1.I heard him step across the floor overhead and put down the hay.
「hear sb. do/doing sth.」听见某人做/正在做某事。「do」强调动作全过程，「doing」表示动作正在进行
- 我听见他在楼上走来走去，然后拿下来一些干草。
2.I cannot say how long I had slept, nor what time in the night it was.
「nor」用于一个否定陈述之后的另一个否定陈述。
- 我不知道我睡了多久，也不知道现在具体是晚上什么时间。
3.The entrance to the hay store had been left open, and I thought that was the place the smoke came from.
「leave sth + adj.」常用结构，意为“使某物处于某种状态”
- 通往干草储藏室的入口开着门，我想那浓烟就是从那里来的。
4.Some were pulling at their reins, and others, putting down their feet heavily on the ground.
「pull at」在这里意为“(用力)不断拉扯”
5.She would never have had courage to come out if she had not heard me outside.
这是一句用「if」引导的虚拟语气，这里对过去发生事实的假设，主句谓语用「would/should/might/could have done」，从句谓语用「had done」。
- 如果当时她没有听见我在外面的嘶鸣，她可能就没勇气冲出来。
6.At that moment, I heard a loud, clear voice, which I knew was master's, "James! James! James! Are you there?"
「which」在这里指代「voice」，在从句中做宾语。
7.James shook his head, for he could not yet speak.
「yet」在这里作副词，意思是“已经”
- James摇头示意，因为他已经无法说话了。
8.We got out as fast as we could into the quiet open space. There, we heard a dreadful sound ーit was the cries of those poor horse that were burning to death in the stable.
「get out into」表示两个动作，先出去再进来。
「to death」直到死亡
9.The master's wife had been so much alarmed in the night that the journey was put off till the afternoon.
「so...that...」如此…以至于…
「alarmed」表示“惊恐的，受惊的”
「put off」推迟
10.Therefore, James had the morning free, and went first to the hotel to see about out harness and the carriage and then to hear more about fire.
「had the morning free」这里的「have sth adj.」表示“使…处于一种状态”
「see about」安排，着手处理
「we will see about that」常用来表示“看看再说；等着瞧吧”
- 因此，James早上的时间空了出来，于是他就去了之前那家旅馆看我们的马具和马车怎么样了，顺便打听一下这次火灾的消息。
11.When he came out, he no longer had one, and went for another.
「go for sth.」原意为“选择某物”，这里是指他出来的时候烟斗不见了，后来还另外去弄了一个。
12.While he was cleaning him, a young man, with a pipe in his mouth, slowly walked into the stable.
「pipe」烟斗
13.The flames were playing round the entrance to the hay store...
「play」在这里指“(火、光等)摇动、蔓延”
