欧美文化博览 走进狄更斯的世界(2)

It's so easy to label and package Charles Dickens to exhibit him some sort of Victorian showman, a unique oneoff,a dazzling talent like Harry¹ Houdini or Charlie Chaplin, a superstar from the past.

打上标签并包装查尔斯·狄更斯来展示他某种维多利亚时代的表演者风范是如此容易,一个独特的人,一位耀眼的天才，就像喜欢哈利胡迪尼或查理·卓别林等过去的超级巨星们。

I want to show that the work of Charles Dickens isn't just quality entertainment for a long dead audience.

我想展现的是查尔斯·狄更斯的作品并不仅是为了娱乐过去的大众而已。

Dickens' world of imagination is as complex and as dark and as sophisticated as any modern city, and the characters he creates are as real and psychologically driven as the inhabitants of any urban landscape today.

狄更斯的想象世界中非常复杂，就好比任何现代城市一样黑暗复杂,而他创造的人物在真实的和心理上如同今天任何城市风景中的居民一样。

And that's why I believe that the true Dickensian world is our world.

这就是为什么我相信真正的狄更斯的世界就是我们的世界。

Dickens, the 19th century novelist, speaks to us now, and I want to gage² his impact and relevance³ by talking not to literary critics and biographers, but to his readers.

19世纪的小说家狄更斯,对现在的我们讲述,而我想他的影响及关联并不是文学评论家和传记作家做出,而是他的读者们给予。

I meet those who Dickens makes laugh.

我见到那些使狄更斯发笑的人。

It was difficult to enjoy his society, without becoming conscious of a smell of spirits.

没有自我意识的精神感觉就很难去享受他的社会。

So what he is basically saying is this woman stank⁴ of alcohol.

所以他基本上说的是这个女人发出恶臭的酒精味道。

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 gage   

n.标准尺寸，规格；量规，量表 [=gauge]

参考例句：

• Can you gage what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gage one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

3 relevance   

n.中肯，适当，关联，相关性

参考例句：

• Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
• Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。

4 stank   

n. (英)坝，堰，池塘 动词stink的过去式

参考例句：

• Her breath stank of garlic. 她嘴里有股大蒜味。
• The place stank of decayed fish. 那地方有烂鱼的臭味。