🔊 My lady's tongue is like the meadow blades, That cut you stroking them with idle hand. Nice cutting is her function: she divides With spiritual edge the millet-seed, And makes intangible savings.

我夫人的舌头就像草地上的叶片,若你闲来抚弄,便会划伤手指。她的本领在于切割:用精神的利刃将小米粒一分为二,还做出无形的节省。

🔊

meadow /ˈmedəʊ/

n. 草地,牧场➕

🔊

idle /ˈaɪdəl/

adj. 闲置的；懒惰的➕

🔊

spiritual /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəl/

adj. 精神的；心灵的；宗教的➕

🔊

intangible /ɪnˈtændʒəbəl/

adj. 无形的；难以捉摸的➕

🔊 As Mr. Casaubon's carriage was passing out of the gateway, it arrested the entrance of a pony phaeton driven by a lady with a servant seated behind. It was doubtful whether the recognition had been mutual, for Mr. Casaubon was looking absently before him; but the lady was quick-eyed, and threw a nod and a "How do you do?" in the nick of time. In spite of her shabby bonnet and very old Indian shawl, it was plain that the lodge-keeper regarded her as an important personage, from the low curtsy which was dropped on the entrance of the small phaeton.

当卡索邦先生的马车正要驶出大门时,恰好挡住了一辆由一位女士驾驶、身后坐着仆人的小马车的入口。不知二人是否认出了对方,因为卡索邦先生正茫然地望着前方；但那女士眼尖,及时点了点头,说了声“你好吗？”尽管她戴着破旧的软帽,披着很老的印度披肩,门房在马车进门时深深行了个屈膝礼,显然把她当成了重要人物。

🔊

gateway /ˈɡeɪtweɪ/

n. 入口；大门；通道➕

🔊

phaeton /ˈfeɪtən/

n. 四轮轻便马车➕

🔊

mutual /ˈmjuːtʃuəl/

adj. 相互的；共同的➕

🔊

absently /ˈæbsəntli/

adv. 心不在焉地；出神地➕

🔊

shabby /ˈʃæbi/

adj. 破旧的；寒酸的➕

🔊

bonnet /ˈbɒnɪt/

n. （女式）无边帽；发动机罩➕

🔊

shawl /ʃɔːl/

n. 披肩；围巾➕

🔊

personage /ˈpɜːsənɪdʒ/

n. 要人；名人；角色➕

🔊

curtsy /ˈkɜːtsi/

n. （女子）屈膝礼➕

🔊

quick-eyed /ˈkwɪk aɪd/

adj. 眼尖的；目光敏锐的➕

🔊

lodge-keeper /ˈlɒdʒ ˌkiːpə/

n. 门房；看门人➕

🔊 "Well, Mrs. Fitchett, how are your fowls laying now?" said the high-coloured, dark-eyed lady, with the clearest chiselled utterance.

“喂,菲切特太太,你家的鸡现在下蛋怎么样？”那位面色红润、黑眼睛的女士说道,吐字清晰而果断。

🔊

high-coloured /ˈhaɪ ˌkʌləd/

adj. 脸色红润的；色彩鲜艳的➕

🔊

dark-eyed /ˈdɑːrk aɪd/

adj. 黑眼睛的；眼睛深色的➕

🔊

chiselled /ˈtʃɪzəld/

adj. 轮廓分明的；雕刻般的➕

🔊

utterance /ˈʌtərəns/

n. 说话；发声；言辞➕

🔊 "Pretty well for laying, madam, but they've ta'en to eating their eggs: I've no peace o' mind with 'em at all."

“下蛋还行,夫人,可它们开始吃自己的蛋了:我真是一点儿也不放心。”

🔊 "Oh, the cannibals! Better sell them cheap at once. What will you sell them a couple? One can't eat fowls of a bad character at a high price."

“哦,这些吃同类的家伙！不如马上便宜卖掉。你愿意卖一对多少钱？总不能花高价买品行不端的鸡。”

🔊

cannibals /ˈkænɪbəlz/

n. 食人者；同类相食的动物➕

🔊 "Well, madam, half-a-crown: I couldn't let 'em go, not under."

“呃,夫人,半克朗:不能再低了,低于这个价我不卖。”

🔊 "Half-a-crown, these times! Come now--for the Rector's chicken-broth on a Sunday. He has consumed all ours that I can spare. You are half paid with the sermon, Mrs. Fitchett, remember that. Take a pair of tumbler-pigeons for them--little beauties. You must come and see them. You have no tumblers among your pigeons."

“半克朗,这年头！得了吧--为了教区长星期天能喝上鸡汤。我自家的鸡能匀出来的都给他吃了。菲切特太太,别忘了,那布道已经付了你一半的价钱。用一对翻头鸽来换吧--那些小美人儿。你得来看看。你的鸽子群里可没有翻头鸽。”

🔊

Rector /ˈrektə/

n. （某些教区的）教区长；校长➕

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chicken-broth /ˈtʃɪkɪn brɒθ/

n. 鸡汤➕

🔊

consumed /kənˈsjuːmd/

v. 消耗；吃光；充满（感情）➕

🔊

sermon /ˈsɜːmən/

n. 布道；说教➕

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tumbler-pigeons /ˈtʌmblə ˈpɪdʒɪnz/

n. 翻飞鸽（一种会翻跟头的鸽子）➕

🔊

tumblers /ˈtʌmbləz/

n. 翻飞鸽（复数）；翻筋斗者➕

🔊 "Well, madam, Master Fitchett shall go and see 'em after work. He's very hot on new sorts; to oblige you."

“好吧,夫人,让菲切特少爷收工后去看看。他对新品种很上心；算是迁就您。”

🔊

oblige /əˈblaɪdʒ/

v. 迫使；帮忙；使感激➕

🔊 "Oblige me! It will be the best bargain he ever made. A pair of church pigeons for a couple of wicked Spanish fowls that eat their own eggs! Don't you and Fitchett boast too much, that is all!"

“迁就我！这买卖他可是赚大了。一对教堂鸽子换两只吃自家蛋的坏西班牙鸡！你和菲切特别太得意了,就这样！”

🔊

bargain /ˈbɑːɡɪn/

n. 讨价还价；便宜货；协议➕

🔊

wicked /ˈwɪkɪd/

adj. 邪恶的；淘气的；极好的（俚语）➕

🔊

boast /bəʊst/

v. 自夸；以有……而自豪➕

🔊 The phaeton was driven onwards with the last words, leaving Mrs. Fitchett laughing and shaking her head slowly, with an interjectional "Surely, surely!"--from which it might be inferred that she would have found the country-side somewhat duller if the Rector's lady had been less free-spoken and less of a skinflint. Indeed, both the farmers and labourers in the parishes of Freshitt and Tipton would have felt a sad lack of conversation but for the stories about what Mrs. Cadwallader said and did: a lady of immeasurably high birth, descended, as it were, from unknown earls, dim as the crowd of heroic shades--who pleaded poverty, pared down prices, and cut jokes in the most companionable manner, though with a turn of tongue that let you know who she was. Such a lady gave a neighbourliness to both rank and religion, and mitigated the bitterness of uncommuted tithe. A much more exemplary character with an infusion of sour dignity would not have furthered their comprehension of the Thirty-nine Articles, and would have been less socially uniting.

说完最后几句话,马车继续前行,留下菲切特太太摇着头慢慢笑着,嘴里念叨着“真是的,真是的！”--由此可以推断,如果教区长的夫人不是这么嘴快、这么抠门,她觉得这乡下反而会无聊些。事实上,弗雷希特和蒂普顿两个教区的农民和雇工,若不是靠那些关于卡德瓦拉德太太言谈举止的传闻,真会觉得少了谈资:她是一位出身无比高贵、仿佛来自模糊的未知伯爵世家的女士--像英雄的幽灵般朦胧--却以最随和的方式哭穷、砍价、说笑话,只是那说话的口吻让你知道她是谁。这样的女士给等级和宗教都添了份邻里之情,也缓和了未折算什一税的苦楚。一个更有德行却带着酸溜溜的尊严的人物,反而不会让他们更理解《三十九条信纲》,在社会上也没那么有凝聚力。

🔊

interjectional /ˌɪntəˈdʒekʃənəl/

adj. 叹词的；插入语的➕

🔊

inferred /ɪnˈfɜːd/

v. 推断；暗示➕

🔊

free-spoken /ˈfriː ˌspəʊkən/

adj. 直言不讳的；说话坦率的➕

🔊

skinflint /ˈskɪnflɪnt/

n. 吝啬鬼；小气鬼➕

🔊

parishes /ˈpærɪʃɪz/

n. 教区（复数）➕

🔊

immeasurably /ɪˈmeʒərəbli/

adv. 不可估量地；无限地➕

🔊

earls /ɜːlz/

n. 伯爵（复数）➕

🔊

heroic /hɪˈrəʊɪk/

adj. 英雄的；英勇的➕

🔊

shades /ʃeɪdz/

n. 阴影；色调；鬼魂➕

🔊

pleaded /ˈpliːdɪd/

v. 恳求；辩护；以……为理由➕

🔊

pared /peəd/

v. 削皮；削减➕

🔊

companionable /kəmˈpænjənəbəl/

adj. 友善的；好交际的➕

🔊

neighbourliness /ˈneɪbəlinəs/

n. 睦邻友好；人情味➕

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mitigated /ˈmɪtɪɡeɪtɪd/

v. 减轻；缓和➕

🔊

uncommuted /ˌʌnkəˈmjuːtɪd/

adj. 未减免的；未折换的➕

🔊

tithe /taɪð/

n. 什一税（向教会缴纳的十分之一收入）➕

🔊

exemplary /ɪɡˈzempləri/

adj. 模范的；典范的；惩戒性的➕

🔊

infusion /ɪnˈfjuːʒən/

n. 注入；灌输；泡制的饮料➕

🔊

dignity /ˈdɪɡnɪti/

n. 尊严；高贵➕

🔊

furthered /ˈfɜːðəd/

v. 促进；推动➕

🔊

comprehension /ˌkɒmprɪˈhenʃən/

n. 理解；理解力➕

🔊

socially /ˈsəʊʃəli/

adv. 社交上；社会上➕

🔊

uniting /juːˈnaɪtɪŋ/

adj. 联合的；团结的➕

🔊 We mortals, men and women, devour many a disappointment between breakfast and dinner-time; keep back the tears and look a little pale about the lips, and in answer to inquiries say, "Oh, nothing!" Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts--not to hurt others.

我们这些凡人,男男女女,在早餐和晚餐之间不知咽下多少失望；忍住眼泪,嘴唇略显苍白,面对询问只说“哦,没事！”骄傲支撑着我们；而骄傲并非坏事,只要它只促使我们隐藏自己的伤痛--而非伤害他人。

🔊

mortals /ˈmɔːrtlz/

n. 凡人,人类（复数）➕

🔊

devour /dɪˈvaʊə/

v. 吞食；贪婪地读/看➕

🔊

disappointment /ˌdɪsəˈpɔɪntmənt/

n. 失望；沮丧➕

🔊

inquiries /ɪnˈkwaɪəriz/

n. 询问；调查（复数）➕

🔊

urges /ɜːdʒɪz/

v. 催促；强烈要求➕

🔊 More than these trivial damages were making themselves felt by Dorothea and Celia, and the image which Mr. Casaubon had presented to his young bride, as he left her at the door of the library, was that of a man who was full of demands, and quite insensible to the claims of others. He had been absorbed in his own work, and had left her to her own devices. She had expected something else--a certain interest in her thoughts, a certain desire to know what she was thinking. But he had not even asked her what she had been reading. He had only given her a book to read, and had gone away. She felt a little hurt. Celia, too, was not quite comfortable. She had been used to think of her sister as one who would lead a life of remarkable happiness, and now she began to suspect that perhaps it was not so. She watched Dorothea's face, but did not venture to speak.

比这些琐碎的伤害更深的刺痛正被多萝西娅和西莉亚感受着,而卡索邦先生在他离开图书馆门口时留给他的年轻新娘的形象,是一个充满要求、对他人诉求毫无察觉的男人。他沉浸在自己的工作中,把她丢下不管。她本期待别的东西--对她想法的一点关心,一种想知道她在想什么的渴望。但他甚至连她读了什么书都没问。他只给了她一本书去读,然后就走了。她感到有些受伤。西莉亚也不大舒服。她一直以为姐姐会过上无比幸福的生活,现在却开始怀疑也许并非如此。她看着多萝西娅的脸,却不敢开口。

🔊

trivial /ˈtrɪviəl/

adj. 琐碎的；不重要的➕

🔊

insensible /ɪnˈsensəbəl/

adj. 无感觉的； unaware; 冷漠的➕

🔊

absorbed /əbˈzɔːbd/

adj. 全神贯注的；被吸收的➕

🔊

devices /dɪˈvaɪsɪz/

n. 设备；手段；（短语）自己的打算➕

🔊

suspect /səˈspekt/

v. 怀疑；猜想➕

🔊

venture /ˈventʃə/

v. 冒险；敢于➕

🔊 "Are you going out, Celia?" said Dorothea, suddenly.

“你要出门吗,西莉亚？”多萝西娅突然说。

🔊 "No, I think not. I am going to write a letter."

“不,我不打算出去。我要写封信。”

🔊 "I am going to the village. I want to see if the new cottages are going on well."

“我要去村里。我想看看新农舍建得怎么样了。”

🔊 "Shall I go with you?"

“要我陪你去吗？”

🔊 "No, thank you. I would rather be alone."

“不用了,谢谢。我想一个人去。”

🔊 Celia felt that her sister was not quite herself, and she did not press the matter. She went to her own room, and Dorothea went out. She walked quickly, with a light step, but her face was sad. She was thinking of Mr. Casaubon, and of the life that lay before her. She had not known him long, and she had been very much in love with him. But now, after this first day of married life, a vague uneasiness had come over her. She had expected that he would be more communicative, more interested in her. She had thought that he would share his thoughts with her, and that they would have long conversations about books and ideas. But he seemed wrapped up in his own studies, and had not shown any desire to know what she thought. Was it possible that she had made a mistake? She tried to put away the thought, but it would not go.

西莉亚觉得姐姐有点不对劲,也没有勉强。她回到自己房间,多萝西娅则出了门。她走得很快,步态轻盈,但脸上带着忧伤。她想着卡索邦先生,想着摆在她面前的生活。她认识他不久,曾深深地爱着他。但现在,婚后第一天过后,一种隐约的不安笼罩了她。她本以为他会更健谈,对她更感兴趣。她以为他会与她分享他的想法,他们会就书籍和思想进行长谈。但他似乎完全沉浸在自己的研究中,没有表现出任何想知道她想法的意愿。难道自己犯了个错误？她试图抛开这个念头,可它挥之不去。

🔊

vague /veɪɡ/

adj. 模糊的；不明确的➕

🔊

uneasiness /ʌnˈiːzɪnɪs/

n. 不安；忧虑➕

🔊

communicative /kəˈmjuːnɪkətɪv/

adj. 爱说话的；乐意交流的➕

🔊

desire /dɪˈzaɪər/

n. 愿望；渴望➕

🔊 She came to the new cottages, and spoke to the workmen. She was very practical, and gave good advice. But all the while her mind was elsewhere. She was thinking of her husband. She remembered his fine eyes, his delicate features, his deep voice. But she also remembered his coldness, his absorption in his work. She wondered whether he would ever love her as she wished to be loved. She was not sure.

她来到新农舍,跟工人们说了话。她很务实,给了很好的建议。但整个过程中她的心思却在别处。她想着她的丈夫。她记得他优美的眼睛、精致的五官、深沉的声音。但她也记得他的冷淡、他对工作的专注。她想知道他是否会像她希望的那样爱她。她没有把握。

🔊

elsewhere /ˌelsˈweər/

adv. 在别处；到别处➕

🔊

practical /ˈpræktɪkl/

adj. 实际的；务实的➕

🔊

delicate /ˈdelɪkət/

adj. 精致的；微妙的➕

🔊

features /ˈfiːtʃərz/

n. 特征；面貌（复数）➕

🔊

coldness /ˈkəʊldnɪs/

n. 冷淡；冷漠➕

🔊

absorption /əbˈzɔːrpʃn/

n. 专注；吸收➕

🔊 As she was returning home, she met Mrs. Cadwallader, who was coming from the village. Mrs. Cadwallader was a woman of the world, and she saw at once that something was wrong. She did not say anything, but her quick eyes took note.

回家途中,她遇见了卡德瓦拉德太太,后者正从村里出来。卡德瓦拉德太太是个世故的女人,她一眼就看出有些不对劲。她什么也没说,但敏锐的眼睛已经注意到了。

🔊 "Good morning, my dear Mrs. Casaubon. How are you? And how do you like your new home?"

“早上好,我亲爱的卡索邦夫人。你好吗？喜欢你的新家吗？”

🔊 "Very well, thank you," said Dorothea, with a forced smile.

“很好,谢谢,”多萝西娅勉强笑了笑说。

🔊

forced /fɔːrst/

adj. 勉强的；不自然的➕

🔊 "You look a little pale. I hope you are not ill."

“你脸色有点苍白。但愿你没生病。”

🔊 "No, I am quite well."

“没有,我很好。”

🔊 "Well, you must take care of yourself. And don't let your husband work you too hard. He is a great student, you know."

“嗯,你得照顾好自己。别让你丈夫把你累坏了。你知道,他是个大学者。”

🔊 Dorothea coloured a little. She did not like to hear Mr. Casaubon spoken of in that tone. But she said nothing.

多萝西娅脸微微红了。她不喜欢别人用那种口气谈论卡索邦先生。但她什么也没说。

🔊 "They tell me he is writing a great book--something about the mythology of the Middle Ages. I am sure it will be very learned. But you must not let him forget that you exist, my dear."

“他们告诉我他在写一本大书--关于中世纪神话之类的东西。我敢肯定那会非常深奥。但你一定不能让他忘了你的存在,亲爱的。”

🔊

mythology /mɪˈθɒlədʒi/

n. 神话；神话学➕

🔊

learned /ˈlɜːrnɪd/

adj. 有学问的；博学的➕

🔊

exist /ɪɡˈzɪst/

v. 存在；生存➕

🔊 Dorothea felt a little vexed. She thought Mrs. Cadwallader was too free in her remarks. But she knew that she meant well.

多萝西娅感到有点恼火。她觉得卡德瓦拉德太太说话太随意了。但她知道她是好意。

🔊

vexed /vekst/

adj. 烦恼的；恼火的➕

🔊

remarks /rɪˈmɑːrks/

n. 评论；言论（复数）➕

🔊 "Thank you, Mrs. Cadwallader. I think I can take care of myself."

“谢谢你,卡德瓦拉德太太。我想我能照顾好自己。”

🔊 "Well, I hope so. Good-bye, my dear. Come and see me soon."

“嗯,但愿如此。再见,亲爱的。改天来看我。”

🔊 Dorothea walked on, feeling more unhappy than before. She began to doubt whether she could ever be happy with Mr. Casaubon. She had been so full of hope, and now it seemed that everything was turning out differently. She remembered the words of the old poem: "My lady's tongue is like the meadow blades..." She had thought that she would be able to cut through all difficulties with her spirit, but now she felt that her own tongue was not enough.

多萝西娅继续往前走,感到比先前更加不快。她开始怀疑自己能否与卡索邦先生幸福地生活在一起。她曾满怀希望,如今似乎一切都变了样。她记起那首古老的诗句:“我夫人的舌头就像草地上的叶片,若你闲来抚弄,便会划伤手指。她的本领在于切割:用精神的利刃将小米粒一分为二,还做出无形的节省。”她本以为自己能用精神之刃劈开所有困难,但现在她觉得光靠自己的舌头是不够的。

🔊

doubt /daʊt/

v. 怀疑；不确定➕