月亮和六便士 第4章(2)

 　　My engagements were few, and I was glad to accept.  我的约会并不多，我欣然接受了这个邀请。

　　When I arrived, a little late, because in my fear of being too early I had walked three times round the cathedral,  我到她家的时候稍微晚了一些，因为我害怕去得过早，围着大教堂先兜了三个圈子。

　　I found the party already complete.  进门以后我才发现客人都已经到齐了。

　　Miss Waterford was there and Mrs. Jay, Richard Twining and George Road.  瓦特尔芙德是其中之一，另外还有杰伊太太、理查·特维宁和乔治·娄德。

　　We were all writers.  在座的人都是作家。

　　It was a fine day, early in spring, and we were in a good humour.  这是早春的一天，天气很好，大家兴致都非常高。

　　We talked about a hundred things.  我们谈东谈西，什么都谈到了。

　　Miss Waterford, torn between the aestheticism of her early youth, when she used to go to parties in sage¹ green, holding a daffodil,  瓦特尔芙德小姐拿不定主意，是照她更年轻时的淡雅装扮，身着灰绿，手拿一支水仙花去赴宴呢，

　　and the flippancy² of her maturer years, which tended to high heels and Paris frocks, wore a new hat.  还是表现出一点年事稍高时的丰姿；如果是后者，那就要穿上高跟鞋、披着巴黎式的上衣了。犹豫了半天，结果她只戴了一顶帽子。

　　It put her in high spirits.  这顶帽子使她的情绪很高，

　　I had never heard her more malicious³ about our common friends.  我还从来没有听过她用这么刻薄的语言议论我们都熟识的朋友呢。

　　Mrs. Jay, aware that impropriety is the soul of wit, made observations in tones hardly above a whisper that might well have tinged⁴ the snowy tablecloth⁵ with a rosy⁶ hue⁷.  杰伊太太知道得很清楚，逾越礼规的言词是机智的灵魂，因此时不时地用不高于耳语的音调说一些足能使雪白的台布泛上红晕的话语。

　　Richard Twining bubbled over with quaint⁸ absurdities,  理查·特维宁则滔滔不绝地发表荒唐离奇的谬论。

　　and George Road, conscious that he need not exhibit a brilliancy which was almost a by-word, opened his mouth only to put food into it.  乔治·娄德知道他的妙语惊人已经尽人皆知，用不着再施展才华，因此每次张口只不过是往嘴里添送菜肴。

　　Mrs. Strickland did not talk much, but she had a pleasant gift for keeping the conversation general;  思特里克兰德太太说话不多，但是她也有一种可爱的本领，能够引导大家的谈话总是环绕着一个共同的话题；

　　and when there was a pause she threw in just the right remark to set it going once more.  一出现冷场，她总能说一句合适的话使谈话继续下去。

　　She was a woman of thirty-seven, rather tall and plump, without being fat;  思特里克兰德太太这一年三十七岁，身材略高，体态丰腴，但又不显得太胖。

　　she was not pretty, but her face was pleasing, chiefly, perhaps, on account of her kind brown eyes.  她生得并不美，但面庞很讨人喜欢，这可能主要归功于她那双棕色的、非常和蔼的眼睛。

　　Her skin was rather sallow.  她的皮肤血色不太好，

　　Her dark hair was elaborately dressed.  一头黑发梳理得非常精巧。

　　She was the only woman of the three whose face was free of make-up, and by contrast with the others she seemed simple and unaffected. 在三个女性里面，她是唯一没有施用化妆品的，但是同别人比较起来，这样她反而显得更朴素、更自然。

　　The dining-room was in the good taste of the period. It was very severe.  餐室是按照当时的艺术风尚布置的，非常朴素。

　　There was a high dado of white wood and a green paper on which were etchings by Whistler in neat black frames.  白色护墙板很高，绿色的糊墙纸上挂着嵌在精致的黑镜框里的惠斯勒【杰姆斯·艾波特·麦克奈尔·惠斯勒（1834-1903），美国画家和蚀刻画家，长期定居英国】的蚀刻画。

　　The green curtains with their peacock design, hung in straight lines,  印着孔雀图案的绿色窗帘线条笔直地高悬着。

　　and the green carpet, in the pattern of which pale rabbits frolicked among leafy trees, suggested the influence of William Morris.  地毯也是绿颜色的，地毯上白色小兔在浓郁树荫中嬉戏的图画使人想到是受了威廉·莫利斯【威廉·莫利斯（1834-1896），英国诗人和艺术家】的影响。

　　There was blue delft on the chimney-piece.  壁炉架上摆着白釉蓝彩陶器。

　　At that time there must have been five hundred dining-rooms in London decorated in exactly the same manner.  当时的伦敦一定有五百间餐厅的装演同这里一模一样，

　　It was chaste⁹, artistic¹⁰, and dull. 淡雅，别致，却有些沉闷。

1 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

2 flippancy   

n.轻率；浮躁；无礼的行动

参考例句：

• His flippancy makes it difficult to have a decent conversation with him.他玩世不恭，很难正经地和他交谈。
• The flippancy of your answer peeved me.你轻率的回答令我懊恼。

3 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

4 tinged   

v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• memories tinged with sadness 略带悲伤的往事
• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣

5 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

6 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

7 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

8 quaint   

adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的

参考例句：

• There were many small lanes in the quaint village.在这古香古色的村庄里，有很多小巷。
• They still keep some quaint old customs.他们仍然保留着一些稀奇古怪的旧风俗。

9 chaste   

adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的

参考例句：

• Comparatively speaking,I like chaste poetry better.相比较而言，我更喜欢朴实无华的诗。
• Tess was a chaste young girl.苔丝是一个善良的少女。

10 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。