英语PK台 第755期:你有都市冷漠症吗?

 “Her hands are like icicles on the horizon,” he said and took a drag of coffee. She nodded blankly at him, barely registering the observations that swayed his tongue and flavoured his mouth. “Do you see how she’s shaking?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the porcelain¹ doll ordering dinner across the room. He fumbled² down distractedly to the table, found his plate, and devoured³ a fry in the half-reflective way that dressed all his actions.

“她的双手就像远处地平线上矗立的冰柱一样。”他边说边喝了一口咖啡。她茫然地对他点点头，几乎没有注意到他舌尖正在嘴里有滋有味地搅动。“你看到她是怎么握手的吗？”他问道，目光始终没有离开餐厅那头正在点餐的那位长得像餐瓷娃娃一般的女士。他的手摸索到桌边，找到自己的盘子，若有所思地吞下一根炸薯条，想要掩饰自己的一举一动。

To this, she murmured a vague, “Mmhmm…” It was enough of a reply to fill the empty space he controlled over the table, enough for him to be noncommittal and inattentive. She reached through the mess of their cups and plates to spear a French-fry from his plate. She shifted her weight. The chair rocked under her, threatening her already uncertain balance and attempted grace in one blow. She moved the feet of the chair, hoping to find some sort of equilibrium⁴, but again the seat rocked under her, still precarious⁵.

看到这一幕，她低声哼道：“嗯......”这一句回答足以弥补他只顾桌上的餐食而不顾她时的尴尬，足以应对他的不置可否与漫不经心。她从一片狼藉的杯子和盘子中找到了他的餐盘，用叉子叉了一根薯条。她调整了一下身体的重心，但椅子还是在她身下晃来晃去，让她很难保持平衡以及优雅的姿势。她动了动椅子腿，希望能找到某种平衡，但椅子还是在她身下摇晃着，丝毫没有稳定下来。

“Look at the angles to her face,” he went on, working his words around mouthfuls. His eyes never wavered in their stiff critical stare of wonderment and interest. “There’s just something about her that screams vulnerability.”

“你看看她脸上的棱角。”他继续说着，同时不停地把食物塞进自己的嘴里。他的双眼始终直勾勾地盯着那位女士的方向，目光里充满着好奇与兴趣。“她文弱的外表背后一定有让人惊叹的故事。”

“Hmm.” She swallowed the hot, gritty remains⁶ of her tea. Her cup clunked as it hit the table, jolting⁷ the settled objects, but his attention never strayed from the other woman across the room. She picked up her croissant, then lowered it back to her plate seeing the tanned lines of her knuckles⁸ holding her fingers in place. She turned her palm up and followed the lines that traced her destiny.

“嗯。”她囫囵咽下了杯子中粗糙的热茶底。然后，当的一声，她把杯子重重地放在了桌子上，桌子上摆放的物品都被震了起来。但，这并没有让他的注意力离开餐厅那头的另一个女人。她拿起羊角面包，又把它放回盘子里，眼睛看着自己指关节被晒得黝黑的纹路。然后，她把手掌翻过来向上，用眼睛追寻着手掌上的命运线。

“You really have to wonder about people like that,” he continued in the silence. “How they think, how they feel, how they see the world. Don’t you ever just wish you could go up and introduce yourself to a stranger and learn their entire life story?”

“你真的得关注一下那样的人，”他打破沉默继续说道，“他们是如何思考的；他们是怎样去感受的；他们又会如何看待这个世界。难道你不希望自己能够走上前去，向陌生人介绍自己，并了解他们的人生故事吗？”

She took her croissant again and took a voice-saving mouthful, nodding her head disjointedly to glance at her tongue-trapped partner on the other side of the table. She sneakily slid her feet out of her shoes and flexed⁹ her toes in their freedom under the tablecloth-tiered table. The ache wrenched¹⁰ in her bones, and her thoughts drifted to the woman he kept talking about, and instantly she felt the emptiness and pain of rejection¹¹.

她再次拿起那个羊角面包，咬了一大口，把嘴塞得满满的，同时慌乱地点了点头，然后瞥了一眼桌子对面嘴一直没闲下来的同伴。她偷偷地将双脚从鞋子里滑出来，让脚趾自由地在桌布下伸缩。此时，她骨头酸痛，思绪不自主地飘向她的同伴一直在谈论的那个女人。就在那一刹那，她感受到了被抛弃的空虚与痛苦。

“I guess it’s time to go,” he said finally, still not moving his unblinking eyes or shifting his stranger-struck body. She mumbled¹² affirmative and followed through with her purse. The crowded bag jostled against her hand in the fruitful search for cash. Dumping the entire contents out for the finding and usage of a pen, she scrunched¹³ up her eyebrows¹⁴, figuring the total into halves.

“我想是时候离开了。”他终于说出了这句话，但他的眼睛仍牢牢地盯着那个女人，身体依旧保持着被那个女人吸引的姿势。她咕哝着表示赞成，同时拿出了手提包。她的手在塞得满满的手提包中摸索着寻找足够现金。然后，将包里的全部东西都倒了出来，找到了一支钢笔，皱了皱眉头，将账单总额分成了两半。

“Mind getting this one for me?” he asked, raising himself up to gather his belongings¹⁵ before heading out the door. Still his attention wandered over to the daisy, blooming at the opposite table. “This was fun. Let’s get together again sometime soon, OK?”

“这顿饭就你请了，不介意吧？”他问道，然后振作了一下，收拾好自己的东西，出门离开了。但，他离开的同时，他的注意力依旧徘徊在对面桌子旁那朵“绽放的雏菊”上。“很有趣。我们不久再找机会聚一次，好吧？”

She fell back in her seat, drowning in the whirlpool of inattention. Establishing their funds, she turned to see herself in the shadowy glass window reflection, and saw herself slipping away.

她倒坐在椅子上，陷入被忽视的漩涡之中。她付了账单，转身看着玻璃窗中自己模糊的倒影，然后加快脚步离开了。

1 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

2 fumbled   

（笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下

参考例句：

• She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
• He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他（瞎）摸着衣兜找票。

3 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。

4 equilibrium   

n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静

参考例句：

• Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
• This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

5 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 jolting   

adj.令人震惊的

参考例句：

• 'she should be all right from the plane's jolting by now. “飞机震荡应该过了。
• This is perhaps the most jolting comment of all. 这恐怕是最令人震惊的评论。

8 knuckles   

n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘，握得指关节都变白了。
• Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 flexed   

adj.[医]曲折的，屈曲v.屈曲( flex的过去式和过去分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌

参考例句：

• He stretched and flexed his knees to relax himself. 他伸屈膝关节使自己放松一下。 来自辞典例句
• He flexed his long stringy muscles manfully. 他孔武有力地弯起膀子，显露出细长条的肌肉。 来自辞典例句

10 wrenched   

v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• The bag was wrenched from her grasp. 那只包从她紧握的手里被夺了出来。
• He wrenched the book from her hands. 他从她的手中把书拧抢了过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

12 mumbled   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He mumbled something to me which I did not quite catch. 他对我叽咕了几句话，可我没太听清楚。
• George mumbled incoherently to himself. 乔治语无伦次地喃喃自语。

13 scrunched   

v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的过去式和过去分词 )；蜷缩；压；挤压

参考例句：

• The snow scrunched underfoot. 雪在脚下发出嘎吱嘎吱的声音。
• He scrunched up the piece of paper and threw it at me. 他把那张纸揉成一个小团，朝我扔过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

15 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。