美国语文第五册 第220期:斯格威尔的手段(2)

 　　Pale and haggard faces, lank¹ and bony figures, children with the countenances² of old men,  孩子们脸色苍白憔悴，带着老人般苍老神情，纤细羸弱的身材，

　　deformities with irons upon their limbs, boys of stunted³ growth,  脚上带着镣铐，瘦骨嶙峋甚而畸形变态；有些孩子矮小侏儒，

　　and others whose long, meager⁴ legs would hardly bear their stooping bodies, all crowded on the view together.  有些孩子胫骨极细，几乎无法撑住佝偻摇晃的躯体。一眼望去，孩子们拥挤成团，

　　There were little faces which should have been handsome, darkened with the scowl⁵ of sullen⁶, dogged suffering;  无法看到本该健康正常的面孔。那满脸愁容的晦暗脸色，顽强挣命的生存痛苦，

　　there was childhood with the light of its eye quenched⁷, its beauty gone, and its helplessness alone remaining. 属于孩童眼眸里的光亮早已淬息，没有天真纯净开朗美丽，只有无以言说的悲哀无助。

　　And yet this scene, painful as it was, had its grotesque⁸ features,  眼前痛苦扭曲的景象，却不乏荒诞无稽的悲戚，

　　which, in a less interested observer than Nicholas, might have provoked a smile.  孩子们神情看起来比尼克贝还要漠然，但时而还能浮现不经意的惨笑。

　　Mrs. Squeers stood at one of the desks, presiding over an immense basin of brimstone and treacle⁹,  此刻，斯格威尔夫人站在桌边，正在掌管分发硫黄粉与糖浆，

　　of which delicious compound she administered a large installment¹⁰ to each boy in succession,  配好的甜味混合物装在一个硕大面盆里，孩子们排列成行，每人嘴里被强行灌进一大勺。

　　using for the purpose a common wooden spoon, which might have been originally manufactured for some gigantic top,  斯格威尔夫人手上拿着一柄家常硕大木勺，或许当初特别出于剂量考虑，

　　and which widened every young gentleman's mouth considerably¹¹,  那把硕大木勺迫使男孩们竭力张大嘴巴，

　　they being all obliged, under heavy corporeal¹² penalties, to take in the whole bowl at a gasp¹³. 由于并非情愿，他们便逃不过残忍的肉体惩罚，喘息间，“啪”得入嘴一大坨。

1 lank   

adj.瘦削的；稀疏的

参考例句：

• He rose to lank height and grasped Billy McMahan's hand.他瘦削的身躯站了起来，紧紧地握住比利·麦默恩的手。
• The old man has lank hair.那位老人头发稀疏

2 countenances   

n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持

参考例句：

• 'stood apart, with countenances of inflexible gravity, beyond what even the Puritan aspect could attain." 站在一旁，他们脸上那种严肃刚毅的神情，比清教徒们还有过之而无不及。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• The light of a laugh never came to brighten their sombre and wicked countenances. 欢乐的光芒从来未照亮过他们那阴郁邪恶的面孔。 来自辞典例句

3 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

4 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

5 scowl   

vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容

参考例句：

• I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
• The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

6 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

7 quenched   

解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却

参考例句：

• He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
• I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。

8 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

9 treacle   

n.糖蜜

参考例句：

• Blend a little milk with two tablespoons of treacle.将少许牛奶和两大汤匙糖浆混合。
• The fly that sips treacle is lost in the sweet.啜饮蜜糖的苍蝇在甜蜜中丧生。

10 installment   

n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期

参考例句：

• I shall soon pay the last installment of my debt.不久我将偿付我的最后一期债款。
• He likes to buy things on the installment plan.他喜欢用分期付款法购买货物。

11 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

12 corporeal   

adj.肉体的，身体的；物质的

参考例句：

• The body is the corporeal habitation of the soul.身体为灵魂之有形寓所。
• He is very religious;corporeal world has little interest for him.他虔信宗教，对物质上的享受不感兴趣。

13 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。