【有声英语文学名著】英国病人 12

In the morning by the fountain they talk tentatively. 

 

“Now you are in Italy you should find out more about Verdi.” Caravaggio said.

“What?” She looks up from the bedding that she is washing out in the fountain. 

 

He reminds her. “You told me once you were in love with him.” 

 

Hana bows her head, embarrassed. 

 

Caravaggio walks around, looking at the building for the first time, peering down from the loggia into the garden. 

 

“Yes, you used to love him. You used to drive us all mad with your new information about Giuseppe. What a man! The best in every way, you’d say. We all had to agree with you, the cocky sixteen-year-old.” 

 

“I wonder what happened to her.” She spreads the washed sheet over the rim¹ of the fountain. “You were someone with a dangerous will.” She leans over the balustrade.“I think I did come here, I have to admit, something at the back of my mind made me, for Verdi. And then of course you had left and my dad had left for the war.... Look at the hawks². They are here every morning. Everything else is damaged and in pieces here. The only running water in this whole villa³ is in this fountain. The Allies dismantled⁴ water pipes when they left. They thought that would make me leave.” 

 

“You should have. They still have to clear this region. There are unexploded bombs all over the place.” 

 

She comes up to him and puts her fingers on his mouth. 

 

“I’m glad to see you, Caravaggio. No one else. Don’t say you have come here to try and persuade me to leave.” 

 

“I want to find a small bar with a Wurlitzer and drink without a fucking bomb going off. Listen to Frank Sinatra singing. We have to get some music,” he says. “Good for your patient.” 

 

“He’s still in Africa.”

1 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

2 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

3 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

4 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。