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Face To Face With Hurricane Camille

迎战卡米尔号飓风

约瑟夫.布兰克

1 John Koshak, Jr., knew Hurricane Camille would be bad. Radio and television warnings had sounded throughout that Sunday. Last August 17, as Camille lashed northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico. It was certain to pummel Gulfport, Miss., where the Koshaks lived. Along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, nearly 150,000 people fled inland to safer ground. But like thousands of others in the coastal communities, John was reluctant to abandon his home unless the family—his wife, Janis and their seven children, aged 3 to 11—was clearly endangered.

小约翰。柯夏克已料到，卡米尔号飓风来势定然凶猛。就在去年8月17日那个星期天，当卡米尔号飓风越过墨西哥湾向西北进袭之时，收音机和电视里整天不断地播放着飓风警报。柯夏克一家居住的地方一—密西西比州的高尔夫港——肯定会遭到这场飓风的猛烈袭击。路易斯安那、密西西比和亚拉巴马三州沿海一带的居民已有将近15万人逃往内陆安全地带。但约翰就像沿海村落中其他成千上万的人一样，不愿舍弃家园，要他下决心弃家外逃，除非等到他的一家人一—妻子詹妮丝以及他们那七个年龄从三岁到十一岁的孩子一一眼看着就要灾祸临头。

lash (v.): move quickly or violently猛烈冲击；拍打

pummel (n.): beat or hit with repeated blows，esp．with the fist(尤指用拳头)连续地打

2 Trying to reason out the best course of action, he talked with his father and mother, who had moved into the ten-room house with the Koshaks a month earlier from California. He also consulted Charles Hill, a longtime friend, who had driven from Las Vegas for a visit.

为了找出应付这场风灾的最佳对策，他与父母商量过。两位老人是早在一个月前就从加利福尼亚迁到这里来，住进柯夏克一家所住的那幢十个房间的屋子里。他还就此征求过从拉斯韦加斯开车来访的老朋友查理 希尔的意见。

course (n.): a way of behaving；mode 0f conduct行为；品行；做法

reason out: to find out an explanation or solution to a problem，by thinking of all the possibilities寻找解决途径

例：Let's reason this out instead of quarrelling．让我们不要争吵，商量出事情的解决方案

3 John, 37—whose business was right there in his home (he designed and developed educational toys and supplies, and all of Magna Products’ correspondence, engineering drawings and art work were there on the first floor)—was familiar with the power of a hurricane. Four years earlier Hurricane Betsy had demolished his former home a few miles west of Gulfport (Koshak had moved his family to a motel for the night). But that house had stood only a few feet above sea level. “We’re elevated 23 feet,” he told his father, “and we’re a good 250 yards from the sea. The place has been here since 1915, and no hurricane has ever bothered it. We’ll probably be as safe here as anyplace else.”

约翰的全部产业就在自己家里(他开办的玛格纳制造公司是设计、研制各种教育玩具和教育用品的。公司的一切往来函件、设计图纸和工艺模具全都放在一楼)。37岁的他对飓风的威力是深有体会的。四年前，他原先拥有的位于高尔夫港以西几英里外的那个家就曾毁于贝翠号飓风(那场风灾前夕柯夏克已将全家搬到一家汽车旅馆过夜)。不过，当时那幢房子所处的地势偏低，高出海平面仅几英尺。“我们现在住的这幢房子高了23英尺，’他对父亲说，“而且距离海边足有250码远。这幢房子是1915年建造的。至今还从未受到过飓风的袭击。我们呆在这儿恐怕是再安全不过了。”

a good: at least，full至少，最少

例：They waited a good eight hours他们等了至少8个小时。

demolish (v.): pull down．tear down，or smash to pieces (a building，etc．)，destroy：ruin拉倒；打碎；拆毁；破坏；毁灭

motel (n.):a hotel intended primarily for those traveling by car, usually with direct access from each room to an area for cars汽车游客旅馆

4 The elder Koshak, a gruff, warmhearted expert machinist of 67 agreed. “We can batten down and ride it out,” he said. “If we see signs of danger, we can get out before dark.”

老柯夏克67岁．是个语粗心慈的熟练机械师。他对儿子的意见表示赞同。“我们是可以严加防卫。度过难关的，”他说?“一但发现危险信号，我们还可以赶在天黑之前撤出去。”

gruff (adj.): rough or surly in manner or speech；harsh and throaty；hoarse粗暴的，粗鲁的；粗哑的。嘶哑的

batten (n.): fasten with battens用压条钉住(或固定)

5 The men methodically prepared for the hurricane. Since water mains might be damaged, they filled bathtubs and pails. A power failure was likely, so they checked out batteries for the portable radio and flashlights, and fuel for the lantern. John’s father moved a small generator into the downstairs hallway, wired several light bulbs to it and prepared a connection to the refrigerator. 为了对付这场飓风，几个男子汉有条不紊地做起准备工作来。自米水管道可能遭到破坏，他们把浴盆和提俑都盛满水。飓风也可能造成断电，所以他们检查手提式收音机和手电筒里的电池以及提灯里的燃料油。约翰的父亲将一台小发电机搬到楼下门厅里．接上几个灯泡。并做好把发电机与电冰箱接通的准备。

methodically (adv.): orderly，systematically有秩序地；有条理地

main (n.): a principal pipe, or line in a distributing system for water, gas, electricity, etc(自来水，煤气，电等的)总管

bathtub (n.): a tub，now usually a bathroom fixture，in which to take a bath浴盆，浴缸

generator (n.): a machine for changing mechanical energy into electrical energy；dynamo发电机，发动机

6 Rain fell steadily that afternoon; gray clouds scudded in from the Gulf on the rising wind. The family had an early supper. A neighbor, whose husband was in Vietnam, asked if she and her two children could sit out the storm with the Koshaks. Another neighbor came by on his way inland—would the Koshaks mind taking care of his

dog?

那天下午，雨一直下个不停．乌云随着越来越猛的暴风从海湾上空席卷而来。全家早早地用晚餐。邻居中一个丈夫去了越南的妇女跑过来。问她和她的两个孩子是否能搬进柯夏克家躲避风灾：另一个准备向内陆带转移的邻居也跑来问柯夏克家能否替他照看一下他的狗。

sit out: stay until the end of坐到结束

例：We forced ourselves to sit the play out．我们强迫自己坐到演出结束 scud (v.): run or move swiftly；glide or skim along easily疾行，飞驰；掠过

7 It grew dark before 7 o’clock. Wind and rain now whipped the house. John sent his oldest son and daughter upstairs to bring down mattresses and pillows for the young children. He wanted to keep the group together on one floor. “Stay away from the windows,” he warned, concerned about glass flying from storm-shattered pane. As the wind mounted to a roar, the house began leaking—the rain seemingly driven right through the walls. With mops, towels, pots and buckets the Koshaks began a struggle against the rapidly spreading water. At 8:30, power failed, and Koshak turned on the generator.

不到七点钟，天就黑了．，狂风暴雨拍打着屋子。约翰让大儿子和大女儿上楼去取来被褥和枕头给几个小一点的孩子。他想把全家人都集中在同一层楼上。“不要靠近窗户!”他警告说，担心在飓风巾震破的玻璃碎片会飞来伤人。风凶猛地咆哮起来?屋子开始漏雨了??那雨水好像能穿墙透壁，往屋里直灌。一家人都操起拖把、毛巾、盆罐和水桶，展开了一场排水战。到八点半钟，电没有了。柯夏克老爹便启动了小发电机。

pane (n.):a single division of a window，etc.，consisting of a sheet of glass in a frame；such a sheet of glass窗格；窗格玻璃

mattress (n.): a casing of strong cloth or other fabric filled with cotton，hair，foam rubber，etc．床垫；褥子

8 The roar of the hurricane now was overwhelming. The house shook, and the ceiling in the living room was falling pieces by pieces. The French doors in an upstairs room blew in with an explosive sound, and the group heard gun-like reports as other upstairs windows disintegrated. Water rose above their ankles.

飓风的咆哮声压倒了一切。房子摇晃着，起居室的天花板一块块掉下来。楼上一个房问的法兰西式两用门砰地一声被风吹开了。楼下的人还听到楼上其他玻璃窗破碎时发出的劈劈啪啪的响声。积水已经漫到脚踝上了。

disintegrate (v.): separate into parts or fragments; break up；disunite分裂，分解，裂成碎块

9 Then the front door started to break away from its frame. John and Charlie put their shoulders against it, but a blast of water hit the house, flinging open the door and shoving them down the hall. The generator was doused, and the lights went out. Charlie licked his lips and shouted to John. “I think we’re in real trouble. That water tasted salty.” The sea had reached the house, and the water was rising by the minute. 随后，前门开始从门框上脱落。约翰和查理用肩膀抵住¨，但一股水浪冲击过