一個安靜的讀書角，通過閱讀文學名著學語言，是掌握英語的絕佳方法。"單詞短語應用"是提煉每篇文章的重點短語，並附有例句進而提升短語運用能力。靜水流深，讓閱讀迴歸本質，一起悅讀！
Chapter15
The Assassins chase Pinocchio, catch him, and hang him to the branch of a giant oak tree.
強盜們追上了匹諾曹，抓住他，然後把他吊在一棵大橡樹的樹枝上。
As he ran, the Marionette felt more and more certain that he would have to give himself up into the hands of his pursuers. Suddenly he saw a little cottage gleaming white as the snow among the trees of the forest.
跑著跑著，小木偶覺得自己快要落到強盜們的手裡了。突然，他看見森林裡的一間小屋裡閃著雪一樣白色的光。
"If I have enough breath left with which to reach that little house, I may be saved," he said to himself.
他自言自語地說:"只要我有力氣跑到房子那兒，我就有可能得救了。"
Not waiting another moment, he darted swiftly through the woods, the Assassins still after him.
他片刻也不耽誤，飛快地穿過樹林，強盜們仍窮追不捨。
After a hard race of almost an hour, tired and out of breath, Pinocchio finally reached the door of the cottage and knocked. No one answered.
匹諾曹拼命地跑了將近一個小時，累得上氣不接下氣，終於跑到小屋門口，敲了敲門。沒有人回答。
He knocked again, harder than before, for behind him he heard the steps and the labored breathing of his persecutors. The same silence followed.
身後追趕他的腳步聲越來越近，和他們費力的呼吸聲，他不得不加重了敲門聲。可是，屋內還是靜悄悄的。
As knocking was of no use, Pinocchio, in despair, began to kick and bang against the door, as if he wanted to break it. At the noise, a window opened and a lovely maiden looked out. She had azure hair and a face white as wax. Her eyes were closed and her hands crossed on her breast. With a voice so weak that it hardly could be heard, she whispered:
眼見敲門已經沒用了，匹諾曹絕望地用腳用力踢門，用拳頭使勁砸，好像要把門砸破似的。聽到吵鬧聲，窗戶終於打開了，一位可愛的少女向外探出頭來。她有一頭天藍色的頭髮和一張白如蠟像的臉。她緊閉著雙眼，雙手交叉放在胸前，說話的聲音微弱得幾乎聽不見，她低聲說:
"No one lives in this house. Everyone is dead."
"這個房子沒有人住了。都死了。"
"Won't you, at least, open the door for me?" cried Pinocchio in a beseeching voice.
"那你至少幫我開開門吧?"匹諾曹用哀求的聲音叫道。
"I also am dead."
"我也死了。"
"Dead? What are you doing at the window, then?"
"死了？那你站在窗口那幹嗎呢？"
"I am waiting for the coffin to take me away."
"我在等著棺材把我抬走。"
After these words, the little girl disappeared and the window closed without a sound.
"Oh, Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair," cried Pinocchio, "open, I beg of you. Take pity on a poor boy who is being chased by two Assass —"
說完這些話，小女孩就不見了，窗戶也悄無聲息地關上了。"嘿，藍頭髮的漂亮女孩，"匹諾曹大聲叫道，"您行行好，給我開開門吧！同情同情我這個可伶的孩子吧，後面有兩個強盜……"
He did not finish, for two powerful hands grasped him by the neck and the same two horrible voices growled threateningly:"Now we have you!"
話還沒說完，兩隻有力的手就抓住了他的脖子。還是那兩個可怖的聲音，咆哮著威嚇他："現在你跑不掉了。"
The Marionette, seeing death dancing before him, trembled so hard that the joints of his legs rattled and the coins tinkled under his tongue.
小木偶一看，死到臨頭了，嚇得兩腿直髮抖，藏在舌頭底下的金幣丁當作響。
"Well," the Assassins asked, "will you open your mouth now or not? Ah! You do not answer? Very well, this time you shall open it."
"好了，"兩個強盜盤問他說，"把嘴張開，張還是不張?喲!不說話？很好，這次你非打開不可。"
Taking out two long, sharp knives, they struck two heavy blows on the Marionette's back.
說著，他們抽出兩把鋒利的長刀，在木偶的背上重重地敲了兩下。
Happily for him, Pinocchio was made of very hard wood and the knives broke into a thousand pieces. The Assassins looked at each other in dismay, holding the handles of the knives in their hands.
但是匹諾曹是用很硬的木頭做的，所以他很幸運沒受傷，倒是刀子斷成了碎片。強盜手裡握著刀柄，灰溜溜地你望著我，我望著你。
"I understand," said one of them to the other, "there is nothing left to do now but to hang him."
"我知道該怎麼做了，"其中一個對另一個說，"現在除了吊死他，別無他法。"
"To hang him," repeated the other.
"吊死他吧，另一個重複說"
They tied Pinocchio's hands behind his shoulders and slipped the noose around his neck. Throwing the rope over the high limb of a giant oak tree, they pulled till the poor Marionette hung far up in space.
他們把匹諾曹的手綁在他背後，把套索套在他的脖子上。然後把繩子綁在一棵大橡樹的枝幹上，一直拉一直拉，一直到可憐的木偶遠遠地掛在空中。
Satisfied with their work, they sat on the grass waiting for Pinocchio to give his last gasp. But after three hours the Marionette's eyes were still open, his mouth still shut and his legs kicked harder than ever.
他們對自己做的這些事很滿意，坐在草地上等著匹諾曹斷氣。可是三個鐘頭過去了，木偶依然睜著兩隻眼睛，緊閉著嘴巴，兩腿掙扎得越來越起勁。
Tired of waiting, the Assassins called to him mockingly: "Good-by till tomorrow. When we return in the morning, we hope you'll be polite enough to let us find you dead and gone and with your mouth wide open." With these words they went.
兩個強盜等得不耐煩了，愚弄地對他喊道:"再見，明天見。希望你行個方便，等我們明天再過來的時候，你已經死了，而嘴巴還張得大大的。"說完，他們轉身走了。
A few minutes went by and then a wild wind started to blow. As it shrieked and moaned, the poor little sufferer was blown to and fro like the hammer of a bell. The rocking made him seasick and the noose, becoming tighter and tighter, choked him. Little by little a film covered his eyes.
過了幾分鐘，突然颳起一陣狂風，風發出刺耳的尖叫，呻吟著，像是為可憐的木偶打抱不平。可憐的匹諾曹像一個擺動的大錘被風吹得翻來覆去，把他的頭都轉暈了。脖子上的活結繩索越來越緊，緊得使他快要窒息了。他的雙眼漸漸發黑。
Death was creeping nearer and nearer, and the Marionette still hoped for some good soul to come to his rescue, but no one appeared. As he was about to die, he thought of his poor old father, and hardly conscious of what he was saying, murmured to himself:
儘管感到死神離他越來越近了，木偶依然抱有希望，在斷氣之前有個好心人來解救他，可是一個人也沒有出現。快要死的時候，他想起了他可憐的老父親，無意識地說些什麼，嘟囔地自語:
"Oh, Father, dear Father! If you were only here!"
"噢，爸爸，親愛的爸爸!要是你在這兒就好了!"
These were his last words. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth, stretched out his legs, and hung there, as if he were dead.
這是他說的最後一句話。他閉著眼睛，張大嘴巴，伸開雙腿，像死了一樣，吊在那裡一動也不動。
單詞、短語應用
reach:
①達到某一階段；
The kids have reached the age when they can care for themselves.
孩子們已經到能照顧自己的年齡了。
②實現，達成；
He has reached an agreement with the related leaders of the company.
他已經和公司有關領導達成了協議。
③伸手觸及；
She is too small to reach the table.
她個子太小夠不到桌子。
Keep medicines out of the reach of children.
藥品要放在兒童夠不到的地方。
④與…電話聯繫；
I can probably reach him on his mobile.
我打他手機也許可以聯繫上他。
⑤得知消息；
The news reached us on the TV.
我們在電視裡得知這個消息。
⑥願意傾聽。
We are willing to reach out to you in order to improve our service.
我們願意傾聽您的建議，以便改善我們的服務。
閱讀更多 我依是行人 的文章
