The minute she said it, there was a rush for jackets. We didn't know what we were going to do--that's so often the case when problems confront us--but we knew we had to do something. If someone needs you and you can make a difference in another life, whether it's an animal that needs rescuing or a stranger who needs help, then you do what you have to do. I turned down the oven and followed the others outside.
她的话音还没落，大家已火急火燎地穿好外衣。我们不知道要干些什么——我们遇到问题时常常如此——但我们明白我们必须想出个办法。如果有人需要你的帮助，而你又能对现状有所改变，那么你就做你能做的一切，不管他是一只需要你营救的动物，还是需要你帮助的陌生人。我把烤箱的火拧小，便跟着大家出去了。
Hiking（徒步） to the far side of the lake, we found a rowboat on the shore. Sturdier（更结实） than the canoe, perhaps it could break through the ice. We pushed the boat down the bank until it broke the surface and became wedged tight.
走到湖的那边，发现岸边有一只划艇。它比独木舟结实些，也许能破冰。我们把划艇推下岸，冲破了冰面后像楔子一样地嵌在那里不能动弹。
“Rocks!” someone suggested.
We scattered into the woods and staggered back with the largest rocks we could carry; then passed them to those in the boat, who hurled them onto the ice beyond the bow（船头）. Most simply skittered away; a few made small holes, but nothing（ad.毫不） a boat could force its way through.
“用石头砸!”有人建议说。
我们分散到树林里，蹒跚地搬回了我们能挪得动的最大石块，把它递给船上的人，然后他们用力掷向船头前的冰面上。多数石块掠过冰面而去，只有几块砸开了小洞。船依然不能破冰前进。
By now the sun was setting. The doe's hours of beating at the ice had opened a considerable circle around her in the center of the lake. Her head, motionless, showed above the rim of ice half a football field away.
此时，太阳就要落山了。经过几小时不停地踢腾，雌鹿四周已有相当可观的一片水域。她的头一动不动地露在半个足球场远的冰面的边缘。
“A sledgehammer”! my nephew Doug said. He raced back to the cabin for it, and soon the men were taking turns, one standing in the bow battering（连续猛击） at the ice, another swishing a paddle at the rear. It took several blows to make a foot of progress as the sledge（= sledgehammer） stuck, was wrenched（猛力扭动） free, then stuck again. Slowly the boat edged forward. After 20 minutes of furious battering, it had traveled only ten feet.
