月亮和六便士 第五十八章(3)

 "You know, we English are so dreadfully ignorant. “你知道，我们英国人见闻狭窄，简直太可怕了。

You must forgive me if it's necessary to explain." 如果我不得不做些解释，你一定得原谅我。”

Then she turned to me. 接着她转过来对我说：

"Mr. Van Busche Taylor is the distinguished¹ American critic. “凡·布施·泰勒先生就是那位美国最有名的评论家。

If you haven't read his book your education has been shamefully² neglected, and you must repair the omission³ at once. 如果你没有读过他的着作，你的教育可未免太欠缺了；你必须立刻着手弥补一下。

He's writing something about dear Charlie, and he's come to ask me if I can help him." 泰勒先生现在正在写一点儿东西，关于亲爱的查理斯的。他特地来我这里看看我能不能帮他的忙。”

Mr. Van Busche Taylor was a very thin man with a large, bald head, bony and shining; 凡·布施·泰勒先生身体非常削瘦，生着一个大秃脑袋，骨头支棱着，头皮闪闪发亮；

and under the great dome⁴ of his skull⁵ his face, yellow, with deep lines in it, looked very small. 大宽脑门下面一张脸面色焦黄，满是皱纹，显得枯干瘦小。

He was quiet and exceedingly polite. 他举止文静，彬彬有礼，

He spoke⁶ with the accent of New England, 说话时带着些新英格兰州口音。

and there was about his demeanour a bloodless frigidity⁷ which made me ask myself why on earth he was busying himself with Charles Strickland. 这个人给我的印象非常僵硬刻板，毫无热情；我真不知道他怎么会想到要研究查理斯·思特里克兰德来。

I had been slightly tickled⁸ at the gentleness which Mrs. Strickland put into her mention of her husband's name, 思特里克兰德太太在提到她死去的丈夫时，语气非常温柔，我暗自觉得好笑。

and while the pair conversed⁹ I took stock of the room in which we sat. 在这两人谈话的当儿，我把我们坐的这间客厅打量了一番。

Mrs. Strickland had moved with the times. 思特里克兰德太太是个紧跟时尚的人。

Gone were the Morris papers and gone the severe cretonnes, gone were the Arundel prints that had adorned¹⁰ the walls of her drawing-room in Ashley Gardens; 她在阿施里花园旧居时那些室内装饰都不见了，墙上糊的不再是莫里斯墙纸，家具上套的不再是色彩朴素的印花布，旧日装饰着客厅四壁的阿伦德尔图片也都撤下去了。

the room blazed with fantastic colour, 现在这间客厅是一片光怪陆离的颜色，

and I wondered if she knew that those varied¹¹ hues¹², which fashion had imposed upon her, were due to the dreams of a poor painter in a South Sea island. 我很怀疑，她知道不知道她把屋子装点得五颜六色的这种风尚都是因为南海岛屿上一个可怜的画家有过这种幻梦。

She gave me the answer herself. 对我的这个疑问她自己作出了回答。

1 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。

2 shamefully   

可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。
• They have served me shamefully for a long time. 长期以来，他们待我很坏。

3 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

4 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

5 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

6 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。

7 frigidity   

n.寒冷；冷淡；索然无味；（尤指妇女的）性感缺失

参考例句：

• Doctor Simpson believes that Suzie's frigidity is due to some hang-up about men. 辛普森大夫认为苏西的性冷淡是由于她对男人有着异常的精神反应。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Frigidity and horror have attacked that crying baby ! 那位哭闹的孩子又冷又害怕。 来自辞典例句

8 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

9 conversed   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 )

参考例句：

• I conversed with her on a certain problem. 我与她讨论某一问题。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was cheerful and polite, and conversed with me pleasantly. 她十分高兴，也很客气，而且愉快地同我交谈。 来自辞典例句

10 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

11 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

12 hues   

色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点

参考例句：

• When the sun rose a hundred prismatic hues were reflected from it. 太阳一出，更把它映得千变万化、异彩缤纷。
• Where maple trees grow, the leaves are often several brilliant hues of red. 在枫树生长的地方，枫叶常常呈现出数种光彩夺目的红色。