评论
打印
The Templars used to build round churches, Parkins remembered, and even after hundreds of years there were enough grass-covered stones left to show the circle of the outer wall. For a time Parkins walked around, looking and measuring, and making notes in his note-book.
帕金斯记得过去圣殿骑士常盖的是圆形教堂，即使过了几百年，还有那么多长满野草的石头使人们能看出原来外围墙的圈子在哪儿。帕金斯四下转着，观察、测量，并在笔记本上做着记录。
There was a large stone in the centre of the circle, and Parkins noticed that the grass had been pulled away from one corner of it. He knelt down and, using his pocket-knife, dug away some more of the grass to see the stone underneath. As he did so, a piece of earth fell inwards, showing that there was a hole under the stone. He tried to light a match to see inside, but the wind was too strong, so he put his hand into the hole and felt around with his knife. The sides, top, and bottom of the hole were smooth and regular, he discovered; it must be a man-made hole in a wall. As he pulled the knife out, he heard the sound of metal on metal—there was something in the hole. He put his hand back in and his fingers found a thin piece of metal. Naturally enough, he pulled it out, and saw that it was a piece of metal pipe about ten centimetres long, also man- made and clearly very old. By this time it was getting too dark to do anything more, so he put the metal pipe in his pocket and started to walk home along the beach.
圈子中心有块大石头，帕金斯注意到它一角的野草被人拔掉了。他跪下身子拿自己的小折刀又挖掉一些草，以便观察下面的石头。这时一块土塌了进去，说明石头下面有洞。他想划根火柴看看里面，可风太大，于是他便将手伸进洞里用刀子四下探索着。他发现洞壁、洞顶和洞底都很光滑规则，这一定是在墙里挖的洞。当他从里面拿出刀子时，听到了金属间的撞击声——洞里有东西。他又把手伸进去，手指摸到一片薄薄的金属。很自然他把那东西拿了出来，发现是段长约10厘米的金属管，也是人造的，很明显年代已经很久远了。这时天黑得已经不能干什么了，于是他把那段金属管放进口袋，开始沿着海滩往家走。
In the evening half－light the place seemed wild and lonely, and a cold north wind blew at his back.
傍晚柔和灰暗的光线使这个地方显得荒凉而孤寂，冰冷的北风侵袭着他的后背。
