月亮和六便士 第四十一章(4)

 I had often wondered why that ill-assorted pair had married, but just that explanation had never occurred to me. 原先我就一直奇怪，这一对无论从哪一方面讲都不相配的人是怎么凑到一块儿的，但是我从来没有想过竟会是这么一回事。

That was perhaps the cause of the peculiar¹ quality of Dirk's love for his wife. 戴尔克对他妻子的爱情与一般夫妻的感情很不相同，原因也许就在这里。

I had noticed in it something more than passion. 我发现他对她的态度有一些超过了热情的东西。

I remembered also how I had always fancied that her reserve concealed² I knew not what; 我也记得我总是怀疑勃朗什的拘谨沉默可能掩藏着某种我不知道的隐情。

but now I saw in it more than the desire to hide a shameful³ secret. 现在我明白了，她极力隐藏的远远不止是一个令她感到羞耻的秘密。

Her tranquillity⁴ was like the sullen⁵ calm that broods over an island which has been swept by a hurricane. 她的安详沉默就象笼罩着暴风雨侵袭后的岛屿上的凄清宁静。

Her cheerfulness was the cheerfulness of despair. 她有时显出了快活的笑脸也是绝望中的强颜欢笑。

Strickland interrupted my reflections with an observation the profound cynicism of which startled me. 我的沉思被思特里克兰德的话声打断了，他说了一句非常尖刻的话，使我大吃一惊。

"A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her," he said, "but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account." “女人可以原谅男人对她的伤害，”他说，“但是永远不能原谅他对她做出的牺牲。”

"It must be reassuring⁶ to you to know that you certainly run no risk of incurring⁷ the resentment⁸ of the women you come in contact with," I retorted. “你这人是不会引起同你相识的女人恼恨的，这一点你倒可以放心。”我顶了他一句。

A slight smile broke on his lips. 他的嘴角上浮现起一丝笑容。

"You are always prepared to sacrifice your principles for a repartee," he answered. “你为了反驳别人从来不怕牺牲自己的原则。”他回答说。

"What happened to the child?" “那个孩子后来怎么样了？”

"Oh, it was still-born, three or four months after they were married." “流产了，在他们结婚三、四个月之后。”

Then I came to the question which had seemed to me most puzzling. 这时我提出了最使我迷惑不解的那个问题。

"Will you tell me why you bothered about Blanche Stroeve at all?" “你可以不可以告诉我为什么你要招惹勃朗什·施特略夫？”

He did not answer for so long that I nearly repeated it. 他很久很久没有回答，我几乎想再重复一遍我的问题了。

"How do I know?" he said at last. "She couldn't bear the sight of me. It amused me." "I see." “我怎么知道？”最后他说，“她非常讨厌我，几乎见不得我的面，所以我觉得很有趣。”“我懂了。”

He gave a sudden flash of anger. 他突然一阵怒火上撞。

"Damn it all, I wanted her." “去他妈的，我需要她。”

But he recovered his temper immediately, and looked at me with a smile. 但是他马上就不生气了，望着我，微微一笑。

"At first she was horrified⁹." “开始的时候她简直吓坏了。”

"Did you tell her?" “你对她说明了吗？”

"There wasn't any need. She knew. I never said a word. She was frightened. At last I took her." “不需要。她知道。我一直没有说一句。她非常害怕。最后我得到了她。”

1 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

2 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

3 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

4 tranquillity   

n. 平静, 安静

参考例句：

• The phenomenon was so striking and disturbing that his philosophical tranquillity vanished. 这个令人惶惑不安的现象，扰乱了他的旷达宁静的心境。
• My value for domestic tranquillity should much exceed theirs. 我应该远比他们重视家庭的平静生活。

5 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

6 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

7 incurring   

遭受，招致，引起( incur的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。
• He spoke to the Don directly, taking a chance on incurring Michael's ill will. 他直接向老头子谈自己的意见，这显然要冒引起迈克尔反感的风险。 来自教父部分

8 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

9 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。