英国语文第二册 第52期:他的善良天使们

 　　LESSON 52 His good angels 第五十二课 他的善良天使们

　　One bleak¹ winter night two little girls went out into the streets to go in search of their father. 在一个寒冬的晚上，两个小女孩出门到街上去寻找她们的父亲。

　　The wind swept fiercely along, and almost drove them back. 风猛烈地吹着，几乎要把她们吹回去。

　　But they tightly² clasped³ each other's hands, and, bending their little forms to meet the pressure of the cold, rushing air, 但是她们紧紧地扣住彼此的手，弯着她们单薄的身躯迎着急促的寒流，

　　hurried on as fast as they could. 用她们所能的最快的速度向前。

　　The streets were dark and deserted⁴, but the children were not afraid: love filled their hearts, and left no room for fear. 黑暗的街道空无一人，但是两个孩子并不害怕，因为她们的心中充满了爱以至于不再感到恐惧。

　　At last they stopped before a house, over the door of which was a handsome gas-lamp, and a sign in large gilded⁵ letters. 最后，她们在一座房子前停了下来，门的那边是一盏漂亮的煤气灯和签着字的大型的镀金信封。

　　It was a strange place for little girls to enter, and at such an hour; 对小女孩而言这是一个奇怪的地方，

　　but, after standing⁶ for a moment, they pushed open the green door, and stepped into a large and brilliantly lighted room. 但在站了一会儿后她们推开了绿色的门，进入了一个宽敞明亮的房间。

　　"Well, now!" exclaimed a man who sat reading at a table. “现在！”一个坐在桌旁阅读的人呼唤道。

　　"Here are those babes again!—Come here, my little girls." “又来了一些天真的姑娘！来，到这儿来，小姑娘们。”

　　The children stopped and looked at him. Then he signed to them to approach; and they did so. 小孩儿们停下了看着他。接着，她们按他的指示走了过去。

　　"Are you looking for your father?" he asked. “你们是在寻找你们的父亲吗？”他问。

　　"Yes, sir," replied Ada. “是的，先生。”Ada回答道。

　　"Does your mother know you have come?" “你们的母亲知道你们出来吗？”

　　"Yes, sir. She told us to go to bed: but we could not go until father returned; and so we came for him first." “是的，先生。她让我们去睡觉但是父亲没回来我们不能去睡，所以我们首先出来找他。”

　　"He is here." “他在这。”

　　"Is he?" And the children's faces brightened. “是吗？”孩子们的脸上顿时闪出了光芒。

　　"Yes. He is at the other side of the room, asleep. I will wake him for you." “是的。他正在这个房子的另一边睡觉呢。我会帮你们把他叫起来的。”

　　Being sound asleep, it was with difficulty that their father could be aroused. 她们的父亲睡得正香，因此叫醒他还真是有难度的。

　　As soon, however, as his eyes were fairly opened, and he found that Ada and Jane had each grasped tightly one of his hands, 不一会儿，他的双眼完全睁开了，他发现Ada和Jane紧紧抓住他的两只手，

　　he rose up, and suffered them to lead him away. 他脸红了起来，痛苦地让孩子们带他回家。

　　"Oh dear!" exclaimed a man who had looked on with wonder and deep interest; “哦,亲爱的!”一个人惊奇地看着和深度感兴趣;

　　"God bless the little ones, and give them a sober⁷ father!" “上帝保佑孩子,给他们一个清醒的父亲!”

　　"They are his good angels," remarked another. “她们是他善良的天使啊”，另一个人说。

　　"But I'm afraid they are not strong enough to lead him back to the paths he has forsaken⁸. “但是我担心她们不够强大能把父亲引领回他曾经抛弃的人生道路。

　　But God may yet turn his heart, and give these children a happy home." 但上帝也许会转变他的心，并给孩子们一个幸福的家。”

　　The next evening, to the joy of his family, their father came home quite sober. 下一个晚上，为了使家庭愉快，她们的父亲清醒地回到了家。

　　After tea, while Ada and Jane were standing one on either side of him, he said, in a low whisper, 喝过茶，当两个孩子分别站在父亲两侧时，他小声地说

　　"You shall never again have to go out at night to bring me home." “你们再也不要在夜晚出门找我回家了。”

　　The children lifted their eyes quickly to his face, only half understanding what he meant. 两个孩子抬起她们的双眼看着父亲，对父亲说的话半懂不懂的。

　　"God helping⁹ me, I will never go to that place again," he added. "I will always stay at home with you." “上帝帮助我，我再也不会去那个地方了，”他继续说，“我会一直和你们呆在家里。”

　　Ada and Jane, now understanding what their father meant, hid their faces in his lap and wept for very gladness. Ada和Jane，现在完全理解了父亲的意思了。她们把脸埋进父亲的腿上，流出来高兴的眼泪。

　　The children's love had saved their father. They were indeed his good angels. 孩子们的爱唤醒了父亲。她们是父亲的善良天使。

　　But he did not trust to his own strength alone: he continued to ask God to help him in his endeavours to live a sober life; 然而，他并不确信单凭自己一个人的力量，于是，他继续去请求上帝的帮助，希望通过自己的努力告别宿醉，过一个清醒的生活。

　　and ere long it was seen that he was a changed man. 不久之后，可以看见，他真的实现了改变。

1 bleak   

adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的

参考例句：

• They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
• The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。

2 tightly   

adv.紧紧地，坚固地，牢固地

参考例句：

• My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时，孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
• The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起，我们几乎喘不过气来。

3 clasped   

抱紧( clasp的过去式和过去分词 )； 紧紧拥抱； 握紧； 攥紧

参考例句：

• He leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly together. 他俯身向前，双手十字交错地紧握着。
• The child clasped the doll tightly. 小孩紧抱着洋娃娃。

4 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

5 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 sober   

adj.清醒的，沉着冷静的，稳重的，颜色暗淡的；vt.使清醒，使沉着；vi.清醒，冷静下来

参考例句：

• He talked to us in a sober friendly fashion.他以冷静而又友好的方式同我们交谈。
• The man was still sober when he went home.那人回到家时头脑依然清醒。

8 Forsaken   

adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词

参考例句：

• He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
• He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。