原版英文故事与诗歌：The Bright Dresses

 　　After your addio - breathless, banal¹, the click

 

　　of the telephone, I came out into Corso Vittorio

 

　　Emmanuele. Milan's glorious main street:

 

　　rows of posh shoe shops, buckles² and toecaps

 

　　on tip toe behind thick glass; at the end of the

 

　　boulevard the cathedral spires³ like the tails of

 

　　old seahorses: rigid⁴, brittle⁵ and upside down;

 

　　sunlight all round me in a hot, close envelope,

 

　　with its smell of coffee and expensive briefcases⁶;

 

　　words on the air from the English lesson I had

 

　　just been teaching: "Sylvia never arrives late.

 

　　Tom loves pop music and small dogs."

 

　　This is the present simple for habit. It goes on

 

　　and on I was saying. Then down the road

 

　　they came: three bright dresses in yellow, pink

 

　　and peacock blue, blurring⁷ to blobs of floating

 

　　colour inside the tears in my eyes. They jangled

 

　　the words, advanced unbearably⁸ bright towards

 

　　me: Sylvia loves pop music. Tom never arrives

 

　　late. Small dogs. Small dogs. Never. Loves.

 

　　by Robert Seatter

 

　　With kind permission of the poet, previously published in Poetry as a Foreign Language, edited by Martin Bates, White Adder Press, 1999

1 banal   

adj.陈腐的，平庸的

参考例句：

• Making banal remarks was one of his bad habits.他的坏习惯之一就是喜欢说些陈词滥调。
• The allegations ranged from the banal to the bizarre.从平淡无奇到离奇百怪的各种说法都有。

2 buckles   

搭扣，扣环( buckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She gazed proudly at the shiny buckles on her shoes. 她骄傲地注视着鞋上闪亮的扣环。
• When the plate becomes unstable, it buckles laterally. 当板失去稳定时，就发生横向屈曲。

3 spires   

n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her masts leveled with the spires of churches. 船的桅杆和教堂的塔尖一样高。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• White church spires lift above green valleys. 教堂的白色尖顶耸立在绿色山谷中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

5 brittle   

adj.易碎的；脆弱的；冷淡的；(声音)尖利的

参考例句：

• The pond was covered in a brittle layer of ice.池塘覆盖了一层易碎的冰。
• She gave a brittle laugh.她冷淡地笑了笑。

6 briefcases   

n.公文[事]包( briefcase的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Portfolio, Name Card Holder, Pen, Briefcases, Computer Bags, Bags and Cases. 采购产品文件夹，名字备置卡片烛台，钢笔，公文包，计算机袋子，袋子和情形。 来自互联网
• We have quite an array of leather briefcases. 我们有相当的一批公文包。 来自互联网

7 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

8 unbearably   

adv.不能忍受地，无法容忍地；慌

参考例句：

• It was unbearably hot in the car. 汽车里热得难以忍受。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She found it unbearably painful to speak. 她发现开口说话痛苦得令人难以承受。 来自《简明英汉词典》