(1) the living:活着的人；the dead:死去的人。形容词（有时是分词）前面加上定冠词 the 表示具有某一特性的一类人。

(2) all white=All was white, 省略句

(3) save：除……以外，介词

(4) marked its course：标示出它所经过的路线

(5) against the leaden sky：在铅灰色天空的衬托下。

(6) intricacies：这里指树枝的缠结交错。

(7) was muffled：（声音）被压抑而变得低沉

(8) beating…as the hearts of children=beating…as the hearts of children beat,默这个被省略的 beat确作"（心脏的）搏动"解，前面那个 beating别指铃儿的碰击。