The bronze statues

时间：2007-01-09 06:00:10

（单词翻译:单击）

A tourist wanders into a back-alley antique shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. Picking through the objects on display he discovers a detailed1, life-sized bronze sculpture of a rat. The sculpture is so interesting and unique that he picks it up and asks the shop owner what it costs.

"Twelve dollars for the rat, sir," says the shop owner, "and a thousand dollars more for the story behind it."

"You can keep the story, old man," he replies, "but I'll take the rat."

The transaction complete, the tourist leaves the store with the bronze rat under his arm. As he crosses the street in front of the store, two live rats emerge from a sewer2 drain and fall into step behind him. Nervously3 looking over his shoulder, he begins to walk faster, but every time he passes another sewer drain, more rats come out and follow him. By the time he's walked two blocks, at least a hundred rats are at his heels, and people begin to point and shout. He walks even faster, and soon breaks into a trot4 as multitudes of rats swarm5 from sewers6, basements, vacant lots, and abandoned cars. Rats by the thousands are at his heels, and as he sees the waterfront at the bottom of the hill, he panics and starts to run full tilt7.

No matter how fast he runs, the rats keep up, squealing8 hideously9, now not just thousands but millions, so that by the time he comes rushing up to the water's edge a trail of rats twelve city blocks long is behind him. Making a mighty10 leap, he jumps up onto a light post, grasping it with one arm while he hurls11 the bronze rat into San Francisco Bay with the other, as far as he can heave it. Pulling his legs up and clinging to the light post, he watches in amazement12 as the seething13 tide of rats surges over the breakwater into the sea, where they drown.

Shaken and mumbling14, he makes his way back to the antique shop.

"Ah, so you've come back for the rest of the story," says the owner.

"No," says the tourist, "I was wondering if you have a bronze lawyer."

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1 detailed xuNzms     
adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的
参考例句：
  • He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
  • A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。
2 sewer 2Ehzu     
n.排水沟，下水道
参考例句：
  • They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
  • The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。
3 nervously tn6zFp     
adv.神情激动地，不安地
参考例句：
  • He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
  • He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。
4 trot aKBzt     
n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧
参考例句：
  • They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
  • The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。
5 swarm dqlyj     
n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入
参考例句：
  • There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
  • A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。
6 sewers f2c11b7b1b6091034471dfa6331095f6     
n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
7 tilt aG3y0     
v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜
参考例句：
  • She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
  • The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.
8 squealing b55ccc77031ac474fd1639ff54a5ad9e     
v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的现在分词 )
参考例句：
  • Pigs were grunting and squealing in the yard. 猪在院子里哼哼地叫个不停。
  • The pigs were squealing. 猪尖叫着。
9 hideously hideously     
adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地
参考例句：
  • The witch was hideously ugly. 那个女巫丑得吓人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Pitt's smile returned, and it was hideously diabolic. 皮特的脸上重新浮现出笑容，但却狰狞可怕。 来自辞典例句
10 mighty YDWxl     
adj.强有力的；巨大的
参考例句：
  • A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
  • The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。
11 hurls 5c1d67ad9c4d25e912ac98bafae95fe3     
v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的第三人称单数 )；大声叫骂
参考例句：
  • Jane really hurls herself into learning any new song, doesn't she? 对任何新歌，简都会一心一意去学，对吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The necromancer hurls a bolt of dark energies against his enemies. 亡灵法师向对手射出一道带着黑暗能量的影束。 来自互联网
12 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇，惊讶
参考例句：
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
13 seething e6f773e71251620fed3d8d4245606fcf     
沸腾的，火热的
参考例句：
  • The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
  • The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。
14 mumbling 13967dedfacea8f03be56b40a8995491     
含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 )
参考例句：
  • I could hear him mumbling to himself. 我听到他在喃喃自语。
  • He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg. 宴会结束时，他仍在咕哝着医院里的事。说着说着，他在一块冰上滑倒，跌断了左腿。

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