月亮和六便士 第十七章(1)

 　　Chapter 17 第十七章

　　It was about five years after this that I decided¹ to live in Paris for a while.  这件事过去大约五年之后，我决定到巴黎去住一个时期。

　　I was growing stale in London.  I was tired of doing much the same thing every day.  伦敦我实在待腻了；天天做的事几乎一模一样，使我感到厌烦得要命。

　　My friends pursued their course with uneventfulness; they had no longer any surprises for me, 我的朋友们过着老一套的生活，平淡无奇，再也引不起我的好奇心了。

　　and when I met them I knew pretty well what they would say; even their love-affairs had a tedious banality².  有时候我们见了面，不待他们开口，我就知道他们要说什么话。就连他们的桃色事件也都是枯燥乏味的老一套。

　　We were like tramcars running on their lines from terminus to terminus, and it was possible to calculate within small limits the number of passengers they would carry.  我们这些人就象从终点站到终点站往返行驶的有轨电车，连乘客的数目也能估计个八九不离十。

　　Life was ordered too pleasantly. I was seized with panic.  生活被安排得太有秩序了。我觉得简直太可怕了。

　　I gave up my small apartment, sold my few belongings³, and resolved to start afresh. 我退掉了我的小住房，卖掉为数不多的几件家具，决定开始另外一种生活。

　　I called on Mrs. Strickland before I left.  临行以前我到思特里克兰德太太家去辞行。

　　I had not seen her for some time, and I noticed changes in her; it was not only that she was older, thinner, and more lined; I think her character had altered.  我有不少日子没同她见面了，我发现她有不少的变化，不仅人变得老了、瘦了，皱纹比以前多了，就连性格我觉得都有些改变。

　　She had made a success of her business, and now had an office in Chancery Lane;  她的事业很兴旺，这时在昌塞里街开了一个事务所。

　　she did little typing herself, but spent her time correcting the work of the four girls she employed.  她自己打字不多，时间主要用在校改她雇用的四名女打字员的打字稿上。

　　She had had the idea of giving it a certain daintiness, and she made much use of blue and red inks;  她想尽办法把稿件打得非常讲究，很多地方使用蓝色和红色的字带，

　　she bound the copy in coarse paper, that looked vaguely⁴ like watered silk, in various pale colours;   打好的稿件用各种浅颜色的粗纸装订起来，乍一看仿佛是带波纹的绸子。

　　and she had acquired a reputation for neatness and accuracy. She was making money.  她给人打的稿件以整齐精确闻名，生意很能赚钱。

　　But she could not get over the idea that to earn her living was somewhat undignified, and she was inclined to remind you that she was a lady by birth.  但是尽管如此，她却认为自己谋生糊口有失身份，总有些抬不起头来。同别人谈话的时候，她忘不了向对方表白自己的高贵出身，

　　She could not help bringing into her conversation the names of people she knew which would satisfy you that she had not sunk in the social scale.  动不动就提到她认识的一些人物，叫你知道她的社会地位一点儿没有降低。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 banality   

n.陈腐；平庸；陈词滥调

参考例句：

• Neil's ability to utter banalities never ceased to amaze me.每次我都很惊讶，尼尔怎么能讲出这么索然无味的东西。
• He couldn't believe the banality of the question.他无法相信那问题竟如此陈腐。

3 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

4 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。