2019年经济学人 了不起的黑人女作家托尼·莫里森(3)

 

Anger was not useful to dwell on. It was not creative. In interviews she suppressed it with steeliness, just as she guarded her words and herself from meddlesome¹ intrusion. But she could explode at the craziness of racism², its distorting power, its pernicious notions of "purity", when the screaming red-mouthed baboon³ whites evoked⁴ lived under their own white skin.

老是生气是没有用的。那是没有创作力的。在访谈中她冷酷地克制着自己，就像她保护自己的话语和自己不受干涉一样。但是，当那些尖叫的红嘴狒狒在自己的白皮肤下生活时， 她会对种族主义的疯狂、其扭曲的力量和其有害的纯洁概念勃然大怒。

Disappointingly she found it even among blacks, with their talk of mocha, hazelnut, onyx, tar- and silt-black. There was such compulsion in human beings to classify by type and clan⁵, to suspect and hate the other, to refuse to vault⁶ the mere⁷ blue air that separated them. If oppression was no longer by actual ownership or actual violence, then language could be used to do the job with some efficiency. Politicians, misogynists⁸, lawyers all knew how. Who could rescue language, ensure it stayed supple⁹, strong and alive? That it was unarrogant, and would keep reaching towards the ineffable¹⁰? Women could. Black women could.

她失望地发现这甚至也存在于黑人之中，就在他们谈论摩卡，榛子，玛瑙，焦油和粉黑色时。在人类中，有一种通过类型和宗族来给人分类的冲动，来怀疑和憎恨其他种类的人，拒绝让那分隔他们的蔚蓝的空气消失。如果压迫不再是由实际的所有权或实际的暴力造成的，然后，语言可以被用来做一些效率的工作。政治家，厌恶女人的人，律师都知道怎么做。谁能拯救语言，确保它保持灵活、强大和鲜活？使它不是傲慢的，能够持续地达到言语不能描述的境地？女人能。黑人女性可以。

In her novels it was inevitably¹¹ mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters who kept families and communities together with that mesh¹² of loving bossiness¹³: pull up your socks, comb your head, do your chores, hush¹⁴ your mouth. She'd done the same, raising two sons, fitting her writing into chinks in the endless round of work and domestication¹⁵. In kitchens across the land black women stitched grey cotton, or poured soda¹⁶ into the crease¹⁷ of a palm to make biscuits. They brought order out of chaos¹⁸, as her writing did.

在她的小说中，不可避免地是母亲、祖母、阿姨、姐妹用爱发号施令的网把家庭和社区维系在一起: 加紧努力，梳头，做你的家务，闭上你的嘴。她做了同样的事情，养育两个儿子，在无休止的工作和家庭生活中，她找到空隙来进行自己的写作。在全国各地的厨房里，黑人妇女缝制着灰色的棉花，或者把苏打水倒在掌心的皱褶里做饼干。他们在混乱中带来了秩序，就像她的写作一样。

1 meddlesome   

adj.爱管闲事的

参考例句：

• By this means the meddlesome woman cast in a bone between the wife and the husband.这爱管闲事的女人就用这种手段挑起他们夫妻这间的不和。
• Get rid of that meddlesome fool!让那个爱管闲事的家伙走开！

2 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

3 baboon   

n.狒狒

参考例句：

• A baboon is a large monkey that lives in Africa.狒狒是一种生活在非洲的大猴子。
• As long as the baboon holds on to what it wants,it's trapped.只要狒狒紧抓住想要的东西不放手，它就会被牢牢困住。

4 evoked   

[医]诱发的

参考例句：

• The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。
• Her face, though sad, still evoked a feeling of serenity. 她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。

5 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

6 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 misogynists   

n.厌恶女人的人( misogynist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

9 supple   

adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺

参考例句：

• She gets along well with people because of her supple nature.她与大家相处很好，因为她的天性柔和。
• He admired the graceful and supple movements of the dancers.他赞扬了舞蹈演员优雅灵巧的舞姿。

10 ineffable   

adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的

参考例句：

• The beauty of a sunset is ineffable.日落的美是难以形容的。
• She sighed a sigh of ineffable satisfaction,as if her cup of happiness were now full.她发出了一声说不出多么满意的叹息，仿佛她的幸福之杯已经斟满了。

11 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

12 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

13 bossiness   

跋扈作威作福

参考例句：

• They resent what they see as bossiness. 他们对自己眼中那些专断蛮横的行为非常厌恶。 来自柯林斯例句

14 hush   

int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静

参考例句：

• A hush fell over the onlookers.旁观者们突然静了下来。
• Do hush up the scandal!不要把这丑事声张出去！

15 domestication   

n.驯养，驯化

参考例句：

• The first was the domestication of animals. 第一个阶段是驯养动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In northwestern China, there is no evidence for endemic domestication of any animals. 在中国西北，没有任何当地动物驯化的迹象。 来自辞典例句

16 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

17 crease   

n.折缝，褶痕，皱褶；v.(使)起皱

参考例句：

• Does artificial silk crease more easily than natural silk?人造丝比天然丝更易起皱吗？
• Please don't crease the blouse when you pack it.包装时请不要将衬衫弄皱了。

18 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。