乔布斯传 第323期:丽萨住了进来(5)

 　　And thus the pattern would continue. Mona Simpson used all of this, plus her imagination,  这种情况还会不断重演。莫娜·辛普森把所有这些，加上她的想象，

　　as a springboard for her third novel, A Regular Guy, published in 1996.  作为了她第三部小说《凡人》的蓝本。该小说于1996年出版。

　　The book's title character is based on Jobs, and to some extent it adheres to reality:  这本书的主角是以乔布斯为原型，在一定程度上符合事实：

　　It depicts¹ Jobs's quiet generosity² to, and purchase of a special car for, a brilliant friend who had degenerative bone disease, 它描写了乔布斯对一位骨病不断恶化的朋友的低调慷慨，如何为对方购买一辆特制的汽车；

　　and it accurately³ describes many unflattering aspects of his relationship with Lisa, including his original denial of paternity. 它准确地描述了他和丽萨之间关系的诸多方面，包括他最初否认他们的血缘关系。

　　But other parts are purely⁴ fiction; Chrisann had taught Lisa at a very early age how to drive, for example,  但其他部分多为虚构：例如，虽然克里斯安在丽萨很小的时候就教她开车，

　　but the book's scene of "Jane" driving a truck across the mountains alone at age five to find her father of course never happened. 但是书里的“简”5岁时开着辆卡车翻山越岭去找她父亲的情节当然是从未发生过。

　　In addition, there are little details in the novel that, in journalist parlance⁵, are too good to check,  另外，小说里还有些小细节，用新闻学术语来说，是过于精致，无据可考，

　　such as the head-snapping description of the character based on Jobs in the very first sentence: "He was a man too busy to flush toilets." 例如全书第一句就当头一棒地如此描写基于乔布斯的这个角色：“他是个忙得连马桶都不冲的人。”

　　On the surface, the novel's fictional⁶ portrayal⁷ of Jobs seems harsh. 表面上，这部小说对乔布斯的虚构描述看起来很苛刻。

　　Simpson describes her main character as unable "to see any need to pander⁸ to the wishes or whims⁹ of other people." 辛普森描述她的主角，“不觉得有任何必要迁就其他人的希望或梦想”。

1 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

2 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

3 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

4 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

5 parlance   

n.说法；语调

参考例句：

• The term "meta directory" came into industry parlance two years ago.两年前，商业界开始用“元目录”这个术语。
• The phrase is common diplomatic parlance for spying.这种说法是指代间谍行为的常用外交辞令。

6 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

7 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

8 pander   

v.迎合；n.拉皮条者，勾引者；帮人做坏事的人

参考例句：

• Don't pander to such people. 要迎合这样的人。
• Those novels pander to people's liking for stories about crime.那些小说迎合读者对犯罪故事的爱好。

9 WHIMS   

虚妄，禅病

参考例句：

• The mate observed regretfully that he could not account for that young fellow's whims. 那位伙伴很遗憾地说他不能说出那年轻人产生怪念头的原因。
• The rest she had for food and her own whims. 剩下的钱她用来吃饭和买一些自己喜欢的东西。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹