英语名篇诵读 密西西比河上的黎明

Dawn on the Mississippi

密西西比河上的黎明

Mark Twain(马克·吐温)

The dawn creeps in stealthily ; the solid walls of black forest soften¹ to gray, and vast

stretches of the river open up and reveal themselves; the water is glassy-smooth, gives off spectral²

注 little wreaths of white mist; there is not the faintest breath of wind, nor stir of leaf; the

tranquility is profound and infinitely³ satisfying. Then a bird pipes up, another follows, and

soon the pipings develop into a jubilant riot of music. You see none of the birds; you simply

move through an atmosphere of song which seems to sing itself. When the light has become a little

stronger, you have one of the intense green of the massed and crowded foliage⁴ nearby; you see it

paling shade by shade in front of you; upon the next projecting cape⁵ , a mile off or more, the

tint⁶ has lightened to the tender young green of spring; the cape beyond that one has almost lost

color, and the farthest one, miles away under the horizon, sleeps upon the water a mere⁷ dim vapor⁸,

and hardly separable from the sky above it and about it. And all this stretch of river is a mirror,

and you have the shadowy reflections of the leafage and the curving shore and the receding⁹ capes¹⁰

pictured in it. Well, that is all beautiful; soft and rich and beautiful; and when the sun gets well up,

and distributes a pink bush here and a powder of gold yonder and a purple haze¹¹ where it will

yield the best effect, you grant that you have seen something that is worth remembering.

黎明悄悄地爬了出来，黑黝黝的树林，渐渐淡化成灰色，宽阔的河面徐徐展现，露出

了全貌。水面光滑如镜，散发出幽灵般一小圈一小圈的白雾；无一丝风，树叶纹丝不动；

深沉的静谧，令人心旷神怡。接着，一只鸟开始鸣叫，另一只跟着叫，一会儿便百鸟齐

鸣，成了热闹的音乐狂欢。这些鸟你一只也看不见，但你简直就处身在汹涌的歌声海洋

里。天光更亮一些，你看见了附近稠密树叶浓郁的绿色，你看见树叶的颜色变得越来越

浅；约一英里之外，在一个伸进河里的岬角上，色彩从浓郁的绿色淡化成春天娇柔的嫩

绿；更远处的岬角已几乎失去了色彩；地平线上数英里外最远的一个岬角，躺在水面上，

犹如一缕氤氲的水汽，几乎与天地浑然一体。这一段河面就像一面镜子，你能够看见树叶

和曲折河岸在水中的幽暗倒影，看见渐去渐远的岬角的侧影。哦，这一切美极了，柔和，

馥郁，美不胜收；太阳升高了，这儿洒下一片粉红，那边抹下一缕金光，在产生最佳效果

的地方飘下一股紫烟。你得承认，此良辰美景，值得铭记。

1 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

2 spectral   

adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的

参考例句：

• At times he seems rather ordinary.At other times ethereal,perhaps even spectral.有时他好像很正常，有时又难以捉摸，甚至像个幽灵。
• She is compelling,spectral fascinating,an unforgettably unique performer.她极具吸引力，清幽如鬼魅，令人着迷，令人难忘，是个独具特色的演员。

3 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

4 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

5 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

6 tint   

n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色

参考例句：

• You can't get up that naturalness and artless rosy tint in after days.你今后不再会有这种自然和朴实无华的红润脸色。
• She gave me instructions on how to apply the tint.她告诉我如何使用染发剂。

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 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

9 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句

10 capes   

碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬

参考例句：

• It was cool and they were putting on their capes. 夜里阴冷，他们都穿上了披风。
• The pastor smiled to give son's two Capes five cents money. 牧师微笑着给了儿子二角五分钱。

11 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。