美国语文第六册 第257期:印第安耍把戏者(4)

The hearing a speech in Parliament drawled or stammered¹ out by the honorable member or the noble lord,

在国会听尊敬的议员或高贵的大人故意拖长腔调的演讲，

the ringing the changes on their commonplaces, which anyone could repeat after them as well as they, stirs me not a jot²,

他们企图让陈词滥调听上去富有变化，其实任何人都可以像他们一样重复这些老生常谈，没有任何东西能让我为之动容，

shakes not my good opinion of myself. I ask what there is that I can do as well as this. Nothing.

根本不会动摇我自认为正当的意见。我不禁会问，我能做什么。什么也做不了。

What have I been doing all my life? Have I been idle, or have I nothing to show for all my labor³ and pains?

我终其一生一直致力的到底是什么呢？我一直在虚度光阴，或者对我所有的辛劳和苦恼我就没一点想要阐明的吗？

Or have I passed my time in pouring words like water into empty sieves⁴, rolling a stone up a hill and then down again,

抑或，我把时间都打发在像水一样往空空的漏勺里倾倒词语，不停地朝山上推石头，石头又不停地滚下来，

trying to prove an argument in the teeth of facts, and looking for causes in the dark, and not finding them?

企图证明显而易见的事实中的论点，指望在黑暗中寻找原因，而不是发现真理上了吗？

Is there no one thing in which I can challenge competition, that I can bring as an instance of exact perfection, in which others can not find a flaw?

就没有一件我能向竞争发起挑战，以此作为完美的例子，而其他人无从置喙的事情吗？

The utmost I can pretend to is to write a description of what this fellow can do.

我最觊觎的就是详细描绘一下这种人到底能做什么事情。

I can write a book, so can many others who have not even learned to spell.

我可以写一本书，那些甚至连拼写都没学会的人也能看明白。

What abortions⁵ are these essays! What errors, what ill-pieced transitions, what crooked⁶ reasons, what lame⁷ conclusions!

多少这样的文章都胎死腹中了啊！多么愚蠢的错误，拼凑得何其拙劣的过渡，多么荒谬的理由，多么蹩脚的结论！

How little is made out, and that little how ill!

让人如堕云雾，而流弊何其多也！

1 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

2 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 sieves   

筛，漏勺( sieve的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This thesis emphasized on the preparation of mesoporous molecular sieves MSU. 中孔分子筛MSU是当今认为在稳定性方面很有发展前途的一种催化新材料。
• The mesoporous silica molecular sieves Zr-MCM-41 were synthesized in ethylenediamine. 以乙二胺为碱性介质合成了Zr-MCM-41介孔分子筛。

5 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

6 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

7 lame   

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

• The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。
• I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。