精美英文欣赏:作者自述 The Author's Account of Himself

The Author's Account of Himself

作者自述

This rambling¹ propensity² strengthened with my years.

寒来暑往，年岁渐增，游兴愈浓。

Books of voyages and travels became my passion,and in devouring³ their contents,

我对游记类的书籍爱不释手，如饥似渴、狼吞虎咽地阅读这些书，

I neglected the regular exercises of the school.

使我荒废了学校的正常功课。

How wistfully would I wander about the pierheads in fine weather, and watch the parting ships,bound to distant climes-with what longing⁴ eyes would I gaze after their lessening⁵ sails,and waft⁶ myself in imagination to the ends of the earth!

在风和日丽的日子，我常若有所思地游荡在码头外边，望着轮船渐渐离港，驶往遥远的地方；我渴望的双眼注视着渐行渐远的点点风帆，任思绪将我带向天涯海角。

Further reading and thinking,

随着涉猎的书籍增多和思想的越发成熟，

though they brought this vague inclination⁷ into more reasonable bounds,only served to make it more decided⁸.

这一懵懵懂懂的嗜好变得较为理智一些，但是也更为根深蒂固。

I visited various parts of my own country;

我踏遍了本国的山山水水；

and had I been merely a lover of fine scenery,I should have felt little desire to seek elsewhere its gratification,for on no country have the charms of nature been more prodigally⁹ lavished¹⁰.

倘若仅仅是喜爱美景佳色而已，我就不会有去异国他乡一饱眼福的欲望，因为没有哪个国度能像我的祖国那样得到大自然的垂青厚爱，处处皆是鬼斧神工的迷人风光。

Her mighty¹¹ lakes, like oceans of liquid silver;

浩淼的湖泊，如同银色的海洋，浩浩荡荡；

her mountains, with their bright aerial tints¹²;

逶迤的群山，高耸云霄、郁郁葱葱、光彩夺目；

her valleys, teeming¹³ with wild fertility;

幽幽的溪谷，草木丛生，飞禽走兽匿迹其间；

her tremendous cataracts¹⁴, thundering in their solitudes¹⁵;

宽阔的瀑布，飞流直下，发出孤寂的雷鸣；

her boundless¹⁶ plains, waving with spontaneous verdure;

苍茫的原野，草青木翠、随风摇曳；

her broad deep rivers, rolling in solemn silence to the ocean;

长江大川，水阔流深，肃穆无声，奔流入海；

her trackless forests,where vegetation puts forth¹⁷ all its magnificence;

人迹罕至的森林，各色植物争奇斗艳，蔚为大观；

her skies, kindling¹⁸ with the magic of summer clouds and glorious sunshine-no, never need an American look beyond his own countryfor the sublime¹⁹ and beautiful of natural scenery.

夏日的长空，艳阳高照、云蒸霞蔚，变幻莫测—不，一个美国人根本无须远游故土之外去发现壮丽的自然风景。

1 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

2 propensity   

n.倾向；习性

参考例句：

• He has a propensity for drinking too much alcohol.他有酗酒的倾向。
• She hasn't reckoned on his propensity for violence.她不曾料到他有暴力倾向。

3 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

4 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

5 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。

6 waft   

v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡

参考例句：

• The bubble maker is like a sword that you waft in the air.吹出泡泡的东西就像你在空中挥舞的一把剑。
• When she just about fall over,a waft of fragrance makes her stop.在她差点跌倒时，一股幽香让她停下脚步。

7 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 prodigally   

adv.浪费地，丰饶地

参考例句：

• He wasted money prodigally. 他挥霍浪费金钱。 来自互联网
• We are still prodigally rich compared to others. 和别人相比，我们仍然很富有。 来自互联网

10 lavished   

v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I lavished all the warmth of my pent-up passion. 我把憋在心里那一股热烈的情感尽量地倾吐出来。 来自辞典例句
• An enormous amount of attention has been lavished on these problems. 在这些问题上，我们已经花费了大量的注意力。 来自辞典例句

11 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

12 tints   

色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹

参考例句：

• leaves with red and gold autumn tints 金秋时节略呈红黄色的树叶
• The whole countryside glowed with autumn tints. 乡间处处呈现出灿烂的秋色。

13 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

14 cataracts   

n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障

参考例句：

• The rotor cataracts water over the top of the machines. 回转轮将水从机器顶上注入。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Cataracts of rain flooded the streets. 倾盆大雨弄得街道淹水。 来自辞典例句

15 solitudes   

n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方

参考例句：

• Africa is going at last to give up the secret of its vast solitudes. 非洲无边无际的荒野的秘密就要被揭穿了。 来自辞典例句
• The scientist has spent six months in the solitudes of the Antarctic. 这位科学家已经在人迹罕至的南极待了六个月了。 来自互联网

16 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。

17 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

18 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

19 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。