【荆棘鸟】第二章 15

Arithmetic she found easy, but when called upon to demonstrate toper skill verbally she could not remember how many two and two made. Reading was the entrance into a world so fascinating she couldn't get enough of it; but when Sister Agatha made her stand to read a passage out loud, she could hardly pronounce "cat," let alone "miaow." It seemed to her that she was forever quivering under Sister Agatha's sarcastic¹ comments or flushing bright red because the rest of the class was laughing at her. For it was always her slate² Sister Agatha held up to sneer³ at, always her laboriously⁴ written sheets of paper Sister Agatha used to demonstrate the ugliness of untidy work. Some of the richer children were lucky enough to possess erasers, but Meggie's only eraser was the tip of her finger, which she licked and rubbed over her nervous mistakes until the writing smudged and the paper came away in miniature sausages. It made holes and was strictly⁵ forbidden, but she was desperate enough to do anything to avoid Sister Agatha's strictures.

  Until her advent⁶ Stuart had been the chief target of Sister Agatha's cane⁷ and venom⁸. However, Meggie was a much better target, for Stuart's wistful tranquility and almost saintlike aloofness⁹ were hard nuts to crack, even for Sister Agatha. On the other hand, Meggie trembled and went as red as a beet¹⁰, for all she tried so manfully to adhere to the Cleary line of behavior as defined by Frank. Stuart pitied Meggie deeply and tried to make  it easier for her by deliberately¹¹ sidetracking the nun¹²'s anger onto his own head. She saw through his ploys¹³ immediately, angered afresh to see the Cleary clannishness¹⁴ as much in evidence with the girl as it had always been among the boys. Had anyone questioned her as to exactly why she had such a down on the Clearys, she would not have been able to answer. But for an old nun as embittered¹⁵ by the course her life had taken as Sister Agatha, a proud and touchy¹⁶ family like the Clearys was not easy to swallow. Meggie's worst sin was being left-handed. When she gingerly picked up her slate pencil to embark¹⁷ on her first writing lesson, Sister Agatha descended¹⁸ on her like Caesar on the Gauls.

"Meghan Cleary, put that pencil down!" she thundered. Thus began a battle royal. Meggie was incurably¹⁹ and hopelessly left-handed. When Sister Agatha forcibly bent²⁰ the fingers of Meggie's right hand correctly around the pencil and poised²¹ it above the slate, Meggie sat there with her head reeling

 

她觉得算术很容易学，可是把她叫起来进行口算的时候，她连二加二等于几都记不祝读书把她引进了一个极其迷人的天地，她怎么也读不够，可是当阿加莎嬷嬷叫她站起来高声朗读一段的时候，她几乎连“猫”字都读不上来，更甭提“喵喵叫”这个词了。看来，她要永远在阿加莎嬷嬷的挖苦下颤栗不止或满脸通红了，因为班上别的同学都在笑她呢。阿加莎嬷嬷总是把她的石板举起来加以嘲笑，也总是用地辛辛苦苦地写了字的纸来说明潦草的作业是多么要不得。阔一些孩子中有人有橡皮，这是幸运的，而梅吉却只好用手指尖当橡皮；她舔舔手指头，去擦她由于紧张而写错的字，把写的东西擦的一塌糊涂，纸上滚出许多像细小的香肠一样的团团。这使纸上出现了许多破洞，因此用指尖当橡皮被严格地禁止了。可是，她为了逃避阿加莎嬷嬷的责难，是什么事情都敢于做出来的。

    在她到学校以前，斯图尔特是阿加莎嬷嬷的藤条和泄愤的主要目标。然而，梅吉这个靶子要合适得多，因为斯图尔特带着令人反感的镇静和几乎是圣徒般的冷漠是难以对付的，即使对阿加莎嬷嬷来说也是这样。相反，梅吉却吓得瑟瑟发抖，脸红得像甜菜，尽管她努力想遵循弗兰克给克利里家所定下的行为准则。斯图尔特深切的同情梅吉，他有意使修女把火发到他的头上来，以便使梅吉的日子好过一些，但是修女立旋就看透了他的把戏，便重新发起火来，非要看看克利里家族的通性在这个女孩子身上是否也像在男孩子们身上那样明显。要是有人问她，她到底为什么如此嫌恶克利里家，她也答不上来。但是对于像阿加莎嬷嬷这样被一生所走过的路弄得怒气冲冲的老修女来说，要对付像克利里这样傲然的而棘手的家伙又谈何容易。

    梅吉最糟糕的是左撇子。在第一堂写字课上，当她小心翼翼地拿起石笔开始写字的时候，阿加莎嬷嬷就像凯撒攻击高卢人那样向她冲了过来

1 sarcastic   

adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的

参考例句：

• I squashed him with a sarcastic remark.我说了一句讽刺的话把他给镇住了。
• She poked fun at people's shortcomings with sarcastic remarks.她冷嘲热讽地拿别人的缺点开玩笑。

2 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

3 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

4 laboriously   

adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地

参考例句：

• She is tracing laboriously now. 她正在费力地写。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She is laboriously copying out an old manuscript. 她正在费劲地抄出一份旧的手稿。 来自辞典例句

5 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

6 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。

7 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

8 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

9 aloofness   

超然态度

参考例句：

• Why should I have treated him with such sharp aloofness? 但我为什么要给人一些严厉，一些端庄呢？ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
• He had an air of haughty aloofness. 他有一种高傲的神情。 来自辞典例句

10 beet   

n.甜菜；甜菜根

参考例句：

• He farmed his pickers to work in the beet fields. 他出租他的摘棉工去甜菜地里干活。
• The sugar beet is an entirely different kind of plant.糖用甜菜是一种完全不同的作物。

11 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

12 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

13 ploys   

n.策略，手法( ploy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The boss tried many ploys to get customers into the store. 老板用尽各种伎俩引顾客上门。 来自辞典例句
• She tried many ploys to get the boy interested in her. 她试过很多伎俩去赢取男孩的青睐。 来自辞典例句

14 clannishness   

参考例句：

• But when there is not a strong hand at the helm, clannishness tends to overcome discipline. 但是如果掌舵的人不强，派系之争就会破坏纪律。 来自辞典例句
• It is thus clear that the residual influences of clannishness must not be underestimated. 可见宗法观念的余毒决不能轻视。 来自互联网

15 embittered   

v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• These injustices embittered her even more. 不公平使她更加受苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The artist was embittered by public neglect. 大众的忽视于那位艺术家更加难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 touchy   

adj.易怒的；棘手的

参考例句：

• Be careful what you say because he's touchy.你说话小心，因为他容易生气。
• He's a little touchy about his weight.他对自己的体重感到有点儿苦恼。

17 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

18 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

19 incurably   

ad.治不好地

参考例句：

• But young people are incurably optimistic and women have a special knack of forgetting their troubles. 可是青年人，永远朝着愉快的事情想，女人们尤其容易忘记那些不痛快。
• For herself she wanted nothing. For father and myself she was incurably ambitious. 她为她自己并无所求，可为父亲和我，却有着无法遏制的野心。

20 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

21 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。