美国语文第六册 第256期:印第安耍把戏者(3)

It is skill surmounting¹ difficulty, and beauty triumphing over skill.

技巧战胜和克服了困难，而战胜技巧的则是美的事物。

It seems as if the difficulty, once mastered, naturally resolved itself into ease and grace,

仿佛困难一旦被控制住，便能自然地将技巧转化为自如和优雅，

and as if, to be overcome at all, it must be overcome without an effort.

仿佛困难终究会被克服，一定不费吹灰之力。

The smallest awkwardness or want of pliancy² or self-possession would stop the whole process. It is the work of witchcraft³, and yet sport for children.

最细小的笨拙或缺少柔韧性或不够泰然自若，都会令整个过程戛然而止。这是魔法在起作用，向孩子炫耀。

Some of the other feats⁴ are quite as curious and wonderful—such as the balancing the artificial tree, and shooting a bird from each branch through a quill⁵,

一些其他技艺也相当令人好奇和叹服——诸如让人造的树平衡，然后用一根羽毛管从每个树枝射鸟，

though none of them have the elegance⁶ or facility of the keeping up of the brass⁷ balls.

尽管没有哪种技艺像抛球那般优雅或者需要特殊的技能。

You are in pain for the result, and glad when the experiment is over; they are not accompanied with the same unmixed, unchecked delight as the former;

你对最后的结果感到苦恼，或者在试验结束后感到欣然；他们并没有像玩抛球时那样伴随着同样纯粹和未加遏制的快乐；

and I would not give much to be merely astonished without being pleased at the same time.

而我，再也不会在陶醉其间的同时，只顾惊叹了。

As to the swallowing of the sword, the police ought to interfere⁸ to prevent it.

至于吞剑，警察应该制止以免发生意外。

When I saw the Indian juggler⁹ do the same things before, his feet were bare, and he had large rings on his toes,

记得以前观看印第安耍把戏者做同样的事情时，我注意到他光着脚，脚趾上拴着很大的指环，

which he kept turning round all the time of the performance, as if they moved of themselves.

在表演时一直转圈，仿佛这些指环会飞似的。

1 surmounting   

战胜( surmount的现在分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上

参考例句：

• Surmounting the risks and fears of some may be difficult. 解除某些人的疑虑可能是困难的。
• There was high French-like land in one corner, and a tumble-down grey lighthouse surmounting it. 一角画着一块像是法国风光的高地，上面有一座破烂的灰色灯塔。

2 pliancy   

n.柔软，柔顺

参考例句：

• Movable splitters should always advertise their pliancy with cursor hinting. 可移动的分割线应该借助光标暗示显示其受范性。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Use cursor hinting to indicate pliancy. 运用光标暗示来表达受范性。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 witchcraft   

n.魔法，巫术

参考例句：

• The woman practising witchcraft claimed that she could conjure up the spirits of the dead.那个女巫说她能用魔法召唤亡灵。
• All these things that you call witchcraft are capable of a natural explanation.被你们统统叫做巫术的那些东西都可以得到合情合理的解释。

4 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

5 quill   

n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶

参考例句：

• He wrote with a quill.他用羽毛笔写字。
• She dipped a quill in ink,and then began to write.她将羽毛笔在墨水里蘸了一下，随后开始书写。

6 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

7 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

8 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

9 juggler   

n. 变戏法者, 行骗者

参考例句：

• Dick was a juggler, who threw mists before your eyes. 迪克是个骗子，他在你面前故弄玄虚。
• The juggler juggled three bottles. 这个玩杂耍的人可同时抛接3个瓶子。