美国语文第五册 第175期:请君制怒(3)

 　　At length, he opened the Bible, and began to read.  待大家安顿坐好，他打开《圣经》开始朗读。

　　The child who was seated beside him made some little disturbance¹, upon which Mr. Sherman paused and told it to be still.  坐在他身边的孩子闹出些许响动，谢尔曼先生停下来，告诉孩子保持安静，

　　Again he proceeded; but again he paused to reprimand the little offender²,  然后继续诵读经文。那孩子仍然坐立不安，父亲只得再度停下，责备这位不懂事的小家伙，

　　whose playful disposition³ would scarcely permit it to be still.  但生性爱动的孩子很难保持安静。

　　And this time he gently tapped its ear.  做父亲的他，只是轻轻地拍打一下孩子的耳朵，

　　The blow, if blow it might be called, caught the attention of his aged⁴ mother,  如果不妨称为“拍打”的话。法官的老母亲看到这些，

　　who now, with some effort, rose from the seat, and tottered⁵ across the room.  她费力地从座位上站起，蹒跚地走到桌子对面，

　　At length she reached the chair of Mr. Sherman, and, in a moment,   来到谢尔曼先生身边，站立片刻；

　　most unexpectedly to him, she gave him a blow on the ear with all the force she could summon.  他万万没有想到的是，母亲用尽全身力气，狠狠地给了他一记响亮的耳光。

　　"There," said she, "you strike your child, and I will strike mine." “既然，”她说，“你可以打你的孩子，我也可以打我的孩子。”

　　For a moment, the blood was seen mounting to the face of Mr. Sherman;  片刻工夫，血从谢尔曼先生脸上渗出，

　　but it was only for a moment, when all was calm and mild as usual.  全家人很快恢复了往常的宁静平和，

　　He paused; he raised his spectacles; he cast his eye upon his mother;  他只是略作停息，再度戴好眼镜，

　　again it fell upon the book from which he had been reading. 看了看母亲，然后拿起书从先前暂停地方，

　　Not a word escaped him; but again he calmly pursued the service,  一字不漏地开始重新朗读。谢尔曼先生再度冷静地完成了职责，

　　and soon after sought in prayer an ability to set an example before his household which would be worthy⁶ of their imitation.  在祷告中寻求一种为家庭竖立榜样的能力，一种值得孩子们模仿的能力。

　　Such a victory was worth more than the proudest one ever achieved on the field of battle.  的确，就战场上自豪胜利者而言，这种内在美德实在超过军人的威武尊严。

1 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

2 offender   

n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者

参考例句：

• They all sued out a pardon for an offender.他们请求法院赦免一名罪犯。
• The authorities often know that sex offenders will attack again when they are released.当局一般都知道性犯罪者在获释后往往会再次犯案。

3 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

4 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

5 tottered   

v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠

参考例句：

• The pile of books tottered then fell. 这堆书晃了几下，然后就倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wounded soldier tottered to his feet. 伤员摇摇晃晃地站了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。