【荆棘鸟】第五章 04

Smarting from his mother's words, he had wanted Miss Carmichael to notice him, the oldest son of Mary Carson's heir, but she had not so much as deigned¹ to admit he existed. All her attention had been focused on the priest, a being sexless and emasculated. Even if he was tall, dark and handsome. "Don't worry, she'll be back for more of the same," said Father Ralph cynically². "She's rich, so next Sunday she'll very ostentatiously put a ten-pound note in the plate." He laughed at Frank's expression. "I'm not so much older than you, my son, but in spite of my calling I'm a very worldly fellow. Don't hold it against me; just put it down to experience." They had left the riding ring behind and entered the amusement part of the grounds. To Meggie and Frank alike it was enchantment³. Father Ralph had given Meggie five whole shillings, and Frank had his five pounds; to own the price of admission to all those enticing⁴ booths was wonderful. Crowds thronged⁵ the area, children running everywhere, gazing wide-eyed at the luridly⁶ and somewhat inexpertly painted legends fronting tattered⁷ tents: The Fattest Lady in the World; Princess Houri the Snake Dancer (see Her Fan the Flames of a Cobra's Rage!); The India Rubber Man; Goliath the World's Strongest Man; Thetis the Mermaid⁸. At each they paid their pennies and watched raptly, not noticing Thetis's sadly tarnished⁹ scales or the toothless smile on the cobra. At the far end, so big it required a whole side for itself, was a giant marquee with a high boardwalk along its front, a curtainlike frieze¹⁰ of painted figures stretching behind the entire length of the board bridge, menacing the crowd. A man with a megaphone in his hand was shouting to the gathering¹¹ people.

"Here it is, gents, Jimmy Sharman's famous boxing troupe¹²! Eight of the world's greatest prize fighters, and a purse to be won by any chap game to have a go!"Women and girls were trickling¹³ out of the audience as fast as men and boys came from every direction to swell¹⁴ it, clustering thickly beneath the boardwalk. As solemnly as gladiators parading at the Circus Maximus, eight men filed onto the bridge and stood, bandaged hands on hips¹⁵, legs apart, swaggering at the admiring oohs of the crowd. 

 

由于他母亲的话刺痛了他，他希望卡迈克尔小姐能注意到他这个玛丽·卡森的继承者的长子，但是她根本不屑他的存在，纵使他身体粗壮，皮肤黝黑，眉清目秀，可她的注意力集中在那个似乎是无性别的，清心寡欲的神父身上。

　　"别担心，就是再来这么几回，她也还是会凑上来的，"拉尔夫神父冷嘲热讽地说道。"她很有钱，因此下个星期天她会风头十足地把一张十镑的票子放进教学的奉献盘里。"他针对弗兰克的表情笑着。"我比你大不了多少，小伙子。尽管我从事这个职业，可我是个很世俗的人。别为这个见怪。就把它看作是我的阅历所致吧。"

　　他们已经远离了赛马场，走进了娱乐场里、梅吉和弗兰克对这个地方都很着迷。拉尔夫神父给了梅吉五个先令，而弗兰克自己有五镑；有足够钱去付所有吸引人的棚场的入场费，真叫人开心。这地方人群拥来挤去。孩子们四处乱钻，睁大眼睛望着把在破破烂烂的帐蓬前那些不甚高明的、俚俗不堪的传奇画："天下最胖的太太"，"跳蛇舞的伊斯兰公主"（"请看她怎样惹眼镜蛇发火！"），"印度的橡胶人"，"世界最强壮的男人格里厄斯"，"美人鱼赛蒂丝"。每个棚场前他们都付钱，然后全神贯注地看着；没在意美人鱼赛蒡丝的鳞片已经黯然无光，微笑的眼镜蛇连一个牙齿都不剩了。

　　娱乐场的另一头有一个巨大的帐篷，它是如此之大，独霸一方。它的前面有一条高高的木板走道，背后挂着一幅与走道一样长的、象幕布似的起绒粗呢，上面画着几个居高临下、气势汹汹的人像。一个手拿麦克风的汉子正在对聚拢来的人们高声叫喊着。

　　"先生们，敝班是吉米·沙曼著名的拳击班！敝班有八名世界最棒的拳手，哪位好汉愿意上来比划比划，打赢了取得奖金一笔！"

　　女人和姑娘们从听众中退了出去，男人和小伙子们从四面八方迅速地拥来；他们密不透风地围挤在走道的下面，观众的人数越来越多。八个拳手像古罗马大竞技场上列队行进着的角斗士一样，威风凛凛地排成一行站在那里。他们两腿分开，双手叉腰，神气活现的对啧啧赞叹的人群摆开了架式。

1 deigned   

v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Carrie deigned no suggestion of hearing this. 嘉莉不屑一听。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Carrie scarcely deigned to reply. 嘉莉不屑回答。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

2 cynically   

adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地

参考例句：

• "Holding down the receiver,'said Daisy cynically. “挂上话筒在讲。”黛西冷嘲热讽地说。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比
• The Democrats sensibly (if cynically) set about closing the God gap. 民主党在明智（有些讽刺）的减少宗教引起的问题。 来自互联网

3 enchantment   

n.迷惑，妖术，魅力

参考例句：

• The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。
• The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

4 enticing   

adj.迷人的；诱人的

参考例句：

• The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力，使人难以拒绝。
• Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短，但浑圆可爱；两臂丰腴，也很动人。

5 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 luridly   

adv. 青灰色的(苍白的, 深浓色的, 火焰等火红的)

参考例句：

• It was night, and the white faces and the scarlet banners were luridly floodlit. 时间是在夜里，人们的苍白的脸和鲜红的旗帜都沐浴在强烈的泛光灯灯光里。 来自英汉文学
• Nationalist netizens in China's hyperactive blogosphere are more luridly anti-western than China's current rulers. 中国互联网上活跃的民族主义网民中反西方的比反现行统治者的多。

7 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

8 mermaid   

n.美人鱼

参考例句：

• How popular would that girl be with the only mermaid mom!和人鱼妈妈在一起，那个女孩会有多受欢迎！
• The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait.小美人鱼不太高兴，因为她等不及了。

9 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

10 frieze   

n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带

参考例句：

• The Corinthian painter's primary ornamental device was the animal frieze.科林斯画家最初的装饰图案是动物形象的装饰带。
• A careful reconstruction of the frieze is a persuasive reason for visiting Liverpool. 这次能让游客走访利物浦展览会，其中一个具有说服力的原因则是壁画得到了精心的重建。

11 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

12 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

13 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

15 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》