35 AND CLANGING CARS

 He looked up into the darkness and waited. He would let her sleep a minute... there was little danger now. The city waited, over there, with its low lights; and the friendly night shut them in. Before the morning dawned he should bring her home—safe home.... A kind of simple pride held him, and his heart leaped a little to the stars and sang with them—as he squatted¹ in the low grass, keeping guard.

 

Presently he leaned and touched her.

 

She started with a shiver and sprang up, rubbing her eyes and crying out, “I—had—a—dream—” she said softly—“a beautiful dream!” Then her eyes caught the stars and blinked to them—through dusty sleep—and she turned to him with swift cry, “You’re here!” she said. “It’s not a dream! It’s you!”

 

And Achilles laughed out. “We’re going home,” he said, “when you’re rested a little.”

 

“But I’m rested now!” she cried. “Come!” She sprang to her feet, and they journeyed again—through the night. About them, the plain breathed deep sleeping power—and the long road stretched from the west to the east and brought them home.

 

Each step, the city lights grew larger, and sparkled more, and spread apart farther, and a low rumble² came creeping on the plain—jarring with swift jolts—the clang of cars and lifting life... and, in the distance, a line of light ran fire swiftly on the air, and darted³, red and green, and trailed again in fire... and Achilles’s finger pointed⁴ to it. “That fire will take us home,” he said.

 

The child’s eye followed the flashing cars—and she smiled out. The first light of the city’s rim⁵ touched her face.

 

“Just a little farther!” said Achilles.

 

“But I am not tired!” said the child, and she ran a little, beside him, on the stone pavement, her small shoes clumping⁶ happily.

 

Achilles lifted a swift hand to a waiting car. The car clanged its gone—impatient. A big conductor reached down his hand to the child. The bell clanged again and they were off—“Clang-clang, clear the track! Betty Harris is going home—This is the people’s carriage—Going home! Going home! Clear the track—clang-clang!” Through the blinking city streets they rode. Safe among the friendly houses, and the shops and the stores, and the people sleeping behind their blinds—all the people who had loved the child—and scanned the paper for her, every day—and asked, “Is Betty Harris found?”... Going home! Going home!... They would waken in the morning and read the news and shout across the way—“She’s been found—yes—a Greek! He brought her home! Thank God. She’s found!”

 

And little Betty Harris, leaning against the great shoulder beside her, nodded in the car, and dreamed little dreams and looked about her hazily⁷.

 

The conductor came and stood in front of them with extended hand, and rang the fares, and cast an indifferent, kindly⁸ glance at the Greek and his child travelling by night.... He did not guess the “scoop” that his two little nickels rang out. The child with roughened hair and clumsy, hanging shoes, was nothing to him—nor to the policeman that boarded the car at the next corner and ran his eye down its empty length to the Greek, sitting erect—with the child sleeping beside him—her dark, tousled head against his arm.

 

The conductor came again, and touched Achilles on the shoulder and bent⁹ to him. “You change here,” he said. He was pointing to a car across the square—“You take that,” he said. “You understand?” He shouted a little—because the man was a foreigner—and dark—but his tone was friendly. And Achilles got to his feet, guiding the sleepy child down the rib-floored car that shook beneath them.... And the conductor and policeman watched the two figures vanish through the door—and smiled to each other—a friendly smile at foreign folks—who travel in strange ways—and go among us with eager, intent faces fixed¹⁰ on some shining goal we cannot see... with the patience of the centuries leaning down to them, and watching them.

 

 

1 squatted   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• He squatted down beside the footprints and examined them closely. 他蹲在脚印旁仔细地观察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He squatted in the grass discussing with someone. 他蹲在草地上与一个人谈话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

3 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

6 clumping   

v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的现在分词 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声

参考例句：

• Wipe the wand off before the first coat to prevent clumping. 把睫毛棒刷干净，避免结块。 来自互联网
• Fighting gravitational clumping would take a wavelength of a few dozen light-years. 为了对抗重力造成的聚集，这些粒子的波长可能会长达好几十光年的距离。 来自互联网

7 hazily   

ad. vaguely, not clear

参考例句：

• He remembered her only hazily. 他只是模模糊糊地记得她。
• We saw the distant hills hazily. 我们朦胧地看到了远处的山丘。

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。