魔鬼的洞穴

When the new priest came to the poor parish， there was no house or church for him. A farmer took him in， while the men built for him a small shack in which to live. The priest， a true saint with no 1 pride， was happy in his new parish. But the people wanted more for their priest， so they decided to build a church. The priest was pleased with their noble idea， but troubled because the work of hauling stone was back-breaking without a horse.

一位新牧師來到了一個既沒有馬也沒有教堂的窮教區。當時教民正在為他修建居所，所以他被一位農民收留在家中。這位牧師很喜歡他的教區，他是個真正的圣徒沒有虛偽的傲慢。教民想為他多做些事情，于是決定修建一座教堂。牧師欣然接受他們的好意，但是沒有馬去拉石塊，建造教堂成了一項很艱難的工程。

One night， the Virgin Mary appeared to the priest and offered him a horse to cart the stone for the church. She told him that the horse would be wearing a sanctified bridle. If anyone took it off， the horse would disappear forever.

一天夜里，圣母瑪麗亞托夢給牧師，許諾他一匹為教堂運石頭的馬，并告訴他這匹馬用神韁拴著，如果有人把神韁解開，馬就會永遠消失。

When the priest awoke from his dream， he heard the sound of a horse pawing the ground outside his door. Running to the window， the priest saw a horse tied to the post by the house. It was a magnificent animal， pitch black in color， tall， sleek and rippling with muscle. It had a wicked gleam in its black eyes. The bridle of which the Virgin Mary had spoken was quite plain. But when he studied it closely， it seemed to glitter in the sunlight， as if its sanctity were being tested at every moment. The priest realized at once that this horse was evil， perhaps even the devil itself!

當牧師從夢中醒來，聽到門外有馬蹄聲。他跑到窗口，發現一匹馬拴在屋外的柱子上。這匹高大魁梧的動物有著烏黑、絲滑、閃光的毛皮，肌肉發達，黑眼珠中流露著一絲邪惡。圣母瑪麗亞說過的神韁清晰可見。但當他更近地觀察它時，這匹馬在陽光下閃閃發光，就如同它的圣潔在隨時等著考驗。牧師立即意識到這匹馬會帶來不幸，或許它本身就是個魔鬼！

When the workmen arrived to begin hauling stone for the new church， the priest presented them with the horse， but warned them not to remove the bridle. \"What is the name of this horse?\" one man asked. \"I call him Old Nick，\" the priest said.

當工人們要為新教堂運石頭的時候，牧師牽出馬，并警告他們不要解開韁繩。一個人問：“這匹馬叫什么？”“叫它老尼克吧。”牧師回答。

The men harnessed Old Nick to the cart and put in a regular load of stone. Old Nick went off with that load as if there were nothing in the cart. The priest， who was watching， told them not to worry about Old Nick. He could handle much heavier loads. So they sent someone to fetch a larger cart. This cart they filled with so much stone it resembled a load of hay. The stone was so heavy that the wheels cracked. Old Nick didn't even break a sweat. In the days that followed， the men hauled so much stone that the plans for the church were moved up.

那個人把一輛車套在老尼克身上，并裝入一車石頭。老尼克疾步如飛，就像拉著一輛空車一樣。牧師看到后告訴工人們不要擔心老尼克，它可以承擔更重的貨物。因此有人找來了一個更大的套車，裝了滿滿一車石頭，摞得像一垛干草那么高。石頭如此沉以至于車輪都壓裂了，但老尼克仍然沒費一點兒勁。一天天，人們運來了大堆石頭，建造教堂的計劃有條不紊地進行。

Onedog days of summerwhen were drawing stone from the far side of the river， a man unbuckled the horse's bridle so it could take a drink. Well， Old Nick gave one great shake， and was gone like lightning， leaving harness and cart.

一個三伏天，老尼克從河的另一邊——一個很遠的地方拉來了石頭。趕車人為了讓它能夠喝到水，把韁繩解了下來。老尼克劇烈地抖動了一下，留下韁繩和車，閃電一樣消失了。

Old Nick was racing up the road as fast as he could go， when he saw the priest， who was on his way to visit a sick man. As soon as he saw the runway horse， the priest drew the sign of the cross in the air. Old Nick reared up and threw himself away from the holy symbol.

它一路狂奔，撞到了要拜訪病人的牧師。牧師一看到這匹逃跑的馬，就掏出了十字架。老尼克一驚，后腿直立起來，奪路而逃。

The horse sprang onto a rock overhanging the river. Immediately， there came a thunderous noise and the rock split in two， making a cleft that was six feet wide and that lead to a deep cavern into which Old Nick disappeared.

它狂奔到懸在河面上的巖石上時，一聲巨雷劈來，巖石裂開一個寬達6英尺的裂縫，老尼克立刻消失在裂縫中。

Thereafter， the cavern became known as the Devil's Hole. Any Christian who passed the Devil's Hole would find that his horse went lame or that his wheel broke or that some other misfortune befell him. Moans and horrible screams came from the hole at night， and several times a huge black wolf was seen coming out of the cavern with flames spouting out of its mouth. Only when the priest walked passed was the Devil's Hole silent.

事后，這個縫隙就被稱之為“魔鬼的洞穴”。任何基督徒路過這里時，不是他的馬瘸了就是車輪裂了，或是有不幸降臨到他身上。每逢半夜，洞里就會發出呻吟聲或令人毛骨悚然的尖叫。還有幾次，一只口噴火焰的巨大黑狼出沒于洞口。而只有牧師經過時，洞穴才會沉默無聲。

倒譯如流

dog days of summer

說到狗，大家都對夏天里吐著舌頭乘涼的狗狗印象很深吧！那么，這個習語又和狗有什么關系呢？

在古羅馬，研究星象和天文的科學家發現，在一年當中最炎熱的幾個星期里，天狼星與太陽總是同升同落，時間大概是從7月份一直到8月中旬。人們認為，這是天狼星所釋放的熱量增加了太陽原本釋放出的熱量，因此這段最熱的時間就被稱為是“dog days”。例如：Dog days are the hottest days in summer. 三伏天是夏季最熱的時候。

◆編輯：劉芳