精美英文欣赏:夏日

A summer day

夏日

One day thirty years ago Marseilles lay in the burning sun.

三十年前的一天，马赛躺在烈日之下。

A blazing sun upon a fierce August day was no greater rarity in southern France then than at any other time before or since.

在法国南部，八月炎热的日子里赤日当空，在那时以前或以后都不是什么罕见的事。

Everything in Marseilles and about Marseilles had stared at the fervid¹ sun, and been stared at in return, until a staring habit had become universal there.

马赛范围内以及马赛周围的一切都凝视着灼热的太阳，而太阳反过来也凝视着这一切；

Strangers were stared out of countenance² by staring white houses, staring white streets, staring tracts³ of arid⁴ road, staring hills from which verdure was burnt away.

久而久之，在马赛普遍形成一种耀眼的色彩。白色的房屋，白色的街道，一段段干旱的大路，草木晒得枯死的小山都十分耀眼象在瞪着眼瞧人似的，使初到此地的人们手足无措。

The only things to be seen not fixedly⁵ staring and glaring were the vines drooping⁶ under their loads of grapes.

能看到的唯一不是老瞪着眼使人眼花缭乱的，只有坠着串串葡萄的葡萄藤；

These did occasionally wink⁷ a little,as the hot air barely moved their faint leaves.

热空气微微吹动着萎缩的藤叶时，葡萄确实也偶而眨眨眼。

The universal stare made the eyes ache.

这种普遍的耀眼的色彩令人眼睛发痛。

Towards the distant blue of the Italian coast, indeed, it was a little relieved by light clouds of mist slowly rising from the evaporation⁸ of the sea, but it softened⁹ nowhere else.

说实在的，要远到意大利沿海蔚蓝的天空，由于海水蒸发冉冉升起的缕缕薄雾，这耀眼的色彩才不致那么强烈，但是除此之外别的地方，它一点也不曾柔和下来。

Far away the staring roads, deep in dust, stared from the hillside, stared from the hollow, stared from the interminable plain.

远处，耀眼的大路，上面积着很厚的尘土，沿着山坡盯着人看，穿过山谷盯着人看，横过一望无际的平原盯着人看。

Far away the dusty vines overhanging wayside cottages, and the monotonous¹⁰ wayside avenues of parched¹¹ trees without shade,dropped beneath the stare of earth and sky.

远处，悬挂在路旁小屋上蒙着尘土的葡萄藤，还有路旁单调的成行的晒焦了不能遮荫的树木，都在大地和天空的凝视下耷拉着脑袋。

So did the horse with drowsy¹² bells, in long files of carts, creeping slowly towards the interior; so did their recumbent drivers, when they were awake, which rarely happened;

长长的大车队中，发出催人欲睡的铃铛声的马匹也耷拉着脑袋，慢慢地向内地爬行着；斜靠在车上的车夫们醒来时，也耷拉着脑袋，不过他们也难得醒；

so did the exhausted¹³ laborers¹⁴ in the fields.

田野里筋疲力尽的农夫们耷拉着脑袋。

Everything that lived or grew was oppressed by the glare:

一切动物和植物都受到这耀眼光芒的压抑；

except the lizard¹⁵, passing swiftly over rough stone walls,and cicada, chirping¹⁷ its dry hot chirp¹⁶, like a rattle¹⁸.

例外的只是在那凹凸不平的石墙上敏捷爬行的蜥蜴和拔浪鼓似地发出强烈鸣声的蝉儿。

The very dust was scorched¹⁹ brown, and something quivered in the atmosphere as if the air itself were panting.

连那尘土都被炙烤成褐色了，大气中似乎也有什么东西在颤抖，仿佛空气本身也在气喘吁吁。

Blinds, shutters²⁰, curtains, awnings²¹, were all closed and drawn²² to keep out the stare.

竹帘子、百叶窗、窗帘、遮篷全都拉拢了，把这耀眼的光芒挡在外面。

Grant it but a chink or a keyhole,and it shot in like a whitehot arrow.

那怕只露出一条小缝或者一个钥匙孔，它就会象一支白热的箭直射进来。

1 fervid   

adj.热情的；炽热的

参考例句：

• He is a fervid orator.他是个慷慨激昂的演说者。
• He was a ready scholar as you are,but more fervid and impatient.他是一个聪明的学者，跟你一样，不过更加热情而缺乏耐心。

2 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

3 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

4 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

5 fixedly   

adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地

参考例句：

• He stared fixedly at the woman in white. 他一直凝视着那穿白衣裳的女人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The great majority were silent and still, looking fixedly at the ground. 绝大部分的人都不闹不动，呆呆地望着地面。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

6 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

7 wink   

n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁

参考例句：

• He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
• The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间，那颗卫星就消失了。

8 evaporation   

n.蒸发，消失

参考例句：

• Be careful not to lose too much liquid by evaporation.小心不要因蒸发失去太多水分。
• Our bodies can sweat,thereby losing heat by evaporation.我们的身体能出汗，由此可以蒸发散热。

9 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

10 monotonous   

adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的

参考例句：

• She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
• His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。

11 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

12 drowsy   

adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的

参考例句：

• Exhaust fumes made him drowsy and brought on a headache.废气把他熏得昏昏沉沉，还引起了头疼。
• I feel drowsy after lunch every day.每天午饭后我就想睡觉。

13 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

14 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

15 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。

16 chirp   

v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫

参考例句：

• The birds chirp merrily at the top of tree.鸟儿在枝头欢快地啾啾鸣唱。
• The sparrows chirp outside the window every morning.麻雀每天清晨在窗外嘁嘁喳喳地叫。

17 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

18 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

19 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

20 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

21 awnings   

篷帐布

参考例句：

• Striped awnings had been stretched across the courtyard. 一些条纹雨篷撑开架在院子上方。
• The room, shadowed well with awnings, was dark and cool. 这间屋子外面有这篷挡着，又阴暗又凉快。

22 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。