[00:00.00] let down\ peer\ uneasy\ get rid of
[00:03.29]使失望\仔细看\不安的\消灭
[00:06.58]stuff\ soak\ swing\ drag
[00:09.34]东西\浸透\突然转向\拖
[00:12.09]extent\ worse still\ in bad shape\ despair
[00:15.71]范围\更糟糕的是\身体状况差 \绝望
[00:19.33]draw on\ recue\ highlight
[00:23.85]If I don't make it,my friend will die out there,
[00:28.34]Bill McIntosh, the old hunter,told himself over and over.
[00:33.38]NEVER LET A FRIEND DOWN
[00:36.13]Coming to the football mathc this afternoon?"
[00:39.58]Bill McIntosh asked 59-year-old Royce Wedding
[00:45.14]as they drank beer at the Eureka Hotle in the Australian to town of Rainbow.
[00:51.28]Royce shook his head.
[00:54.05]"I promised Mom I'd burn off the weeds on one of our fields."
[00:59.38]Bill,who was thin but strong,looking far less than his 79 years,
[01:05.52]peered outside at the heat.
[01:08.75]A light breeze was blowing from the north,
[01:07.75]making conditions perfect for the burn.
[01:11.88]But Bill uneasy about Royce doing the job alone.
[01:16.45]The farmer had a bad leg and walked with great difficulty.
[01:22.20]The pair had been best of friends for30years,
[01:26.56]ever since the days when they traveled together from farm to farm
[01:30.77]in search of work.Now,living alone12miles east of town,
[01:37.40]Bill scraped a living hunting foxes and rabbits.
[01:42.05]Once a fornight he went to town to buy supplies and catchup with Royce,
[01:48.71]who helped run the Wedding family's farm."I'll give you a hand,"Bill said.
[01:55.51]The pair set off in Royce's car.
[01:58.54]Soon they were bumping over a sandy track to the weed-choked 120-acre field.
[02:05.59]"Fire's the only way to get rid of this stuff,"
[02:09.19]said Bill as they tied an old tire to the tow bar with a 50-foot chain.
[02:15.25]Soaking the tire with gasoline,Bill put a match to it and jumped in the car
[02:21.39]Driving slowly from the southern edge of the field,they worked their way upwind
[02:27.27]leaving a line of burning weeds in their wake.
[02:31.35]Half way up the field,and without warning,
[02:35.08]the car pitched violently forward,plowing into a hidden bank of sand.
[02:41.32]The breeze suddenly swung around to their backs and began to gather strength.
[02:47.18]Fanned to white heat,
[02:50.13]the fire line suddenly burst into a wall of flame,heading directly toward them
[02:56.45]"Let's get out of here!"Royce said.
[03:01.20]Desperately he tried to back the car out of the sand bank.
[03:05.88]But the wheels only spun deeper in the soft sand.
[03:11.34]Suddenly the fire was on them.
[03:14.58]Bill pushed open his door only to find himself flung through the air as,
[03:20.46]with a roar,the gasoline tank exploded
[03:24.37]and the car leapt three feet off the ground.
[03:28.53]When it crashed back down
[03:31.38]Royce found himself pinned against the steering wheel,unable to move.
[03:37.23]The car's seats and roof were now on fire.
[03:41.33]Bill lay where he fell,all the breath knocked out of him.
[03:46.58]The front of his shirt,short,
[03:49.53]bare arms and legs were soaked in burning gasoline.
[03:54.23]Then the sight of the car in flames brought him upright with a start.
[03:59.80]"Royce!"he cried,struggling to his feet and heading for the car.
[04:05.23]Pulling open the door,he seized Royce's arms through the smoke.
[04:10.17]"I'm stuck,"Royce said. "Get yourself away!"
[04:14.92](1)The fire bit at Bill's arms,face and legs,but he tightened his grip on Royce
[04:21.64]"I'm not leaving you here,"he said.
[04:26.18]Now Bill dug his heels into the sand and pulled as hard as he could.
[04:31.61]Suddenly he fell backward.
[04:34.96]Royce was free and out of the car.As soon as he had dragged him away
[04:40.84]he patted out the flames on Royce's body
[04:44.34]and on his own legs and arms with his bare hands.
[04:49.17]Royce saw a second explosion rock the car,as it was eaten up by flames.
[04:55.96]I'd be ashes now if Bill hadn't gotten me out,he thought.
[05:02.80]Looking down,Royce was shocked by the extent of his injuries.
[05:08.45]His stomach and left hip were covered in deep burns.
[05:13.41]Worse still,his fingers were burned completely out of shape.
[05:18.76]Lying on his back,Bill was in equally bad shape.
[05:23.10]Pieces of blackened flesh and skin hung from his forearms,hands and legs.
[05:30.96]Bill looked across at his friend.
[05:34.12]Reading the despair clouding Royce's face,Bill said,
[05:39.09]"I'll get help.You hang on."
[05:42.72]Royce nodded,but as he wtched Bill set off slowly across the blackened field,
[05:48.91]he wondered how his friend was going to walk almost two miles
[05:54.45]and get over three fences.
[05:57.30](2)A lifetime spent around the tough people
[06:03.36]who make their home in the Australian bush
[06:06.73]had permanently fixed into Bill's soul two principles:
[06:12.19]never give up no matter how bad the odds and never let a friend down.
[06:18.72]Now,with every step sending pain piercing through every part of his body,
[06:25.12]he drew on those twin pillars of character.
[06:30.08](3)If I don't make it,Royce will die out there,
[06:34.89]he told himself over and over.
[06:38.65]"What's the matter with that dog?"
[06:41.55]said Vicky Wedding,Royce's mom,peering out her window.
[06:46.69]Startled by a noise behind her,she turned to see Bill leaning against the door
[06:53.43]"Dear God,what happened?"she exclaimed,
[06:58.08]grabbing Bill as he slid down the doorframe.
[07:03.12]"We got caught in the fire,"he whispered,barely able to speak."Get help."
[07:10.88]Vicky sat Bill down,
[07:13.34]covered him in wet towels to ease the pain of his burns,
[07:17.88]and then picked up the phone
[07:20.91]Throughout the bumpy,hour-and-a-half ride to the hospital in Horsham,
[07:26.45]neither of the two injured men spoke of their pain.
[07:25.45]"We should've gone to the football match,"Royce said,
[07:29.68]trying to keep their spirits up.Bill grinned weakly.
[07:34.65]Not long after Bill found himself at Government House
[07:39.19]being presented with the Bravery Medal for his courageous rescue.
[07:45.85](4)But the real highlight for Bill came six months after the fire,
[07:51.31]when Royce,just out of hospital,
[07:54.55]walked into the Eureka Hotel and bought him a beer.
[07:59.12]"We made it,"said Royce as they raised their glasses.
[08:04.03]"Here's to the best friend a man could have."
