月亮和六便士 第4章(1)

 　　Chapter 4 第四章

　　No one was kinder to me at that time than Rose Waterford.  在那些日子里，再没有谁象柔斯·瓦特尔芙德那样关心照顾我了。

　　She combined a masculine intelligence with a feminine perversity¹, and the novels she wrote were original and disconcerting.  她既有男性的才智又有女人的怪脾气。她写的小说很有特色，读起来叫你心绪不能平静。

　　It was at her house one day that I met Charles Strickland's wife.  正是在她家里，有一天我见到了查理斯·思特里克兰德太太。

　　Miss Waterford was giving a tea-party, and her small room was more than usually full.  那一天瓦特尔芙德小姐举行了一次茶话会，在她的一间小屋子里，客人比往常来得还多。

　　Everyone seemed to be talking, and I, sitting in silence, felt awkward;  每个人好象都在和别人交谈，只有我一个人静静地坐在那里，感到很窘；

　　but I was too shy to break into any of the groups that seemed absorbed in their own affairs.  既然客人们都在三三两两地谈他们自己的事，我就很不好意思挤进哪个人堆里去了。

　　Miss Waterford was a good hostess, and seeing my embarrassment² came up to me. 瓦特尔芙德小姐是个很体贴的女主人，她注意到我有些尴尬，便走到我身边来。

　　"I want you to talk to Mrs. Strickland," she said. "She's raving³ about your books." "我想让你去同思特里克兰德太太谈一谈，"她说，"她对你的书崇拜得了不得。"

　　"What does she do?" I asked. "她是干什么的？"我问。

　　I was conscious of my ignorance, and if Mrs. Strickland was a well-known writer I thought it as well to ascertain⁴ the fact before I spoke⁵ to her. 我知道自己孤陋寡闻，如果思特里克兰德是一位名作家，我在同她谈话以前最好还是把情况弄清楚。

　　Rose Waterford cast down her eyes demurely⁶ to give greater effect to her reply. 为了使自己的答话给我更深的印象，瓦特尔芙德故意把眼皮一低，做出一副一本正经的样子。

　　"She gives luncheon⁷-parties.  "她专门招待人吃午餐。

　　You've only got to roar a little, and she'll ask you." 你只要别那么腼腆，多吹嘘自己几句，她准会请你吃饭的。"

　　Rose Waterford was a cynic.  柔斯·瓦特尔芙德处世采取的是一种玩世不恭的态度。

　　She looked upon life as an opportunity for writing novels and the public as her raw material.  她把生活看作是给她写小说的一个机会，把世人当作她作品的素材。

　　Now and then she invited members of it to her house if they showed an appreciation⁸ of her talent and entertained with proper lavishness⁹.  如果读者中有谁对她的才能非常赏识而且慷慨地宴请过她，她有时也会请他们到自己家招待一番。

　　She held their weakness for lions in good-humoured contempt, but played to them her part of the distinguished¹⁰ woman of letters with decorum. 这些人对作家的崇拜热让她感到又好笑又鄙夷，但是她却同他们周旋应酬，十足表现出一个有名望的女文学家的风度。

　　I was led up to Mrs. Strickland, and for ten minutes we talked together.  我被带到思特里克兰德太太面前，同她谈了十来分钟的话。

　　I noticed nothing about her except that she had a pleasant voice.  除了她的声音很悦耳外，我没有发现她有什么特别的地方。

　　She had a flat in Westminster, overlooking the unfinished cathedral,  她在威斯敏斯特区有一套房子，正对着没有完工的大教堂。

　　and because we lived in the same neighbourhood we felt friendly disposed to one another.  因为我也住在那一带，我们两人就觉得亲近了一层。

　　The Army and Navy Stores are a bond of union between all who dwell between the river and St. James's Park.  对于所有那些住在泰晤士河同圣杰姆斯公园之间的人来说，陆海军商店好象是一个把他们联结起来的纽带。

　　Mrs. Strickland asked me for my address,and a few days later I received an invitation to luncheon. 思特里克兰德太太要了我的住址，又过了几天我收到她一张请吃午饭的请柬。

1 perversity   

n.任性；刚愎自用

参考例句：

• She's marrying him out of sheer perversity.她嫁给他纯粹是任性。
• The best of us have a spice of perversity in us.在我们最出色的人身上都有任性的一面。

2 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

3 raving   

adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地

参考例句：

• The man's a raving lunatic. 那个男子是个语无伦次的疯子。
• When I told her I'd crashed her car, she went stark raving bonkers. 我告诉她我把她的车撞坏了时，她暴跳如雷。

4 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 demurely   

adv.装成端庄地，认真地

参考例句：

• "On the forehead, like a good brother,'she answered demurely. "吻前额，像个好哥哥那样，"她故作正经地回答说。 来自飘（部分）
• Punctuation is the way one bats one's eyes, lowers one's voice or blushes demurely. 标点就像人眨眨眼睛，低声细语，或伍犯作态。 来自名作英译部分

7 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。

8 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

9 lavishness   

n.浪费，过度

参考例句：

10 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。