🔊 Slang is the tongue of those who sit in darkness. Thought is moved in its most sombre depths, social philosophy is bidden to its most poignant meditations, in the presence of that enigmatic dialect at once so blighted and rebellious. Therein lies chastisement made visible. Every syllable has an air of being marked. The words of the vulgar tongue appear therein wrinkled and shrivelled, as it were, beneath the hot iron of the executioner. Some seem to be still smoking. Such and such a phrase produces upon you the effect of the shoulder of a thief branded with the fleur-de-lys, which has suddenly been laid bare.

俚语是那些坐在黑暗中的人的语言。面对这种既病态又叛逆的神秘方言,思想在其最阴郁的深处被触动,社会哲学被迫进行最尖锐的沉思。其中蕴含着可见的惩罚。每个音节都带有被烙印的气息。俗语的词汇在其中仿佛受到刽子手的烙铁,变得皱缩枯槁。有些似乎还在冒烟。某个短语给你带来的感觉,就像突然裸露出的、烙有百合花图案的小偷肩膀。

🔊

Slang /slæŋ/

n. 俚语；行话➕

🔊

sombre /ˈsɒmbə/

adj. 阴沉的；忧郁的➕

🔊

poignant /ˈpɔɪnjənt/

adj. 深刻的；尖锐的；令人心碎的➕

🔊 Moreover, in spite of all this, and because of all this, this strange dialect has by rights, its own compartment in that great impartial case of pigeonholes where there is room for the rusty farthing as well as for the gold medal, and which is called literature. Slang, whether the public admit the fact or not has its syntax and its poetry. It is a language. Yes, by the deformity of certain terms, we recognize the fact that it was chewed by Mandrin, and by the splendor of certain metonymies, we feel that Villon spoke it.

此外,尽管有这一切,也正是因为这一切,这种奇怪的方言有权利在那个伟大而公正的橱柜里拥有自己的一格--那个既容得下生锈的铜币也容得下金牌的橱柜,它被称为文学。俚语,无论公众是否承认这一事实,都有其句法和诗意。它是一种语言。是的,通过某些术语的畸形,我们认识到它曾被曼德兰咀嚼过；通过某些转喻的光彩,我们感到维庸曾说过它。

🔊

literature /ˈlɪtərətʃə/

n. 文学；文献➕

🔊

syntax /ˈsɪntæks/

n. 句法；语法➕

🔊

metonymies /mɪˈtɒnɪmiz/

n. 转喻（复数形式）➕

🔊 That exquisite and celebrated verse- Mais où sont les neiges d’antan? is a verse of slang. Antan-ante annum-is a word of Thunes slang, which signified the past year, and by extension, formerly. Thirty-five years ago, at the epoch of the departure of the great chain-gang, there could be read in one of the cells at Bicêtre, this maxim engraved with a nail on the wall by a king of Thunes condemned to the galleys: Les dabs d’antan trimaient siempre pour la pierre du Coësre. This means "Kings in days gone by always went and had themselves anointed." In the opinion of that king, anointment meant the galleys.

那精美而著名的诗句--Mais où sont les neiges d’antan?--是一句俚语诗。Antan--ante annum--是土讷斯俚语中的一个词,意为去年,引申为从前。三十五年前,在大队苦役犯出发的年代,在比塞特的一个牢房里,可以看到一位被判处苦役犯监狱的土讷斯国王用指甲刻在墙上的这句箴言:Les dabs d'antan trimaient siempre pour la pierre du Coësre。这句话的意思是“往日的国王们总是去受膏”。按照那位国王的看法,受膏意味着苦役犯监狱。

🔊

exquisite /ɪkˈskwɪzɪt/

adj. 精美的；优雅的；强烈的➕

🔊

epoch /ˈiːpɒk/

n. 纪元；时代➕

🔊

galleys /ˈɡæliz/

n. （古代）划桨船；囚犯船➕

🔊 The word décarade, which expresses the departure of heavy vehicles at a gallop, is attributed to Villon, and it is worthy of him. This word, which strikes fire with all four of its feet, sums up in a masterly onomatopoeia the whole of La Fontaine’s admirable verse:- Six forts chevaux tiraient un coche. From a purely literary point of view, few studies would prove more curious and fruitful than the study of slang. It is a whole language within a language, a sort of sickly excrescence, an unhealthy graft which has produced a vegetation, a parasite which has its roots in the old Gallic trunk, and whose sinister foliage crawls all over one side of the language.

décarcade这个词,描述重型车辆疾驰而去,归功于维庸,而且配得上他。这个词仿佛四蹄迸发火花,用巧妙的拟声概括了整句拉封丹的优美诗句:Six forts chevaux tiraient un coche。纯粹从文学角度来看,没有什么研究比研究俚语更奇特、更有成果。它是一种语言中的整门语言,一种病态的赘生物,一种不健康的嫁接,生出了一种植被,一种寄生虫,其根扎在古老的高卢树干上,其阴森的叶子爬满了语言的一侧。

🔊

onomatopoeia /ˌɒnəmætəˈpiːə/

n. 拟声词；象声词➕

🔊

parasite /ˈpærəsaɪt/

n. 寄生植物；寄生虫➕

🔊

foliage /ˈfəʊliɪdʒ/

n. （植物的）叶子；枝叶➕

🔊 This is what may be called the first, the vulgar aspect of slang. But, for those who study the tongue as it should be studied, that is to say, as geologists study the earth, slang appears like a veritable alluvial deposit. According as one digs a longer or shorter distance into it, one finds in slang, below the old popular French, Provençal, Spanish, Italian, Levantine, that language of the Mediterranean ports, English and German, the Romance language in its three varieties, French, Italian, and Romance Romance, Latin, and finally Basque and Celtic. A profound and unique formation. A subterranean edifice erected in common by all the miserable. Each accursed race has deposited its layer, each suffering has dropped its stone there, each heart has contributed its pebble. A throng of evil, base, or irritated souls, who have traversed life and have vanished into eternity, linger there almost entirely visible still beneath the form of some monstrous word.

这可以说是俚语的第一方面,其粗俗的一面。但是,对于那些像地质学家研究地球那样研究语言的人来说,俚语就像真正的冲积层。随着挖掘的深浅不同,在俚语中,人们会发现:在古老的民间法语之下,有普罗旺斯语、西班牙语、意大利语、黎凡特语（地中海港口语言）、英语和德语、罗曼语的三种变体（法语、意大利语和罗曼罗曼语）、拉丁语,最后还有巴斯克语和凯尔特语。一种深邃而独特的构造。一座由所有受苦者共同建立的地下大厦。每个被诅咒的种族都放下了它的地层,每种苦难都投下了它的石头,每颗心都贡献了它的卵石。一大群邪恶、卑贱或愤怒的灵魂,他们历尽人生,消失在永恒中,仍然几乎完全可见地逗留在某个怪诞词语的形式之下。

🔊

profound /prəˈfaʊnd/

adj. 深刻的；深奥的➕

🔊

subterranean /ˌsʌbtəˈreɪniən/

adj. 地下的；秘密的➕

🔊

eternity /ɪˈtɜːnəti/

n. 永恒；来世➕

🔊 Do you want Spanish? The old Gothic slang abounded in it. Here is boffete, a box on the ear, which is derived from bofeton; vantane, window (later on vanterne), which comes from vantana; gat, cat, which comes from gato; acite, oil, which comes from aceyte. Do you want Italian? Here is spade, sword, which comes from spada; carvel, boat, which comes from caravella. Do you want English? Here is bichot, which comes from bishop; raille, spy, which comes from rascal, rascalion; pilche, a case, which comes from pilcher, a sheath. Do you want German? Here is the caleur, the waiter, kellner; the hers, the master, herzog (duke). Do you want Latin? Here is frangir, to break, frangere; affurer, to steal, fur; cadene, chain, catena. There is one word which crops up in every language of the continent, with a sort of mysterious power and authority. It is the word magnus; the Scotchman makes of it his mac, which designates the chief of the clan; Mac-Farlane, Mac-Callumore, the great Farlane, the great Callumore; slang turns it into meck and later le meg, that is to say, God. Would you like Basque? Here is gahisto, the devil, which comes from gaïztoa, evil; sorgabon, good night, which comes from gabon, good evening. Do you want Celtic? Here is blavin, a handkerchief, which comes from blavet, gushing water; ménesse, a woman (in a bad sense), which comes from meinec, full of stones; barant, brook, from baranton, fountain; goffeur, locksmith, from goff, blacksmith; guedouze, death, which comes from guenn-du, black-white. Finally, would you like history? Slang calls crowns les maltèses, a souvenir of the coin in circulation on the galleys of Malta.

你想要西班牙语吗？古老的哥特式俚语中充满了它。比如boffete,耳光,来自bofeton；vantane,窗户（后来变成vanterne）,来自vantana；gat,猫,来自gato；acite,油,来自aceyte。你想要意大利语吗？比如spade,剑,来自spada；carvel,船,来自caravella。你想要英语吗？比如bichot,来自bishop（主教）；raille,间谍,来自rascal（流氓）；pilche,匣子,来自pilcher（鞘）。你想要德语吗？比如caleur,侍者,来自kellner；hers,主人,来自herzog（公爵）。你想要拉丁语吗？比如frangir,打破,来自frangere；affurer,偷窃,来自fur；cadene,链条,来自catena。有一个词以某种神秘的力量和权威出现在欧洲大陆的每种语言中。这个词就是magnus；苏格兰人把它变成mac,用来指代部落首领；Mac-Farlane、Mac-Callumore,即伟大的Farlane、伟大的Callumore；俚语把它变成meck,后来变成le meg,也就是上帝。你想要巴斯克语吗？比如gahisto,魔鬼,来自gaïztoa,邪恶；sorgabon,晚安,来自gabon,晚上好。你想要凯尔特语吗？比如blavin,手帕,来自blavet,涌出的水；ménesse,女人（贬义）,来自meinec,多石的；barant,小溪,来自baranton,泉水；goffeur,锁匠,来自goff,铁匠；guedouze,死亡,来自guenn-du,黑-白。最后,你想要历史吗？俚语把王冠叫做les maltèses,这是对马耳他苦役犯监狱中流通钱币的纪念。

🔊

authority /ɔːˈθɒrəti/

n. 权威；权力➕

🔊

clan /klæn/

n. 氏族；宗族➕

🔊

circulation /ˌsɜːkjəˈleɪʃən/

n. 流通；循环➕

🔊 In addition to the philological origins just indicated, slang possesses other and still more natural roots, which spring, so to speak, from the mind of man itself.

除了刚刚指出的语源起源,俚语还有其他更自然的根源,可以说,这些根源源于人类心智本身。

🔊

philological /ˌfɪləˈlɒdʒɪkl/

adj. 语文学的；语言学的➕

🔊

origins /ˈɒrɪdʒɪnz/

n. 起源；源头➕

🔊

possesses /pəˈzɛsɪz/

v. 拥有；具有（第三人称单数）➕

🔊 In the first place, the direct creation of words. Therein lies the mystery of tongues. To paint with words, which contains figures one knows not how or why, is the primitive foundation of all human languages, what may be called their granite.

首先,是词语的直接创造。其中蕴含着语言的奥秘。用词语作画,其中包含着不知如何也不知为何的形象,这是所有人类语言的原始基础,可以说是它们的基石。

🔊

primitive /ˈprɪmɪtɪv/

adj. 原始的；基础的➕

🔊

foundation /faʊnˈdeɪʃn/

n. 基础；根基➕

🔊

granite /ˈɡrænɪt/

n. 花岗岩；坚硬之物➕

🔊 Slang abounds in words of this description, immediate words, words created instantaneously no one knows either where or by whom, without etymology, without analogies, without derivatives, solitary, barbarous, sometimes hideous words, which at times possess a singular power of expression and which live. The executioner, le taule; the forest, le sabri; fear, flight, taf; the lackey, le larbin; the mineral, the prefect, the minister, pharos; the devil, le rabouin. Nothing is stranger than these words which both mask and reveal. Some, le rabouin, for example, are at the same time grotesque and terrible, and produce on you the effect of a cyclopean grimace.

俚语充满这类词语--直接词语,即兴创造的、无人知道何处或由谁创造的词,没有词源,没有类比,没有派生,孤独、野蛮、有时丑陋,却往往具有奇特的表达力,并且存活下来。刽子手:le taule；森林:le sabri；恐惧、逃跑:taf；仆人:le larbin；矿物、省长、部长:pharos；魔鬼:le rabouin。没有什么比这些既掩盖又揭示的词语更奇特了。有些,比如le rabouin,既怪诞又可怕,给你一种独眼巨人鬼脸的感觉。

🔊

etymology /ˌetɪˈmɒlədʒi/

n. 词源学；词源➕

🔊

solitary /ˈsɒlətri/

adj. 孤独的；唯一的➕

🔊

grotesque /ɡrəʊˈtesk/

adj. 怪诞的；奇形怪状的➕

🔊 In the second place, metaphor. The peculiarity of a language which is desirous of saying all yet concealing all is that it is rich in figures. Metaphor is an enigma, wherein the thief who is plotting a stroke, the prisoner who is arranging an escape, take refuge. No idiom is more metaphorical than slang: dévisser le coco (to unscrew the nut), to twist the neck; tortiller (to wriggle), to eat; être gerbé, to be tried; a rat, a bread thief; il lansquine, it rains, a striking, ancient figure which partly bears its date about it, which assimilates long oblique lines of rain, with the dense and slanting pikes of the lancers, and which compresses into a single word the popular expression: it rains halberds. Sometimes, in proportion as slang progresses from the first epoch to the second, words pass from the primitive and savage sense to the metaphorical sense. The devil ceases to be le rabouin, and becomes le boulanger (the baker), who puts the bread into the oven. This is more witty, but less grand, something like Racine after Corneille, like Euripides after Aeschylus. Certain slang phrases which participate in the two epochs and have at once the barbaric character and the metaphorical character resemble phantasmagories. Les sorgueuers vont solliciter des gails à la lune-the prowlers are going to steal horses by night-this passes before the mind like a group of spectres. One knows not what one sees.

其次,是隐喻。一门想要说出一切又隐藏一切的语言的特点,就是充满形象。隐喻是一个谜,策划行动的窃贼、安排越狱的囚犯在其中寻求庇护。没有哪种习语比俚语更具隐喻性:dévisser le coco（旋开螺帽）,扭断脖子；tortiller（扭动）,吃；être gerbé,受审；rat,偷面包的贼；il lansquine,下雨,一个引人注目的古老形象,某种程度上带有其时代的印记,它将雨水的长斜线与长矛兵密集倾斜的长矛相类比,并将通俗说法“下着戟雨”压缩成一个词。有时,随着俚语从第一个时期演进到第二个时期,词汇从原始野蛮的意义过渡到隐喻意义。魔鬼不再是le rabouin,而变成le boulanger（面包师）,他把面包放进炉子。这更机智,但不够宏大,有点像拉辛之于高乃依,欧里庇得斯之于埃斯库罗斯。某些兼有这两个时期特征、同时具有野蛮和隐喻性质的俚语短语,如同幻景。Les sorgueuers vont solliciter des gails à la lune--夜游者将在夜间偷马--这就像一群幽灵从脑海中掠过。你不知道你看见的是什么。

🔊

metaphor /ˈmetəfə/

n. 隐喻；比喻➕

🔊

enigma /ɪˈnɪɡmə/

n. 谜；费解的事物➕

🔊

savage /ˈsævɪdʒ/

adj. 野蛮的；凶猛的➕

🔊 In the third place, the expedient. Slang lives on the language. It uses it in accordance with its fancy, it dips into it haphazard, and it often confines itself, when occasion arises, to alter it in a gross and summary fashion. Occasionally, with the ordinary words thus deformed and complicated with words of pure slang, picturesque phrases are formed, in which there can be felt the mixture of the two preceding elements, the direct creation and the metaphor: le cab jaspine, je marronne que la roulotte de Pantin trime dans le sabri, the dog is barking, I suspect that the diligence for Paris is passing through the woods. Le dab est sinve, la dabuge est merloussière, la fée est bative, the bourgeois is stupid, the bourgeoise is cunning, the daughter is pretty. Generally, to throw listeners off the track, slang confines itself to adding to all the words of the language without distinction, an ignoble tail, a termination in aille, in orgue, in iergue, or in uche. Thus: Vousiergue trouvaille bonorgue ce gigotmuche? Do you think that leg of mutton good? A phrase addressed by Cartouche to a turnkey in order to find out whether the sum offered for his escape suited him.

第三,是权宜之计。俚语依靠语言生存。它随心所欲地使用语言,随意涉猎,并且常常在必要时以粗糙而简单的方式改变语言。有时,普通词汇被这样变形,并混入纯粹的俚语词汇,形成生动的短语,其中可以感受到前两个元素--直接创造和隐喻--的混合:le cab jaspine, je marronne que la roulotte de Pantin trime dans le sabri（狗在叫,我疑心往巴黎的驿车正在穿过树林）。Le dab est sinve, la dabuge est merloussière, la fée est bative（老板是笨蛋,老板娘是狡猾的,女儿是漂亮的）。通常,为了迷惑听者,俚语不加区分地给语言中所有词汇添加上一个卑贱的尾巴,一种以aille、orgue、iergue或uche结尾的形式。比如:Vousiergue trouvaille bonorgue ce gigotmuche?（你觉得这块羊腿好吗？）这是卡杜什对看守说的一句话,想弄清楚为他越狱提出的价钱是否合适。

🔊

expedient /ɪkˈspiːdiənt/

n. 权宜之计；手段➕

🔊

haphazard /ˌhæpˈhæzəd/

adj. 随意的；乱七八糟的➕

🔊

picturesque /ˌpɪktʃəˈresk/

adj. 风景如画的；生动的➕

🔊 The termination in mar has been added recently.

以mar结尾的形式是最近才添加的。

🔊 Slang, being the dialect of corruption, quickly becomes corrupted itself. Besides this, as it is always seeking concealment, as soon as it feels that it is understood, it changes its form. Contrary to what happens with every other vegetation, every ray of light which falls upon it kills whatever it touches. Thus slang is in constant process of decomposition and recomposition; an obscure and rapid work which never pauses. It passes over more ground in ten years than a language in ten centuries. Thus le larton (bread) becomes le lartif; le gail (horse) becomes le gaye; la fertanche (straw) becomes la fertille; le momignard (brat), le momacque; les fiques (duds), frusques; la chique (the church), l’égrugeoir; le colabre (neck), le colas. The devil is at first, gahisto, then le rabouin, then the baker; the priest is a ratichon, then the boar (le sanglier); the dagger is le vingt-deux (twenty-two), then le surin, then le lingre; the police are railles, then roussins, then rousses, then marchands de lacets (dealers in stay-laces), then coquers, then cognes; the executioner is le taule, then Charlot, l’atigeur, then le becquillard. In the seventeenth century, to fight was "to give each other snuff;" in the nineteenth it is "to chew each other’s throats." There have been twenty different phrases between these two extremes. Cartouche’s talk would have been Hebrew to Lacenaire. All the words of this language are perpetually engaged in flight like the men who utter them.

俚语作为腐败的方言,自身也迅速腐败。此外,由于它总是在寻求隐藏,一旦感到被理解,它就会改变形式。与任何其他植物相反,每一束落在它上面的光线都会杀死它所触及的一切。于是俚语不断分解与重组,一种隐晦而快速的工作,永不停歇。它十年内走过的路程,比一种语言十个世纪走过的还要多。因此,le larton（面包）变成le lartif；le gail（马）变成le gaye；la fertanche（稻草）变成la fertille；le momignard（小孩）变成le momacque；les fiques（衣服）变成frusques；la chique（教堂）变成l'égrugeoir；le colabre（脖子）变成le colas。魔鬼先是gahisto,然后le rabouin,再后来是面包师；神父是ratichon,然后是野猪（le sanglier）；匕首是le vingt-deux（二十二）,然后le surin,再然后le lingre；警察是railles,然后是roussins,再是rousses,再是marchands de lacets（鞋带商）,然后coquers,然后cognes；刽子手是le taule,然后是Charlot,l'atigeur,再是le becquillard。十七世纪,打架是“互相递鼻烟”；十九世纪是“互相咬喉咙”。这两个极端之间,有过二十种不同的说法。卡杜什的话对拉塞奈尔来说简直是天书。这种语言的所有词语都像说出它们的人一样,永远在逃亡。

🔊

corruption /kəˈrʌpʃn/

n. 腐败；堕落➕

🔊

decomposition /ˌdiːkɒmpəˈzɪʃn/

n. 分解；腐朽➕

🔊

obscure /əbˈskjʊə/

adj. 模糊的；晦涩的➕

🔊 Still, from time to time, and in consequence of this very movement, the ancient slang crops up again and becomes new once more. It has its headquarters where it maintains its sway. The Temple preserved the slang of the seventeenth century; Bicêtre, when it was a prison, preserved the slang of Thunes. There one could hear the termination in anche of the old Thuneurs. Boyanches-tu (bois-tu), do you drink? But perpetual movement remains its law, nevertheless.

然而,由于这种运动,古老的俚语时不时又会重新出现,再次焕然一新。它有自己维持统治的大本营。圣殿区保留了十七世纪的俚语；比塞特在它曾是监狱的时候,保留了土讷斯的俚语。在那里可以听到老土讷斯人以anche结尾的词语。Boyanches-tu（bois-tu）,你喝吗？但永恒的运动仍然是它的法则。

🔊

perpetual /pəˈpetʃuəl/

adj. 永久的；不断的➕

🔊

headquarters /ˌhedˈkwɔːtəz/

n. 总部；指挥部➕

🔊

sway /sweɪ/

n. 支配；影响力➕

🔊 If the philosopher succeeds in fixing, for a moment, for purposes of observation, this language which is incessantly evaporating, he falls into doleful and useful meditation. No study is more efficacious and more fecund in instruction. There is not a metaphor, not an analogy, in slang, which does not contain a lesson. Among these men, to beat means to feign; one beats a malady; ruse is their strength.

如果哲学家能够为了观察而暂时固定这种不断蒸发的语言,他就会陷入悲伤而有益的沉思。没有比这更有效、更富有教益的研究了。俚语中的每一个隐喻、每一个类比,都包含着教训。在这些人的语言中,“打”意味着“假装”；他们“装”一场病；狡诈是他们的力量。

🔊

philosopher /fɪˈlɒsəfə/

n. 哲学家➕

🔊

incessantly /ɪnˈsesəntli/

adv. 不停地；持续地➕

🔊

feign /feɪn/

v. 假装；捏造➕

🔊 For them, the idea of the man is not separated from the idea of darkness. The night is called la sorgue; man, l’orgue. Man is a derivative of the night.

对他们来说,人的概念与黑暗的概念不可分离。夜晚被称为la sorgue；人被称为l'orgue。人是夜晚的派生词。

🔊

derivative /dɪˈrɪvətɪv/

n. 派生词；衍生物➕

🔊 They have taken up the practice of considering society in the light of an atmosphere which kills them, of a fatal force, and they speak of their liberty as one would speak of his health. A man under arrest is a "sick man;" one who is condemned is a "dead man."

他们习惯于把社会看作一种杀死他们的大气、一种致命的力量,他们谈起自己的自由就像一个人谈起自己的健康。被捕的人是“病人”；被判刑的人是“死人”。

🔊

atmosphere /ˈætməsfɪr/

n. 氛围；大气层➕

🔊

fatal /ˈfeɪtl/

adj. 致命的；毁灭性的➕

🔊

liberty /ˈlɪbərti/

n. 自由➕

🔊

arrest /əˈrɛst/

n. 逮捕；拘捕➕

🔊

condemned /kənˈdɛmd/

adj. 被定罪的；被判刑的➕

🔊 The most terrible thing for the prisoner within the four walls in which he is buried, is a sort of glacial chastity, and he calls the dungeon the castus. In that funereal place, life outside always presents itself under its most smiling aspect. The prisoner has irons on his feet; you think, perhaps, that his thought is that it is with the feet that one walks? No; he is thinking that it is with the feet that one dances; so, when he has succeeded in severing his fetters, his first idea is that now he can dance, and he calls the saw the bastringue (public-house ball).-A name is a centre; profound assimilation.-The ruffian has two heads, one of which reasons out his actions and leads him all his life long, and the other which he has upon his shoulders on the day of his death; he calls the head which counsels him in crime la sorbonne, and the head which expiates it la tronche.-When a man has no longer anything but rags upon his body and vices in his heart, when he has arrived at that double moral and material degradation which the word blackguard characterizes in its two acceptations, he is ripe for crime; he is like a well-whetted knife; he has two cutting edges, his distress and his malice; so slang does not say a blackguard, it says un réguisé.-What are the galleys? A brazier of damnation, a hell. The convict calls himself a fagot.-And finally, what name do malefactors give to their prison? The college. A whole penitentiary system can be evolved from that word.

对囚禁在四壁之中的囚犯来说,最可怕的事情是一种冰冷的贞洁,他把地牢叫做castus。在那个阴森的地方,外面的生活总是呈现出最微笑的面貌。囚犯脚上戴着镣铐；你也许以为他会想:脚是用来走路的？不；他想的是脚是用来跳舞的；因此,当他成功切断镣铐时,他的第一个念头就是现在可以跳舞了,他把锯子叫做bastringue（酒馆舞会）。--名称是一个中心；深刻的同化。--恶棍有两个头,一个用来推理他的行动并引导他的一生,另一个在他死的那天扛在肩上；他把在犯罪中给他出主意的头叫做la sorbonne,把赎罪的头叫做la tronche。--当一个人身上只剩下破衣烂衫,心里只剩下恶习,当他达到了那种道德与物质的双重堕落--这正是“无赖”一词所包含的两种含义--他就准备好犯罪了；他像一把磨得锋利的刀；他有两个锋刃:他的困苦和他的恶意；所以俚语不说“无赖”,而说un réguisé。--苦役犯监狱是什么？一个诅咒的熔炉,一个地狱。苦役犯自称fagot。--最后,罪犯们给他们的监狱起什么名字？学院。从那个词可以衍生出一整套监狱制度。

🔊

glacial /ˈɡleɪʃəl/

adj. 冰的；冰冷的；冷淡的➕

🔊

chastity /ˈtʃæstɪti/

n. 贞洁；纯洁➕

🔊

dungeon /ˈdʌndʒən/

n. 地牢➕

🔊

funereal /fjuːˈnɪriəl/

adj. 葬礼的；阴森的➕

🔊

severing /ˈsɛvərɪŋ/

v. 切断；断绝➕

🔊

fetters /ˈfɛtərz/

n. 脚镣；束缚➕

🔊

assimilation /əˌsɪmɪˈleɪʃən/

n. 同化；吸收➕

🔊

ruffian /ˈrʌfiən/

n. 恶棍；暴徒➕

🔊

counsels /ˈkaʊnsəlz/

v. 劝告；建议（第三人称单数）➕

🔊

expiates /ˈɛkspiˌeɪts/

v. 赎罪；弥补（第三人称单数）➕

🔊

vices /ˈvaɪsɪz/

n. 恶习；堕落（复数）➕

🔊

degradation /ˌdɛɡrəˈdeɪʃən/

n. 降级；堕落；退化➕

🔊

blackguard /ˈblæɡɑːrd/

n. 恶棍；无赖➕

🔊

characterizes /ˈkærɪktəraɪzɪz/

v. 刻画……的性格；描述（第三人称单数）➕

🔊

acceptations /ˌæksɛpˈteɪʃənz/

n. 含义；词义（复数）➕

🔊

well-whetted /ˌwɛl ˈwɛtɪd/

adj. 磨得锋利的➕

🔊

distress /dɪˈstrɛs/

n. 痛苦；困境➕

🔊

malice /ˈmælɪs/

n. 恶意；怨恨➕

🔊

brazier /ˈbreɪʒər/

n. 火盆；炭盆➕

🔊

damnation /dæmˈneɪʃən/

n. 诅咒；毁灭➕

🔊

convict /kənˈvɪkt/

n. 囚犯；罪犯➕

🔊

fagot /ˈfæɡət/

n. 柴把；束薪（此处指囚犯的自我称呼）➕

🔊

malefactors /ˈmælɪfæktərz/

n. 犯罪分子；作恶者（复数）➕

🔊

penitentiary /ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəri/

n. 监狱；教养所➕

🔊

evolved /ɪˈvɑːlvd/

v. 进化；发展（过去分词）➕

🔊 Does the reader wish to know where the majority of the songs of the galleys, those refrains called in the special vocabulary lirlonfa, have had their birth?

读者是否想知道,大多数苦役犯监狱的歌曲--在特殊词汇中被称为lirlonfa的那些副歌--诞生于何处？

🔊

majority /məˈdʒɔːrɪti/

n. 大多数；多数➕

🔊

refrains /rɪˈfreɪnz/

n. 副歌；重复句（复数）➕

🔊

vocabulary /vəˈkæbjələri/

n. 词汇；词汇量➕

🔊 Let him listen to what follows:-

请听以下内容--

🔊 There existed at the Châtelet in Paris a large and long cellar. This cellar was eight feet below the level of the Seine. It had neither windows nor air-holes, its only aperture was the door; men could enter there, air could not. This vault had for ceiling a vault of stone, and for floor ten inches of mud. It was flagged; but the pavement had rotted and cracked under the oozing of the water. Eight feet above the floor, a long and massive beam traversed this subterranean excavation from side to side; from this beam hung, at short distances apart, chains three feet long, and at the end of these chains there were rings for the neck. In this vault, men who had been condemned to the galleys were incarcerated until the day of their departure for Toulon. They were thrust under this beam, where each one found his fetters swinging in the darkness and waiting for him.

在巴黎的夏特莱监狱里,有一个又大又长的地窖。这个地窖低于塞纳河河面八英尺。它既没有窗户也没有通风孔,唯一的开口是门；人可以进去,空气却进不去。这个拱顶的顶是石拱顶,地面是十英寸厚的烂泥。它铺过石板；但石板在渗水作用下已经腐烂开裂。离地面八英尺高处,一根又长又粗的横梁横贯这个地下洞穴的两边；横梁上每隔不远就挂着三英尺长的铁链,铁链末端是套脖子的铁环。在这个地窖里,那些被判了苦役犯监狱的人被关押着,直到他们出发前往土伦的那一天。他们被推到横梁下面,每个人都在黑暗中看到自己的镣铐在晃荡,等着他们。

🔊

cellar /ˈsɛlər/

n. 地窖；地下室➕

🔊

aperture /ˈæpərtʃər/

n. 孔；开口➕

🔊

vault /vɔːlt/

n. 拱顶室；地下室；保险库➕

🔊

oozing /ˈuːzɪŋ/

v. 渗出；泄漏（现在分词）➕

🔊

massive /ˈmæsɪv/

adj. 巨大的；大量的➕

🔊

beam /biːm/

n. 梁；横梁➕

🔊

traversed /trəˈvɜːrst/

v. 横穿；穿越（过去式）➕

🔊

excavation /ˌɛkskəˈveɪʃən/

n. 挖掘；洞穴➕

🔊

incarcerated /ɪnˈkɑːrsəreɪtɪd/

v. 监禁；关押（过去分词）➕

🔊

departure /dɪˈpɑːrtʃər/

n. 离开；出发➕

🔊 The chains, those pendant arms, and the necklets, those open hands, caught the unhappy wretches by the throat. They were rivetted and left there. As the chain was too short, they could not lie down. They remained motionless in that cavern, in that night, beneath that beam, almost hanging, forced to unheard-of efforts to reach their bread, jug, or their vault overhead, mud even to mid-leg, filth flowing to their very calves, broken asunder with fatigue, with thighs and knees giving way, clinging fast to the chain with their hands in order to obtain some rest, unable to sleep except when standing erect, and awakened every moment by the strangling of the collar; some woke no more. In order to eat, they pushed the bread, which was flung to them in the mud, along their leg with their heel until it reached their hand.

铁链,那悬垂的手臂；颈圈,那伸开的手掌,掐住了不幸者的喉咙。他们被铐上,留在那里。由于铁链太短,他们无法躺下。他们一动不动地待在那个洞穴里,在黑暗中,在横梁下,几乎悬吊着,被迫做出闻所未闻的努力去够到他们的面包、水罐或是头顶的拱顶,泥浆淹到腿肚,污秽流到小腿,因疲劳而四分五裂,大腿和膝盖撑不住,用手紧紧抓住铁链以求片刻休息,只有在站立时才能入睡,每时每刻都会被颈圈勒醒；有些人再也没有醒来。为了吃东西,他们用脚后跟把扔在泥里的面包顺着腿推上去,直到手能够到。

🔊

pendant /ˈpɛndənt/

adj. 下垂的；悬垂的➕

🔊

necklets /ˈnɛklɪts/

n. 颈圈；项链（复数）➕

🔊

wretches /ˈrɛtʃɪz/

n. 可怜的人；不幸的人（复数）➕

🔊

rivetted /ˈrɪvɪtɪd/

v. 铆接；固定（过去分词,也可拼写为riveted）➕

🔊

motionless /ˈmoʊʃənləs/

adj. 不动的；静止的➕

🔊

cavern /ˈkævərn/

n. 大洞穴；山洞➕

🔊

unheard-of /ʌnˈhɜːrd ʌv/

adj. 前所未闻的；空前的➕

🔊

filth /fɪlθ/

n. 污秽；肮脏➕

🔊

asunder /əˈsʌndər/

adv. 分开；成碎片➕

🔊

fatigue /fəˈtiːɡ/

n. 疲劳；疲乏➕

🔊

erect /ɪˈrɛkt/

adj. 直立的；竖直的➕

🔊

strangling /ˈstræŋɡlɪŋ/

v. 扼杀；窒息（现在分词）➕

🔊 How long did they remain thus? One month, two months, six months sometimes; one stayed a year. It was the antechamber of the galleys. Men were put there for stealing a hare from the king. In this sepulchre-hell, what did they do? What man can do in a sepulchre, they went through the agonies of death, and what can man do in hell, they sang; for song lingers where there is no longer any hope. In the waters of Malta, when a galley was approaching, the song could be heard before the sound of the oars. Poor Survincent, the poacher, who had gone through the prison-cellar of the Châtelet, said: "It was the rhymes that kept me up." Uselessness of poetry. What is the good of rhyme?

他们就这样待了多久？一个月,两个月,有时六个月；有人待了一年。这是苦役犯监狱的前厅。人们因为偷了国王的野兔就被关在那里。在这个坟墓般的地狱里,他们做什么？人在坟墓里能做的事--他们经历死亡的痛苦；人在地狱里能做的事--他们唱歌；因为在没有希望的地方,歌声还会逗留。在马耳他的海域,当一艘苦役船靠近时,在听到桨声之前就能听到歌声。可怜的苏尔文森特,那个偷猎者,曾经待过夏特莱监狱的地下室,他说:“是韵律支撑着我。”诗歌的无用。韵律有什么用？

🔊

antechamber /ˈæntitʃeɪmbər/

n. 前厅；接待室➕

🔊

sepulchre /ˈsɛpəlkər/

n. 坟墓；埋葬地➕

🔊

lingers /ˈlɪŋɡərz/

v. 逗留；徘徊（第三人称单数）➕

🔊

agonies /ˈæɡəniz/

n. 极度痛苦；挣扎（复数）➕

🔊

oars /ɔːrz/

n. 桨（复数）➕

🔊

poacher /ˈpoʊtʃər/

n. 偷猎者；侵入者➕

🔊

uselessness /ˈjuːsləsnəs/

n. 无用；无价值➕

🔊

galley /ˈɡæli/

n. 单层甲板大帆船（单数）➕

🔊 It is in this cellar that nearly all the slang songs had their birth. It is from the dungeon of the Grand-Châtelet of Paris that comes the melancholy refrain of the Montgomery galley: "Timaloumisaine, timaloumison." The majority of these songs are melancholy; some are gay; one is tender:- Icicaille est la theatre Du petit dardant.

几乎所有的俚语歌曲都诞生在这个地窖里。从巴黎大夏特莱监狱的地牢里,传来了蒙哥马利苦役船那忧郁的副歌:“Timaloumisaine, timaloumison。”这些歌曲大部分是忧郁的；有些是欢快的；有一首是温柔的:--Icicaille est la theatre Du petit dardant。

🔊

melancholy /ˈmɛlənkɑːli/

adj. 忧郁的；悲伤的➕

🔊

refrain /rɪˈfreɪn/

n. 副歌；重复句（单数）➕

🔊 Do what you will, you cannot annihilate that eternal relic in the heart of man, love.

不管你做什么,你都无法消灭人类心中那个永恒的遗物--爱情。

🔊

annihilate /əˈnaɪəleɪt/

v. 消灭；毁灭➕

🔊

eternal /ɪˈtɜːrnl/

adj. 永恒的；永久的➕

🔊

relic /ˈrɛlɪk/

n. 遗迹；遗物➕

🔊 In this world of dismal deeds, people keep their secrets. The secret is the thing above all others. The secret, in the eyes of these wretches, is unity which serves as a base of union. To betray a secret is to tear from each member of this fierce community something of his own personality. To inform against, in the energetic slang dialect, is called: "to eat the bit." As though the informer drew to himself a little of the substance of all and nourished himself on a bit of each one’s flesh.

在这个阴郁行动的世界里,人们保守着他们的秘密。秘密是高于一切的东西。在这些不幸者眼中,秘密是团结的基础。背叛秘密,就是从这群凶悍之人的每个成员身上撕走一部分自我。告密,在有力的俚语方言中,被称为“啃那一口”。仿佛告密者从所有人身上吸取了一点实质,用每个成员的一小块肉来滋养自己。

🔊

dismal /ˈdɪzməl/

adj. 阴沉的；凄凉的➕

🔊

unity /ˈjuːnɪti/

n. 团结；统一➕

🔊

betray /bɪˈtreɪ/

v. 背叛；泄露➕

🔊

fierce /fɪrs/

adj. 凶猛的；激烈的➕

🔊

personality /ˌpɜːrsəˈnælɪti/

n. 人格；个性➕

🔊

inform /ɪnˈfɔːrm/

v. 告发；通知➕

🔊

energetic /ˌɛnərˈdʒɛtɪk/

adj. 精力充沛的；有力的➕

🔊

dialect /ˈdaɪəlɛkt/

n. 方言；行话➕

🔊

informer /ɪnˈfɔːrmər/

n. 告密者；线人➕

🔊

substance /ˈsʌbstəns/

n. 实质；物质➕

🔊

nourished /ˈnʌrɪʃt/

v. 滋养；给……营养（过去分词）➕

🔊 What does it signify to receive a box on the ear? Commonplace metaphor replies: "It is to see thirty-six candles." Here slang intervenes and takes it up: Candle, camoufle. Thereupon, the ordinary tongue gives camouflet as the synonym for soufflet. Thus, by a sort of infiltration from below upwards, with the aid of metaphor, that incalculable, trajectory slang mounts from the cavern to the Academy; and Poulailler saying: "I light my camoufle," causes Voltaire to write: "Langleviel La Beaumelle deserves a hundred camouflets."

挨一记耳光意味着什么？普通的隐喻回答:“看见三十六根蜡烛。”这时俚语介入并接过来:蜡烛,camoufle。于是,普通语言就把camouflet当作扇耳光的同义词。就这样,通过一种自下而上的渗透,借助隐喻,那不可估量的轨迹--俚语--从洞穴上升到法兰西学院；普莱耶说:“我点燃我的camoufle”,促使伏尔泰写道:“朗勒维厄·拉博梅尔该挨一百个camouflet。”

🔊

signify /ˈsɪɡnɪfaɪ/

v. 表示；意味着➕

🔊

Commonplace /ˈkɑːmənpleɪs/

adj. 平凡的；陈腐的（注意首字母大写）➕

🔊

intervenes /ˌɪntərˈviːnz/

v. 干涉；介入（第三人称单数）➕

🔊

thereupon /ˌðɛrəˈpɒn/

adv. 于是；随即➕

🔊

camouflet /kæmuˈfleɪ/

n. 一种侮辱；打击（法语借词）➕

🔊

synonym /ˈsɪnənɪm/

n. 同义词➕

🔊

infiltration /ˌɪnfɪlˈtreɪʃən/

n. 渗透；渗入➕

🔊

incalculable /ɪnˈkælkjələbəl/

adj. 不可估量的；数不清的➕

🔊

trajectory /trəˈdʒɛktəri/

n. 轨迹；弹道➕

🔊

Academy /əˈkædəmi/

n. 学会；学院（首字母大写）➕

🔊

deserves /dɪˈzɜːrvz/

v. 值得；应得（第三人称单数）➕

🔊 Researches in slang mean discoveries at every step. Study and investigation of this strange idiom lead to the mysterious point of intersection of regular society with society which is accursed.

研究俚语意味着每一步都会有发现。对这种陌生习语的研究与调查,通向常规社会与被诅咒社会相交的神秘交点。

🔊

Researches /rɪˈsɜːrtʃɪz/

v. 研究（第三人称单数,首字母大写）➕

🔊

discoveries /dɪˈskʌvəriz/

n. 发现（复数）➕

🔊

investigation /ɪnˌvɛstɪˈɡeɪʃən/

n. 调查；研究➕

🔊

idiom /ˈɪdiəm/

n. 习语；方言➕

🔊

mysterious /mɪˈstɪriəs/

adj. 神秘的➕

🔊

intersection /ˌɪntərˈsɛkʃən/

n. 交叉点；十字路口➕

🔊

accursed /əˈkɜːrsɪd/

adj. 被诅咒的；可恶的➕

🔊 The thief also has his food for cannon, stealable matter, you, I, whoever passes by; le pantre. (Pan, everybody.)

小偷也有他的炮灰,可偷的东西,你、我、每个路过的人；le pantre。（Pan,所有人。）

🔊

cannon /ˈkænən/

n. 大炮；火炮➕

🔊

stealable /ˈstiːləbəl/

adj. 可偷的；易偷的➕

🔊 Slang is language turned convict.

俚语是变成苦役犯的语言。

🔊 That the thinking principle of man be thrust down ever so low, that it can be dragged and pinioned there by obscure tyrannies of fatality, that it can be bound by no one knows what fetters in that abyss, is sufficient to create consternation.

人类的思想原则被压制到如此之低,被命运的阴暗暴虐拖曳并束缚在那里,在那个深渊中被无人知晓的镣铐捆绑,这本身就足以令人惊骇。

🔊

thrust /θrʌst/

v. 猛推；刺；插入➕

🔊

pinioned /ˈpɪniənd/

v. 绑住翅膀；束缚➕

🔊

tyrannies /ˈtɪrəniz/

n. 暴政；专制（复数）➕

🔊

fatality /feɪˈtæləti/

n. 死亡事故；宿命➕

🔊

abyss /əˈbɪs/

n. 深渊➕

🔊

consternation /ˌkɑːnstərˈneɪʃn/

n. 惊愕；惊恐➕

🔊 Oh, poor thought of miserable wretches!

啊,可怜的不幸者的思想！

🔊

miserable /ˈmɪzərəbl/

adj. 悲惨的；痛苦的➕

🔊 Alas! will no one come to the succor of the human soul in that darkness? Is it her destiny there to await forever the mind, the liberator, the immense rider of Pegasi and hippogriffs, the combatant of heroes of the dawn who shall descend from the azure between two wings, the radiant knight of the future? Will she forever summon in vain to her assistance the lance of light of the ideal? Is she condemned to hear the fearful approach of Evil through the density of the gulf, and to catch glimpses, nearer and nearer at hand, beneath the hideous water of that dragon’s head, that maw streaked with foam, and that writhing undulation of claws, swellings, and rings? Must it remain there, without a gleam of light, without hope, given over to that terrible approach, vaguely scented out by the monster, shuddering, dishevelled, wringing its arms, forever chained to the rock of night, a sombre Andromeda white and naked amid the shadows!

唉！难道就没有人来拯救那黑暗中的灵魂吗？它的命运就是永远在那里等待心智,等待解放者,等待那骑乘珀伽索斯和鹰头马身兽的巨神,那从两翼之间苍天下来的黎明英雄,那未来的光辉骑士？它是否永远徒劳地召唤理想的圣光之枪？它是否注定要透过深渊的密度听到邪恶的可怖逼近,并瞥见那越来越近的、龙首下丑恶的水面,那泡沫纵横的大口,以及那爪子、肿胀和环圈的蠕动起伏？它必须留在那里,没有一丝光亮,没有希望,任凭那可怕逼近,被怪物隐约嗅出,战栗着,披头散发,扭绞着双臂,永远锁在黑夜的岩石上,一个阴沉黑暗中的苍白裸体的安德洛墨达？

🔊

succor /ˈsʌkər/

n. 援助；救助➕

🔊

destiny /ˈdestəni/

n. 命运；天命➕

🔊

liberator /ˈlɪbəreɪtər/

n. 解放者➕

🔊

immense /ɪˈmens/

adj. 巨大的；极大的➕

🔊

Pegasi /ˈpeɡəsaɪ/

n. 佩加索斯（飞马）（复数）➕

🔊

hippogriffs /ˈhɪpəɡrɪfs/

n. 鹰首马身怪（复数）➕

🔊

combatant /ˈkɑːmbətənt/

n. 战斗人员；斗士➕

🔊

azure /ˈæʒər/

n. 天蓝色；蔚蓝➕

🔊

radiant /ˈreɪdiənt/

adj. 容光焕发的；光芒四射的➕

🔊

lance /læns/

n. 长矛；标枪➕

🔊

hideous /ˈhɪdiəs/

adj. 极其丑陋的；可怕的➕

🔊

maw /mɔː/

n. （动物的）嘴；咽喉➕

🔊

writhing /ˈraɪðɪŋ/

adj. 扭动的；翻滚的➕

🔊

undulation /ˌʌndʒʊˈleɪʃn/

n. 波动；起伏➕

🔊

dishevelled /dɪˈʃevld/

adj. 凌乱的；不整洁的➕

🔊

wringing /ˈrɪŋɪŋ/

v. 扭动；绞（手）➕

🔊

Andromeda /ænˈdrɑːmɪdə/

n. 安德洛墨达（希腊神话中埃塞俄比亚公主）➕

Book VII. Slang – Chapter two: Roots (第二章:根源)

🔒 使用该功能需要授权码