Fox in a Tree Stump

时间：2014-09-04 05:30:11

（单词翻译:单击）

Fox in a Tree Stump¹

Judith Beveridge

I gripped the branch

and waited in a paddock that ran on

over harder and harder earth.

Leaving me with smoke and the stick

to beat the fox, my uncle drove off.

Terror barrel-rode through my stomach.

I knew my uncle, his quick rabbit-skinning hands,

his arms like dry river-beds dammed at the shoulders,

his voice harsh, kelpie-cursing,

would not understand if I let the fox run to the bush.

Fox-hairs of dust sweated in my palms.

I stood in the exhaust of leaves

the short time it takes a tongue

to reach into a hurting body and strike ashes.

A twig² snapped. The fox stood, coughing.

The branch on its neck

rang like a shot:

a shot so loud it shook out a flock

of galahs from their trees,

cracked like a wave

the buried sleep of rabbits.

When my uncle came back, he threw

the charred³ body into a ditch.

I turned away kicking earth over the bloodspots of fire

and prayed not to waken

another animal from the wheat.

I was nine years old. All my life

I'd stuck close to my yelled name.

I was a child praying for the dark

each time the sun caught my uncle's eye.

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1 stump
n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走
参考例句：
He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。 He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

2 twig
n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解
参考例句：
He heard the sharp crack of a twig.他听到树枝清脆的断裂声。 The sharp sound of a twig snapping scared the badger away.细枝突然折断的刺耳声把獾惊跑了。

3 charred
v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦
参考例句：
the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸 The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。来自《简明英汉词典》