Animal Farm
Chapter 4
However, these stories were never fully believed.
Rumours of a wonderful farm, where the human beings had been turned out/ and the animals managed their own affairs, continued to circulate/ in vague and distorted forms, and throughout that year a wave of rebelliousness ran through the countryside.
Bulls which had always been tractable suddenly turned savage, sheep broke down hedges and devoured the clover, cows kicked the pail over, hunters refused their fences and shot their riders on to the other side.
Above all, the tune and even the words of Beasts of England were known everywhere.
It had spread with astonishing speed.
The human beings could not contain their rage when they heard this song, though they pretended to think it merely ridiculous.
They could not understand, they said, how even animals could bring themselves to sing such contemptible rubbish.
Any animal caught singing it/ was given a flogging on the spot.
And yet the song was irrepressible.
The blackbirds whistled it in the hedges, the pigeons cooed it in the elms, it got into the din of the smithies and the tune of the church bells.
And when the human beings listened to it, they secretly trembled, hearing in it a prophecy of their future doom.
translation
- 然而，这些故事从未被完全相信。
- 关于一个美妙的农场，人类被赶出去，动物们管理自己的事务的传闻，以模糊和扭曲的形式继续流传，那一年，一股反叛的浪潮席卷了整个乡村。
- 一直温顺的公牛突然变得凶猛，羊群冲破篱笆，吞食三叶草；奶牛踢翻奶桶；猎马拒绝跳过栅栏，将骑手甩到另一边。
- 最重要的是，《英格兰的野兽》这首曲子甚至歌词在各地广为传唱。
- 它以惊人的速度传播开来。
- 人类听到这首歌时无法抑制自己的愤怒，尽管他们假装认为它只是荒谬可笑。
- 他们说，甚至动物也能使自己唱出这种可鄙的废话，他们无法理解。
- 任何动物被发现哼唱这首歌，都会当场受到鞭打。
- 然而，这首歌是无法抑制的。
- 黑鸟在树篱中吹着口哨，鸽子在榆树上咕咕叫，它进入了铁匠的喧嚣和教堂钟声的曲调。
- 当人类听到这首歌时，他们内心会不由自主地颤抖，因为这首歌里蕴含着对他们未来厄运的预言。
vocabulary
[
{
"name": "rumour",
"trans": [
"n. 谣言",
"vt. 传闻"
],
"usphone": "'ˈruːmər'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "affair",
"trans": [
"n. 事件；事情；风流韵事；公共事务"
],
"usphone": "'əˈfer'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "circulate",
"trans": [
"v. （液体或气体）环流，循环；传播，流传；传阅，传送；来往应酬，周旋"
],
"usphone": "'ˈsɜːrkjəleɪt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "vague",
"trans": [
"adj. 不明确的，不清楚的；（形状）模糊的；（感情、记忆等）不完整的，不清晰的；含糊其词的，闪烁其词的；茫然的，心不在焉的"
],
"usphone": "'veɪɡ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "distort",
"trans": [
"v. 扭曲，使失真；歪曲，曲解"
],
"usphone": "'dɪˈstɔːrt'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "tractable",
"trans": [
"adj. 易于管教的；易驾驭的；易处理的；驯良的"
],
"usphone": "'ˈtræktəb(ə)l'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "savage",
"trans": [
"v. 凶狠地攻击（或伤害）；残害；猛烈批评；激烈抨击",
"adj. 凶恶的；凶残的；损害严重的；猛烈抨击的",
"n. 野蛮人；未开化的人；凶狠残暴的人"
],
"usphone": "'ˈsævɪdʒ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "devour",
"trans": [
"v. 狼吞虎咽地吃；如饥似渴地阅读，热切地看；吞噬，毁灭；充满（感情）"
],
"usphone": "'dɪˈvaʊər'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "pail",
"trans": [
"n. 桶，提桶；一桶的量"
],
"usphone": "'peɪl'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "hunter",
"trans": [
"n. 猎狐马；猎人，捕猎者；搜寻者，寻找者；猎犬；有护盖的手表"
],
"usphone": "'ˈhʌntər'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "astonishing",
"trans": [
"adj. 惊人的，令人惊讶的",
"v. 使惊奇，使惊讶（****** 的现在分词）"
],
"usphone": "'əˈstɑnɪʃɪŋ'",
"ukphone": "'əˈstɒnɪʃɪŋ'"
},
{
"name": "contain",
"trans": [
"v. 抑制（感情）；包含，容纳；遏制，防止……蔓延；"
],
"usphone": "'kənˈteɪn'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "rage",
"trans": [
"n. 狂怒；暴怒；（某情况引起的）愤怒",
"v. 发怒；怒斥；猛烈地继续；激烈进行"
],
"usphone": "'reɪdʒ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "pretend",
"trans": [
"v. 伪装，假装；（玩游戏时）假扮，装扮；自诩，自称（***** to）",
"adj. <非正式>假装的，假想的（尤为儿童使用）"
],
"usphone": "'prɪˈtend'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "ridiculous",
"trans": [
"adj. 可笑的，荒谬的"
],
"usphone": "'rɪˈdɪkjələs'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "contemptible",
"trans": [
"adj. 可鄙的，卑劣的"
],
"usphone": "'kənˈtemptəbl'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "flog",
"trans": [
"vt. 鞭打，鞭策；迫使",
"vi. 剧烈抖动；除尘"
],
"usphone": "'flɑːɡ'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "on the spot",
"trans": [
"na. 当场；立刻；【商业】用现货[现款]；(人)准备妥当",
"网络 在现场；在场；马上"
],
"usphone": "''",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "irrepressible",
"trans": [
"adj. 抑制不住的；压服不了的"
],
"usphone": "'ˌɪrɪˈpresəb(ə)l'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "blackbird",
"trans": [
"n. 画眉；燕八哥；山鸟类；(欧洲的)乌鸫"
],
"usphone": "'ˈblækbɜːrd'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "whistle",
"trans": [
"v. 吹口哨；吹哨子；打呼哨；鸣叫",
"n. 哨子；口哨；汽笛；汽笛声"
],
"usphone": "'ˈwɪs(ə)l'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "coo",
"trans": [
"v. （鸽子）发出咕咕声；柔声地说；（婴儿）满足地轻哼",
"n. 咕咕声，鸽子的叫声",
"int. （表示惊讶或者高兴等）唔，呀"
],
"usphone": "'kuː'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "elm",
"trans": [
"n. [林] 榆树；榆木",
"adj. 榆树的；榆木的"
],
"usphone": "'elm'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "din",
"trans": [
"n. 喧嚣声，嘈杂声；宗教法律，犹太法律；（尤指伊斯兰教）宗教信仰",
"v. 再三叮嘱，反复教导；发出喧闹声"
],
"usphone": "'dɪn'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "smithy",
"trans": [
"n. 铁匠铺；铁匠；锻冶场"
],
"usphone": "'ˈsmɪθi'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "bell",
"trans": [
"n. 钟，铃；钟声，铃声（the ****）；钟状物",
"v. 系铃，装；发出响铃（或敲钟）般的声音；<英，非正式> 给……打电话；呈钟状，成钟状鼓起（或张开）；系铃，装钟"
],
"usphone": "'bel'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "tremble",
"trans": [
"v. （因害怕、紧张、兴奋等）颤抖，哆嗦；颤动，轻轻摇晃；害怕，紧张；（声音）颤抖",
"n. 颤抖，战栗； <非正式>震颤病 (the *****s)；乳毒病（同 milk sickness）"
],
"usphone": "'ˈtremb(ə)l'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "prophecy",
"trans": [
"n. 预言；预言能力"
],
"usphone": "'ˈprɑːfəsi'",
"ukphone": "''"
},
{
"name": "doom",
"trans": [
"n. 厄运，劫数；悲观，沮丧",
"v. 注定"
],
"usphone": "'duːm'",
"ukphone": "''"
}
]