【断背山】02
英语课
He didn’t ask if Ennis had a watch but tooka cheap round ticker on a braided cord from a box on a high shelf, wound and set it, tossed it to him as if he weren’t worth the reach.
“TOMORROWMORNIN we’ll truck you up the jump-off.” Pair of deuces going nowhere.They found a bar and drank beer through the afternoon, Jack 1 telling Ennisabout a lightning storm on the mountain the year before that killed forty-two sheep, the peculiar 2 stink 3 of them and the way they bloated, the need for plenty of whiskey up there. He had shot an eagle, he said, turned his head to show the tail feather in his hatband. At first glance Jack seemed fair enough with his curly hair and quick laugh, but for a small man he carried some weight in the haunch and his smile disclosed buckteeth, not pronounced enough to let him eat popcorn 4 out of the neck of a jug 5, but noticeable. He was infatuated with the rodeo life and fastened his belt with a minor 6 bull-riding buckle 7, but his boots were worn to the quick, holed beyond repair and he was crazy to be somewhere, anywhere else than Lightning Flat.
Ennis, high-arched nose and narrow face, was scruffy 8 and a little cavechested, balanced a small torso on long, caliper legs, possessed 9 a muscularand supple 10 body made for the horse and for fighting. His reflexes were uncommonly 11 quick and he was farsighted enough to dislike reading anything except Hamley’s saddle catalog. The sheep trucks and horse trailers unloaded at the trailhead and a bandylegged Basque showed Ennis how to pack the mules 12, two packs and a riding load on each animal ring-lashed with double diamonds and secured with half hitches, telling him, “Don’t never order soup. Them boxes a soup are realbad to pack.”
Three puppies belonging to one of the blue heelers went in a pack basket, the runt inside Jack’s coat, for he loved a little dog. Ennis pickedout a big chestnut 13 called Cigar Butt 14 to ride, Jack a bay mare 15 who turned out to have a low startle point.
(The string of spare horses included a mouse-colored grullo whose looks Ennis liked. )Ennis and Jack, the dogs, horses and mules, a thousand ewes and their lambs flowed up the trail like dirty water through the timber and out above the tree line into the great flowery Meadows and the coursing, endless wind. They got the big tent up on the Forest Service’s platform, the kitchen and grub boxes secured. Both slept in camp that first night, Jack already bitching about Joe Aguirre’s sleep-with-the-sheep-and-no-fire order, though he saddled the bay mare in the dark morning without saying much. Dawn came glassy orange, stained from below by a gelatinous band of pale green. The sooty bulk of the mountain paled slowly until it was the same color as the smoke from Ennis’s breakfast fire. The cold air sweetened, banded pebbles 16 and crumbs 17 of soil cast sudden pencil-long shadows and the rearing lodgepole pines below them massed in slabs 18 of somber 19 malachite. During the day Ennis looked across a great gulf 20 and sometimes saw Jack, a small dot moving across a high meadow as an insect moves across a tablecloth;
Jack, in his dark camp, saw Ennis as night fire, a red spark on the huge black mass of mountain. Jack came lagging in late one afternoon, drank his two bottles of beer cooled in a wet sack on the shady side of the tent, ate two bowls of stew 21, four of Ennis’s stone biscuits, a can of peaches, rolled a smoke, watched the sundrop.
“I’m commutin four hours a day,” he said morosely 22. “Come in for breakfast, go back to the sheep, evenin get em bedded down, come in for supper, go backto the sheep, spend half the night jumpin up and checkin for coyotes. By rights I should be spendin the night here. Aguirre got no right a make me do this.”
“You want a switch?” said Ennis. “I wouldn’t mind herdin. I wouldn’t mind sleepin out there.”
“That ain’t the point. Point is, we both should be in this camp. And that goddamn pup tent smells like cat piss or worse.”“Wouldn’t mind bein out there.”
“Tell you what, you got a get up a dozen times in the night out there over them coyotes. Happy to switch but give you warnin I can’t cook worth a shit. Pretty good with a can opener.”
“Can’t be no worse than me, then. Sure, I wouldn’t mind a do it.”
“TOMORROWMORNIN we’ll truck you up the jump-off.” Pair of deuces going nowhere.They found a bar and drank beer through the afternoon, Jack 1 telling Ennisabout a lightning storm on the mountain the year before that killed forty-two sheep, the peculiar 2 stink 3 of them and the way they bloated, the need for plenty of whiskey up there. He had shot an eagle, he said, turned his head to show the tail feather in his hatband. At first glance Jack seemed fair enough with his curly hair and quick laugh, but for a small man he carried some weight in the haunch and his smile disclosed buckteeth, not pronounced enough to let him eat popcorn 4 out of the neck of a jug 5, but noticeable. He was infatuated with the rodeo life and fastened his belt with a minor 6 bull-riding buckle 7, but his boots were worn to the quick, holed beyond repair and he was crazy to be somewhere, anywhere else than Lightning Flat.
Ennis, high-arched nose and narrow face, was scruffy 8 and a little cavechested, balanced a small torso on long, caliper legs, possessed 9 a muscularand supple 10 body made for the horse and for fighting. His reflexes were uncommonly 11 quick and he was farsighted enough to dislike reading anything except Hamley’s saddle catalog. The sheep trucks and horse trailers unloaded at the trailhead and a bandylegged Basque showed Ennis how to pack the mules 12, two packs and a riding load on each animal ring-lashed with double diamonds and secured with half hitches, telling him, “Don’t never order soup. Them boxes a soup are realbad to pack.”
Three puppies belonging to one of the blue heelers went in a pack basket, the runt inside Jack’s coat, for he loved a little dog. Ennis pickedout a big chestnut 13 called Cigar Butt 14 to ride, Jack a bay mare 15 who turned out to have a low startle point.
(The string of spare horses included a mouse-colored grullo whose looks Ennis liked. )Ennis and Jack, the dogs, horses and mules, a thousand ewes and their lambs flowed up the trail like dirty water through the timber and out above the tree line into the great flowery Meadows and the coursing, endless wind. They got the big tent up on the Forest Service’s platform, the kitchen and grub boxes secured. Both slept in camp that first night, Jack already bitching about Joe Aguirre’s sleep-with-the-sheep-and-no-fire order, though he saddled the bay mare in the dark morning without saying much. Dawn came glassy orange, stained from below by a gelatinous band of pale green. The sooty bulk of the mountain paled slowly until it was the same color as the smoke from Ennis’s breakfast fire. The cold air sweetened, banded pebbles 16 and crumbs 17 of soil cast sudden pencil-long shadows and the rearing lodgepole pines below them massed in slabs 18 of somber 19 malachite. During the day Ennis looked across a great gulf 20 and sometimes saw Jack, a small dot moving across a high meadow as an insect moves across a tablecloth;
Jack, in his dark camp, saw Ennis as night fire, a red spark on the huge black mass of mountain. Jack came lagging in late one afternoon, drank his two bottles of beer cooled in a wet sack on the shady side of the tent, ate two bowls of stew 21, four of Ennis’s stone biscuits, a can of peaches, rolled a smoke, watched the sundrop.
“I’m commutin four hours a day,” he said morosely 22. “Come in for breakfast, go back to the sheep, evenin get em bedded down, come in for supper, go backto the sheep, spend half the night jumpin up and checkin for coyotes. By rights I should be spendin the night here. Aguirre got no right a make me do this.”
“You want a switch?” said Ennis. “I wouldn’t mind herdin. I wouldn’t mind sleepin out there.”
“That ain’t the point. Point is, we both should be in this camp. And that goddamn pup tent smells like cat piss or worse.”“Wouldn’t mind bein out there.”
“Tell you what, you got a get up a dozen times in the night out there over them coyotes. Happy to switch but give you warnin I can’t cook worth a shit. Pretty good with a can opener.”
“Can’t be no worse than me, then. Sure, I wouldn’t mind a do it.”
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克
- I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
- He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
- He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
- He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
vi.发出恶臭;糟透,招人厌恶;n.恶臭
- The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
- The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。
n.爆米花
- I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时,喜欢吃爆米花。
- He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后,嘴里塞满了爆米花。
n.(有柄,小口,可盛水等的)大壶,罐,盂
- He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐,保持着平衡往前走。
- She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修
- The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
- I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
n.扣子,带扣;v.把...扣住,由于压力而弯曲
- The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
- She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。
adj.肮脏的,不洁的
- Despite her scruffy clothes,there was an air of sophistication about her.尽管她衣衫褴褛,但神态老练世故。
- His scruffy appearance does not reflect his character.他邋遢的外表并不反映他的性格。
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的
- He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
- He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。
adj.柔软的,易弯的,逢迎的,顺从的,灵活的;vt.使柔软,使柔顺,使顺从;vi.变柔软,变柔顺
- She gets along well with people because of her supple nature.她与大家相处很好,因为她的天性柔和。
- He admired the graceful and supple movements of the dancers.他赞扬了舞蹈演员优雅灵巧的舞姿。
adv. 稀罕(极,非常)
- an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
- My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者
- The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
- She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。
n.栗树,栗子
- We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
- In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。
n.笑柄;烟蒂;枪托;臀部;v.用头撞或顶
- The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
- He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。
n.母马,母驴
- The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。
- The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。
[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )
- The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
- Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石,以确保排水良好。
n.厚板,平板,厚片( slab的名词复数 );厚胶片
- The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块,大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句
adj.昏暗的,阴天的,阴森的,忧郁的
- He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
- His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
- The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
- There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
n.炖汤,焖,烦恼;v.炖汤,焖,忧虑
- The stew must be boiled up before serving.炖肉必须煮熟才能上桌。
- There's no need to get in a stew.没有必要烦恼。