精美英文欣赏:阿尔伯特.施韦策给他父母一封信

Part1 Albert Schweitzer to His Parents

第一部分 阿尔伯特.施韦策给他父母一封信

Barcelona

巴塞罗纳

Wednesday, 2: 00 P. M

周三下午两点

22 October, 1908

1908年，10月22日

My dear parents,

亲爱的爸爸、妈妈：

The worst is behind us! That was last night's organ concert and the lecture preceding it. Quite frankly² I was somewhat worried about this lecture. Since I am not used to giving long talks in French and the hall is enormous: three thousand people. But to my amazement³ I discovered that I felt as much at home in French as I do in German, and that it was easier for me to speak loudly and clearly in French than in German! I stood there without a manuscript, and within three minutes. I sensed that I had captured my audience more surely than I had ever done before. I spoke⁴ for fifty-five minutes, and next came an organ recital⁵ that lasted for one hour. I have never been so successful. When the program ended, they all remained in their seats: I had to go back to my organ and play for another half hour; the audience was sorry to leave it was half-past midnight!

最糟糕的总算过去了！我说的是昨晚的管风琴音乐会以及音乐会前的演讲。说实话，我有点担心这次演讲，因为我不习惯用法语作长篇演讲，而且音乐厅非常大，能容纳3000人。但让我惊讶的是，我发现自己讲法语和讲德语一样轻松自如，而且对我来说，洪亮清晰地用法语演讲比用德语要更容易！我站在那儿，不用讲稿，3分钟内我就感到，我已经把听众深深地吸引住了，比过去任何一次都成功。我讲了55分钟，接下来，就是管风琴独奏音乐会，这持续了一个小时，我从来没有如此成功过。当曲目演奏完毕，所有的听众仍然坐在座位上不愿离去，我不得不再次回到管风琴旁，又演奏了半个小时。当听众们依依不舍地离去时，已是深夜12点半了。

Here, the concerts are announced for 9:15, but at that time there's not a soul in the auditorium⁶; toward 9: 30 the first few people arrive, strolling about in the hall and the lobby, and toward ten o'clock, after three rings of a bell, the people deign⁷ to finally take their seats!

在这里，虽然通知音乐会从9点15分开始，但时间到了，大厅里却不见一个人影；快到9点半时，才来了寥寥几个人，他们在大厅里或走廊上溜达，接近10点钟时，三次铃响之后，人们才最终屈尊坐到座位上！

On Saturday, a grand concert with organ and orchestra is scheduled in the morning, and I have long rehearsals⁸ in the evening, for the organ is very difficult to play since the sound is always delayed. Luckily, I am well rested, and I am managing to overcome the difficulties. Absolutely everyone addresses me as "cher mare"; the art critics settle down in the auditorium during rehearsals; my portrait is displayed in the music stores. It's such fun.

这个星期六的上午安排了一场由管风琴及管弦乐队演奏的盛大音乐会，晚上我花了很长时间彩排，因为管风琴发出的声音总是延迟，很难演奏。幸运的是，我能恰到好处地停顿，没法克服了这些困难。每一个人都称我为"尊敬的艺术大师"；艺术评论家们在彩排期间都认认真真地坐在听众席上；我的画像也在许多乐器店中悬挂着，这真有趣。

I am staying with Walter at the premier⁹ hotel on the grand square with splendid palm trees. I have a view of the square and the entire city all the way to the big mountains forty minutes away from here; they are as high as the Hohnack. I walk over to them every afternoon; it takes me a total of two hours.

我与沃尔特住在大广场上的首相宾馆，四周环绕着美丽壮观的棕榈树。我能欣赏到整个广场、整个城市，甚至能一直看到离这儿有40分钟路程之遥的群山; 这些群山与霍荷纳克山一样高，我每天下午步行至山下，来回要用整整两个小时。

The weather is the same as at home on a lovely June day. The men who were waiting for me at the railroad station roared with laugher when they saw Walter and me in overcoats.

此时这里的气候犹如家乡那宜人的六月。当那些在火车站接我的人们看到我和沃尔特穿着大衣时，都开怀大笑起来。

As I am writing to you, the square below my window is filled with a terrible din¹. The king is arriving in an hour, and the troops are now taking up their positions. Tomorrow evening there will be a grand performance at the theater. I have been invited, but I am not going; I want to rest, for I feel too well to risk my excellent condition.

就在此时我给你们写信之际，窗外的广场上人声鼎沸，一小时之后国王即将驾到，现在队伍在各就各位。明天晚上剧院里将有一场盛大的欢庆表演。我已接到邀请，但我不想去。我想休息一下，因为我现在感觉很好，我不想冒险破坏我的最佳状态。

I will close now, otherwise the letter won't go off tonight. It has to be at the post office by four o'clock. There is no night train to France.

我得就停笔了，否则这封信就无法在今晚发出。这封信得在4点钟之前交到邮局，因为这儿没有开往巴黎的夜班火车。

Please forward this letter to the Fhretsmanns and to the Woytts.

请把这封信转寄给埃雷茨曼夫妇和沃伊特夫妇。

Hugs and kisses.

拥抱、亲吻你们！

Albert

阿尔伯特

1 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

2 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

3 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 recital   

n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会

参考例句：

• She is going to give a piano recital.她即将举行钢琴独奏会。
• I had their total attention during the thirty-five minutes that my recital took.在我叙述的35分钟内，他们完全被我吸引了。

6 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

7 deign   

v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事)

参考例句：

• He doesn't deign to talk to unimportant people like me. 他不肯屈尊和像我这样不重要的人说话。
• I would not deign to comment on such behaviour. 这种行为不屑我置评。

8 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。