月亮和六便士 第四十七章(5)

 "I've tasted worse smoking mixtures in a pipe," he added, with a philosophic¹ shrug² of his shoulders, “我的烟斗就是比这更不是味儿的杂八凑烟也抽过，”他加添了一句，自我解嘲地耸了耸肩膀。

as he took a couple of cigars from the case I offered him, putting one in his mouth and the other in his pocket. 在他说这句话的时候又从我递过去的烟盒里拿了两支雪茄，一支衔在嘴上，一支揣在口袋里。

Now and then they made a bit of money. 偶然他们也有机会挣到一点儿钱。

Sometimes a mail steamer would come in, and Captain Nichols, having scraped acquaintance with the timekeeper, would succeed in getting the pair of them a job as stevedores³. 有时候一艘邮轮开进港，尼柯尔斯船长同雇用计时员攀上交情，会给两人找个临时装卸工的活儿。

When it was an English boat, they would dodge⁴ into the forecastle and get a hearty⁵ breakfast from the crew. 如果是一艘英国船，他们会溜进前甲板下面的舱房里，在水手那里饱餐一顿。

They took the risk of running against one of the ship's officers and being hustled⁶ down the gangway with the toe of a boot to speed their going. 当然，这样做要冒一定的风险，如果遇见船上的高级船员，他们就要从跳板上被赶下来，为了催他们动作快一些，屁股后面还要挨一靴子。

"There's no harm in a kick in the hindquarters when your belly's full," said Captain Nichols, "and personally I never take it in bad part. “一个人只要肚子吃饱，屁股叫人踢一脚算不得什么，”尼柯尔斯船长说，“拿我个人说，我是从来不生气的。

An officer's got to think about discipline." 高级船员理应考虑船上的风纪的。”

I had a lively picture of Captain Nichols flying headlong down a narrow gangway before the uplifted foot of an angry mate, 我的脑子里活生生地出现一幅图画：一个气冲冲的大副飞起一脚，尼柯尔斯船长脑袋朝下地从窄窄的跳板上滚下来；

and, like a true Englishman, rejoicing in the spirit of the Mercantile Marine⁷. 像一个真正的英国人那样，他对英国商船队的这种纪律严明的精神非常高兴。

There were often odd jobs to be got about the fish-market. 在鱼市场里也不时能够找点零活儿干。

Once they each of them earned a franc by loading trucks with innumerable boxes of oranges that had been dumped down on the quay⁸. 还有一次，卡车要把堆在码头上的许多筐桔子运走，思特里克兰德同尼柯尔斯船长帮助装车，每人挣了一法郎。

One day they had a stroke of luck: 有一天两人很走运：

one of the boarding-masters got a contract to paint a tramp that had come in from Madagascar round the Cape⁹ of Good Hope, 一条从马达加斯加绕过好望角开来的货轮需要上油漆，一个开寄宿店的老板弄到包工合同，

and they spent several days on a plank¹⁰ hanging over the side, covering the rusty¹¹ hull¹² with paint. 他们两个人一连几天站在悬在船帮旁边的一条木板上，往锈迹斑斑的船壳上涂油漆。

It was a situation that must have appealed to Strickland's sardonic¹³ humour. 这件差事肯定很投合思特里克兰德的惯受讽嘲的脾气。

I asked Captain Nichols how he bore himself during these hardships. 我向尼柯尔斯船长打听，在那困顿的日子里，思特里克兰德有什么反应。

"Never knew him say a cross word," answered the Captain. “从来没听他说过一句丧气话，”船长回答说，

"He'd be a bit surly sometimes, but when we hadn't had a bite since morning, and we hadn't even got the price of a lie down at the Chink's, he'd be as lively as a cricket." “有时候他有点儿闷闷不乐，但是就是在我们整天吃不到一口饭，连在中国佬那里歇宿的房钱都弄不到手的时候，他仍然像蛐蛐一样欢蹦乱跳。”

I was not surprised at this. 我对此并不觉得惊奇。

Strickland was just the man to rise superior to circumstances, when they were such as to occasion despondency in most; 思特里克兰德正是超然于周围环境之外的人，就是在最沮丧的情况下也是如此。

but whether this was due to equanimity¹⁴ of soul or to contradictoriness¹⁵ it would be difficult to say. 这到底是由于心灵的宁静还是矛盾对立，那是难以说清的。

1 philosophic   

adj.哲学的，贤明的

参考例句：

• It was a most philosophic and jesuitical motorman.这是个十分善辩且狡猾的司机。
• The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race.爱尔兰人是既重实际又善于思想的民族。

2 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

3 stevedores   

n.码头装卸工人，搬运工( stevedore的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The stevedores' work is to load and unload ships. 装卸工人的工作是装卸船只。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stevedores will see to that. 搬运工会格外注意。 来自商贸英语会话

4 dodge   

v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计

参考例句：

• A dodge behind a tree kept her from being run over.她向树后一闪，才没被车从身上辗过。
• The dodge was coopered by the police.诡计被警察粉碎了。

5 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

6 hustled   

催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He grabbed her arm and hustled her out of the room. 他抓住她的胳膊把她推出房间。
• The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater. 特务机关的代理人把演讲者驱逐出竞技场。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 quay   

n.码头，靠岸处

参考例句：

• There are all kinds of ships in a quay.码头停泊各式各样的船。
• The side of the boat hit the quay with a grinding jar.船舷撞到码头发出刺耳的声音。

9 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

10 plank   

n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目

参考例句：

• The plank was set against the wall.木板靠着墙壁。
• They intend to win the next election on the plank of developing trade.他们想以发展贸易的纲领来赢得下次选举。

11 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

12 hull   

n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳

参考例句：

• The outer surface of ship's hull is very hard.船体的外表面非常坚硬。
• The boat's hull has been staved in by the tremendous seas.小船壳让巨浪打穿了。

13 sardonic   

adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的

参考例句：

• She gave him a sardonic smile.她朝他讥讽地笑了一笑。
• There was a sardonic expression on her face.她脸上有一种嘲讽的表情。

14 equanimity   

n.沉着，镇定

参考例句：

• She went again,and in so doing temporarily recovered her equanimity.她又去看了戏，而且这样一来又暂时恢复了她的平静。
• The defeat was taken with equanimity by the leadership.领导层坦然地接受了失败。

15 contradictoriness   

矛盾性

参考例句：

• The fundamental cause of the development of a thing lies in its internal contradictoriness. 事物发展的根本原因在于其内部矛盾。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》