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Death of Jean

珍之死

Christmas Eve, 11 A.M. 1909

1909年12月24日上午11时

Jean is dead!

珍死了!

Has any one ever tried to put upon paper all the little happenings connected with a dear one-happenings of the twenty-four hours preceding the sudden and unexpected death of that dear one? Would a book contain them? Would two books contain them? I think not. They pour into the mind in a flood. They are little things that have been always happening every day, and were always so unimportant and easily forgettable before--but now! Now, how different! How precious they are, how dear, how unforgettable, how pathetic, how sacred, how clothed with dignity!

有谁尝试过把和一位亲爱的人相关的所有小事都写在纸上—记下在这位亲爱之人出乎意料的突然死亡之前的24小时内发生的所有事情？一本书能写得下吗？两本书能写得下吗?我想不能。这些小事像潮水般涌上心头。这些天天都会发生的日常小事往往如此微不足道，过去总是轻而易举地被人遗忘—可是现在!现在是多么不一样啊!这些事是多么珍贵，多么亲切，多么令人难忘，多么催人泪下，多么神圣，多么庄严啊!

Last night Jean. all flushed with splendid health, and I the same. from the wholesome¹ effects of my Bermuda holiday, strolled hand in hand from the dinner-table and sat down in the library and chatted, and planned, and discussed, At my door Jean said, "I can't kiss you good night, father. I have a cold. and you could catch it."I bent² and kissed her hand. She was moved-I saw it in her eyes-and she impulsively³ kissed my hand in return. Then with the usual gay "Sleep well, dear!" from both, we parted.

昨天晚上珍还满面红光，全身洋溢着健康的光彩。我也一样。我刚从百慕大度假归来，这次度假对我身体大有益处。我们手拉着手，从饭桌边走到书房，坐下来闲聊，制订计划，进行讨论，那么高兴，那么欢畅（并且那么的毫无预感!)—我们一直聊到9点钟，之后才上楼，珍的那条友好的德国狗跟在后头。到了我的房门口，珍说:“今晚我不能吻您跟您道晚安了，爸爸。我伤风了，那样会传给你的。”我弯下腰，亲了亲她的手，她很感动—我从她的眼睛里看出来了—她激动地回吻了我的手，然后我们像往常一样高兴地说“睡个好觉，亲爱的”，说完就分开了。

At half past seven this morning I woke, and heard voices outside my door. I said to myself, "Jean is starting on her usual horseback flight to the station for the mail." Then Katy entered, stood quaking and gasping⁴ at my bedside a moment, then found her tongue:

今天早上7点半我一觉醒来，听到房门外有说话声。我寻思着，“珍又要骑马去车站寄信了。”接着凯蒂走了进来，站在我床边，全身颤抖，喘不上气，之后才说出话来：

"Miss Jean is dead!"

“珍小姐死了！”

Possibly I know now what the soldier feels when a bullet crashes through his heart.

现在我可能知道子弹穿透战士心脏时的感觉了。

In her bedroom there she lay, the fair young creature, stretched upon the floor and covered with a sheet. And looking so placid⁵, so natural, and as if asleep. We knew what had happened. She was an epileptic: she had been seized with a convulsion and heart failure in her bath. The doctor had to come several miles. His efforts, like our previous ones, failed to bring her back to life.

在她的浴室里，她躺在那里，我美丽的年轻姑娘，直挺挺地躺在地板上，上面盖了一床被单。她看起来是那么平静，那么自然，仿佛睡着了一样。我们知道发生了什么事。她患有癫病:洗澡时突发惊厥，心力衰竭。医生得从几英里外赶来。他的种种努力，跟我们在这之前的努力一样，没能让她活过来。

It is noon, now. How lovable she looks, how sweet and how tranquil⁶. It is a noble face, and full of dignity; and that was a good heart that lies there so still.

现在已是正午。她看上去是多么可爱.多么甜美。多么安详啊!那是一幅高贵的面容，写满了尊严;而且，静静地躺在那里的是一颗美丽的心灵。

课堂笔记：
1.分词短语“preceding the sudden and unexpected death of that dear one”作定语，修饰名词"hours"。
2.此句用到了明喻(simile)的修辞手法，把“happenings"(过去发生的事情)比作“flood"(洪水)。动词“pour"(倾泻，涌出)的使用真实地反映了作者对爱女的怀念和对其不幸夭折的悲痛之情。
3.此句使用了7个由“how”构成的感叹句.属排比句式(parallelism )，紧凑连贯，言辞恳切。
4.作者用子弹穿过士兵胸膛时的剧痛来描绘痛失爱女的心情，令读者不禁动容。