He beat the water with his paws to hold himself up, but the harder he tried, the deeper he sank.

他用爪子拍打水面，想让自己浮起来，可是越用力，沉下去得越深。

youdao

We are getting reports and calls that are breaking my heart from people saying, 'I have been in my attic, I cannot take it any more, the water is up to my neck, I don't think I can hold out'.

我们接到报告和电话说：‘我在我家的阁楼上，我受不了了，水已经到我的脖子了，我坚持不住了。’我真是感到心痛。

youdao

Yet trying to hold on to something which is forever changing is like trying to capture the wind inside a box or tie up water in a brown paper package.

不过，尝试紧紧抓着一些永恒地变化的东西，恰如企图捕捉盒子里面的风，或把水绑在牛皮纸包裹上。

youdao

Suddenly, he remembered how he had to hold two water buckets up in the air in primary school, along with the faces of the headmaster and his homeroom teacher.

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