美国语文第五册 第234期:自我解脱(3)

 　　I was not alone. Close beside me, half hidden by a tuft of bushes, lay a human being,  就在我身边，一簇灌丛边躺着一个人，

　　stretched out at full length, with his face literally¹ rooted into the gravel².  他的四肢摊开，脸部简直就是埋在砾石里，

　　A little boy, five or six years of age, clean and healthful, with his fair brown locks and blue eyes,  似乎那是个孩子，不过五六岁大小，看起来还很健康，衣着干净，褐色的美丽头发，蓝色的眼睛。

　　stood on the bank above, gazing down upon him with an expression of childhood’s simple and unaffected pity.  我站在上端堤岸上，向下打量着他，眼里满是孩子般的真诚怜悯。

　　“What ails³ you?” asked the boy at length. “What makes you lie there?” “你哪里不舒服？”我开口问道，“你怎么躺着那里？”

　　The prostrate⁴ groveler struggled halfway⁵ up, exhibiting the bloated and filthy⁶ countenance⁷ of a drunkard.  那匍匐在地的家伙挣扎爬起，一付醉醺醺酒鬼的污秽嘴脸，

　　He made two or three efforts to get upon his feet, lost his balance, and tumbled forward upon his face.  他拼命地两三次欲想站起，没想到却失去重心，脸部朝下再次摔倒。

　　“What are you doing there?” inquired the boy.  “你到这里做什么？”我问他。

　　“I’m taking comfort,” he muttered, with his mouth in the dirt.  “我在自我解脱。”他咕哝着说，嘴角紧贴泥土。

　　Taking his comfort! There he lay,—squalid and loathsome⁸ under the bright heaven,—an imbruted man.  自我解脱！他躺在那里，浑身污秽不堪。令人憎恶，一如行尸走肉，趴在一望如洗的蓝天下？

　　The holy harmonies of Nature, the sounds of gushing⁹ waters, 自然神性和谐，河水滚滚不息，

　　the rustle¹⁰ of the leaves above him, the wild flowers, the frost bloom of the woods,—what were they to him?  枝头树叶婆娑，漫地灿烂野花，树林里闪动晶莹的晨霜，所有这些美好对他意味着什么？

　　Insensible, deaf, and blind, in the stupor¹¹ of a living death,  毫无知觉，失去听觉，没有视觉，纯粹一个活死人的恍惚虚无世界。

　　he lay there, literally realizing that most bitterly significant eastern malediction¹², “May you eat dirt.”  他僵卧在那里，恐怕最能验证那句颇为苦涩的东方咒语：“啃你的土去吧。”

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

3 ails   

v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳

参考例句：

• He will not concede what anything ails his business. 他不允许任何事情来干扰他的工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Measles ails the little girl. 麻疹折磨着这个小女孩。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 prostrate   

v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的

参考例句：

• She was prostrate on the floor.她俯卧在地板上。
• The Yankees had the South prostrate and they intended to keep It'so.北方佬已经使南方屈服了,他们还打算继续下去。

5 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

6 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

7 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

8 loathsome   

adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的

参考例句：

• The witch hid her loathsome face with her hands.巫婆用手掩住她那张令人恶心的脸。
• Some people think that snakes are loathsome creatures.有些人觉得蛇是令人憎恶的动物。

9 gushing   

adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• blood gushing from a wound 从伤口冒出的血
• The young mother was gushing over a baby. 那位年轻的母亲正喋喋不休地和婴儿说话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 rustle   

v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声

参考例句：

• She heard a rustle in the bushes.她听到灌木丛中一阵沙沙声。
• He heard a rustle of leaves in the breeze.他听到树叶在微风中发出的沙沙声。

11 stupor   

v.昏迷；不省人事

参考例句：

• As the whisky took effect, he gradually fell into a drunken stupor.随着威士忌酒力发作，他逐渐醉得不省人事。
• The noise of someone banging at the door roused her from her stupor.梆梆的敲门声把她从昏迷中唤醒了。

12 malediction   

n.诅咒

参考例句：

• He was answered with a torrent of malediction.他得到的回答是滔滔不绝的诅咒。
• Shakespeare's remains were guarded by a malediction.莎士比亚的遗骸被诅咒给守护著。