【双语有声阅读】一个海员的故事(上)

 Last year at Christmas time my wife, our three boys and I were in France on our way from Paris to Nice.

 

去年，在圣诞节期间，我和我的妻子以及我们的三个孩子，从法国踏上由巴黎到尼斯的旅途。

 

For five wretched days everything had gone wrong.

 

由于接连五天的恶劣天气，旅途上一切很不顺心。

 

Our hotels were tourist traps,our rented car broke down; we were all restless and irritable¹ in the crowded car.

 

我们下榻的旅馆尽是些敲诈勒索旅客的陷阱；我们租用的那辆汽车老是发生故障，在拥挤不堪的车子上大家个个显得烦躁不安。

 

On Christmas Eve, when we checked into a dingy² hotel in Nice, there was no Christmas spirit in our hearts.

 

圣诞节前夕，我们住进了尼斯的一家旅店，这家旅店又脏又暗，我们打心眼里感觉不到丝毫的节日气氛。

 

It was raining and cold when we went out to eat.

 

我们外出就餐时，天正下着小雨，天气寒冷。

 

We found a drab little joint³ shoddily decorated for the holidays.

 

我们找到了一家死气沉沉的小餐馆。

 

It smelled greasy⁴. Only five tables in the restaurant were occupied.

 

这家餐馆刚刚做了番粗劣的装潢。而我们一进门就闻到一股刺鼻的油污气味。

 

There were two German couples, two French families and an American sailor, by himself.

 

整个餐厅只有五张桌子有人就餐：两对德国夫妇，两户法国家庭和一名孑然一身的美国水手。

 

In the corner, a piano player listlessly played Christmas music.

 

在餐厅的一个角落里，有位钢琴师在无精打采地弹奏着圣诞乐曲。

 

I was too stubborn and too tired and miserable⁵ to leave.

 

我情绪低落，加之疲惫不堪，执意不愿离开这儿去找别的餐馆了。

 

I looked around the noticed that the other customers were eating in stony⁶ silence.

 

我环顾四周，见这里的顾客一个个沉默不语，只顾吃着、喝着，

 

The only person who seemed happy was the American sailor.

 

唯独那位美国水手看上去兴高采烈。

 

While eating he was writing a letter, and a half-smile covered his face.

 

他一边吃着，一边写信，面带微笑，神采奕奕。

 

My wife ordered our meal in French.

 

我的妻子给我们叫来了法国式的饭菜，

 

The waiter brought us the wrong thing, so I scolded my wife for being stupid.

 

而服务员给我们端来的却是别的东西。我斥责妻子尽干些蠢事，

 

She began to cry. The boys defended her, and I felt even worse.

 

她哭了起来。孩子们一个个都护着他们的妈妈，于是我的情绪变得更加糟糕。

 

Then at the table with the French family, on our left, the father slapped one of the children for some minor⁷ infraction⁸, and the boy began to cry.

 

这时坐在我们左侧餐桌上的那家法国人父亲因为一点鸡毛蒜皮小事动手打了他一个孩子一记耳光，那个小男孩哇哇大哭起来。

 

On our right, the fat, blond German woman began berating⁹ her husband.

 

在我的右边，那个德国妇女不知因何缘故开始喋喋不休地数落、责骂起她的丈夫来。

 

All of us were interrupted by an unpleasant blast of cold air.

 

我们大家都因为一阵令人不快的气氛而心烦意乱。

 

Through the front door came an old French flower woman.

 

这时，从前门进来一个卖花的法国老太太。

 

She wore a dripping, tattered¹⁰ overcoat and shuffled¹¹ in on wet,rundown shoes.

 

她浑身湿透，衣衫褴褛，脚穿一双水淋淋的破鞋，

 

Carrying her basket of flowers, she went from one table to the other.

 

手里提着花篮，沿桌叫卖。

 

Flowers, monsieur? Only one franc.

 

买花吗，先生？一束才一个法郎哩。

 

No one bought any.

 

谁也没有答理她。

 

Wearily she sat down at a table between the sailor and us.

 

她疲惫不堪，在水手和我们之间的那张餐桌旁边坐了下来，

 

To the waiter she said, A bowl of soup. I haven't sold a flower all afternoon.

 

对服务员说：请来碗汤吧。整整一下午，我连一朵花也不曾脱手。

1 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

2 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 greasy   

adj. 多脂的，油脂的

参考例句：

• He bought a heavy-duty cleanser to clean his greasy oven.昨天他买了强力清洁剂来清洗油污的炉子。
• You loathe the smell of greasy food when you are seasick.当你晕船时，你会厌恶油腻的气味。

5 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

6 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

7 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

8 infraction   

n.违反；违法

参考例句：

• He was criticized for his infraction of the discipline.他因违反纪律而受到了批评。
• Parking at the bus stop is illegal,Motorists committing this infraction are heavily fined.在公交站停车是违法的，触犯此条的司机将受重罚。

9 berating   

v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He deserved the berating that the coach gave him. 他活该受到教练的严厉训斥。 来自互联网
• The boss is berating those who were late for work. 老板正在呵斥那些上班迟到的员工。 来自互联网

10 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

11 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》