten a job working for the tour bus service that would take tourists on a short tour of the city's historic1 places and would end up at the Alamo.
 
It was near closing time and I was driving back from my last tour of the day. It was a cool February day, and there wasn't anyone on my bus, I was on my way back from the San Fernando Catholic2 church. I was about to keep driving by when I saw a man dressed up in an old buckskin jacket and a large worn out hat. I was thinking to myself, that this person must be a re-enactor or something walking around. I stopped and opened the door and asked the man, "Need a ride?" He looked up at me and I finally saw how young he was. He was a teenager if not a teen or he had to be in his early twenties. Without saying anything he just walked on board and sat down in a seat behind me. I made sure that there wasn't any other people needing a ride somewhere and closed the door.
 
"Where you heading?" I asked him he looked up into the mirror at me and replied.
 
"I've got to get to the fort3 and report to Col. Travis that the Mexicans are here!" I laughed to myself thinking that this man was a serious re-enactor.
 
"I'm guessing you mean the Alamo?" I said back to him. I looked up at him in the mirror and saw that he wasn't smiling nor laughing. I just put my foot on the gas and started to drive away.
 
All throughout the ride I looked back at him in the mirror above my head and saw that he was staring in amazement4 at all the towering skyscrapers5 and the buildings along the street.
 
"I remember when this town was nothing more than a little trading village!" He finally said to me.
 
"Yeah that's what I've heard that this city used be nothing more than a little pueblo6." He nodded his head up at me.
 
"It was." He said in return.
 
"So what's your name?" I asked him.
 
"Daniel Cloud, yours?"
 
"David Zime." I replied as I turned the corner of the street and laid eyes upon the Alamo.
 
I pulled up to the sidewalk and opened the door. Cloud got out of his seat and came up to me.
 
"Thanks for the ride." He said extending his hand. I took his palm and it was freezing cold like he just stepped out of the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory's freezer.
 
"Not a problem Mr. Cloud, and don't worry about the fee. it's on the house." He nodded his head in gratitude7 like all us Texans do and walked out the door.
 
 It wasn't until then that I noticed that he was soaked to the bone in dripping water and we had not a single drop of rain in a month or more. I just shook my head and closed the door behind him. I looked ahead for a spilt second to see if any other tourists were waiting to be picked up on the corner. I turned back and I discovered that Cloud was gone!! I looked behind the bus and saw no one, I was amazed at how fast he had went away. I just shrugged8 my shoulders and took off done for the day.
 
A few days later I was reading a book about the Battle of the Alamo when I discovered the most shocking thing I had ever discovered in my life. One of the pages of the book had a list of the names of the 183 defenders9 of the Alamo, and in the "C" section was the name, Daniel Cloud! When I read this my eyes went wide and I looked across the page and saw that he was only 19 years old when he was killed in the Alamo. He was the one who spotted10 the Mexicans before they took over the streets of San Antonio in February of 1836, and his post on top of the San Frenando Church where I had picked him up!
 
From then on I still look for Cloud when I'm passing by the San Frenando Church on my way back to the Alamo, and hopefully I'll pick him up again someday and take him to the Alamo.....
 
不久前我搬家去了德克萨斯州的圣安东尼奥,我在那找了份观光旅游车司机的工作,职责是开车载着游客去城里的名胜古迹参观,全程的终点在阿拉莫。
 
那天已经是快下班的时间了,我正跑着最后一趟车,因为那是在二月的一天,很冷,所以车上一个人都没有,我们刚刚离开了圣费尔南多大教堂返回阿拉莫。我正打算一路开下去,这时见到路边有个人穿着件旧鹿皮夹克,头上戴着顶破帽子。我心想,这肯定是个喜剧演员或者类似的什么人。我停下车,开了门问他,“要搭车吗?”他抬头看看我,这时我才发现原来他是个年轻的小伙子,也就是十几岁,或者顶多二十岁出头。他没说话,上了车坐在我后面的一个座位上。我看不会再有别人要搭车了,就关门开走了。
 
“你要去哪?”我问他。
 
他抬起头,从后视镜里看着我,回答道,“我要去堡垒向特拉维斯上校报告,墨西哥人冲过来了。”#p#分页标题#e#
 
我暗暗发笑,这还真是个认真的演员。“你是要去阿拉莫吧?”我一边说一边也通过后视镜看看他,不过他可没笑,甚至是一脸的严肃。我把油门一踩到底,车子飞驰下去。
 
一路上我不断地通过头上的后视镜看着他,就见他目不转睛地看着路两旁的高楼大厦,直看得目瞪口呆。
 
“我记得这里只不过是个有几个人做生意的小村子。”过了很长时间后他才对我说。
 
“对我也听说以前这就是一个很小的印第安人村子。”
 
他朝我点点头,“确实是。”
 
“请问您怎么称呼?”我问他。
 
“丹尼尔·克劳德,你呢?”
 
“大卫·吉梅。”车子转了个弯,阿拉莫就在前面了。
 
我把车停在路边,开了门。克劳德站起身朝我走过来。
 
“谢谢你载我这一程。”说着他向我伸过手来。我握着他的手,感到一阵冰凉,就仿佛他刚从兰贝冰淇淋厂的冷冻机里出来一样。
 
“小意思,克劳德先生。而且别担心,我不收你车费。”就像多数德克萨斯人的习惯一样,他冲我点头表示谢意,然后下车了。
 
这时我才发现他已经是浑身湿透了,可是,我们可能有一个多月没见过一滴雨了。我向他摇摇头表示不用谢,然后关了车门朝前面望了一眼,看看是不是还有人在拐角那等车准备回去。当我再回过头,却发现克劳德已经不见了。车上空无一人,我很纳闷他怎么走得这么快。我也只是耸耸肩,把最后一班车开回去了。
 
几天以后我读到本介绍阿拉莫战役的书,发现一件有生以来最让我震惊的事情。书里有一页是守卫阿拉莫的183名士兵的名单,“C”字头的名录下有一个名字居然是丹尼尔克·劳德!我简直不敢相信自己的眼睛,仔细地读了那一段以后,我这才知道他那年牺牲在阿拉莫的时候才19岁。他所在的部队1836年2月阻击了墨西哥人,那时墨西哥人还没有攻陷圣安东尼奥。他们当时的阵地是圣费尔南多大教堂,我就是从那里接他上的车。
 
从那以后,每当我回阿拉莫经过圣费尔南多大教堂的时候都要找找克劳德是不是在那,我想有一天能再接他上车,带他去阿拉莫。


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 historic AcNxw     
adj.历史上著名的,具有历史意义的
参考例句:
  • This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
  • We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。
2 catholic irxzd     
adj.天主教的;n.天主教徒
参考例句:
  • The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
  • She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。
3 fort pi3x4     
n.要塞,堡垒,碉堡
参考例句:
  • The fort can not be defended against an air attack.这座要塞遭到空袭时无法防御。
  • No one can get into the fort without a pass.没有通行证,任何人不得进入要塞。
4 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。
5 skyscrapers f4158331c4e067c9706b451516137890     
n.摩天大楼
参考例句:
  • A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
  • On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。
6 pueblo DkwziG     
n.(美国西南部或墨西哥等)印第安人的村庄
参考例句:
  • For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2,000多年的时间里,印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
  • The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit
7 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
8 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 defenders fe417584d64537baa7cd5e48222ccdf8     
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者
参考例句:
  • The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众,只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》
10 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
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