美国语文第五册 第111期:慷慨的俄国农民(2)

 　　In a village adjoining lived Flor Silin, a poor, laboring¹ peasant, 菲洛·斯林，一个整日操劳的俄罗斯贫苦农民，住在我家附近的一个村庄。

　　a man remarkable² for his assiduity and the skill and judgment³ with which he cultivated his lands. 他依靠自己的勤勉辛苦，丰富准确的农作经验，精心地操持土地。

　　He was blessed with abundant crops; and his means being larger than his wants, his granaries, even at this time, were full of corn. 幸运的是，即使那年灾年，他的地里庄稼亦收获不少，因居家耗费有限，他家的谷仓堆满了粮食。

　　The dry year coming on had beggared all the village except himself. Here was an opportunity to grow rich. 旱灾饥馑迫使全村老少不得不外出乞讨，维持生计，唯独他家例外，此时不失为暴富的最佳时机。

　　Mark how Flor Silin acted. Having called the poorest of his neighbors about him, he addressed them in the following manner: 那么，菲洛·斯林如何面对？他召集最为窘困的左邻右坊，向他们开诚布公地说出自己想法。

　　My friends, you want corn for your subsistence. God has blessed me with abundance. 乡亲们，你们眼下需要粮食才能活下去，上帝保佑我今年收成不错，

　　Assist in thrashing out a quantity, and each of you take what he wants for his family. 我家谷仓里堆满了粮食。你们每人都可领取全家生活必需的口粮。

　　The peasants were amazed at this unexampled generosity⁴; for sordid⁵ propensities⁶ exist in the village as well as in the populous⁷ city. 在场农民无不大为惊愕，大家从未遇到如此慷慨的急公好义之人，因为，当时利欲熏心的罪恶不仅在乡村风靡盛行，人口众多的城镇亦到处充满狡诈欺骗。

　　The fame of Flor Silin's benevolence⁸ having reached other villages, the famished⁹ inhabitants presented themselves before him, and begged for corn. 菲洛·斯林仁慈好施的赈灾一事传到其他村庄，饥民们纷纷来到他家，乞求周济粮食。

　　This good creature received them as brothers; and, while his store remained, afforded all relief. 好心的菲洛把灾民看成自己的兄弟姐妹，将余存粮食毫不吝惜地分给饥民。

　　At length, his wife, seeing no end to the generosity of his noble spirit, 后来他的妻子眼见丈夫慷慨无休无止，

　　reminded him how necessary it would be to think of their own wants, and hold his lavish¹⁰ hand before it was too late. 只得提醒他还要考虑自家口粮。妻子的提醒总算不是太迟，

　　"It is written in the Scripture," said he, "Give, and it shall be given unto you." 他却坦然说道：“这句话写在《圣经》上。”即“你们要给人，就必有给你们的。”

1 laboring   

n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• The young man who said laboring was beneath his dignity finally put his pride in his pocket and got a job as a kitchen porter. 那个说过干活儿有失其身份的年轻人最终只能忍辱，做了厨房搬运工的工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But this knowledge did not keep them from laboring to save him. 然而，这并不妨碍她们尽力挽救他。 来自飘（部分）

2 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

3 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

4 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

5 sordid   

adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的

参考例句：

• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
• They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。

6 propensities   

n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This paper regarded AFT as a criterion to estimate slagging propensities. 文中以灰熔点作为判断煤灰结渣倾向的标准。 来自互联网
• Our results demonstrate that different types of authoritarian regime face different propensities to develop toward democracy. 本文研究结果显示，不同的威权主义政体所面对的民主发展倾向是不同的。 来自互联网

7 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

8 benevolence   

n.慈悲，捐助

参考例句：

• We definitely do not apply a policy of benevolence to the reactionaries.我们对反动派决不施仁政。
• He did it out of pure benevolence. 他做那件事完全出于善意。

9 famished   

adj.饥饿的

参考例句：

• When's lunch?I'm famished!什么时候吃午饭？我饿得要死了！
• My feet are now killing me and I'm absolutely famished.我的脚现在筋疲力尽，我绝对是极饿了。

10 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。