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第693期:令人脊背发凉的真相! "活人祭祀"的背后,可能只是一群"听话的善良人"...

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Then Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, "Adams."


A man separated from the crowd and came forward. "Hi, Steve," Mr. Summers said. Mr. Adams replied, "Hi, Joe." They smiled at each other without much feeling. Then Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. He held it tightly by one corner as he turned and went quickly back to his place in the crowd, standing a little away from his family without looking at his paper.


Separated from 与...分离,分开

Reach into 把手伸进....

hold...tightly 仅仅握住

"Allen," Mr. Summers said. "Anderson... Bentham."


"Seems like there's no time between lotteries anymore," Mrs. Delacroix said to Mrs. Graves in the back row.


"Seems like we finished the last one only last week."


"Time sure goes fast," Mrs. Graves said.


"Clark... Delacroix."


"There goes my old man," Mrs. Delacroix said. She held her breath as her husband went forward.

Time goes fast 时间飞逝

Hold one's breath 屏住呼吸

"Dunbar," Mr. Summers said, and Mrs. Dunbar went steadily to the box while one woman said, "Go on, Janey," and another said, "There she goes."


"We're next," Mrs. Graves said. She watched as Mr. Graves came from the side of the box, greeted Mr. Summers seriously, and picked a slip of paper from the box. By now, the crowd had men holding small folded papers in their big hands, turning them nervously. Mrs. Dunbar and her two sons stood together, Mrs. Dunbar holding her paper.


"Harburt... Hutchinson."


"Get up there, Bill," Mrs. Hutchinson said, and the people nearby laughed.


"Jones."


"They do say," Mr. Adams said to Old Man Warner, who stood next to him, "that over in the north village they're talking about stopping the lottery."


Old Man Warner snorted. "A pack of crazy fools," he said. "Listening to the young folks, nothing's good enough for them. Next thing you know, they'll want to go back to living in caves, no one working anymore, living that way for a while. There used to be a saying, 'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' First thing you know, we'd all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. There's always been a lottery," he added grumpily. "It's bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody."


Nearby

Snorted 嗤之以鼻的哼笑

A pack of crazy fools 一群蠢货

Chickweed 鸡草(一种野草)

Acorn 橡子

'Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon.' 小说中小镇居民间的一句顺口溜,居民们相信,通过举行抽签仪式,可以确保农作物的丰收。这里的“heavy”指的是玉米穗饱满,意味着产量丰富。


前面提到有北边的村子想要废除这个抽签仪式,但Old man Warner觉得这就是年轻人胡来,不顾传统。不抽签就没有丰产,大家都得吃野菜了。

"Some places have already stopped lotteries," Mrs. Adams said.


"Nothing but trouble in that," Old Man Warner said firmly. "A pack of young fools."


"Martin." And Bobby Martin watched his father go forward. "Overdyke... Percy."


"I wish they'd hurry," Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son. "I wish they'd hurry."


"They're almost done," her son said.


"Get ready to run and tell Dad," Mrs. Dunbar said.


Mr. Summers called his own name and then stepped forward and picked a slip from the box. Then he called, "Warner."


"Seventy-seventh year I have been in the lottery," Old Man Warner said as he went through the crowd. "Seventy-seventh time."


"Watson." The tall boy came awkwardly through the crowd. Someone said, "Don't be nervous, Jack," and Mr. Summers said, "Take your time, son."


Awkwardly 笨拙地

Take your time 别急,慢慢来

"Zanini."


After that, there was a long pause, a breathless pause, until Mr. Summers, holding his slip of paper in the air, said, "All right, fellows." For a minute, no one moved, and then all the slips of paper were opened. Suddenly, all the women began to speak at once, shouting, "Who is it?" "Who's got it?" "Is it the Dunbars?" "Is it the Watsons?"


Then the voices began to say, "It's Hutchinson. It's Bill," "Bill Hutchinson has it."


"Go tell your father," Mrs. Dunbar said to her older son.


People looked around to see the Hutchinsons. Bill Hutchinson was standing quietly, staring down at the paper in his hand. Suddenly, Tessie Hutchinson shouted to Mr. Summers, "You didn't give him enough time to choose any paper he wanted. I saw you. It wasn't fair!"


"Be a good sport, Tessie," Mrs. Delacroix called, and Mrs. Graves said, "All of us took the same chance."


Stare at 盯着看

Be a good sport 表现得体,要有体育精神(在竞争或游戏中,以积极、友好和公平的态度参与,不计较输赢),这个表达用来劝告或提醒某人接受失败或不如意的结果,以一种积极和有风度的态度。


文中是劝解Tessie Hutchinson接受已经发生的事情,即使结果可能对她不利,要输得起。

"Shut up, Tessie," Bill Hutchinson said.


"Well, everyone," Mr. Summers said, "that was done pretty fast, and now we have to hurry a little more to finish in time." He checked his next list. "Bill," he said, "you draw for the Hutchinson family. Do you have any other households in the Hutchinsons?"


"There's Don and Eva," Mrs. Hutchinson yelled. "Make them take their chance!"


"Daughters draw with their husbands' families, Tessie," Mr. Summers said gently. "You know that as well as anyone else."


"It wasn't fair," Tessie said.


"I guess not, Joe," Bill Hutchinson said sadly. "My daughter draws with her husband's family; that's only fair. And I have no other family except the kids."

To finish in time 按时完成

Draw for... 为...抽签

That' only fair 那样菜公平

"Daughters draw with their husbands' families, 在这个故事的文化设定中,女儿们在结婚后会加入丈夫的家庭,所以在抽签活动中,她们会随丈夫的家庭一起参与抽签,而不需要在自己的出生家庭中再次抽签。


因此,当Mrs. Hutchinson提到她的女儿Don和Eva时,Mr. Summers 指出她们已经作为她们丈夫家庭的一部分参与了抽签,不需要再次参与。

"Then, for drawing families, it's you," Mr. Summers explained, "and for drawing households, it's you too. Right?"


"Right," Bill Hutchinson said.


"How many kids, Bill?" Mr. Summers asked formally.


"Three," Bill Hutchinson said.


"There's Bill, Jr., Nancy, and little Dave. And Tessie and me."


"All right, then," Mr. Summers said. "Harry, do you have their tickets back?"


Mr. Graves nodded and held up the slips of paper. "Put them in the box, then," Mr. Summers told him. "Take Bill's and put it in."


"I think we should start over," Mrs. Hutchinson said as quietly as she could. "I tell you it wasn't fair. You didn't give him enough time to choose. Everybody saw that."


Mr. Graves had selected the five slips and put them in the box. He dropped all the papers except those on the ground, where the wind picked them up and blew them away.


"Listen, everybody," Mrs. Hutchinson was saying to the people around her.


"Ready, Bill?" Mr. Summers asked, and Bill Hutchinson, with one quick look around at his wife and children, nodded.


"Remember," Mr. Summers said, "take the slips and keep them folded until each person has taken one. Harry, help little Dave." Mr. Graves took the little boy's hand, and Dave willingly went with him to the box. "Take a paper out of the box, Davy," Mr. Summers said. Davy put his hand into the box and laughed. "Take just one paper," Mr. Summers said. "Harry, you hold it for him." Mr. Graves took the child's hand and took the folded paper from his tight fist and held it while little Dave stood next to him, looking up at him in wonder.

Folded paper 折叠的纸条

Tight fist 紧握的拳头

"Nancy next," Mr. Summers said. Nancy was twelve, and her school friends were breathing heavily as she went forward, adjusting her skirt, and took a slip carefully from the box. "Bill, Jr.," Mr. Summers said, and Billy, his face red and his feet too big, almost knocked the box over as he took a paper out. "Tessie," Mr. Summers said. She hesitated for a minute, looking around defiantly, then set her lips and went up to the box. She grabbed a paper and held it behind her.


"Bill," Mr. Summers said, and Bill Hutchinson reached into the box and felt around, finally bringing his hand out with the slip of paper in it.


Defiantly 带着一种不服从或挑战的情绪,表示抗议或不认同

Set one's lips 紧闭双唇

The crowd was quiet. A girl whispered, "I hope it's not Nancy," and the sound of the whisper spread through the crowd.


"It's not the way it used to be," Old Man Warner said clearly. "People aren't the way they used to be."


"All right," Mr. Summers said. "Open the papers. Harry, you open little Dave's."


Mr. Graves opened the slip of paper, and there was a general sigh through the crowd as he held it up. Everyone saw that it was blank. Nancy and Bill Jr. opened theirs at the same time and both smiled and laughed, turning to the crowd and holding their papers above their heads.


"Tessie," Mr. Summers said. There was a pause, and then Mr. Summers looked at Bill Hutchinson. Bill unfolded his paper and showed it. It was blank.


"It's Tessie," Mr. Summers said quietly. "Show us her paper, Bill."


Bill Hutchinson went over to his wife and took the slip of paper from her hand. It had a black spot on it, the black spot Mr. Summers had made the night before with a heavy pencil in the coal company office. Bill held it up, and there was a stir in the crowd.

Sigh 叹气,叹息

Blank 空白的

A stir in the crowd 人群中一阵骚动

"All right, folks," Mr. Summers said. "Let's finish quickly."


Even though the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones. The pile of stones the boys had made earlier was ready. There were stones on the ground with the blowing scraps of paper from the box. Delacroix picked a stone so large she had to hold it with both hands and turned to Mrs. Dunbar. "Come on," she said. "Hurry up."


Mr. Dunbar had small stones in both hands, and she said, gasping for breath, "I can't run at all. You'll have to go ahead, and I'll catch up with you."


The children already had stones. Someone gave little Davy Hutchinson a few pebbles.


Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now. She held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. "It isn't fair," she said. A stone hit her on the side of her head. Old Man Warner was saying, "Come on, come on, everyone." Steve Adams was at the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.


"It isn't fair, it isn't right," Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.

Ritual 仪式

Gasping for breath 喘不过气来

Pebbles 鹅卵石

Cleared space 空地

重点单词   查看全部解释    
ritual ['ritjuəl]

想一想再看

n. 仪式,典礼,宗教仪式,固定程序
adj.

 
except [ik'sept]

想一想再看

vt. 除,除外
prep. & conj.

联想记忆
slip [slip]

想一想再看

v. 滑倒,溜走,疏忽,滑脱
n. 滑倒,溜走

 
stir [stə:]

想一想再看

n. 感动(激动,愤怒或震动), 搅拌,骚乱

 
separated ['sepəreitid]

想一想再看

adj. 分居;分开的;不在一起生活的 v. 分开;隔开

 
corn [kɔ:n]

想一想再看

n. 谷物,小麦,玉米
v. 形成(颗粒状),

 
willingly ['wiliŋli]

想一想再看

adv. 乐意地,心甘情愿地

联想记忆
awkwardly ['ɔ:kwə:dli]

想一想再看

adv. 笨拙地

 
original [ə'ridʒənl]

想一想再看

adj. 最初的,原始的,有独创性的,原版的

联想记忆
lottery ['lɔtəri]

想一想再看

n. 彩票

联想记忆

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