吹小號的天鵝 第54期:救援(5)

Suddenly, a wave caught the canoe and spun itaround.

突然，一個大浪把獨木舟打得轉了起來。

Applegate leaned hard on his paddle.

阿普爾蓋特拼命地靠在他的槳上。

His hand slipped, and he lost his balance.

他的手一滑，身體失去了平衡。

The canoe tipped over. Applegate found himself inthe water.

獨木舟翻了過去。阿普爾蓋特落水了。

His clothes felt terribly soggy and heavy.

他的衣服全都濕透了，變得非常沉重。

His shoes dragged him down, and he could barely keep his head above water.

他的鞋把他往水里拽，他幾乎不能讓他的頭伸到水面上了。

Instead of hanging on to the canoe, he started swimming toward shore

他不去抱住獨木舟，反而往岸邊游去

which was a crazy thing to do.

這么做可真是發(fā)瘋了。

One wave hit him square in the face, and he got a mouthful of water.

一個大浪迎面打到他臉上，灌了他滿嘴的水。

"Help!" he screamed. "Help me! I'm drowning.

“救命!”他尖叫。“救我!我快淹死了。

It'll give the camp a bad name if I drown. Help! Help!"

如果我被淹死會給夏令營帶來壞名聲的。救命!救命!”

Counselors sprinted to the waterfront.

輔導員們飛速地往碼頭這邊跑。

They jumped into canoes and rowboats and started for the drowning boy.

他們跳進獨木舟和劃艇，開始往這個快被淹死的男孩身邊劃。

One counselor kicked his moccasins off, dove in, and began swimming toward Applegate.

一個輔導員踢掉他的鹿皮鞋，躍入水中，朝阿普爾蓋特游過來。

Mr. Brickle raced to the dock, climbed to the diving tower,

布里克先生跑向碼頭，爬上跳臺，

and directed the rescue operation, shouting through a megaphone.

通過一個擴音器指揮著這場救援行動。

"Hang on to the canoe, Applegate!" he shouted.

“抱住獨木舟，阿普爾蓋特!”他喊。

"Don't leave the canoe!"

“別離開那艘獨木舟!”

But Applegate had already left the canoe.

可阿普爾蓋特已經離開獨木舟了。

He was all alone, thrashing about and wasting his strength.

他完全無依無靠，只好拼命扭動著，浪費著他的氣力。

He felt sure he would soon go to the bottom and drown.

他相信自己馬上就會沉入水底被淹死了。

He felt weak and scared.

他感到無力而又驚恐。

Water had got into his lungs. He couldn't last much longer.

水已經灌到他的肺里了。他支持不了多久了。

The first boat to get away from the dock was rowed by Sam Beaver,

第一艘離開碼頭的船是由薩姆·比弗劃的，

and Sam was pulling hard at the oars, straining every muscle.

薩姆使出全身的力氣，拼命地劃著槳。

But things didn't look good for Applegate.

可是對阿普爾蓋特來說一切都不容樂觀。

The boats were still a long way from the boy.

小船們離這個男孩都還有很長一段距離呢。

When the first cry of "Help" was heard in camp, Louis was coming around the corner of the mainlodge.

當夏令營里傳來第一聲“救命”時，路易斯正繞著大木屋的一角往前走著。

He spied Applegate immediately and responded to the call.

他立刻瞥見了阿普爾蓋特并對這喊聲作出了反應。

"I can't fly out there," thought Louis, "because my flight feathers have been falling out lately.

“我沒法飛過去，”路易斯想，“因為我的飛羽最近剛剛脫掉。

But I can certainly make better time than those boats."

可我肯定能比那些小船到得更快。”