羊毛战记 Part 4 The Unraveling 33

　　33,　　Thy old groans ¹ ring yet in my ancient ears.,　　Walker the electrician bent ² over a cluttered ³ workbench and adjusted his magnifier. The great bulbouslens was attached to his head with a hoop ⁴ that might’ve been uncomfortable had he not been wearingit for most of his sixty-two years. As he pushed the glass into position, the small black chip on thegreen electronics board came into crystal focus. He could see each of the silver metal legs bent outfrom its body like the limbs of a spider, the tiny feet seemingly trapped in silver puddles ⁵ of frozensteel.,　　With the tip of his finest soldering ⁶ iron, Walker prodded ⁷ a spot of silver while he worked thesuction bulb with his foot. The metal around the chip’s tiny foot melted and was pulled through astraw, one little leg of sixteen free.,　　He was about to move to the other—he had stayed up all night pulling fried chips to distract hismind from other things—when he heard the recognizable patter of that new porter skittering down hishall.,　　Walker dropped the board and hot iron on the workbench and hurried to his door. He held thejamb and leaned out as the kid ran past.,　　The kid smiled, revealing the whites of youth. “I’ve got big news, ” he said. “Cost you a chit,though.
”,　　Walker grunted ⁸ with disgust but dug into his coveralls. He waved the kid over. “You’re thatSampson boy, right?”,　　The kid bobbed his head, his hair dancing around his youthful face.,　　“Shadowed under Gloria, didn’t you? ”,　　The kid nodded again as his eyes followed the silver chit drawn ¹⁰ from Walker’s rattling ¹¹ pockets.,It was a weird old house, full of creaks and groans. 这是所神秘而可怕的旧宅，到处嘎吱嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》,He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上 。