【有声英语文学名著】CHAPTER FOUR（4）

On Stephanie‘s advice Emma had written letters to publishers, to agents, then to bookshops, but nothing. There was a recession on and people were clinging to their jobs with grim determination. She thought about taking refuge in education, but the government had ended student grants, and there was no way she could afford the fees. There was voluntary work, for Amnesty International perhaps, but rent and  travel  ate  up  all  her  money,  Loco  Caliente  ate  up  all  her  time  and  energy.  She  had  a fanciful notion that she might read novels aloud to blind people, but was this an actual job, or just something that she‘d seen in a film? When she had the energy, she would find out . For now she would sit at the table and glare at her lunch.

The  industrial  cheese  had  set  solid  like  plastic,  and  in  sudden  disgust  Emma  pushed  it away and reached into her bag, pulling out an expensive new black leather notebook with a stubby fountain pen clipped to the cover. Turning to a fresh new page of creamy white paper, she quickly began to write.

Nachos

It was the nachos that did it.

The steaming variegated¹ mess like the mess of her life Summing up all that was wrong

With

Her

Life.

‘Time for change’ comes the voice from the street.

Outside on the Kentish Town Road

There is laughter

But here, in the smoky attic² room

There are only

The Nachos.

Cheese, like life, has become 

Hard and

Cold

Like PlasticPlastic

And there is no laughter in the high room.

Emma stopped writing, then looked away and stared at the ceiling, as if giving someone a chance to hide. She looked back at the page in the hope of being surprised by the brilliance³ of what was there.

She shuddered⁴ and gave a long groan⁵, then laughed, shaking her head as she methodically scratched out each line, crosshatching on top of this until each word was obliterated⁶. Soon there was so much ink that it had soaked through the paper. She turned back a page to where the blots⁷ had seeped⁸ through and glanced at what was written there.Edinburgh morning, 4 a.m.

We lie in the single bed and talk about the Future, make our guesses and as he speaks I look at him, think

1 variegated   

adj.斑驳的，杂色的

参考例句：

• This plant has beautifully variegated leaves.这种植物的叶子色彩斑驳，非常美丽。
• We're going to grow a variegated ivy up the back of the house.我们打算在房子后面种一棵杂色常春藤。

2 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

3 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

4 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 groan   

vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音

参考例句：

• The wounded man uttered a groan.那个受伤的人发出呻吟。
• The people groan under the burden of taxes.人民在重税下痛苦呻吟。

6 obliterated   

v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭

参考例句：

• The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
• He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝，喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 blots   

污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点

参考例句：

• The letter had many blots and blurs. 信上有许多墨水渍和污迹。
• It's all, all covered with blots the same as if she were crying on the paper. 到处，到处都是泪痕，像是她趴在信纸上哭过。 来自名作英译部分

8 seeped   

v.（液体）渗( seep的过去式和过去分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• The rain seeped through the roof. 雨水透过房顶渗透。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Icy air seeped in through the paper and the room became cold. 寒气透过了糊窗纸。屋里骤然冷起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）