16. Through the Tunnel

Lesson sixteen

Through the Tunnel

Lesson sixteen

Through the Tunnel

16-1 Going to the shore on the first morning of

the

holiday,

the

young

English

boy

stopped

at

a

turning

of

the

path

and

looked

down

at

a

wild

and

rocky

bay

,

and

then

over

to

the

crowded

beach

he

knew so well from other years.

His mother walked on in front of him, carrying

a bright- striped bag in one hand.

Her other arm, swinging loose , was very white

in the sun.

The

boy

watched

that

white,

naked

arm,

and

turned

his

eyes,

which

had

a

frown

behind

them,

towards the bay and back again to his mother.

When

she

felt

he

was

not

with

her,

she

swung

round .

impatient,

then

smiled.

darling,

would

you

rather not come with me?

Would

you

rather...

She

frowned,

conscientiously

worrying

over

what

amusements

he

might secretly be longing for which she had been too

busy or too careless to imagine.

He

was

very

familiar

with

that

anxious,

apologetic smile.

Contrition sent him running after her.

And

yet

,

as

he

ran,

he

looked

back

over

his

shoulder at the wild bay, and all morning, as he played

on the safe beach, he was thinking of it.

16-2

Next

morning,

when

it

was

time

for

the

routine of swimming and sunbathing, his mother said,

like to go somewhere else?

钻进隧洞

假日的第一天早上，

这位英国小男孩朝海边走

去，他在通往海边 小路的拐弯处，停了下来，俯视

一下荒凉而多石的海湾，然后看了看这几年他已经

很熟悉的远处那片拥挤热闹的海滩。

他的母亲走在他的前面，

一只手提着一个色彩

鲜艳的条纹小包，

另一只胳膊松弛摆动着，

在阳光的映照下显得

十分 白皙、

裸露的胳膊，

随后把视线转向海湾，

眼中隐藏着一种不悦的神情，然后又转向他母亲。

母亲感觉到孩子没和自己一起走，便扭过身

说：

“哦，

你在这里呀，

杰里。

”

她看上去有点急躁，

接着便微笑道；

“嗨， 亲爱的，难道你不愿意和我

一起走吗？

难道你……”她皱了一下眉头，非常担心他可

能在秘密地渴望着什么乐趣，而这种乐趣 由于她自

己过于忙碌或粗心想象不到，

杰里对母亲这种担忧和表示歉意的微笑是很

< br>熟悉的，

种懊悔之情使他快跑去追赶自己的母亲。

可是，他一边追赶，一边还不时地回头望着那

片荒凉的海湾，整个上午，在这片安全 平坦的海滩

上玩耍时，他一直都在想那海湾。

第二天上午，

又到了习惯上是游泳和晒太阳的

时间。母 亲说：

“杰里，你厌倦了这天天去的沙滩

吗？你想去别的什么地 方吗？”

1

Lesson sixteen

Through the Tunnel

16-3

of

that

unfailing

impulse

of

contrition

a

sort

of

chivalry .

Yet, walking down the path with her, he blurted

out

,

like

to

go

and

have

a

look

at

those

rocks

down there.

16-4 She gave the idea her attention.

It was a wild- looking place, and there was no one

there, but she said,

When you've had enough, come to the big beach.

Or just go straight back to the villa, if you like.

She

walked

away,

that

bare

arm,

now

slightly

reddened from yesterday's sun, swinging.

And

he

almost

ran

after

her

again,

feeling

it

unbearable

that

she

should

go

by

herself,

but

he

did

not.

16-5 She was thinking: Of course he's old enough

to be safe without me.

Have I been keeping him too close?

He mustn't feel he ought to be with me.

I must be careful.

16-6 He was an only child, eleven years old. She

was a widow.

She was determined to be neither possessive nor

lacking in devotion .

She went worrying off to her beach.

16-7

As

for

Jerry,

once

he

saw

that

his

mother

had gained her beach , he began the steep descent to

the bay .

From

where

he

was,

high

up

among

red-brown

rocks, it was a scoop of moving bluish green fringed

with white.

< /p>

“哦，不！

”他很快地答道，对她笑笑，这种

笑是出于那种无时不在的懊悔之情——一种骑士

般的风度，

可是当他和她沿着小路走着时，

他突然说：

“我

想去那边看看那些大岩石。

”

她对儿子的这种想法注意起来，

< /p>

那是一个看起来很偏僻荒凉的地方，

连一个人

也没有。她还是说：

“当然可以，杰里，

你如果在那边玩够了，就到这边大海滩上来，

或者，如果你愿意的话，就直接回咱们的别墅

去。

”< /p>

她走开了，她那裸露的、由于昨天太阳的照射

< br>而显得微微泛红的胳膊来回摆着。

杰里差点去追赶她。 她一个人走，他简直感到

忍受不了。但他没有去追赶她。

她在想：当然啦，孩子已经长大，没有她他也

会很安全的。

自己是不是把他看得太紧了？

一定不能让他感觉到他非要和我在一起不可，

我必须小心才是。

他是独生子，十一岁了，她是位寡妇。

她决心对待孩子既不要有占有欲，

也 不缺少关

心爱护。

于是她怀着一种焦 虑不安的心情走向自己爱

呆的那片海滩。

杰里呢，

当他看到母亲已走到那片她喜爱呆在

那里的海滩时 ，便开始沿着陡峭的斜坡往海湾走

去。

他高高地站在那些红棕色岩石中间，

从那里往

下望去海湾就是 一池涌动着的蓝绿色的勺子，边缘

上是白色。

2

Lesson sixteen

Through the Tunnel

As

he

went

lower,

he

saw

that

it

spread

among

small

promontories

and

inlets

of

rough,

sharp

rock,

and

the

crisping,

lapping

surface

showed

stains

of

purple and darker blue.

Finally, as he ran sliding and scraping down the

last few yards, he saw an edge of white surf, and the

shallow, luminous movement of water over white sand,

and, beyond that, a solid, heavy blue.

16-8

He

ran

straight

into

the

water

and

began

swimming.

He was a good swimmer. He went out fast over

the gleaming sand, over a middle region where rocks

lay like discoloured monsters under the surface , and

then he was in the real sea a warm sea where irregular

cold currents from the deep water shocked his limbs.

16-9 When he was so far out that he could look

back not only on the little bay but past the promontory

that

was

between

it

and

the

big

beach,

he

floated

on

the buoyant surface and looked for his mother.

There

she

was,

a

speck

of

yellow

under

an

umbrella that looked like a slice of orange-peel.

He

swam

back

to

shore,

relieved

at

being

sure

she was there, but all at once very lonely.

16-10

On

the

edge

of

a

small

cape

that

marked

the side of the bay away from the promontory was a

loose scatter of rocks .

Above them, some boys were stripping off their

clothes.

They came running, naked, down to the rocks.

The

English

boy

swam

towards

them,

and

kept

his distance at a stone's throw.

They

were

of

that

coast,

all

of

them

burned

smooth

dark

brown,

and

speaking

a

language

he

did

not understand.

再往低处走时，

他看见海水伸展到几处充满了

粗糙尖锐岩石的水 湾，荡漾的水面露出片片紫色和

深蓝色斑点。

最后，剩下的最后几码，他是跑着滑下去的。

他看到了白色浪花的边缘，浅浅的，发着亮光的海

水浸过白色的沙洲，更远处是 一片浓重的、深沉的

蓝色。

他径直地跑入水中并开始游起泳来。

他是一个游泳好手。

他快速游过发着微光的沙

< br>洲，游过一片有着许多岩石的中间地带。这些岩石

如同褪了色的巨兽一般躺在水下 面。然后他就游进

了真正的大海，一片温和的海水，在这里从深水涌

来的寒流不时冲击着他的四肢。

他已经游出了这么远，回 过头去，不仅可以看

见小海湾，还可以越过小海湾与大海滩之间的海角

< br>往远处看。这时，他浮在浮力很大的水面上，寻找

着母亲的身影。

噢，她就在那里，像一片橘子皮一样的橘黄伞

下的一 个黄色斑点。

杰里游向岸边，确信母亲就在那儿他放心了，< /p>

但突然又感到母亲非常的孤独。

在一个 把海湾与岬分开的海角边缘上散乱着

许多块大岩石，

在岩石的上方，一群孩子正在脱着衣服

他们光着身子跑向岩石。