TWO Sorghum Wine 11

11
GRANDDAD AND FATHER returned to their razed¹ home, where they retrieved² fifty silver dollars froma hiding place in the wall. Then, dressed as beggars, they went to a small shop in town, near therailway station, where a red lantern hung. They bought five hundred bullets from a heavily made-up woman, then hid out for several days, until they found a way to sneak³ out through the towngate. They planned to settle accounts with Pocky Leng.
On the afternoon of the sixth day following the ambush⁴ and battle at the Black Water Riverbridge – the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month in the year 1939 – Granddad and Fatherdrove a billy goat, nearly dead from the dung building up inside it, to the sorghum⁵ field at thewestern edge of the village. More than four hundred Japs and six hundred of their puppet soldiershad encircled our village like a steel hoop⁶ on a barrel. Granddad and Father hurriedly cut openthe billy goat’s stitched-shut rectum, and after relieving itself of pounds of dung, it dumpedseveral hundred cartridges⁷ onto the ground. They quickly scooped⁸ them up, ignoring the stinkingfilth, and engaged the invaders⁹ in a solemn and stirring battle in the sorghum field.
Although they killed dozens of Japanese soldiers and dozens of puppet soldiers, they were stilloutnumbered. As night fell, the villagers tried to breach¹⁰ the encirclement at the southern edge ofthe village, where there was no gunfire, but were met by a withering¹¹ hail of machine-gun fire.
Hundreds of men and women were killed instantly in the sorghum field, and their mortallywounded comrades crushed countless¹² stalks of red sorghum in their own death agonies.
The Japs torched the village before withdrawing. Flames shot up into the heavens, and keptburning, turning half the sky white. The moon that night was full and blood-red, but the warbelow turned it pale and weak, like a faded paper cutout hanging grimly in the sky.
‘Where to now, Dad?’
No response.

1 razed   

v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The village was razed to the ground . 这座村庄被夷为平地。
• Many villages were razed to the ground. 许多村子被夷为平地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 retrieved   

v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息）

参考例句：

• Yesterday I retrieved the bag I left in the train. 昨天我取回了遗留在火车上的包。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He reached over and retrieved his jacket from the back seat. 他伸手从后座上取回了自己的夹克。 来自辞典例句

3 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

4 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

5 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

6 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

7 cartridges   

子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头

参考例句：

• computer consumables such as disks and printer cartridges 如磁盘、打印机墨盒之类的电脑耗材
• My new video game player came with three game cartridges included. 我的新电子游戏机附有三盘游戏带。

8 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

10 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

11 withering   

使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的

参考例句：

• She gave him a withering look. 她极其蔑视地看了他一眼。
• The grass is gradually dried-up and withering and pallen leaves. 草渐渐干枯、枯萎并落叶。

12 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。