英语美文背诵 通往广场的路不止一条(中)

Then one day I met a friend who was wearing a very beautiful sweater. It was plain in color, but it had a lovely and unusual stitch¹.

后来有一天，我遇到一位朋友，她穿着一件非常好看的毛线衫，毛线衫的色彩平淡，但是针法却可爱、别致。

"Did you knit² that sweater?" I asked her.

我问她："毛线衫是你织的吗？"

"No," she answered. "It was done by a woman here in Paris."

她回答："不，是巴黎的一位妇女织的。"

"What an interesting stitch!" I continued.

"针法真棒！"我又说。

My friend had an explanation. "The woman her name is Mrs. Vidian—told me she learned the stitch in Armenia, her native country."

朋友解释说："这位妇女叫维迪安太太，她跟我说她是在她出生地亚美尼亚学的这种织法。"

Suddenly I pictured a daring design knitted³ into such a sweater. Then an even more daring idea came to me. Why not open my own house of fashion? Why not design, make and sell clothes from the house of Schiaparelli! I would do it, and I would begin with a sweater.

突然，我想在这件毛线衫上织出一个大胆的图案，继而一个更为大胆的设想闪现在我的脑海里。为什么不开办自己的时装店呢？为什么不设计、制作和销售斯基亚帕雷利时装店的服装呢？我要这样做，而且要从毛线衫开始。

I drew a bold black and white butterfly pattern and took it to Mrs. Vidian. She knitted it into a sweater. The result, I thought, was wonderful. Then came the test. I wore the sweater to a luncheon⁴ which people in the fashion business would attend. To my great pleasure, the sweater was noticed. In fact, the representative of a large New York store wanted 40 sweaters to be ready in two weeks. I accepted the order and walked out on a cloud of happiness.

我画了一个醒目的黑白相间的蝴蝶图案，把它交给维迪安太太，她把这个图案织到了一件毛线衫上。我认为这件成品很漂亮，接着就是对它的检验。我穿上毛线衫，来到一个时装界人士参加的午餐会，令我十分高兴的是，毛线衫引起了众人的注意。事实上，纽约一家大商店的代理商想在两周内得到40件这样的毛线衫。我接受了他的订货，兴高采烈地走出了餐厅。

My cloud disappeared suddenly, however, when I stood in front of Mrs. Vidian. "But it took me almost a week to knit that one sweater," she said. "Forty sweaters in two weeks? It is not possible!"

然而当我站在维迪安太太面前时，喜悦之情就一扫而光了。她说："我几乎用一周才织完这样一件毛线衫，两周织40件是不可能的！"

I was crushed to be so close to success and then to be blocked! Sadly I walked away. All at once I stopped short. There must be another way. This stitch did take special skill. But surely there must be other Armenian women in Paris who knew how to do it.

我非常失望，离成功仅有半步之遥，竟又被迎头堵住了！我悲伤地走出维迪安太太的家，突然停下了脚步，一定有别的办法可以办到。这种针法确实需要特殊的技巧，然而在巴黎一定还有其他亚美尼亚妇女会这种针法。

I went back to Mrs. Vidian and explained my plan. She really didn't think it would work, but she agreed to help.

我回到维迪安太太的家，向她讲述了我的计划。她真的认为这个计划行不通，但同意帮我的忙。

1 stitch   

n.一针，疼痛，碎布条；v.缝合

参考例句：

• He had a stitch in the side.他胁部疼痛。
• Fold the fabric and stitch the two layers together.将布料对折，然后将两层缝在一起。

2 knit   

vt.编织，密接，结合，皱眉；vi.编织，变得紧凑，愈合；n.编织

参考例句：

• She could knit up a baby's coat in an afternoon.她能在一个下午织好一件婴儿的衣服。
• Our letters enabled us to knit up our old friendship.通信使我们恢复了旧日的友谊。

3 knitted   

v.（使）愈合( knit的过去式和过去分词 )；编结；（使）紧密地结合；织平针

参考例句：

• I knitted this cardigan myself. 我自己织的这件开襟毛衣。
• Our two nations are knitted together by common concerns. 共同关心的问题使我们两国团结一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 luncheon   

n.午宴，午餐，便宴

参考例句：

• We have luncheon at twelve o'clock.我们十二点钟用午餐。
• I have a luncheon engagement.我午饭有约。