英语小达人 372 Tit for Tat

 　　Tit for Tat针锋相对An American lady traveling in England some years ago, got into an compartment¹ of a smoking carriage where an Englishman² was smoking a pipe. For a short time she sat quietly expecting that the Englishman would stop smoking. But then she began to cough and sneeze, trying to show him that she objected to the smoke. At last, seeing that the man took no notice of her and did not put out his pipe, she said:

　　几年前，一位美国女子在英国旅行，她上了一节吸烟车厢。车厢内有位男士抽着烟斗。她坐了一会儿并未出声，指望那英国男人会停止抽烟，但没见有反应，于是她就开始装咳嗽和打喷嚏，示意她对在车厢内吸烟很反感。最后，看到那男人毫不理睬，仍然继续抽他的烟，她就只好开腔了。

　　"If you were a gentleman you would stop smonking when a lady got into the carriage."“如果您是位绅士，见到一位女士进入车厢，您就应该停止吸烟。”

　　"If you were a lady," replied the Englishman, "you wouldn't get into a smoking-carriage."那英国男人答道：“如果您是淑女，那就不该到吸烟车厢里来。”

　　"If you were my husband," said the American lady angrily, "I'll give you poison."“如果你是我的丈夫，”美国女士生气了，“我就给你毒药吃。”

　　The Englishman looked at her for a minute or two, "Well," he said at last, "if I were your husband, I would take it."那英国男人盯着她看了一会儿，最后说：“如果我是你的丈夫，我就把毒药吃下去。”

1 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

2 Englishman   

n.(pl.Englishmen)英国人；英国男人

参考例句：

• I was astonished that he was not an Englishman.我很惊讶,他竟不是英国人。
• She stared thoughtfully at the Englishman across the table.她若有所思地盯着桌子对面的那个英国人。