美国语文第五册 第16期:请别多管闲事(2)

 　　On Monday morning seven lads, dressed in their Sunday clothes, with bright and happy faces,  一个周一的早晨，七名少年穿上礼拜的衣服，脸上洋溢着开心幸福的笑容，

　　made their appearance at the Hall, each of them desiring to obtain the situation. 聚集到那座庄园门口。人人都急切获得那个职位。

　　Now the old gentleman, being of a singular disposition¹,had prepared a room, in such a way  那性格怪异的老人早已备好一处房间，

　　that he might easily know if any of the young people who applied² were given to meddle³ unnecessarily with things around them, 以待更好察看应聘少年的品行，检测他们是否安分守己，

　　or to peep into cupboards and drawers. 是否不窥探自己不该知道的东西。

　　He took care that the lads who were then at Elm Tree Hall should be shown into this room one after another. 他下令将那些站在榆树庄园里的少年逐一领进那处房间。

　　And first, Charles Brown was sent into the room, and told that he would have to wait a little. 查尔斯.布朗第一个被带进房间，有人告诉他，让他在房间里稍等片刻。

　　So Charles sat down on a chair near the door. 于是查尔斯在门边椅子上坐下，

　　For some time he was very quiet, and looked about him; 刚开始，他一声不吭，环顾四周，

　　but there seemed to be so many curious things in the room that at last he got up to peep at them. 房间里好玩东西实在诱惑太多，最后，他忍不住站起来到处查看。

　　On the table was placed a dish cover, and Charles wanted sadly to know what was under it, but he felt afraid of lifting it up. 一个盘子倒扣桌上，查尔斯急切想弄清盘子下究竟藏有什么东西，可又害怕将盘子掀开。

　　Bad habits are strong things; and, as Charles was of a curious disposition, 查尔斯的坏习惯看来根深蒂固，与好奇心不相上下，

　　he could not withstand the temptation of taking one peep. So he lifted up the cover. 他实在抵挡不住窥探一眼的诱惑，于是将盘子倒翻过来，

　　This turned out to be a sad affair; for under the dish cover was a heap of very light feathers; 这下够糟了，原来盘子下堆着一簇细小羽毛。

　　part of the feathers, drawn⁴ up by a current of air, flew about the room,  在气流的裹挟下，有的羽毛被吹开，忽悠悠到处乱飘。

　　and Charles, in his fright, putting the cover down hastily, puffed⁵ the rest of them off the table. 恐惧中的查尔斯匆忙将盘子盖上，还没忘记顺嘴吹走桌上剩下的细绒。

1 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 meddle   

v.干预，干涉，插手

参考例句：

• I hope he doesn't try to meddle in my affairs.我希望他不来干预我的事情。
• Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.别参与和自己无关的事。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》