I bowed before the storm, and mumbled out some excuse or other.

我在暴风雨前鞠躬，咕哝着找了个借口。

Here and there were trees, but they seemed hardly to withstand the fierce winds of winter; they were old and bowed before the storm.

到处都是树木， 但它们似乎经不起冬天的狂风。 他们老了，在暴风雨前低头。