美国语文第六册 第47期:耐儿之死(4)

 　　The child who had been her little friend, came there, almost as soon as it was day,  就在天刚一亮，那个和她一直很合得来的朋友——那个男孩子赶来了，

　　with an offering¹ of dried flowers, which he begged them to lay upon her breast². 手上捧着一束干枯了的花，他请求把花放在她的胸前。

　　He told them of his dream again, and that it was of her being restored³ to them, just as she used to be. 他把自己做的梦又讲给大家听，这个梦本来她准备讲给大家的，她一向这样。

　　He begged hard to see her: saying, that he would be very quiet, and that they need not fear his being alarmed,  他请求大家让他看看她的样子：说些知心话，他说他会非常安静的，他们不必担心他被吓着，

　　for he had sat alone by his young brother all day long, when he was dead, and had felt glad to be so near him. 因为一整天里他都和弟弟在一起。当他死的时候，会觉得快乐就在自己身旁相伴。

　　They let him have his wish; and, indeed, he kept his word, and was, in his childish⁴ way, a lesson to them all. 他们让他得偿所愿，他也确实照自己说的那样，以孩子的方式给所有人上了一课。

　　Up to that time, the old man had not spoken once, except to her, or stirred⁵ from the bedside. 直到那时为止，老人不曾说过一句话，除了对她之外，也没有离开床边半步。

　　But, when he saw her little favorite, he was moved as they had not seen him yet, and made as though he would have him come nearer. 但是，当他看到她那很合得来的朋友时，他们从未见过他如此动容，甚至流露出想要那孩子更靠近一些的意思。

　　Then, pointing to the bed, he burst⁶ into tears for the first time,  然后，他指着床，第一次落泪，

　　and they who stood by, knowing that the sight of this child had done him good, left them alone together. 站在旁边的大伙儿晓得这孩子的到来能慰藉他那颗破碎的心，于是便把他们单独留下来。

　　Soothing⁷ him with his artless talk of her, the child persuaded him to take some rest, to walk abroad, to do almost as he desired him. 那孩子用他未加修饰的方式谈着她，借此安慰老者，劝他去休息一会儿，出去散散步，或者做一些他所希望做的事情。

　　And, when the day came, on which they must remove her, in her earthly shape, from earthly eyes forever, 待天色大亮，他们必须把她那尘世的形体在众人尘世的目光目送下永远地移走了。

　　he led him away, that he might not know when she was taken from him. 他只能把他支开，免得使他知道她不会再回到他身边后承受不住。

1 offering   

n.提供，奉献物，牲礼

参考例句：

• What is your competition offering?你的竞争者提出的条件是什么？
• The police are offering a big reward for information about the robbery.警方出大笔赏金要求提供那起抢劫案的破案线索。

2 breast   

n.胸部；胸怀

参考例句：

• The coat is too tight at the breast.这件衣服胸部太紧了。
• He was wearing a nameplate on his left breast.他左胸前佩带着一张名牌。

3 restored   

v.归还( restore的过去式和过去分词 )；交还；使恢复；修复

参考例句：

• The stolen goods were all restored to their owners. 被偷窃的东西都归还给原主了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mary was restored to health after a period of medical treatment. 经过一段时间治疗，玛丽康复了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 childish   

adj.孩子的，孩子气的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• The little girl spoke in a high childish voice.这个小女孩用尖尖的童声讲话。
• We eventually ran out of patience with his childish behaviour.我们终于对他幼稚的行为忍无可忍。

5 stirred   

v.（使）移动( stir的过去式和过去分词 )；搅拌；（使）行动；（使）微动

参考例句：

• She stirred her tea. 她搅了搅茶。
• He stirred the coffee until it was a light reddish-brown. 直到咖啡成红褐色，他才停止搅拌。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 burst   

vi.（burst，burst）爆炸；爆破；爆裂；爆发；vt.使…破裂；使…炸破；n.突然破裂；爆发

参考例句：

• We all held our breath till the bomb burst.我们屏住呼吸直到炸弹爆炸。
• She suddenly burst into song.她突然唱起歌来。

7 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。