《大西洋帝国》精讲 第一季第1集（2）

"Coward, monster, vicious brute¹,

懦夫之慰藉，暴徒之凶器

friend to thief and prostitute,

盗贼为伴，娼妓为友

conscience dulled by demon² rum,

沈湎于酒，伤德败性

liquor, thy name's delirium³."

烈酒猛于虎

Tomorrow we awaken⁴ to a new dawn.

明天将开启新的时代

and on the eve of this momentous⁵ occasion,

在这伟大时刻到来前夜

it is my pleasure to introduce

我很荣幸地为大家介绍

Atlantic City's esteemed⁶ treasurer⁷,

大西洋城众人爱戴的司库先生

the honorable Enoch Thompson.

尊敬的伊诺克·汤普森

Mrs. McGarry, thank you for that stirring poem.

麦克加里夫人，感谢你慷慨激昂的朗诵

Will you send me a copy?

能为我誊写一份吗

Ladies.

各位女士

Years ago there was a young boy

多年之前，在这座城市中

who lived in this very city.

居住着一位年轻人

The winter of '88, some of you remember,

大家也许还记得， 1888年的寒冬

a blizzard⁸ of biblical proportions.

犹如圣经描述的末日暴雪

The family was snowbound and freezing,

年轻人一家被风雪所困

without food or heat.

饥寒交迫

The father vanished, laid to waste by

他的父亲因长期酗酒

alcohol.

已然早逝

And so it was left

全家的负担

to this boy,

都落在他一人肩上

this little man of tender years

这个年轻人

to fend⁹ for himself and his family.

独自扛起养家重任

Off in the cold he went,

外面天寒地冻

worn shoes wrapped in rags,

他却脚裹碎布

newspaper lining¹⁰ his thin wool coat,

衣衬报纸

as he trudged¹¹ chest deep in snow

蹒跚趟过齐胸厚雪

To the rail yard,

来到了铁路站场

foraging¹² on hands and bloody¹³ knees

徒手跪地

for scraps¹⁴ of coal,

铲填煤渣

hoping for some potatoes

他真希望能捡到

spilled from a ruptured¹⁵ sack.

从破袋中散落的土豆

Finding none,

可惜一无所获

he took a broom handle and in desperation,

于是他抄起扫帚来到码头撞大运

killed his family's dinner:

猎杀船舱中的三只老鼠

three wharf¹⁶ rats hiding in the hold of a ship.

以充作全家的晚餐

Terrible, yes.

相当糟糕，是的

But the family survived.

但家人却能饱食

And the little boy?

这个小伙子后来怎样了

Well, the little boy speaks to you tonight

这个小伙子成长为了今天

from this very podium.

站在讲台上为大家演讲的男人

1 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

2 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

3 delirium   

n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋

参考例句：

• In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。
• For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月，约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。

4 awaken   

vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起

参考例句：

• Old people awaken early in the morning.老年人早晨醒得早。
• Please awaken me at six.请于六点叫醒我。

5 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

6 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 treasurer   

n.司库，财务主管

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith was succeeded by Mrs.Jones as treasurer.琼斯夫人继史密斯先生任会计。
• The treasurer was arrested for trying to manipulate the company's financial records.财务主管由于试图窜改公司财政帐目而被拘留。

8 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

9 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

10 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

11 trudged   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
• He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 foraging   

v.搜寻（食物），尤指动物觅（食）( forage的现在分词 )；（尤指用手）搜寻（东西）

参考例句：

• They eke out a precarious existence foraging in rubbish dumps. 他们靠在垃圾场捡垃圾维持着朝不保夕的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The campers went foraging for wood to make a fire. 露营者去搜寻柴木点火。 来自辞典例句

13 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

14 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

15 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

16 wharf   

n.码头，停泊处

参考例句：

• We fetch up at the wharf exactly on time.我们准时到达码头。
• We reached the wharf gasping for breath.我们气喘吁吁地抵达了码头。