美国语文第五册 第219期:斯格威尔的手段(1)

 　　"Come," said Squeers, "let's go to the schoolroom; and lend me a hand with my school coat, will you?" “过来，”斯格威尔说，“我们去教室，帮我拿下我的校服。”

　　Nicholas assisted his master to put on an old fustian¹ shooting jacket, which he took down from a peg² in the passage;  尼古拉斯帮老爷穿上衣服，那件他刚从过道衣架上取下的老式绒衣飞行夹克。

　　and Squeers, arming himself with his cane³, led the way across a yard to a door in the rear of the house. 斯格威尔拿起手杖，带路穿过院子，来到屋后一座门前。

　　"There," said the schoolmaster, as they stepped in together; "this is our shop, Nickleby."  “到地方了，”当他们一起走进屋内，这位校长开口说，“就在这里，尼克贝。”

　　It was such a crowded scene, and there were so many objects to attract attention,  眼前景象相当凌乱，房间里到处堆满杂物，尼古拉斯眼神一时顾暇不及，

　　that at first Nicholas stared about him, really without seeing anything at all. 起初，他紧紧地盯看周围，可压根没看清什么，

　　By degrees, however, the place resolved itself into a bare and dirty room with a couple of windows,  渐渐地，眼前才变得清晰真切起来。房间里仅有两扇破窗，

　　whereof a tenth part might be of glass, the remainder being stopped up with old copy books and paper.  遍地肮脏，龌龊不堪，光线阴暗稀少，堆满破旧的抄写本和纸张。

　　There were a couple of long, old, rickety desks, cut and notched⁴, and inked and damaged in every possible way;  两张狭长颓旧的桌子摆在那里，看起来摇摇晃晃，桌上布满凹槽刻痕，桌面墨迹斑斑，难以想象的破损模样。

　　two or three forms, a detached desk for Squeers, and another for his assistant.  单独摆放的那张是斯格威尔的桌子，另一张是他的助手的。

　　The ceiling was supported like that of a barn, by crossbeams and rafters,  教室房间的天花板由横椽和洐条支撑搭起，看起来与谷仓差不多；

　　and the walls were so stained and discolored that it was impossible to tell whether they had ever been touched by paint or whitewash⁵.  墙面满是污迹脏渍，颜色乌糟糟的色泽褪尽，实在看不出是否漆过或刷白。

1 fustian   

n.浮夸的；厚粗棉布

参考例句：

• Fustian can't disguise the author's meager plot.浮夸的文章掩饰不住这个作者的贫乏情节。
• His fustian shirt,sanguineflowered,trembles its Spanish tassels at his secrets.他身上穿的是件印有血红色大花的粗斜纹布衬衫，每当他吐露秘密时，西班牙式的流苏就颤悠。

2 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。

3 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

4 notched   

a.有凹口的，有缺口的

参考例句：

• Torino notched up a 2-1 win at Lazio. 都灵队以2 比1 赢了拉齐奧队。
• He notched up ten points in the first five minutes of the game. 他在比赛开始后的五分钟里得了十分。

5 whitewash   

v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰

参考例句：

• They tried hard to whitewash themselves.他们力图粉饰自己。
• What he said was a load of whitewash.他所说的是一大堆粉饰之词。