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When the general had gone, Rainsford took up his flight again. It was flight now, a desperate, hopeless flight that carried him on for some hours. Dusk came, then darkness, and still he pressed on. The ground grew softer; the vegetation denser; and insect bit him savagely. Then, as he stepped forward, his foot sank into the ooze. He tried to wrench it back, but the muck sucked viciously at his foot as if it were a giant leech. With a violent effort, he tore his foot free. He knew where he was now. Death Swamp.
将军离开之后，雷恩斯福德继续奔逃。现在这是逃命了，一种孤注一掷、绝望的逃亡让他跑了好几个小时。天色渐暗，接着黑夜降临，他仍然加紧赶路。脚下的地面变得越来越软，植被越来越浓密；虫子狠狠地叮咬他。接着当他正向前行进时，突然一脚陷进烂泥中。他想用力把脚抽回来。但是那稀泥就像一只巨大的吸血蚂蟥一样紧紧地吸着他的脚。他竭尽全力才把脚拔了出来。他现在才搞清自己所处的位置：死亡沼泽。
The softness of the earth gave him an idea, and he began to dig. He had dug himself in in France when a second's delay meant death. That had been a placid pastime compared to his digging now. The pit grew deeper. When it was above his shoulders, he climbed out and from hard saplings cut stakes and sharpened them to a fine point. These he planted in the bottom of the pit with the points sticking up. Then he covered the mouth of the pit with weeds and branches.
松软的土地让他突然有了个主意，他开始挖起坑来。他曾在法国挖过防弹坑藏身，那时耽搁一秒钟就意味着死亡。和他现在的挖坑相比，那次简直可以算是轻松的消遣。坑越挖越深，当挖到比他肩膀还高的深度时，他爬了上来，从坚硬的小树上砍下一些枝干，并把一头削尖。他把这些树粧插入坑底，尖端朝上。然后他用野草和树枝盖住坑口。
He crouched behind a lightning-charred tree and waited. Soon he heard the padding sound of feet on the soft earth, and the night breeze brought him the perfume of the general's cigarette. It seemed that the general was coming with unusual swiftness. Rainsford lived a year in a minute. Then he felt an impulse to cry out with joy, for he heard the sharp scream of pain as the cover of the pit gave way and the pointed stakes found their mark. He leapt up from his concealment, but he cowered back.
他蹲伏在一棵被雷电烧焦了的树后等待着。过了不久，他听到踏在松软的土地上的脚步声，微微的晚风让他闻到了将军香烟的香味。似乎将军这次来得异常迅速。雷恩斯福德度日如年般等待着。这时，他感到一股想高兴地大叫的冲动，因为他听到了痛苦的尖叫声，那叫声伴随着坑口覆盖物倒塌和尖树桩戳进目标的声音。他从藏身处跳了起来，但紧跟着又缩了回去。
