《简·爱》 Chapter 09 第九章（5）

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One evening, in the beginning of June, I had stayed out very late with Mary Ann in the wood;

六月初的一个晚上，我与玛丽·安在林子里逗留得很晚。

We had, as usual, separated ourselves from the others, and had wandered far.

像往常一样，我们又与别人分道扬镳，闲逛到了很远的地方。

So far that we lost our way, and had to ask it at a lonely cottage, where a man and woman lived, who looked after a herd¹ of half-wild swine that fed on the mast in the wood.

远得终于使我们迷了路，而不得不去一间孤零零的茅舍回路。那里住着一男一女，养了一群以林间山毛榉为食的半野的猪。

When we got back, it was after moonrise.

回校时，己经是明月高挂。

A pony², which we knew to be the surgeon's, was standing³ at the garden door.

一匹我们知道是外科医生骑的小马，呆在花园门口。

Mary Ann remarked that she supposed some one must be very ill, as Mr. Bates had been sent for at that time of the evening.

玛丽.安说她猜想一定是有人病得很重，所以才在晚间这个时候请贝茨先生来。

She went into the house.

她先进了屋。

I stayed behind a few minutes to plant in my garden a handful of roots I had dug up in the forest,

我在外面呆了几分钟，把才从森林里挖来的一把树根栽在花园里，

and which I feared would wither⁴ if I left them till the morning.

怕留到第二天早晨会枯死。

This done, I lingered yet a little longer.

栽好以后，我又多耽搁了一会儿。

The flowers smelt⁵ so sweet as the dew fell.

沾上露水的花异香扑鼻。

It was such a pleasant evening, so serene⁶, so warm.

这是一个可爱的夜晚，那么宁静，又那么温煦。

The still glowing west promised so fairly another fine day on the morrow.

西边的天际依旧一片红光，预示着明天又是个好天。

The moon rose with such majesty⁷ in the grave east.

月亮从黯淡的东方庄严地升起。

I was noting these things and enjoying them as a child might,

我注意着这一切，尽一个孩子所能欣赏着。

when it entered my mind as it had never done before: "How sad to be lying now on a sick bed, and to be in danger of dying!"

这时我脑子里出现了一个从未有过的想法：“这会儿躺在病床上，面临着死亡的威胁是多么悲哀呀！”

This world is pleasant — it would be dreary⁸ to be called from it, and to have to go who knows where?

这个世界是美好的，把人从这里唤走，到一个谁都不知道的地方去，会是一件十分悲惨的事。

And then my mind made its first earnest effort to comprehend what had been infused into it concerning heaven and hell, and for the first time it recoiled⁹, baffled.

随后我的脑袋第一次潜心来理解已被灌输进去的天堂和地狱的内涵，而且也第一次退缩了，迷惑不解了。

And for the first time glancing behind, on each side, and before it, it saw all round an unfathomed gulf¹⁰.

也是第一次左右前后扫视着。它在自己的周围看到了无底的深渊。

It felt the one point where it stood — the present.

感到除了现在这一立足点之外。

All the rest was formless cloud and vacant depth.

其余一切都是无形的浮云和空虚的深渊。

And it shuddered¹¹ at the thought of tottering¹², and plunging¹³ amid that chaos¹⁴.

想到自己摇摇晃晃要落入一片混乱之中，便不禁颤抖起来。

While pondering this new idea, I heard the front door open.

我正细细咀嚼着这个新想法，却听得前门开了。

Mr. Bates came out, and with him was a nurse.

贝茨先生走了出来，由一个护士陪同着。

After she had seen him mount his horse and depart, she was about to close the door, but I ran up to her.

她目送贝茨先生上马离去后，正要关门，我一个箭步到了她跟前。

1 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

2 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 wither   

vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡

参考例句：

• She grows as a flower does-she will wither without sun.她象鲜花一样成长--没有太阳就会凋谢。
• In autumn the leaves wither and fall off the trees.秋天，树叶枯萎并从树上落下来。

5 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

6 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

7 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

8 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

9 recoiled   

v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回

参考例句：

• She recoiled from his touch. 她躲开他的触摸。
• Howard recoiled a little at the sharpness in my voice. 听到我的尖声，霍华德往后缩了一下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

11 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 tottering   

adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠

参考例句：

• the tottering walls of the castle 古城堡摇摇欲坠的墙壁
• With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foe. 宜将剩勇追穷寇。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。