THE CHILDREN

The adventure of the lost heirs begins when Shay and her friend Giustinia run into Harena at the Fleurdes Îles café. This happens in the early two-thousands, at the same time that a criminal at large on Anjavavy Island is cutting off people’s heads. The mysterious beheadings are not connected to the events recounted here, except to establish the lawlessness that is always present behind the dazzling Anjavavy panorama of sugar-white beaches and cobalt sea. The crimes begin to surface one hot January morning, as a French hotel manager is taking his predawn constitutional along Rokely Bay and spies through a mist of sand flies something just above the tide line that looks like an unhusked coconut. It turns out to be a human head, one that was lastseen on the shoulders of a part-time sweeper at the Frenchman’s hotel.

This happens in the early two-thousands, at the same time that a criminal at large on Anjavavy Island is cutting off people's heads.

句型：This happens in xx, at the same time that.......

此事发生在某个时候，正好同一时间处在。。。背景。

短语：cut off

有砍掉关系的意思，这里指的是物理上的砍掉人头

整句翻译：这发生在2000年早期，同一时间一位罪犯正在xx岛屿砍人头。

The mysterious beheadings are not connected to the events recounted here, except to establish the lawlessness that is always present behind the dazzling Anjavavy panorama of sugar-white beaches and cobalt sea.

单词：beheading: behead的名词形式，cut the head off

recount：if you recount a story or event, you tell or describe it to the people. 叙述、描述

except：除了。。。。    用法： 此处作连词用法。

Lawlessness：不服从法律，违法现象

panoroma:全景

cobalt：钴蓝色

句型：.......not....., except to........

。。。。不是。。。而是。。。。（基本上前面表否定，后面表达肯定转折）

翻译：神秘的砍人事件与此处叙述的事情无关，而是为了表明像糖一样白的海棠和钴蓝色海洋组成的闪闪发亮的xx岛屿背后的违法状况。

The crimes begin to surface one hot January morning, as a French hotel manager is taking his predawn constitutional along Rokely Bay and spies through a mist of sand flies something just above the tide line that looks like an unhusked coconut. 

单词：predawn: 黎明前

constitutional: 常见的意思是宪法相关的，此处指保健散步、保健运动。

unhusked: 不去壳的。  husk有皮、剥皮的意思。

tide line: 涨潮线

a mist of sand flies

句子：句子结构看似很复杂，其实只要拨出非主体部分，就剩下了The crimes begins to surface one hot january morning, as a french hotel manager is taking.....and spies something that...

翻译：犯罪开始在一月炎日的早上浮现，当一位法国旅社经理正在黎明前沿着海湾健步，透过一群海滩苍蝇，在涨潮线上方看到某种像未剥皮的椰子的东西。

It turns out to be a human head, one that was lastseen on the shoulders of a part-time sweeper at the Frenchman’s hotel.

单词：sweeper: 清洁工

句子结构：同位语从句。后面从句解释前面句子最后一个单词。

翻译：结果是一个人头，最后一次看到是在旅社兼职清洁工双肩上。