月亮和六便士 第二十八章(2)

 I did not know what to say. 我不知道该说些什么。

My first thought was that she had come to the end of her forbearance with his infatuation for Strickland, and, 我最初的想法是，她丈夫这种晕头晕脑地对思特里克兰德倾心相待，叫她再也忍受不了了，

goaded¹ by the latter's cynical² behaviour, had insisted that he should be turned out. 再加上思特里克兰德总是冷嘲热讽，所以她坚决要把他赶走。

I knew her capable of temper, for all the calmness of her manner; 我知道，虽然勃朗什表面端庄沉静，但是脾气如果上来，却执拗得可以。

and if Stroeve still refused, she might easily have flung out of the studio with vows³ never to return. 假如施特略夫仍然拒绝她的请求，一怒之下，她很可能离开家庭，发誓再不回来。

But the little man was so distressed⁴ that I could not smile. 但是不管事实真相如何，看到这个小胖子的痛苦不堪的样子，我实在不忍讥笑他了。

My dear fellow, don't be unhappy. She'll come back. “亲爱的朋友，别难过了。她会回来的。

You mustn't take very seriously what women say when they're in a passion. 女人们一时说的气话，你千万别太认真。”

You don't understand. She's in love with Strickland. “你不了解。她爱上思特里克兰德了。”

What! I was startled at this, but the idea had no sooner taken possession of me than I saw it was absurd. “什么！”我吓了一跳；但是我还没有来得及仔细琢磨，就已经觉得这件事太荒谬了。

"How can you be so silly? You don't mean to say you're jealous of Strickland?" I almost laughed. “你怎么能这么傻？难道你是说你在吃思特里克兰德的醋？”我差点笑了出来。

"You know very well that she can't bear the sight of him." “你也知道，思特里克兰德这个人简直叫她无法忍受。”

You don't understand, he moaned. “你不了解，”他呻吟道。

You're an hysterical⁶ ass⁵, I said a little impatiently. "Let me give you a whisky-and-soda, and you'll feel better." “你是头歇斯底里的蠢驴，”我有些不耐烦地说。“让我给你喝一杯威士忌苏打你就会好一些了。”

I supposed that for some reason or other—and Heaven knows what ingenuity⁷ men exercise to torment⁸ themselves, 我猜想，不知为了什么原因——天知道人们如何想尽办法来折磨自己，

Dirk had got it into his head that his wife cared for Strickland, 戴尔克毫无道理地怀疑起自己的妻子爱上了思特里克兰德，

and with his genius for blundering he might quite well have offended her so that, to anger him, perhaps,  因为他最不会处理事情，多半把她惹恼了。而他的妻子为了气他，

she had taken pains to foster his suspicion. 也就故意想尽方法增加他的疑虑。

Look here, I said, "let's go back to your studio. “听我说，”我对他说，“咱们一起回你的画室去吧。

If you've made a fool of yourself you must eat humble⁹ pie. 如果你自己把事办糟了，现在只好去负荆请罪。

Your wife doesn't strike me as the sort of woman to bear malice¹⁰." 我认为你的妻子不是那种爱记仇的女人。”

1 goaded   

v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人

参考例句：

• Goaded beyond endurance, she turned on him and hit out. 她被气得忍无可忍，于是转身向他猛击。
• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

3 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

4 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

5 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

6 hysterical   

adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的

参考例句：

• He is hysterical at the sight of the photo.他一看到那张照片就异常激动。
• His hysterical laughter made everybody stunned.他那歇斯底里的笑声使所有的人不知所措。

7 ingenuity   

n.别出心裁；善于发明创造

参考例句：

• The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
• I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。

8 torment   

n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠

参考例句：

• He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
• Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。

9 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

10 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。