美国语文第五册 第76期:刻板守旧的姑娘(4)

 　　The old lady appeared to forget Polly, at the end of her speech; 说话末了，老太太似乎忘了波莉，她坐在那里，

　　for she sat patting the plump little hand that lay in her own, 忘神地轻轻拍着握在她手里那只丰润的小手，

　　and looking up at a faded picture of an old gentleman with a ruffled¹ shirt and a queue. "Was he your father, Madam?" 然后抬头看了看泛黄的相片，相片中老先生穿着衬衫，头上系根发辫，衣服有点皱巴巴的。“这是你父亲吗？夫人？”

　　Yes, my dear; my honored father. 是的，亲爱的，那就是我可爱的父亲。

　　I did up his frills to the day of his death; 我一直给父亲整理衣物，直到他离开人世。

　　and the first money I ever earned, was five dollars which he offered as a prize to whichever of his six girls would lay the handsomest darn in his silk stockings. 记得我第一次挣的五美元，就是他给他六个女儿定的规矩，谁的织补活最好，谁就得到那次奖励。

　　"How proud you must have been!" cried Polly, leaning on the old lady's knee with an interested face. “你一定非常自豪！”波莉叫了起来，她倚靠在老太太的膝头，饶有兴趣地看着老人。

　　Yes; and we all learned to make bread, and cook, and wore little chintz gowns, and were as gay and hearty² as kittens. 你说得不错，我们六姐妹都学会了做面包，烧饭，从小就穿粗布衣衫，整天活泼健康的，像一群活蹦乱跳的猫仔。

　　All lived to be grandmothers; and I'm the last—seventy next birthday, my dear, and not worn out yet; though daughter Shaw is an invalid³ at forty. 如今，我们姐妹六个都当上奶奶了，我最小，明年就七十岁了，孩子，我这身子骨还结实着呢，可我的女儿肖才四十岁上下，身体就不中用了。

　　That's the way I was brought up, and that's why Fan calls me old-fashioned, I suppose. 那就是我接受的教育方式，我想，也就是范妮为什么总是叫我老古董。

　　Tell more about your papa, please; I like it, said Polly. 再说说你的爸爸，求你了，我喜欢听。波莉说。

　　Say, 'father.' We never called him papa; 我们从不叫他‘爸爸'，只称呼他‘父亲'，

　　and if one of my brothers had addressed him as ‘governor,' as boys now do, I really think he'd have him cut off with a shilling. 如果我的兄弟中有人撒娇地叫他‘老爸'，就像眼下孩子们习惯那样，父亲肯定会用一先令剥夺他的实际财产继承权，这一点，我从不怀疑。

1 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

2 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

3 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。