在上一篇文章《人虎追逐场景赏析》中，我们讨论了老虎追逐小孩的部分，以小孩虎口逃生作为结束。这篇文章，继续探讨追逐之后发生的事情。承接上一部分的故事情节，小孩进入了丛林当中。他又会遇到什么样的危险？答案是：泥石流。

【英语原文】（381个单词）

英文原文：美国迪士尼公司 

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The Jungle Book：The Strength of the Wolf is the Pack

THE JUNGLE swallowed Mowgli. 

The rains had returned with a vengeance, turning the strong earth into shifting mud, and the family of bison Mowgli huddled against slipped and slid along the slowly sinking ridge. He hid among their hairy bodies, clinging to their backs, wet and exhausted. 

The trees shouted at him as he passed, their cracking trunks rattling the air around them like snapping jaws. Mowgli looked up in time to see the mighty banyans falling down in great patches and clumps, as if something almost impossibly huge was pushing its way through the Jungle toward them. More and more towering trees fell as the unseen animal moved closer and closer. 

Then the monster felling the trees revealed itself as the Jungle belched a monumental wave of mud; there was no great animal, only a moving mountain of wet earth racing their way. It exploded through the tree line, leaving the Jungle broken in its wake. It was what the elders called a mud slide. Mowgli had never seen one with his own eyes, had only heard the stories. It was worse than he could have imagined and it was headed his way. 

One sweeping arm of the mud slide blocked their path going forward, scattering the frightened bison. The creature Mowgli rode backed away in terror, struggling hopelessly to find sure footing as the mud rose to cover its legs. Then, from behind, another stream of mud, like a tail, whipped the fleeing bison off their feet entirely. 

Before he could react, Mowgli and the bison were pushed down the mountain by the angry brown river of choking mud and broken trees. Its eyeless face smothered Mowgli. Splinters and rocks, like the teeth of a giant, bit at his back and arms as he tumbled. Over and over again, he tried to plant his feet, but the ground was moving too quickly beneath him. Mowgli was carried faster than he had ever moved in his life, at the mercy of the twisting, churning mud flow. 

Suddenly, the canopy of trees overhead was gone and there was gray sky in front of Mowgli. The Jungle had opened to reveal a cliff, and the man-cub, the bison, and the shattered trees were swept over the edge and into the swollen river.

【英文解析】

1.

THE JUNGLE swallowed Mowgli.

第一句是标准的主谓宾结构，主语the jungle，发出动作swallowed, 作用于人名宾语Mowgli。在这简洁有力的句子中，以自然元素为主语，写出自然环境对一个弱小存在的巨大影响。

2.

The rains had returned with a vengeance, turning the strong earth into shifting mud, and the family of bison Mowgli huddled against slipped and slid along the slowly sinking ridge. He hid among their hairy bodies, clinging to their backs, wet and exhausted. 

雨水的returned对应小说前文提到的旱季，方式状语with a vengeance运用拟人化（personification）写法，然后用现在分词作为伴随状语（turning the strong earth into shifting mud）继续解释vengeance的程度，注意strong earth 和shifting mud的鲜明状态对比（同时shifting mud也为下文泥石流的发生埋下伏笔）。然后使用连接词and介绍the family of bison和Mowgli的情况，注意两者用定语从句（the family of bison Mowgli huddled against）连接。Huddle也是个常用小说动词。注意bison的移动动作slipped and slid（此处使用头韵技巧Alliteration）, 地点状语（along the slowly sinking ridge）进一步为下文泥石流埋下伏笔。虽然此处介绍了Mowgli的huddle状态，但鉴于他是主人公，作者再给了一些细致的描写, 写出其主要动作hide和伴随动作cling to，也写出Bison的身体部位（hairy bodies, backs), 同时用形容词定语后置（wet and exhausted) 的方式写出其身体状况。

3. 

The trees shouted at him as he passed, their cracking trunks rattling the air around them like snapping jaws. Mowgli looked up in time to see the mighty banyans falling down in great patches and clumps, as if something almost impossibly huge was pushing its way through the Jungle toward them. More and more towering trees fell as the unseen animal moved closer and closer. 

这一段的shouted用的很好，运用拟人化的手法，然后继续写树的部位（cracking trunk）在空气中发出嘎嘎声音（rattling the air）, Like snapping jaws也是一个非常恰当的比喻，虽然是描述树木，但写出了Mowgli对老虎仍然心有余悸，颇有草木皆兵的感觉。Mowgli发出看的动作（looked up into）, 看到树木(the mighty banyans)成片成群（in great patches and clumps）倒下的样子。这里要为mighty这个形容词点赞，因为其和倒下形成鲜明对比，说明存在巨大的外部力量。然后用as if…来推测其倒下的背后原因：something impossibly huge (庞然大物)正在穿过(pushing its way through somewhere towards something)丛林，向这些树木走来。这里写到的是个别树木（banyans）,所以作者接下来写更多的树木(more and more towering trees, 注意此处的towering, 显示这些树木都是参天大树，但都难逃厄运)不断倒下，然后用as来引出时间状语（as the unseen animal moved closer and closer. ）

4.

Then the monster felling the trees revealed itself as the Jungle belched a monumental wave of mud; there was no great animal, only a moving mountain of wet earth racing their way. It exploded through the tree line, leaving the Jungle broken in its wake. It was what the elders called a mud slide. Mowgli had never seen one with his own eyes, had only heard the stories. It was worse than he could have imagined and it was headed his way. 

接下来这一段，作者开始揭示泥石流的发生。Something revealed itself as…这也是一个值得借鉴的写作方式，介绍新角色的入场，同时也用as 引出时间状语（当丛林喷出泥浆巨浪），然后用冒号解释泥石流：there was no something(great animal), only something (a moving mountain of wet earth racing their way)。介绍发生泥石流之后，作者继续写其影响： exploded through (也算是小说常用移动动词之一，提炼结构：声音动词+through/past)，leaving something broken in its wake, 然后点出长者们提到这就是泥石流（a mud slide）。然后说Mowgli未曾见过，只曾听说过（have never seen something with one’s own eyes, had only heard the stories.）接下来介绍Mowgli对其看法（It was worse than he could have imaged）, 但面对的却是现实（It was headed his way）。在小说中，给主人公造成意料之外的挑战，让主人公身处人生最为危险的境地，更能够创造出一种能够展示主人公性格的场景。

5. 

One sweeping arm of the mud slide blocked their path going forward, scattering the frightened bison. The creature Mowgli rode backed away in terror, struggling hopelessly to find sure footing as the mud rose to cover its legs. Then, from behind, another stream of mud, like a tail, whipped the fleeing bison off their feet entirely. 

继续写泥石流造成的影响。全文各个地方介绍泥石流用了各种不同的称呼，比如something almost impossibly huge, the unseen animal, the monster felling the trees, a monumental wave of mud, a moving mountain of wet earth, a mud slide, the angry brown river of choking mud and broken trees, the twisting, churning mud flow等，此处用了其部位（one sweeping arm of the mud slide，注意拟人化写法），发出动作（block someone’s path going forward）, 然后用现在分词伴随状语scattering表明其对bison的影响。从bison群体写到bison个体（注意对比上面写树木时，从个体写到整体的方式）。写Mowgli所骑的bison的反应，首先是（back away in terror）, 然后用现在分词伴随状语（struggling hopelessly）写它们无法在不断上升的泥石流（as the mud rose to cover its leg）站稳（find sure footing)。然后再提到另外一个外部力量（another stream of mud）, 此处也用了一个比喻（like a tail, 和one sweeping arm思路相似），将它们冲倒（whip someone off someone’s feet)。

6. 

Before he could react, Mowgli and the bison were pushed down the mountain by the angry brown river of choking mud and broken trees. Its eyeless face smothered Mowgli. Splinters and rocks, like the teeth of a giant, bit at his back and arms as he tumbled. Over and over again, he tried to plant his feet, but the ground was moving too quickly beneath him. Mowgli was carried faster than he had ever moved in his life, at the mercy of the twisting, churning mud flow. 

本来是要继续写Mowgli和bison的反应，但此处用了“在他反应之前”（before he could react）, 这也是个写作中可以借鉴的思路。然后写它们被泥石流（注意此处用了另一种说法，并且用泥和树木具体元素细节：the angry brown river of choking mud and broken tree）冲下山。继续用拟人化手法写其对Mowgli的影响 (Its eyeless face smothered Mowgli), 这个写法用定语eyeless和动词smothered, 真的让读者产生窒息的感觉。然后写具体化元素（splinters and rocks，被比喻成like the teeth of a giant）, 发出动作（bit at his back and arms）。接着写Mowgli的动作(trying to plant his feet，注意前面的副词性状语over and over again, 表明环境的险恶以及主人公不放弃努力), 同时用转折词表明其动作的结果（the ground was moving too quickly）, 然后当然是其对Mowgli的影响（be carried faster），状语than he had ever moved in his life也表明主人公目前的经历是最为惊险的，更能够吸引读者。最后的状语at the mercy of the twisting, churning mud flow再次展现外部力量。

7. 

Suddenly, the canopy of trees overhead was gone and there was gray sky in front of Mowgli. The Jungle had opened to reveal a cliff, and the man-cub, the bison, and the shattered trees were swept over the edge and into the swollen river.

接下来这一段的思路是suddenly, 指出某些东西消失，某些东西出现（the canopy of trees overhead was gone and there was gray sky in front of Mowgli 提炼结构：something was gone and there was something else.) 然后是一个转场写法（the Jungle has opened to reveal a cliff.）此处值得注意为了写转场，需要强调元素的变化，第一个something是丛林元素（the canopy of trees）, 第二个something是悬崖元素(the gray sky)。自然而然接着写人、鹿、树木都被一起冲过边缘，冲落河流，戛然而止，抓住读者注意力，使其成为page-turner(引人入胜的书）。

【词汇积累】

1. 关于移动的英语词汇

Return

Slipped

Slid

Pass

Pushed someone’s way through somewhere towards something 

Moved closer 

Race someone’s way 

Exploded through 

Headed one’s way 

Blocked someone’s path going forward

Back away 

Be pushed down 

Moved quickly

Be carried 

Be swept 

2. 泥石流称呼

something almost impossibly huge

the unseen animal

the monster felling the trees

a monumental wave of mud

a moving mountain of wet earth

a mud slide

the angry brown river of choking mud and broken trees

the twisting, churning mud flow 

one sweeping arm of the mud slide

3. 关于摔倒/跌倒/滑倒

slip

fall down

fall

fell (主动）

whip someone off their feet

tumble

be swept over/down/into

4. 关于站稳的词汇

find sure footing

plant one's feet