英语名篇诵读 游历记述

Account of My Travels

游历记述

Washington Irving(华盛顿·欧文)

I was always fond of visiting new scenes, and observing strange characters and manners.

Even when a mere¹ child I began my travels, and made many tours of discovery into foreign parts

and unknown regions of my native city, to the frequent alarm of my parents... As I grew into

boyhood, I extended the range of my observations. My holiday afternoons were spent in rambles²

注 about the surrounding country. I made myself familiar with all its places famous in history or

fable³. I knew every spot where a murder or robbery had been committed, or a ghost seen. I visited

the neighboring villages, and added greatly to my stock of knowledge, by noting their habits and

customs, and conversing⁴ with their sages⁵ and great men. I even journeyed one long summer's day

to the summit of the most distant hill, whence I stretched my eye over many a mile of terra

incognita , and was astonished to find how vast a globe I inhabited.

This rambling⁶ propensity⁷ strengthened with my years. Books of voyages and travels

became my passion, and in devouring⁸ their contents, I neglected the regular exercises of the

school. How wistfully would I wander about the pierheads in fine weather, and watch the

parting ships, bound to distant climes!With what longing⁹ eyes would I gaze after their lessening¹⁰

sails, and waft¹¹ myself in imagination to the ends of the earth!

I visited various parts of my own country — the mighty¹² lakes, like oceans of liquid silver; the

mountains, with their bright aerial tints¹³; the valleys, teeming¹⁴ with wild fertility ; the

tremendous cataracts¹⁵ , thundering in their solitudes¹⁶; the boundless¹⁷ plains, waving with

spontaneous verdure ; the broad deep rivers, rolling in solemn silence to the ocean; the trackless

forests, where vegetation puts forth¹⁸ all its magnificence; the skies, kindling¹⁹ with the magic of

summer clouds and glorious sunshine. Never need an American look beyond his own country for

the sublime²⁰ and beautiful of natural scenery.

我一向酷爱游历新的景观，观察陌生的人物和行为。自童年时期，我就喜欢四处漫

游，许多次踏上发现之旅，深入到故乡城市中陌生的地方和未知的区域，时常引起我父母

的惊慌……待我年岁渐长，便扩大了我观察的范围。假日的下午，都花在了在邻近乡间的

漫游上。我熟悉了历史上和传说中所有有名的地方，知道了每一个谋杀案、抢劫案或闹鬼

的地点；我游历了四邻的村庄，留心观察他们的习惯和风俗，同村中贤达之士交流，极大

地丰富了我的知识。在一个漫长的夏日，我甚至走了一整天，来到一座很远的小山顶上，

从那里，我极目远眺数英里尚未探明的地区，吃惊地发现我们居住的地球是那么浩瀚无

边。

随着年龄的增长，这种漫游的癖好越发炽烈。有关航海和旅游的书籍成了我的最爱，

我沉醉其中，以致荒疏了学业。在晴朗的天气里，我多么留恋地在码头上徜徉，注目那些

出港的船，驶往遥远的地方。我以怎样渴望的目光，凝视着它们渐行渐远的风帆，想象着

自己随风飘荡到天涯海角！

我游历了祖国的各种地方——那浩渺的湖，犹如波光粼粼的海洋；那高耸的群山，彩

云萦绕如梦如幻；那深深的峡谷，里面植物繁茂；那巨大的瀑布，在偏僻荒凉处声若雷

鸣；那一望无际的平原，草木青葱，随风起伏；那又深又宽的江河，庄严地汹涌着奔向大

海；那人迹罕至的森林，植物遮天蔽日，壮美无比；那万里长空，阳光灿烂，夏日的彩云

五彩缤纷。一个美国人无需出国，就能够欣赏到宏伟壮丽的自然风光。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 rambles   

（无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论

参考例句：

• He rambles in his talk. 他谈话时漫无中心。
• You will have such nice rambles on the moors. 你可以在旷野里好好地溜达溜达。

3 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

4 conversing   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I find that conversing with her is quite difficult. 和她交谈实在很困难。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were conversing in the parlor. 他们正在客厅谈话。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 sages   

n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料）

参考例句：

• Homage was paid to the great sages buried in the city. 向安葬在此城市的圣哲们表示敬意。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Confucius is considered the greatest of the ancient Chinese sages. 孔子被认为是古代中国最伟大的圣人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。

7 propensity   

n.倾向；习性

参考例句：

• He has a propensity for drinking too much alcohol.他有酗酒的倾向。
• She hasn't reckoned on his propensity for violence.她不曾料到他有暴力倾向。

8 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

9 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

10 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。

11 waft   

v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡

参考例句：

• The bubble maker is like a sword that you waft in the air.吹出泡泡的东西就像你在空中挥舞的一把剑。
• When she just about fall over,a waft of fragrance makes her stop.在她差点跌倒时，一股幽香让她停下脚步。

12 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

13 tints   

色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹

参考例句：

• leaves with red and gold autumn tints 金秋时节略呈红黄色的树叶
• The whole countryside glowed with autumn tints. 乡间处处呈现出灿烂的秋色。

14 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

15 cataracts   

n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障

参考例句：

• The rotor cataracts water over the top of the machines. 回转轮将水从机器顶上注入。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Cataracts of rain flooded the streets. 倾盆大雨弄得街道淹水。 来自辞典例句

16 solitudes   

n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方

参考例句：

• Africa is going at last to give up the secret of its vast solitudes. 非洲无边无际的荒野的秘密就要被揭穿了。 来自辞典例句
• The scientist has spent six months in the solitudes of the Antarctic. 这位科学家已经在人迹罕至的南极待了六个月了。 来自互联网

17 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。

18 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

19 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

20 sublime   

adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的

参考例句：

• We should take some time to enjoy the sublime beauty of nature.我们应该花些时间去欣赏大自然的壮丽景象。
• Olympic games play as an important arena to exhibit the sublime idea.奥运会，就是展示此崇高理念的重要舞台。