第一册第13篇：小客栈的乐趣

13 Happy Life at a Tavern¹ 小客栈的乐趣
James Boswell  詹姆斯·鲍斯韦尔

We dined at an excellent inn at Chapelhouse(2), where Dr. Johnson expatiated² on the felicity of England in its taverns³ and inns, and triumphed over(3) the French for not having, in any perfection, the tavern life. "There is no private house," said he, "in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at a capital tavern. Let there be ever so great plenty of good things(4), ever so much grandeur⁴, ever so much elegance⁵, ever so much desire that everybody should be easy, in the nature of things(5) it cannot be: there must always be some degree of care and anxiety. The master of the house is anxious to entertain his guests; the guests are anxious to be agreeable to him; and no man but a very impudent⁶ dog(6) indeed can as freely command what is in another’s house as if it were his own(7). Whereas at a tavern there is a general freedom from anxiety. You are sure you are welcome; the more noise you make, the more trouble you give, the more good things you call for, the welcomer you are. No servants(8) will attend you with the alacrity⁷ which waiters(9) do, who are excited with the prospect⁸ of an immediate⁹ reward(10) in proportion as(11) they please. No, sir; there is nothing which has as yet been contrived¹⁰ by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.

中文译文：
我们在查普尔壕斯一家极好的小客栈里吃饭，约翰逊博土在那儿详细叙述了英格兰的小客栈和小旅馆的妙处，并得意洋洋地指出法国人没有任何这等完美的小客栈生活。"任何私人住宅，"他说，"都不能使人们象在一家顶好的小客栈里那样舒适愉快。尽管那里好东西应有尽有，尽管屋宇是那样的宏伟，陈设是那样的雅致，尽管主人一心一意要让每个人都感到自由自在，而实标上这是不可能实现的．相反，那里总是有着某种程度的顾虑和急切的心情．屋主人要小心地招待客人，客人要留神地迎合主人．除了非常无礼的鲁莽家伙，决没有人在别人的屋于里会象在自己家里那样可以随心所欲，颐指气使。然而在小客栈里就根本没有这种顾虑了．在这里，你肯定是受欢迎的，你嗓门越大，你越添麻烦，你要的好东西越多，你就越受欢迎。没有一个仆人会象受到小费刺激的店倌那样殷勤地侍候你，因为店倌的侍候越中意，你给小费越慷慨。投有的，先生，在人类迄今所创造的一切事物中，投有什么能象一家优美的乡村小客栈或者小旅馆那样给人们提供那么多的乐趣。

英文注释：
(1)tavern： 英国乡村中供给酒莱的小客栈o
(2) Chapelhouse： 查普尔壕斯，英国伦敦附近的一个小村镇。
(3) triumphed over： 因胜过而表现欣喜。
(4) Let there be ever so…： 此句中Let表示假设。
(5) in the nature of things： 按照事物的性质，实际上。
(6) no man but a very impudent dog： 也可译作"除了真正不懂礼貌的畜生外，谁也不……"。a very impudent dog此处指极其无礼的鲁莽汉。
(7) as if it were his own： 行为方式状语，内含与事实相反的情况，所以动词用虚拟语气。
(8) servants： 此处指私人住宅(private house)里的仆人。
(9) waiters： 此处指tavern里的店倌。
(10) an immediate reward： 能立即到手的报酬，意即小费。 ．
(11)in proportion as：与……成比例。通常用in proportion to…，后面接从句时用as。这句的意思是他们所得的小费多少与他们取悦顾客的程度成正比

1 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

2 expatiated   

v.详述，细说( expatiate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The chairman expatiated for two hours on his plans for the company. 董事长用两小时阐述了公司的规划。 来自辞典例句
• In contrition she expatiated on the beauty of the garden. 在后悔中，她反复谈论着花园的美丽。 来自辞典例句

3 taverns   

n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They ain't only two taverns. We can find out quick." 这儿只有两家客栈，会弄明白的。” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Maybe ALL the Temperance Taverns have got a ha'nted room, hey, Huck?" 也许所有的禁酒客栈都有个闹鬼的房间，喂，哈克，你说是不是？” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

4 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

5 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

6 impudent   

adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的

参考例句：

• She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
• The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。

7 alacrity   

n.敏捷，轻快，乐意

参考例句：

• Although the man was very old,he still moved with alacrity.他虽然很老，动作仍很敏捷。
• He accepted my invitation with alacrity.他欣然接受我的邀请。

8 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 contrived   

adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的

参考例句：

• There was nothing contrived or calculated about what he said.他说的话里没有任何蓄意捏造的成分。
• The plot seems contrived.情节看起来不真实。