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There was no wind. There was only the intense whiteness of moonlight. Why did this calm cold sink into them like the teeth of a trap? They bent their shoulders and walked silently back into the house.
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● teeth of a trap：捕鼠（兽）机的刀齿。
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The room was not much warmer. They had forgotten to shut the door behind them when the whistle was blowing so hard. They sat down to wait for morning.
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● had forgotten：刚才他们出去抢救番茄的时候，忘了关门了，寒气进了屋，屋里一样的冷。
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Then Jason did a rare, strange thing. There long before morning he poured kerosene over some kindling and struck a light to it. Squatting, they got near it, quite gradually they drew together, and sat motionless until it all burned down. Still Sara did not move. Then Jason, in his underwear and long blue trousers, went out and brought in another load, and the big cherry log which of course was meant to be saved for the very last of winter.
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● 这时候这对老夫妻的情形是：火炉里的火灭了（见前文），被褥衣服都给番茄秧盖上了，自己身上反而没有盖的了，天还不亮，屋子里同外面一样冷，该怎么办呢？
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● kerosene：火油。kindling：引火柴。squatting：蹲着。
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● underwear：内衣。another load：又是一堆（小木片，引火柴）。cherry log：樱桃树木柴。saved：节省；“这是预备省下来，度过这个冬天的”。last=end。
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The extravagant warmth of the room had sent some kind of agitation over Sara, like her memories of Dexter in the shipping season. She sat huddled in a long brown cotton petticoat, holding onto the string which went around the waist. Her mouse-colored hair, paler at the temples, was hanging loose down to her shoulders, like a child’s unbound for a party. She held her knees against her numb, pendulant breasts and stared into the fire, her eyes widening.
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● 把最后一块大木柴烧掉了，该怎么办呢？作者所描写的这对老夫妇，差不多是没有思考作用的，他们像动物一样，只有感觉和简单的反应。对于这种可怜的人，冷应该更加可怕。
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● agitation：（心理上的）激动。注意：这里的sent的意义和平常不同。her memories…：请参阅上文。
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● huddled：蜷缩，过去分词，形容主语。petticoat：衬裙，不连上身的。
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● holding，现在分词，仍是形容主语。onto=on to，手捏牢这根绕腰而过的带子（string）。
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● temples：太阳穴。a child’s=a child’s hair。party：宴会。小（女）孩子参加宴会时，有时把头发解松了，披在肩上，算是一种打扮。
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● numb：麻木的。pendulant：下垂的。
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At last every bit of the wood was gone. Now the cherry log was burned to ashes.
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And all of a sudden Jason was on his feet again. Of all things, he was bringing the split-bottomed chair over to the hearth. He knocked it to pieces…. It burned well and brightly. Sara never said a word. She did not move….
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Then the kitchen table. To think that a solid, steady four-legged table like that, that had stood thirty years in one place, should be consumed in such a little while! Sara stared almost greedily at the waving flames.
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● on his feet：站起来。of all things：有“什么都不搬，偏把椅子搬来”之意。bottom：椅子之座位部。split：裂开的。over（副词）：解作“从那边搬来”之意。
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● To think=it is hard to think。下面的noun clause的动词should be consumed是虚拟式：“竟然会这样快就烧掉！”
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● a table like that之that是指示代名词，“像那一张一样的桌子”。第二个that是关系代名词，引起一个adjective clause，也是形容table。
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● greedily：贪婪地，想占有这个火。用中文说是“想把这个火吃下去”。
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Then when that was over, Jason and Sara sat in darkness where their bed had been, and it was colder than ever. The fire the kitchen table had made seemed wonderful to them…. But Sara trembled, again pressing her hard knees against her breast. All at once, without turning her head, she spoke.
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● that was over：那张厨房桌子也烧完了。
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● where their bed had been：一度是他们铺床的地方。他们的床是铺在火炉旁的地上的，现在被褥已经都搬了出去盖番茄秧了，床已不再存在。
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