美国语文第五册 第89期:香水月季(2)

 　　Oh, then you know just what I was going to say. 哦，那么，你就明白我准备说什么了。

　　Mrs. Marshall, I presume, has been speaking to you;  我在揣摩马歇尔夫人与你说话的意思。

　　she was here yesterday, and I was quite pathetic upon the subject; telling her the loss your favorite would sustain, and so forth¹; 她昨天来这里了，谈到你要离开，我就很难过，还与她谈些不忍美好流失的道理等等；

　　and she said how delighted she would be to have it in her greenhouse; it is in such a fine state now, so full of buds. 她说，如果香水月季能送给她，挪到她家花房，她可就太开心了。眼看花快开了，花苞这么多，

　　I told her I knew you would like to give it to her; you are so fond of Mrs. Marshall, you know. 我告诉她，我知道你打算将花送给她，再说，你对马歇尔夫人那么好，是吗？

　　Now, Kate, I am sorry, but I have otherwise engaged. 哦，凯特，很抱歉，我还在想其他办法。

　　Whom can it be to? you have so few intimates here. 还会是谁？你在这没什么密友吧。

　　Oh, it is only one of my odd fancies. 哦，不过是个奇怪想法吧。

　　But do tell me, Florence. 那，弗罗伦丝，你得告诉我。

　　Well, cousin, you know the little pale girl to whom we give sewing? 好吧，表妹，你还记得我们送缝活时，那个脸色苍白的小姑娘吗？

　　What! little Mary Stephens? How absurd, Florence! 什么？你说的是玛丽.斯蒂芬？弗罗伦丝，你太搞笑了！

　　This is just another of your motherly, old-maidish ways;  你婆婆妈妈、古板迂腐的另外一张面孔竟然是这样，

　　dressing² dolls for poor children, making bonnets³, and knitting socks for all the little dirty babies in the neighborhood. 什么给穷孩子缝娃娃啦，缝制帽子，钩织袜子啦，给街坊四邻那些脏兮兮的孩子送点礼物什么的。

　　I do believe you have made more calls in those two vile⁴, ill-smelling alleys⁵ behind our house than ever you have in Chestnut⁶ Street,  我确实相信，你在我们屋后那两条臭味难闻的街巷里走家串户，比你在宽敞漂亮的栗树大街上做得多，

　　though you know everybody is half dying to see you; 虽然你知道，那些穷人眼巴巴地想见到你。

　　and now, to crown all, you must give this choice little bijou to a seamstress girl,  既然这样，给所有穷人都戴上皇冠？借机再给那个做缝活小姑娘送件小玩意，

　　when one of your most intimate friends, in your own class, would value it so highly. 你那些同阶层的闺蜜好友，或许极为赞赏这些，

　　What in the world can people in their circumstances want with flowers? 我实在搞不懂，生活在世上如此低劣环境里的人难道需要花？

1 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。

2 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

3 bonnets   

n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子

参考例句：

• All the best bonnets of the city were there. 城里戴最漂亮的无边女帽的妇女全都到场了。 来自辞典例句
• I am tempting you with bonnets and bangles and leading you into a pit. 我是在用帽子和镯子引诱你，引你上钩。 来自飘（部分）

4 vile   

adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的

参考例句：

• Who could have carried out such a vile attack?会是谁发起这么卑鄙的攻击呢？
• Her talk was full of vile curses.她的话里充满着恶毒的咒骂。

5 alleys   

胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径

参考例句：

• I followed him through a maze of narrow alleys. 我紧随他穿过一条条迂迴曲折的窄巷。
• The children lead me through the maze of alleys to the edge of the city. 孩子们领我穿过迷宫一般的街巷，来到城边。

6 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。