美国语文第五册 第48期:布莱兹夫人的挽歌

 　　Good people all, with one accord, 善良的人，异口同声，

　　Lament¹ for Madam Blaize, 哀悼，布莱兹夫人，

　　Who never wanted a good word—From those who spoke² her praise. 生前，她不在意任何褒奖，尽管，他们发自内心称赞。

　　The needy³ seldom passed her door, 穷人，很少从她的门前走过，

　　And always found her kind; 她心地善良，济贫扶弱，

　　She freely lent to all the poor—Who left a pledge behind. 她施舍众生，为人慷慨，借贷者，甚至只留下极少许诺。

　　She strove the neighborhood to please, 她竭尽所能，造福乡梓，

　　With manner wondrous⁴ winning: 心有谋略，变通灵活，

　　She never followed wicked ways—Unless when she was sinning. 她为人坦荡，不耍诡计，除非，偶尔难以顾及。

　　At church, in silks and satin new, 教堂里，那些豪绅贵妇，

　　With hoop⁵ of monstrous⁶ size, 绫罗绸缎，裙裾飘飞，

　　She never slumbered⁷ in her pew—But when she shut her eyes. 她闭上眼睛，聆听诵经，却从不曾经，打盹走神。

　　Her love was sought, I do aver⁸, 她追求者甚众，我敢断定，

　　By twenty beaux and more; 那些人百般追求，倾心思慕，

　　The king himself has followed her—When she has walked before. 她娉婷袅娜，走在街上，即便国王，亦趋尊随后。

　　But now, her wealth and finery fled, 如今，她财富散尽美貌不再，

　　Her hangers-on cut short all, 那些追随者，日渐稀疏，

　　Her doctors found, when she was dead—Her last disorder⁹ mortal. 待最后离世，医生才发现，她身体衰竭，难以挽救。

　　Let us lament, in sorrow sore; 悲哀深深，无以表述，

　　For Kent Street well may say, 那条肯特大街，或许见证，

　　That, had she lived a twelvemonth more—She had not died today. 她多活一年，该有多好，否则不会遗憾，她走得太早。

1 lament   

n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹

参考例句：

• Her face showed lament.她的脸上露出悲伤的样子。
• We lament the dead.我们哀悼死者。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

4 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

5 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

6 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

7 slumbered   

微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The baby slumbered in his cradle. 婴儿安睡在摇篮中。
• At that time my virtue slumbered; my evil, kept awake by ambition. 就在那时，我的善的一面睡着了，我的邪恶面因野心勃勃而清醒着。

8 aver   

v.极力声明；断言；确证

参考例句：

• I aver it will not rain tomorrow.我断言明天不会下雨。
• In spite of all you say,I still aver that his report is true.不管你怎么说，我还是断言他的报告是真实的。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。