句法分析
狀語1.from both side of the valley
主語：little streams,
謂語1：slipped
狀語2：out of the hill canyons
謂語2：fell
狀語2：into the Sailinas River
照字面直譯：從山谷的兩邊，澗水從溪谷中流出，匯入薩利納斯河
幾個難譯的詞：valley, hill canyons, stream, slipped, fell into
我在海詞中找到的翻譯可能比這四個還要好：
From both sides of the valley little streams slipped out of the hill canyons and fell into the bed of the Salinas River.
峽谷兩側的小溪順勢而下，匯入薩利納斯河床。
本題句的“參考”譯文摘自下文：
PS：
East of Eden
The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay.
I remember my childhood names for grasses and secret flowers.
I remember where a toad may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer—and what trees and seasons smelled like —how people looked and walked and smelled even. The memory of odors is very rich. I remember that Gabilan Mountains to the east of the valley were light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness and a kind of invitation, so that you wanted to climb into their warm foothills almost as you want to climb into the lap of a beloved mother. They were beckoning mountains with a brown grass love. The Santa Lucias stood up against the sky to the west and kept the valley from the open sea, and they were dark and brooding—unfriendly and dangerous. I always found in myself a dread of west and a love of east. Where I ever got such an idea I cannot say, unless it could be that the morning came over the peaks of the Gabilans and the night drifted back from the ridges of Santa Lucias. It may be that the birth and death of the day had some part in my feeling about the two ranges of mountains.
From both sides of the valley little streams slipped out of the hill canyons and fell into the bed of the Salinas River. In the winter of wet years the streams ran full-freshet, and they swelled the river until sometimes it raged and boiled, bank full, and then it was a destroyer. The river tore the edges of the farm lands and washed whole acres down; it toppled barns and houses into itself, to go floating and bobbing away. It trapped cows and pigs and sheep and drowned them in its muddy brown water and carried them to the sea. Then when the late spring came, the river drew in from its edges and the sand banks appeared. And in the summer the river didn’t run at all above ground. Some pools would be left in the deep swirl places under a high bank. The tules and grasses grew back, and willows straightened up with the flood debris in their upper branches. The Salinas was only a part-time river. The summer sun drove it underground. It was not a fine river at all, but it was the only one we had and so we boasted about it—how dangerous it was in a wet winter and how dry it was in a dry summer. You can boast about anything if it’s all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.
伊甸之東
薩利納斯河谷位於加利福尼亞北部。那是兩條山脈之間的壹片狹長的窪地，薩利納斯河蜿蜒曲折從中間流過，最後註入蒙特雷海灣。
我記得兒時給各種小草和隱蔽的小花取的名字。
我記得蛤饃喜歡在什麽地方棲身，鳥雀夏天早晨什麽時候醒來——我還記得樹木和不同季節特有的氣息——記得人們的容貌，走路的姿態，甚至身上的氣味。關於氣味的記憶實在是太多啦。 我記得河谷東面的加畢侖山脈總是陽光璀璨，明媚可愛，仿佛向妳殷勤邀請，妳不禁想爬上暖洋洋的山麓小丘，正像爬到親愛母親的懷裏壹樣。棕色的草坡給妳愛撫，向妳召喚。西面的聖盧西亞斯山脈高聳入雲，黑壓壓地擋在河谷和大海之間，顯得不友好而危險。我發現自己壹直對西方懷有畏懼，而對東方懷有喜愛。我說不出這種想法的根子在什麽地方，也 許是因為黎明從加畢侖山頂升起，夜晚從聖盧西亞斯山脊壓下來。每壹天的誕生和消亡也許使我對兩條山脈產生了不同的感情。
窪地兩面的小峽谷都有澗水流出，匯入薩利納斯河床。 在多雨的年份，冬天水流充沛，引起河面暴漲，有時候洶湧翻騰，泛濫兩岸，就成了禍害。河水沖壞農田邊緣，毀掉大片大片的土地，使牲口棚和房屋坍塌，卷入洪流，漂浮而去。牛、豬、羊走投無路，在黃褐色的泥水裏眼睜睜地淹死，給帶到海裏。春末時分，河面變窄，露出了沙岸。到了夏天，地上河水完全斷流。只有原先岸高漩渦深的地方才留下幾個水塘。蘆葦和茅草重新生長，柳樹直起軀幹，上部的枝椏還掛著洪水留下的枯枝敗草。薩利納斯只是壹條季節性河流。夏天的太陽把它逼進了地底。它根本不是條了不起的河流，但是我們只有這麽壹條，因此便為它吹噓— —說它在多雨的冬天是多麽危險，在幹旱的夏天是何等枯竭。如果妳別無他有，妳可以為任何東西吹噓。也許妳有的東西越少，妳就越要吹吹牛皮。