夏洛的网 第156期:多里安医生(10)

 　　"Do you think she'll ever start thinking about something besides pigs and sheep and geese and spiders?" “你认为她除了猪、羊、鹅、蜘蛛，还会想些什么东西吗？”

　　"How old is Fern?" “弗恩多大了？”

　　"She's eight." “八岁。”

　　"Well," said Dr. Dorian, "I think she will always love animals. “那么，”多里安医生说，“我想她会一直爱动物。

　　But I doubt that she spends her entire life in Homer Zuckerman's barn cellar. 不过我不相信她一辈子待在霍默·朱克曼的谷仓底。

　　How about boys - does she know any boys?" 男孩呢——她认识什么男孩子吗？”

　　"She knows Henry Fussy¹," said Mrs. Arable² brightly. “她认识亨利·富西。”阿拉布尔太太一下子欢快地说。

　　Dr. Dorian closed his eyes again and went into deep thought. 多里安医生闭上眼睛沉思。

　　"Henry Fussy," he mumbled³. “亨利·富西，”他喃喃地说，

　　"Hmm. Remarkable⁴. Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about. “嗯嗯嗯。好极了。好，我认为你没什么可担心的。

　　Let Fern associate with her friends in the barn if she wants to. 如果弗恩高兴，你就让她和她谷仓里的那些朋友打交道吧。

　　I would say, offhand⁵, that spiders and pigs were fully⁶ as interesting as Henry Fussy. 我可以不假思索地说，蜘蛛和猪完全与亨利·富西一样有趣。

　　Yet I predict that the day will come 不过我说在前面，有一天

　　when even Henry will drop some chance remark that catches Fern's attention. 连亨利也会偶然说出些吸引弗恩注意的话来。

　　It's amazing how children change from year to year. 真叫人惊奇，孩子们一年一年变样。

　　How's Avery?" he asked, opening his eyes wide. 艾弗里怎么样？”他睁大眼睛问。

1 fussy   

adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的

参考例句：

• He is fussy about the way his food's cooked.他过分计较食物的烹调。
• The little girl dislikes her fussy parents.小女孩讨厌她那过分操心的父母。

2 arable   

adj.可耕的，适合种植的

参考例句：

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.那个地带很快就从耕地变成了沙漠。
• Do you know how much arable land has been desolated?你知道什么每年有多少土地荒漠化吗？

3 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

4 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。

5 offhand   

adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的

参考例句：

• I can't answer your request offhand.我不能随便答复你的要求。
• I wouldn't want to say what I thought about it offhand.我不愿意随便说我关于这事的想法。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。