月亮和六便士 第十三章(1)

 　　Chapter 13 第十三章

　　I dare say it would have been more seemly to decline this proposal. I think perhaps I should have made a show of the indignation I really felt,   我知道更合体的做法是拒绝他的邀请。我想也许我该把我真正感到的气愤显示一番，

　　and I am sure that Colonel MacAndrew at least would have thought well of me if I had been able to report my stout¹ refusal to sit at the same table with a man of such character.  如果我回去以后能够向他们汇报，我如何一口拒绝了同这种品行的人共进晚餐的邀请，起码麦克安德鲁上校会对我表示好感的。

　　But the fear of not being able to carry it through effectively has always made me shy of assuming the moral attitude;  但是我总是害怕这出戏自己演得不象，而且不能一直演到底，这就妨碍了我装出一副道貌岸然的样子。

　　and in this case the certainty that my sentiments would be lost on Strickland made it peculiarly embarrassing to utter them.  再说，我肯定知道，我的表演在思特里克兰德身上不会引起任何反响，这就更加使我难以把辞谢的话说出口了。

　　Only the poet or the saint can water an asphalt pavement in the confident anticipation² that lilies will reward his labour. 只有诗人同圣徒才能坚信，在沥青路面上辛勤浇水会培植出百合花来。

　　I paid for what we had drunk, and we made our way to a cheap restaurant, crowded and gay, where we dined with pleasure.  我付了酒账，同他走到一家廉价的餐馆去。我们在这家顾客拥挤的热闹的餐馆里痛痛快快吃了一顿晚餐。

　　I had the appetite of youth and he of a hardened conscience. Then we went to a tavern³ to have coffee and liqueurs. 我们俩胃口都很好，我是因为年轻，他是因为良心已经麻木。这以后我们到一家酒店去喝咖啡和甜酒。

　　I had said all I had to say on the subject that had brought me to Paris, and though I felt it in a manner treacherous⁴ to Mrs. Strickland not to pursue it, I could not struggle against his indifference⁵.  关于这件使我来到巴黎的公事，该说的话我都已经说了，虽然我觉得就这样半半拉拉地把这件事放下手对思特里克兰德太太似乎有背叛之嫌，我却实在无法再同思特里克兰德的冷漠抗争了。

　　It requires the feminine temperament⁶ to repeat the same thing three times with unabated zest⁷.  只有女性才能以不息的热情把同一件事重复三遍。

　　I solaced⁸ myself by thinking that it would be useful for me to find out what I could about Strickland's state of mind.  我自我安慰地想，尽力了解一下思特里克兰德的心境对我还是有用的。

　　It also interested me much more. But this was not an easy thing to do, for Strickland was not a fluent talker.  再说，我对这个也更感到兴趣。但这并不是一件容易事，因为思特里克兰德不是一个能说会道的人。

　　He seemed to express himself with difficulty, as though words were not the medium with which his mind worked; and you had to guess the intentions of his soul by hackneyed phrases, slang, and vague, unfinished gestures.  他表白自己似乎非常困难，倒好象言语并不是他的心灵能运用自如的工具似的。你必须通过他的那些早被人们用得陈腐不堪的词句、那些粗陋的俚语、那些既模糊又不完全的手势才能猜测他的灵魂的意图。

　　But though he said nothing of any consequence, there was something in his personality which prevented him from being dull.  但是虽然他说不出什么有意义的话来，他的性格中却有一种东西使你觉得他这人一点也不乏味。

　　Perhaps it was sincerity⁹.  或许这是由于他非常真挚。

　　He did not seem to care much about the Paris he was now seeing for the first time (I did not count the visit with his wife), and he accepted sights which must have been strange to him without any sense of astonishment¹⁰.  他对于第一次见到的巴黎（我没有算他同他妻子来度蜜月那一次）好象并不怎样好奇，对于那些对他说来肯定是非常新奇的景象并不感到惊异。

　　I have been to Paris a hundred times, and it never fails to give me a thrill of excitement; I can never walk its streets without feeling myself on the verge¹¹ of adventure.  我自己来巴黎少说有一百次了，可是哪次来都免不了兴奋得心头飘忽忽的，走在巴黎街头我总觉得随时都会经历到一场奇遇。

　　Strickland remained placid¹². Looking back, I think now that he was blind to everything but to some disturbing vision in his soul. 思特里克兰德却始终声色不动。现在回想这件事，我认为他当时根本什么也看不到，他看到的只是搅动着他灵魂的一些幻景。

1 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

2 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

3 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

4 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

5 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

6 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

7 zest   

n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

参考例句：

• He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
• He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

8 solaced   

v.安慰，慰藉( solace的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The unhappy man solaced himself with whisky. 那忧伤的人以威士忌酒浇愁。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was distracted with grief and refused to be solaced. 她悲痛得精神恍惚，怎麽安慰也没用。 来自辞典例句

9 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

10 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

11 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

12 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。