原版英文故事与诗歌：Poetry as a Foreign Language

 　　"...Not really sure I'll get much out of it,

 

　　Understand what's going on,"

 

　　I whined¹ and vacillated.

 

　　I was assured he was big

 

　　(Though not in size)

 

　　Old, blind and from the capital.

 

　　So in I went with the rest of the faculty²

 

　　To the biggest hall on campus,

 

　　Packed with more than I'd ever seen before

 

　　And when the applause started from the back

 

　　And advanced with him to the front,

 

　　It was not polite or respectful

 

　　But loud and from beyond the palms of hands,

 

　　And they were standing³ and clapping

 

　　The old blind poet right up to the stage

 

　　With videocams and flashlights on his face

 

　　And I knew I'd not seen the likes of this before,

 

　　And not only the intoning of the country's prayers

 

　　But the readings from the campus luminaries⁴,

 

　　Strong declamatory stuff,

 

　　Speaking to the audience. You could

 

　　Tell this because they'd clap and cheer

 

　　Right in the middle of the poet's flow.

 

　　All this told me it was not like

 

　　My home, my country,

 

　　And when the old poet began...

 

　　But why go on?

 

　　Well, yes, I told myself,

 

　　A different tradition,

 

　　An oral society, the public

 

　　Gesture, their particular

 

　　Stage of development,

 

　　The revolution, nationhood.

 

　　The excuses flooded in.

 

　　Yes, I understood in the end.

 

　　This was not British.

 

　　This was not our language at all.

1 whined   

v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The dog whined at the door, asking to be let out. 狗在门前嚎叫着要出去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He whined and pouted when he did not get what he wanted. 他要是没得到想要的东西就会发牢骚、撅嘴。 来自辞典例句

2 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 luminaries   

n.杰出人物，名人（luminary的复数形式）

参考例句：

• In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 亚14:6那日、必没有光．三光必退缩。 来自互联网
• Includes household filament light bulbs & luminaries. 包括家用的白炙灯泡和光源。 来自互联网