【英语时差8,16】「狐狸与我」：一段人跟动物的友谊

"The Fox and the Child" tells the story of a nature-loving 10-year-old girl (Bertille Noel-Bruneau), who, over the course of nearly a year, wins the confidence of Lily, a young vixen, in the Massif Central, an area of south-central France that consists of mountains and plateaus.

The charming bedtime tale combines sentimental¹ drama and documentary footage as the child's instinct to domesticate² other forest animals, such as deer, bears, snakes, owls³ and badgers⁴, grows alongside her "friendship" with Lily throughout the seasons.

Directed by Luc Jacquet, who scored a hit with 2005's "March of the Penguins⁵," a breathtaking documentary about Antarctica's emperor penguins, "The Fox and the Child" is picture-postcard pretty due to the beautiful French countryside.

The sylvan⁶ landscape is indeed amazing, but you eventually wonder why the main character sees nobody and is allowed to roam alone all day. Nonetheless, "The Fox and the Child" is sweetly narrated⁸ as a childhood memoir⁹ by Kate Winslet, and the movie is lovely to watch, especially with very young children, who are likely to find the story more engaging since it features very little dialogue.

confidence  (n.)   信心；信赖vixen  (n.)   雌狐to consist of   由…组成；以…构成sentimental  (adj.)   感人肺腑的；多愁善感的to domesticate  (v.)   驯服；驯化breathtaking  (adj.)   令人叹為观止的；令人兴奋的due to   由於；因為sylvan  (adj.)   森林（中）的；树木的main character   主角to narrate⁷  (v.)   讲（故事）；叙述

1 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

2 domesticate   

vt.驯养；使归化，使专注于家务

参考例句：

• Many thousand years ago people learned how to domesticate animals.数千年以前人们就学会了饲养动物。
• If you domesticate this raccoon,it will have trouble living in the wild.如果你驯养这只浣熊，它生活在野外将会有困难。

3 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

4 badgers   

n.獾( badger的名词复数 )；獾皮；（大写）獾州人（美国威斯康星州人的别称）；毛鼻袋熊

参考例句：

• Badgers had undermined the foundations of the church. 獾在这座教堂的地基处打了洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• And rams ' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood. 5染红的公羊皮，海狗皮，皂荚木。 来自互联网

5 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 sylvan   

adj.森林的

参考例句：

• Venerable oaks forms a sylvan archway.古老的栎树形成一条林荫拱道。
• They lived in a sylvan retreat.他们住在一个林中休养地。

7 narrate   

v.讲，叙述

参考例句：

• They each narrate their own tale but are all inextricably linked together.她们各自讲述自己的故事，却又不可避免地联系在一起。
• He once holds the tear to narrate a such story to mine.他曾经含着泪给我讲述了这样的一个故事。

8 narrated   

v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。