《那些古怪又让人忧心的问题》第135期:雨滴(3)

The wall of water expands outward kilometer by kilometer, ripping up trees, houses, and topsoil as it goes. The house, porch, and old-timers are obliterated in an instant. Everything within a few kilometers is completely scoured away, leaving a pool of mud atop bedrock. The splash continues outward, demolishing all structures out to distances of 20 or 30 kilometers. At this distance, areas shielded by mountains or ridges are protected, and the flood begins to flow along natural valleys and waterways.

水墙向外延伸出数千米，拔起树木，推倒房屋，翻起土层。在一刹那之间，房子、门廊和那两位老人就被水给淹没。方圆几千米范围内的所有东西都被彻底摧毁，只留下残留在基岩上的一摊泥浆。水花继续一路向外扩散，将方圆20～30千米内的建筑悉数冲毁。在这个距离下，有山脉和山脊的庇护的地区得以幸存下来，洪水开始流入山谷和水道。

The broader region is largely protected from the effects of the storm, though areas hundreds of kilometers downstream experience flash flooding in the hours after the impact.

更远的地区基本不会受到这场暴雨的影响，不过在水滴撞击地面几个小时后，几百千米以外的下游地区将会经受突如其来的洪水袭击。

News trickles out into the world about the inexplicable disaster. There is widespread shock and puzzlement, and for a while, every new cloud in the sky causes mass panic. Fear reigns supreme as the world fears rain supreme, but years pass without any signs of the disaster repeating.

这场无法解释的天灾通过新闻迅速传遍了世界，整个世界为之震惊又困惑，全世界范围内每一朵云的产生都会引发巨大的恐慌。雨成了全世界人们最恐惧的东西，但一转眼几年过去了，灾难并没有再来。

Atmospheric scientists try for years to piece together what happened, but no explanation is forthcoming. Eventually, they give up, and the unexplained meteorological phenomenon is simply called a “dubstep storm,” because-in the words of one researcher-“It had one hell of a drop.”

气象学家历时数年希望还原当年发生的水滴灾难，却得不出任何解释。最终，他们放弃了尝试，这个无法得到解释的天气现象被称为“回响贝斯2暴雨”（dubstep storm）——用一位研究者的话来说——“可真是一大‘低’啊。”

1 Just about the coolest triplet of words I've ever seen.

1． 大概是我见过的最酷炫的连续3个单词。