月亮和六便士 第5章(2)

 　　I don't know that he's very clever, she said one day, when I was looking at the photograph, "我想他不算太聪明，"有一天我正在看照片的时候，思特里克兰德太太说，

　　"but I know he's good. He has a charming character." "但是我知道他是个好孩子。性格很可爱。"

　　The daughter was fourteen.  女儿十四岁。

　　Her hair, thick and dark like her mother's, fell over her shoulders in fine profusion¹, and she had the same kindly² expression and sedate³, untroubled eyes. 头发同母亲一样，又粗又黑，浓密地披在肩膀上。温顺的脸相，端庄、明净的眼睛也同母亲活脱儿一样。

　　They're both of them the image of you, I said. "他们两个人长得都非常象你，"我说。

　　Yes; I think they are more like me than their father. "可不是，他们都更随我，不随他们的父亲。"

　　Why have you never let me meet him? I asked. "你为什么一直不让我同他见面？"

　　Would you like to? "你愿意见他吗？"

　　She smiled, her smile was really very sweet, and she blushed a little; it was singular that a woman of that age should flush so readily.  她笑了，她的笑容很甜，脸上微微泛起一层红晕；象她这样年纪的女人竟这么容易脸红，是很少有的。

　　Perhaps her naivete was her greatest charm. 也许她最迷人之处就在于她的纯真。

　　You know, he's not at all literary, she said. "He's a perfect philistine⁴." "你知道，他一点儿也没有文学修养，"她说，"他是个十足的小市民。"

　　She said this not disparagingly⁵, but affectionately rather,  她用这个词一点儿也没有贬抑的意思，相反地，倒是怀着一股深情，

　　as though, by acknowledging the worst about him, she wished to protect him from the aspersions of her friends. 好象由她自己说出他最大的缺点就可以保护他不受她朋友们的挖苦以的。

　　He's on the Stock Exchange, and he's a typical broker⁶.  "他在证券交易所干事儿，是一个典型的经纪人。

　　I think he'd bore you to death. 我猜想，他一定会叫你觉得很厌烦的。"

　　Does he bore you? I asked. "你对他感到厌烦吗？"

　　You see, I happen to be his wife. I'm very fond of him. "你知道，我刚好是他的妻子。我很喜欢他。"

　　She smiled to cover her shyness,  她笑了一下，掩盖住自己的羞涩。

　　and I fancied she had a fear that I would make the sort of gibe⁷ that such a confession⁸ could hardly have failed to elicit⁹ from Rose Waterford.  我想她可能担心我会说一句什么打趣的话，换了柔斯?瓦特尔芙德，听见她这样坦白，肯定会挖苦讽刺几句的。

　　She hesitated a little. Her eyes grew tender. 她踌躇了一会儿，眼神变得更加温柔了。

　　He doesn't pretend to be a genius. He doesn't even make much money on the Stock Exchange.  "他不想假充自己有什么才华。就是在证券交易所里他赚的钱也不多。

　　But he's awfully¹⁰ good and kind. 但是他心地非常善良。"

　　I think I should like him very much. "我想我会非常喜欢他的。"

　　I'll ask you to dine with us quietly some time, but mind, you come at your own risk; don't blame me if you have a very dull evening. "等哪天没有外人的时候，我请你来吃晚饭。但是我把话说在前头，你可是自愿冒这个风险；如果这天晚上你过得非常无聊，可千万不要怨我。"

1 profusion   

n.挥霍；丰富

参考例句：

• He is liberal to profusion.他挥霍无度。
• The leaves are falling in profusion.落叶纷纷。

2 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

3 sedate   

adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的

参考例句：

• After the accident,the doctor gave her some pills to sedate her.事故发生后，医生让她服了些药片使她镇静下来。
• We spent a sedate evening at home.我们在家里过了一个恬静的夜晚。

4 philistine   

n.庸俗的人；adj.市侩的，庸俗的

参考例句：

• I believe he seriously thinks me an awful Philistine.我相信，他真的认为我是个不可救药的庸人。
• Do you know what a philistine is,jim?吉姆，知道什么是庸俗吗?

5 disparagingly   

adv.以贬抑的口吻，以轻视的态度

参考例句：

• These mythological figures are described disparagingly as belonging only to a story. 这些神话人物被轻蔑地描述为“仅在传说中出现”的人物。 来自互联网
• In his memoirs he often speaks disparagingly about the private sector. 在他的回忆录里面他经常轻蔑的谈及私营（商业）部门。 来自互联网

6 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

7 gibe   

n.讥笑；嘲弄

参考例句：

• I felt sure he was seeking for some gibe. 我敢说他正在寻找一句什么挖苦话。
• It's impolite to gibe at a foreign student's English. 嘲笑外国学生的英语是不礼貌的。

8 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

9 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。

10 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。