【英语早间课堂】教您一招说随便(1)

 北魏才子贾思勰 《齐民要术·园篱》：“若值巧人，随便採用，则无事不成。” 这里的随便是什么意思呢？我们先来听2个例子：

 

例句-1：His manner was so bright and pleasant that Tom felt at ease with him at once.

 

他的态度如此爽朗愉快，Tom觉得和他在一起没什么拘束。

 

例句-2：The retired¹ old worker is living at his ease.

 

这位退休老工人的生活过得很舒服。

 

接招：上面的2个例句中都用到了同一个词语：at ease。这是一条介词性习语。习语中的ease是“lack of difficulty”（容易，轻易，不费劲）的意思，和介词at搭配意思就是relaxed and confident and not nervous的意思，中文意思即：舒适，自由自在，无拘无束。我们可以在名词ease前加上物主代词，即：at one's ease。此外，这个习语和ill连用，即：ill at ease则成了其反义词，意思是不安，感到拘束。

 

由此，上述的北魏《齐民要术·园篱》中提到的随便意思就是无拘无束，不受限制，随其所宜的意思。

 

我们通过更多的例子来熟悉这个习语的意思和用法。首先我们来听一个小对话：

 

A : I am ill at ease for I am a stranger there.

 

她在那人生地不熟，感到很不安。

 

B : And you must accustom² yourself to be more at ease when you are before strangers.

 

在你和陌生人在一起时，要使自己习惯于别太拘束。

 

我们再来看一些例子：

 

They put her as much at ease as they could.

 

他们尽力使她感到自在。

 

Hanley seemed ill at ease when he first moved into the Director-General's office.

 

Hanley刚搬进局长办公室办公时，似乎不太自然。

 

Please put your mind at ease about my well-being³.

 

你们不用挂念我。

 

My sisters seem out of spirits, and Tom is certainly not at his ease.

 

我的妹妹们无精打采，汤姆肯定也心神不宁。

 

It is the interest of every man to live as much at his ease as he can (Adam Smith).

 

尽可能生活得舒适是每个人的追求（亚当.史密斯）。

 

He liked to wander at his ease in the fields and the woods, enjoying the sunlight and the flowers and the songs of the birds.

 

他喜欢在田野和森林里自由自在地漫游，欣赏阳光，花卉和鸟儿的歌声。

 

The little man sat down, quite at his ease, and yet still with a servant-like air, the air of a valet enjoying a privilege.

 

那个小伙子坐了下来，十分自在，但仍有一种仆人的神态，一个享受特权的贴身仆人的神态。

 

He had been dreading⁴ their meeting but her warm welcome soon put him at his ease.

 

他对彼此相见一直忐忑不安, 可是她的热情相迎使他很快就无拘无束了.

 

好，亲爱的朋友们，今天的这招说“随便”——at ease，我想您一定接住了，那么下回我再来抛出“随便”的招数，期待您再来接招。好，朋友们，我们下次再见吧。

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 accustom   

vt.使适应，使习惯

参考例句：

• It took him a while to accustom himself to the idea.他过了一段时间才习惯这个想法。
• It'shouldn't take long to accustom your students to working in groups.你的学生应该很快就会习惯分组学习的。

3 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

4 dreading   

v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was dreading having to broach the subject of money to her father. 她正在为不得不向父亲提出钱的事犯愁。
• This was the moment he had been dreading. 这是他一直最担心的时刻。