He dropped back behind his tree. - Tradução em português

Gostaria que me ajudassem a entender o sentido de dropped back, utilizado no texto abaixo. Ele passa a mensagem que o personagem "caiu de costas", "caiu e voltou", "abaixou-se e voltou" ou etc?

He must attack before the moon was up.
...
He was too late. As he stood up, the moon came out. Kino dropped back behind his tree.


Fonte:
John Steinbeck. The Pearl. Penguin Active Reading. Level 3. Pearson Education, 2007, p.68.

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2 respostas
Ordenar por: Data
PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
Another version has it:
He was too late, for as he rose from his crouch the silver edge of the moon slipped above the eastern horizon, and Kino sank back behind his bush.
That is, by "dropped" he "sank" back, that is he moved back a lower level, to the crouching position (voltou a se agachar) or sitting on his legs, or he just sat behind the bush (perhaps less likely but not an impossibility.)

The next paragraph has it that:
There could be no waiting now; when the watcher turned his head, Kino must leap. His legs were as tight as wound springs.

What confirms that he "had come back to a lower position" (sank back/dropped back), at some point and seeing the other watcher face being illuminated by a cigar, he jumped up into action.
PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
I meant ..."that is he moved back to a lower level, to the crouching position..." (to the waiting position he was before or some other in the hiding).

Technically "ele voltou a se abaixar atrás dos arbustos/do mato (onde ele estava) para não ser visto", not a literal translation, but an explanation of the surrounding event.