9. In the earlier part of our journey through Africa my friend and I had always chosen a pleasant place with a view or beside some stream in which to eat our lunch. Here, however, we sank down onto the earth where we were and dully stuffed the food into our mouths. There was no view anywhere, nothing but the oppressive and silent scrub. The two guides watched us impatiently, squatting a yard or two away. Yet it was amazing what those hunks of bread and meat did: life and hope began to flow through the blood again, and a cup of sweet coffee from a thermos flask accelerated the process. I rose groggily to my feet and faced the impossible once more. We fell into line again with myself drawing up in the rear.
    9)在我们非洲旅行的早期，我和我的朋友总是选择景致好的地方或小溪边吃午饭，然而在这里我们就地倒下沉闷地把食物塞进嘴里。哪儿也没有好景致，只有令人压抑的寂静的矮树林。两个向导蹲在一两码外的地方不耐烦地看着我们。然而那些大块大块的面包和肉的作用真是令人惊讶；生命与希望开始再度在血液中流动，保温瓶中倒出的一杯甜咖啡加速了这一过程。我踉踉跄跄地站起身来又一次面对那无法思议的行程。我们重又排成一行前进，我殿后。

    10. The guides now adjured us to keep the strictest silence, and in fact it was this silence that dominated all the last moments of our climb. It closed around one with a thick palpable drug-like heaviness, almost as if one's ears were stuffed with cotton wool or one's sense of hearing had suddenly failed; layer on layer on layer of silence. And this void, this nothingness of sound, was suddenly torn apart by a single high-pitched bellowing scream. It was bizarre to the point of nightmare. It was as if one had received a sudden unexpected blow on the back of the head. As I stood there, heart thumping, transfixed with shock, one of the guides grabbed me by the arm and half dragged and half pushed me through the undergrowth towards a little rise where the others were standing. I looked at the point where they were staring and I remember calling out aloud, "Oh my God, how wonderful!”
    10)这时向导恳求我们保持绝对寂静，事实上支配我们最后时刻的攀登的正是这种寂静。它以一种浓重的、能感觉到的、像麻醉了似的昏钝滞重包围着人们，几乎就像耳朵里塞上了棉花，或听觉突然丧失；一层、一层又一层的寂静。突然一声尖声的吼叫撕碎了这一真空般的、无声的世界。离奇得近于一个恶梦。就仿佛后脑勺上突然地出乎意料地遭到重重的一击。当我心脏砰砰地跳着惊得呆若木鸡般地站在那儿时，一个向导一把抓住我的胳膊半拉半推地把我拽过矮林向其余的人站在上面的一小片高地走去。我向他们瞪眼望着的地方看去，记得自己大声喊了出来：“啊，上帝，真了不起!”