一个安静的读书角，通过阅读文学名著学语言，是掌握英语的绝佳方法。"单词短语应用"是提炼每篇文章的重点短语，并附有例句进而提升短语运用能力。静水流深，让阅读回归本质，一起悦读！
Chapter15
The Assassins chase Pinocchio, catch him, and hang him to the branch of a giant oak tree.
强盗们追上了匹诺曹，抓住他，然后把他吊在一棵大橡树的树枝上。
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.
跑着跑着，小木偶觉得自己快要落到强盗们的手里了。突然，他看见森林里的一间小屋里闪着雪一样白色的光。
"If I have enough breath left with which to reach that little house, I may be saved," he said to himself.
他自言自语地说:"只要我有力气跑到房子那儿，我就有可能得救了。"
Not waiting another moment, he darted swiftly through the woods, the Assassins still after him.
他片刻也不耽误，飞快地穿过树林，强盗们仍穷追不舍。
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.
匹诺曹拼命地跑了将近一个小时，累得上气不接下气，终于跑到小屋门口，敲了敲门。没有人回答。
He knocked again, harder than before, for behind him he heard the steps and the labored breathing of his persecutors. The same silence followed.
身后追赶他的脚步声越来越近，和他们费力的呼吸声，他不得不加重了敲门声。可是，屋内还是静悄悄的。
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:
眼见敲门已经没用了，匹诺曹绝望地用脚用力踢门，用拳头使劲砸，好像要把门砸破似的。听到吵闹声，窗户终于打开了，一位可爱的少女向外探出头来。她有一头天蓝色的头发和一张白如蜡像的脸。她紧闭着双眼，双手交叉放在胸前，说话的声音微弱得几乎听不见，她低声说:
"No one lives in this house. Everyone is dead."
"这个房子没有人住了。都死了。"
"Won't you, at least, open the door for me?" cried Pinocchio in a beseeching voice.
"那你至少帮我开开门吧?"匹诺曹用哀求的声音叫道。
"I also am dead."
"我也死了。"
"Dead? What are you doing at the window, then?"
"死了？那你站在窗口那干吗呢？"
"I am waiting for the coffin to take me away."
"我在等着棺材把我抬走。"
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 —"
说完这些话，小女孩就不见了，窗户也悄无声息地关上了。"嘿，蓝头发的漂亮女孩，"匹诺曹大声叫道，"您行行好，给我开开门吧！同情同情我这个可伶的孩子吧，后面有两个强盗……"
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!"
话还没说完，两只有力的手就抓住了他的脖子。还是那两个可怖的声音，咆哮着威吓他："现在你跑不掉了。"
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，死到临头了，吓得两腿直发抖，藏在舌头底下的金币丁当作响。
"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，"两个强盗盘问他说，"把嘴张开，张还是不张?哟!不说话？很好，这次你非打开不可。"
Taking out two long, sharp knives, they struck two heavy blows on the Marionette's back.
说着，他们抽出两把锋利的长刀，在木偶的背上重重地敲了两下。
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.
但是匹诺曹是用很硬的木头做的，所以他很幸运没受伤，倒是刀子断成了碎片。强盗手里握着刀柄，灰溜溜地你望着我，我望着你。
"I understand," said one of them to the other, "there is nothing left to do now but to hang him."
"我知道该怎么做了，"其中一个对另一个说，"现在除了吊死他，别无他法。"
"To hang him," repeated the other.
"吊死他吧，另一个重复说"
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.
他们把匹诺曹的手绑在他背后，把套索套在他的脖子上。然后把绳子绑在一棵大橡树的枝干上，一直拉一直拉，一直到可怜的木偶远远地挂在空中。
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.
他们对自己做的这些事很满意，坐在草地上等着匹诺曹断气。可是三个钟头过去了，木偶依然睁着两只眼睛，紧闭着嘴巴，两腿挣扎得越来越起劲。
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.
两个强盗等得不耐烦了，愚弄地对他喊道:"再见，明天见。希望你行个方便，等我们明天再过来的时候，你已经死了，而嘴巴还张得大大的。"说完，他们转身走了。
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.
过了几分钟，突然刮起一阵狂风，风发出刺耳的尖叫，呻吟着，像是为可怜的木偶打抱不平。可怜的匹诺曹像一个摆动的大锤被风吹得翻来覆去，把他的头都转晕了。脖子上的活结绳索越来越紧，紧得使他快要窒息了。他的双眼渐渐发黑。
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:
尽管感到死神离他越来越近了，木偶依然抱有希望，在断气之前有个好心人来解救他，可是一个人也没有出现。快要死的时候，他想起了他可怜的老父亲，无意识地说些什么，嘟囔地自语:
"Oh, Father, dear Father! If you were only here!"
"噢，爸爸，亲爱的爸爸!要是你在这儿就好了!"
These were his last words. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth, stretched out his legs, and hung there, as if he were dead.
这是他说的最后一句话。他闭着眼睛，张大嘴巴，伸开双腿，像死了一样，吊在那里一动也不动。
单词、短语应用
reach:
①达到某一阶段；
The kids have reached the age when they can care for themselves.
孩子们已经到能照顾自己的年龄了。
②实现，达成；
He has reached an agreement with the related leaders of the company.
他已经和公司有关领导达成了协议。
③伸手触及；
She is too small to reach the table.
她个子太小够不到桌子。
Keep medicines out of the reach of children.
药品要放在儿童够不到的地方。
④与…电话联系；
I can probably reach him on his mobile.
我打他手机也许可以联系上他。
⑤得知消息；
The news reached us on the TV.
我们在电视里得知这个消息。
⑥愿意倾听。
We are willing to reach out to you in order to improve our service.
我们愿意倾听您的建议，以便改善我们的服务。
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