🔊 "Your horses of the Sun," he said, "And first-rate whip Apollo! Whate'er they be, I'll eat my head, But I will beat them hollow."

“你那太阳之马,”他说,“还有首屈一指的御夫阿波罗！不管它们是什么货色,我宁可砍掉脑袋,也要叫它们输得精光。”

🔊 Fred Vincy, we have seen, had a debt on his mind, and though no such immaterial burthen could depress that buoyant-hearted young gentleman for many hours together, there were circumstances connected with this debt which made the thought of it unusually importunate.

我们已知道,弗雷德·文西心里有一笔债务,虽然如此飘渺的负担,并不足以让这位天性乐观的年轻人久久消沉,但与这笔债相关的种种情形,却使它的念想格外纠缠不休。

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immaterial /ˌɪməˈtɪəriəl/

adj. 不重要的；非物质的➕

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importunate /ɪmˈpɔːrtʃənɪt/

adj. 纠缠不休的；急切的➕

🔊 The creditor was Mr. Bambridge, a horse-dealer of the neighborhood, whose company was much sought in Middlemarch by young men understood to be "addicted to pleasure."

债主是本地马贩子班布里奇先生,他在米德尔马契颇受那些据说“耽于享乐”的年轻人的追捧。

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creditor /ˈkredɪtər/

n. 债权人➕

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addicted /əˈdɪktɪd/

adj. 上瘾的；沉迷的➕

🔊 During the vacations Fred had naturally required more amusements than he had ready money for, and Mr. Bambridge had been accommodating enough not only to trust him for the hire of horses and the accidental expense of ruining a fine hunter, but also to make a small advance by which he might be able to meet some losses at billiards.

假期里,弗雷德自然需要比手头现钱更多的娱乐,而班布里奇先生也十分通融,不仅赊给他租马的费用,以及一匹好猎马意外伤残的开销,还预付了一小笔钱,让他能应付在台球上的一些输局。

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accommodating /əˈkɒmədeɪtɪŋ/

adj. 乐于助人的；随和的➕

🔊 The total debt was a hundred and sixty pounds. Bambridge was in no alarm about his money, being sure that young Vincy had backers; but he had required something to show for it, and Fred had at first given a bill with his own signature. Three months later he had renewed this bill with the signature of Caleb Garth. On both occasions Fred had felt confident that he should meet the bill himself, having ample funds at his disposal in his own hopefulness. You will hardly demand that his confidence should have a basis in external facts; such confidence, we know, is something less coarse and materialistic: it is a comfortable disposition leading us to expect that the wisdom of providence or the folly of our friends, the mysteries of luck or the still greater mystery of our high individual value in the universe, will bring about agreeable issues, such as are consistent with our good taste in costume, and our general preference for the best style of thing. Fred felt sure that he should have a present from his uncle, that he should have a run of luck, that by dint of "swapping" he should gradually metamorphose a horse worth forty pounds into a horse that would fetch a hundred at any moment--"judgment" being always equivalent to an unspecified sum in hard cash. And in any case, even supposing negations which only a morbid distrust could imagine, Fred had always (at that time) his father's pocket as a last resource, so that his assets of hopefulness had a sort of gorgeous superfluity about them. Of what might be the capacity of his father's pocket, Fred had only a vague notion: was not trade elastic? And would not the deficiencies of one year be made up for by the surplus of another? The Vincys lived in an easy profuse way, not with any new ostentation, but according to the family habits and traditions, so that the children had no standard of economy, and the elder ones retained some of their infantine notion that their father might pay for anything if he would. Mr. Vincy himself had expensive Middlemarch habits--spent money on coursing, on his cellar, and on dinner-giving, while mamma had those running accounts with tradespeople, which give a cheerful sense of getting everything one wants without any question of payment. But it was in the nature of fathers, Fred knew, to bully one about expenses: there was always a little storm over his extravagance if he had to disclose a debt, and Fred disliked bad weather within doors.

债务总额是一百六十镑。班布里奇并不担心钱的事,他确信年轻的文西身后有靠山；但他总得有个凭证,于是弗雷德起初开了一张自己签名的期票。三个月后,他续期了这张期票,上面多了迦勒·加思的签名。两次签票时,弗雷德都自信能自己偿清,因为他那充满希望的心境里从来不缺宽裕的资金。你大概不会要求他的信心建立在外部事实上；我们知道,这种信心没那么粗俗和物质化:它是一种舒适的禀性,引导我们期待上苍的智慧或朋友的愚蠢、运气的奥秘,或自身在宇宙中至高价值的更大奥秘,会带来惬意的结果,比如与我们着装的好品位以及我们对最佳事物的普遍偏爱相吻合。弗雷德确信他会从叔叔那儿得到一笔赠礼,会走一连串好运,会通过“以物易物”的招数,将一匹价值四十镑的马逐渐变成一匹随时能卖出一百镑的好马--“判断力”总是等同于一笔未注明的现款。而且不管怎样,即使假设一些只有病态多疑才会想到的否定情形,弗雷德（至少在当时）总还有他父亲的钱包作为最后的依靠,所以他那些希望资产简直富余得奢侈。至于他父亲钱包的容量,弗雷德只有一个模糊的概念:做生意不是很有弹性吗？一年的亏空难道不能用另一年的盈余来弥补？文西一家生活阔绰随意,并非暴发户式的炫耀,而是遵循家族习惯与传统,因此孩子们毫无节俭观念,年长的几个还保留着幼年的想法,以为只要父亲愿意,什么都能买。文西先生本人也有花大钱的米德尔马契习气--把钱花在追猎上、酒窖里、请客吃饭上,而妈妈则与商人们有往来账目,让人愉快地感觉想要什么就能得到什么,丝毫不必考虑付钱的事。但弗雷德知道,做父亲的天性就是爱在开销上训斥人:每次他不得不透露一笔债务时,总会为了他的奢侈而闹一场小风波,而弗雷德不喜欢屋里的坏天气。

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metamorphose /ˌmetəˈmɔːrfoʊz/

v. 使变形；使改变➕

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superfluity /ˌsuːpərˈfluːɪti/

n. 过剩；多余➕

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ostentation /ˌɒstenˈteɪʃən/

n. 炫耀；虚饰➕

🔊 He was too filial to be disrespectful to his father, and he bore the thunder with the certainty that it was transient; but in the mean time it was disagreeable to see his mother cry, and also to be obliged to look sulky instead of having fun; for Fred was so good-tempered that if he looked glum under scolding, it was chiefly for propriety's sake. The easier course plainly, was to renew the bill with a friend's signature. Why not? With the superfluous securities of hope at his command, there was no reason why he should not have increased other people's liabilities to any extent, but for the fact that men whose names were with a favour to ask we review our list of friends, do justice to their more amiable qualities, forgive their little offences, and concerning each in turn, try to arrive at the conclusion that he will be eager to oblige us, our own eagerness to be obliged being as communicable as other warmth. Still there is always a certain number who are dismissed as but moderately eager until the others have refused; and it happened that Fred checked off all his friends but one, on the ground that applying to them would be disagreeable; being implicitly convinced that he at least (whatever might be maintained about mankind generally) had a right to be free from anything disagreeable. That he should ever fall into a thoroughly unpleasant position--wear trousers shrunk with washing, eat cold mutton, have to walk for want of a horse, or to "duck under" in any sort of way--was an absurdity irreconcilable with those cheerful intuitions implanted in him by nature. And Fred winced under the idea of being looked down upon as wanting funds for small debts. Thus it came to pass that the friend whom he chose to apply to was at once the poorest and the kindest--namely, Caleb Garth.

他孝顺得不愿对父亲无礼,也知道雷霆只是暂时的,便默默忍受；可与此同时,看到母亲哭泣,以及不得不拉长脸而不能寻欢作乐,终究是不愉快的；因为弗雷德脾气那么好,若在挨骂时显得闷闷不乐,那多半只是为了体面。显然,更容易的办法是找个朋友签名,续签期票。为什么不呢？既然自己拥有过剩的希望担保,他本可以无限增加别人的债务,只是那些愿意出借名字的人不多。每当我们有求于人时,就会审视朋友名单,公正看待他们更可爱的品质,原谅他们的小过失,然后逐一试图得出他将会急于帮我们的结论--我们急于受惠的心情,就像其他热情一样具有传染性。不过总有一定数量的人被认为只是中等热心,直到他人拒绝为止；而弗雷德恰好在把所有朋友都排除之后,只剩下一个人,理由是向他们开口会让人不愉快；他暗地里深信,至少他自己（不管人类总体如何）有权远离任何不愉快的事。他居然会陷入彻底糟糕的处境--穿缩水的裤子、吃冷羊肉、因为没有马而步行,或在任何方面“低头”--这种荒谬与他天生那些欢快的直觉格格不入。弗雷德一想到因小额债务缺钱而被人瞧不起,就畏缩不前。于是,他选择求助的朋友恰好是最穷也最善良的一个--也就是迦勒·加思。

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transient /ˈtrænziənt/

adj. 短暂的；转瞬即逝的➕

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absurdity /əbˈsɜːrdəti/

n. 荒谬；荒唐➕

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winced /wɪnst/

v. 畏缩；退缩（wince的过去式）➕

🔊 The Garths were very fond of Fred, as he was of them; for when he and Rosamond were little ones, and the Garths were better off, the slight connection between the two families through Mr. Featherstone's double marriage (the first to Mr. Garth's sister, and the second to Mrs. Vincy's) had led to an acquaintance which was carried on between the children rather than the parents: the children drank tea together out of their toy teacups, and spent whole days together in play. Mary was a little hoyden, and Fred at six years old thought her the nicest girl in the world, making her his wife with a brass ring which he had cut from an umbrella. Through all the stages of his education he had kept his affection for the Garths, and his habit of going to their house as a second home, though any intercourse between them and the elders of his family had long ceased. Even when Caleb Garth was prosperous, the Vincys were on condescending terms with him and his wife, for there were nice distinctions of rank in Middlemarch; and though old manufacturers could not any more than dukes be connected with none but equals, they were conscious of an inherent social superiority which was defined with great nicety in practice, though hardly expressible theoretically. Since then Mr. Garth had failed in the building business, which he had unfortunately added to his other avocations of surveyor, valuer, and agent, had conducted that business for a time entirely for the benefit of his assignees, and had been living narrowly, exerting himself to the utmost that he might after all pay twenty shillings in the pound. He had now achieved this, and from all who did not think it a bad precedent, his honourable exertions had won him due esteem; but in no part of the world is genteel visiting founded on esteem, in the absence of suitable furniture and complete dinner-service. Mrs. Vincy had never been at her ease with Mrs. Garth, and frequently spoke of her as a woman who had had to work for her bread--meaning that Mrs. Garth had been a teacher before her marriage; in which case an intimacy with Lindley Murray and Mangnall's Questions was something like a draper's discrimination of calico trademarks, or a courier's acquaintance with foreign countries: no woman who was better off needed that sort of thing. And since Mary had been keeping Mr. Featherstone's house, Mrs. Vincy's want of liking for the Garths had been converted into something more positive, by alarm lest Fred should engage himself to this plain girl, whose parents "lived in such a small way." Fred, being aware of this, never spoke at home of his visits to Mrs. Garth, which had of late become more frequent, the increasing ardour of his affection for Mary inclining him the more towards those who belonged to her.

加思一家很喜欢弗雷德,就像他也喜欢他们一样；因为当年弗雷德和罗莎蒙德还小,加思家也还算宽裕时,两家由于费瑟斯通先生的两次婚姻（第一次娶了加思先生的妹妹,第二次娶了文西太太的妹妹）而建立的微弱联系,促成了孩子们之间的交往,而非父母之间的往来:孩子们拿着玩具茶杯一起喝茶,整天一起玩耍。玛丽是个小顽皮,六岁的弗雷德觉得她是世上最好的女孩,用一把从雨伞上剪下的铜环当做婚戒娶了她。在他受教育的整个阶段,他一直保持着对加思家的感情,以及把那儿当作第二个家的习惯,尽管两家长辈之间的往来早已断绝。甚至在迦勒·加思兴旺时,文西家对他和他妻子也带着屈尊俯就的态度,因为在米德尔马契有微妙的等级差别；虽说老制造商们不能像公爵那样只与同等地位的人交往,但他们意识到一种固有的社会优越性,这种优越性在实践中界定得非常精细,虽然理论上难以表述。后来加思先生在建筑生意上失败了--他不幸在测量员、估价员和代理人的本职之外又加了这个行业--曾一度完全为债权人经营,此后生活拮据,竭尽全力,希望能最终全额偿清债务。现在他做到了,那些不认为这是个坏先例的人都对他的可敬努力给予了应有的尊重；但在世界上任何地方,缺乏体面的家具和成套的餐具,高雅访友便不可能建立在尊重之上。文西太太与加思太太相处从未自在过,她常说后者是个不得不靠工作糊口的女人--意思是加思太太婚前当过教师；如此一来,与林德利·默里和《曼格诺尔问答集》的亲密关系,就好比布商对印花布商标的鉴别,或者信使对外国的了解:没有哪个过得更好的女人需要这类东西。自从玛丽替费瑟斯通先生管家以来,文西太太对加思家的不喜变得更加明显,因为她担心弗雷德会和这个相貌平平的女孩订婚,而她的父母“生活得那么寒酸”。弗雷德知道这一点,从不在家提起他去加思太太家的事--近来他去得更频繁了,对玛丽日益增长的爱意使他更亲近那些属于她的人。

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condescending /ˌkɒndɪˈsendɪŋ/

adj. 居高临下的；屈尊的➕

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inherent /ɪnˈhɪərənt/

adj. 固有的；内在的➕

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esteem /ɪˈstiːm/

n. 尊重；敬重➕

🔊 Mr. Garth had a small office in the town, and to this Fred went with his request. He obtained it without much difficulty, for a large amount of painful experience had not sufficed to make Caleb Garth cautious about his own affairs, or distrustful of his fellow-men when they had not proved themselves untrustworthy; and he had the highest opinion of Fred, was "sure the lad would turn out well--an open affectionate fellow, with a good bottom to his character--you might trust him for anything." Such was Caleb's psychological argument. He was one of those rare men who are rigid to themselves and indulgent to others. He had a certain shame about his neighbours' errors, and never spoke of them willingly; hence he was not likely to divert his mind from the best mode of hardening timber and other ingenious devices in order to preconceive those errors. If he had to blame any one, it was necessary for him to move all the papers within his reach, or describe various diagrams with his stick, or make calculations with the odd money in his pocket, before he could begin; and he would rather do other men's work than find fault with their doing. I fear he was a bad disciplinarian.

加思先生在镇上有一个小办公室,弗雷德就是去那儿提出请求的。他没费什么周折就得到了签名,因为大量痛苦的经历仍不足以让迦勒·加思在涉及自己的事务时变得谨慎,或在不曾证明不可信任时对人产生怀疑；他对弗雷德评价极高,“确信这小子将来会有出息--是个坦率重情的小伙子,品性根基扎实--什么事都可以信任他。”这便是迦勒的心理推理。他是那种少见的对自己严格、对他人宽容的人。对于邻居的错误,他总有点羞于启齿,不愿主动谈起；因此他也不太会从思考如何最好地硬化木材或其他巧妙设计上分心,去预先构想那些错误。如果非得责备某人,他必须先挪动面前的所有文件,或用手杖画出各种图表,或用口袋里的零钱做计算,然后才能开口；他宁愿替别人干活,也不愿挑剔他们的工作。恐怕他并不是个擅长管教的人。

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cautious /ˈkɔːʃəs/

adj. 谨慎的；小心的➕

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psychological /ˌsaɪkəˈlɒdʒɪkəl/

adj. 心理的；心理学的➕

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disciplinarian /ˌdɪsɪplɪˈneəriən/

n. 严格纪律者；执行纪律者➕

🔊 When Fred stated the circumstances of his debt, his wish to meet it without troubling his father, and the certainty that the money would be forthcoming so as to cause no one any inconvenience, Caleb pushed his spectacles upward, listened, looked into his favourite's clear young eyes, and believed him, not distinguishing confidence about the future from veracity about the past; but he felt that it was an occasion for a friendly hint as to conduct, and that before giving his signature he must give a rather strong admonition. Accordingly, he took the paper and lowered his spectacles, measured the space at his command, reached his pen and examined it, dipped it in the ink and examined it again, then pushed the paper a little way from him, lifted up his spectacles again, showed a deepened depression in the outer angle of his bushy eyebrows, which gave his face a peculiar mildness (pardon these details for once--you would have learned to love them if you had known Caleb Garth), and said in a comfortable tone-- "It was a misfortune, eh, that breaking the horse's knees? And then, these exchanges, they don't answer when you have 'cute jockeys to deal with. You'll be wiser another time, my boy." Whereupon Caleb drew down his spectacles, and proceeded to write his signature with the care which he always gave to that performance; for whatever he did in the way of business he did well. He contemplated the large well-proportioned letters and final flourish, with his head a trifle on one side for an instant, then handed it to Fred, said "Good-bye," and returned forthwith to his absorption in a plan for Sir James Chettam's new farm-buildings. Either because his interest in this work thrust the incident of the signature from his memory, or for some reason of which Caleb was more conscious, Mrs. Garth remained ignorant of the affair.

当弗雷德说明债务的来龙去脉,希望在不惊动父亲的情况下偿清,并确信钱款会及时到位,不给任何人添麻烦时,迦勒推了推眼镜,听着,望着他疼爱的年轻人清澈的眼睛,相信了他,并不区分对未来的信心与对过去的诚实；但他觉得这是进行友好劝导的好时机,在签名之前必须给予相当强烈的告诫。于是,他拿起那张纸,放下眼镜,量了量自己写字的空间,拿起笔检查了一下,蘸了墨水又检查了一遍,然后把纸推开一点,又推起眼镜,浓密的眉毛外角显出更深的凹陷,给脸庞增添了一种特殊的温和（请原谅这些细节--如果你认识迦勒·加思,你会喜欢上它们的）,然后用一种舒心的语气说道:“弄伤了马膝盖,那是件倒霉事,是吧？还有这些交换,遇到精明的马贩子,就行不通了。下次你会聪明些的,孩子。”说完,迦勒拉下眼镜,开始仔细地签名,他做这类事总是很用心；但凡他经手的事务,他都会做得很好。他端详着那匀称的大写字母和最后的装饰笔,头微微偏了一瞬,然后递给弗雷德,说了声“再见”,便立刻又沉浸到为詹姆斯·切特姆爵士设计新农场建筑的方案中去了。或许是因为他对这项工作的兴趣把签名的事从记忆中抹去了,或者出于某种迦勒自己更清楚的原因,加思太太对此事一无所知。

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veracity /vəˈræsəti/

n. 真实性；诚实➕

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admonition /ˌædməˈnɪʃən/

n. 告诫；劝告➕

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absorption /əbˈzɔːrpʃən/

n. 专注；吸收➕

🔊 Since it occurred, a change had come over Fred's sky, which altered his view of the distance, and was the reason why his uncle Featherstone's present of money was of importance enough to make his colour come and go, first with a too definite expectation, and afterwards with a proportionate disappointment. His failure in passing his examination, had made his accumulation of college debts the more unpardonable by his father, and there had been an unprecedented storm at home. Mr. Vincy had sworn that if he had anything more of that sort to put up with, Fred should turn out and get his living how he could; and he had never yet quite recovered his good-humoured tone to his son, who had especially enraged him by saying at this stage of things that he did not want to be a clergyman, and would rather not "go on with that." Fred was conscious that he would have been yet more severely dealt with if his family as well as himself had not secretly regarded him as Mr. Featherstone's heir; that old gentleman's pride in him, and apparent fondness for him, serving in the stead of more exemplary conduct--just as when a youthful nobleman steals jewellery we call the act kleptomania, speak of it with a philosophical smile, and never think of his being sent to the house of correction as if he were a ragged boy who had stolen turnips. In fact, tacit expectations of what would be done for him by uncle Featherstone determined the angle at which most people viewed Fred Vincy in Middlemarch; and in his own consciousness, what uncle Featherstone would do for him in an emergency, or what he would do simply as an incorporated luck, formed always an immeasurable depth of aerial perspective. But that present of bank-notes, once made, was measurable, and being applied to the amount of the debt, showed a deficit which had still to be filled up either by Fred's "judgment" or by luck in some other shape. For that little episode of the alleged borrowing, in which he had made his father the agent in getting the Bulstrode certificate, was a new reason against going to his father for money towards meeting his actual debt. Fred was keen enough to foresee that anger would confuse distinctions, and that his denial of having borrowed expressly on the strength of his uncle's will would be taken as a falsehood. He had gone to his father and told him one vexatious affair, and he had left another untold: in such cases the complete revelation always produces the impression of a previous duplicity.

自那以后,弗雷德的天空起了变化,改变了他对未来的看法,也正是在这种背景下,他叔叔费瑟斯通的那笔赠款才显得如此重要,让他脸上忽而泛起过于明确的期待,忽而又是相应的失望。他未能通过考试,使父亲更难原谅他积欠的大学债务,家里爆发了前所未有的风暴。文西先生发誓说,如果再碰上这种事,就让弗雷德滚出去自谋生路；而且他对儿子的亲切语气至今未能完全恢复,因为弗雷德在此时竟说他不想当牧师,宁可“不干那行”。弗雷德意识到,如果他的家人和他自己不都暗自将他视为费瑟斯通先生的继承人,他的处境会更糟；那位老先生对他的骄傲和明显的喜爱,代替了更模范的行为--就好比年轻贵族偷珠宝时,我们会称之为盗窃癖,面带哲学微笑地谈论,绝想不到把他送去劳教所,仿佛他是个偷萝卜的衣衫褴褛的孩子。事实上,大多数人看待米德尔马契的弗雷德·文西时,其角度都由对他叔叔费瑟斯通会为他做什么的默默期待所决定；而在他自己的意识里,叔叔费瑟斯通在紧急关头会为他做什么,或仅仅作为一种固有的运气会做什么,总是构成一片无垠的空中透视。但那一叠钞票一旦给出,便是可测量的,将它用于偿还债务后,显示尚有亏空,仍需靠弗雷德的“判断力”或其他形式的运气来填补。因为那桩所谓的借款小插曲中,他让父亲出面去弄布尔斯特罗德的证明,这成了又一个不能向父亲要钱还债的理由。弗雷德足够敏锐,能预见到愤怒会混淆是非,而他否认明确以叔叔遗嘱为担保的借款,会被视为撒谎。他去找父亲,告诉了他一件烦心事,却留下了另一件没讲:在这种情况下,完整的坦白总会给人留下先前欺骗的印象。

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unprecedented /ʌnˈpresɪdentɪd/

adj. 前所未有的；空前的➕

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immeasurable /ɪˈmeʒərəbəl/

adj. 不可估量的；无限的➕

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duplicity /djuːˈplɪsəti/

n. 欺骗；口是心非➕

🔊 Now Fred piqued himself on keeping clear of lies, and even fibs; he often shrugged his shoulders and made a significant grimace at what he called Rosamond's fibs (it is only brothers who can associate such ideas with a lovely girl); and rather than incur the accusation of falsehood he would even incur some trouble and self-restraint. It was under strong inward pressure of this kind that Fred had taken the wise step of depositing the eighty pounds with his mother. It was a pity that he had not at once given them to Mr. Garth; but he meant to make the sum complete with another sixty, and with a view to this, he had kept twenty pounds in his own pocket as a sort of seed-corn, which, planted by judgment, and watered by luck, might yield more than threefold--a very poor rate of multiplication when the field is a young gentleman's infinite soul, with all the numerals at command.

现在,弗雷德以自己从不撒谎（甚至不说小谎）而自豪；他常常耸耸肩,对着他所谓的罗莎蒙德的小谎做出意味深长的鬼脸（只有兄弟才会把这种想法和可爱的姑娘联系起来）；为了不招致说谎的指责,他甚至愿意忍受一些麻烦和自制。正是在这种强大的内心压力下,弗雷德采取了明智的步骤,把那八十镑钱存放在母亲那里。可惜他没有立刻交给加思先生；但他打算再凑齐六十镑凑足总数,为此他留了二十镑在自己口袋里,作为某种种子,若种植得当、运气浇灌,或许能收获三倍以上--当田地是一颗年轻绅士的无限灵魂、所有数字都听凭调遣时,这个倍增率实在太低了。

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piqued /piːkt/

v. 使生气；使自负（pique的过去式）➕

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grimace /ˈɡrɪməs/

n. 鬼脸；痛苦的表情➕

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incur /ɪnˈkɜːr/

v. 遭受；引起➕

🔊 Fred was not a gambler: he had not that specific disease in which the suspension of the whole nervous energy on a chance or risk becomes as necessary as the dram to the drunkard; he had only the tendency to that diffusive form of gambling which has no alcoholic intensity, but is carried on with the healthiest chyle-fed blood, keeping up a joyous imaginative activity which fashions events according to desire, and having no fears about its own weather, only sees the advantage there must be to others in going aboard with it. Hopefulness has a pleasure in making a throw of any kind, because the prospect of success is certain; and only a more generous pleasure in offering as many as possible a share in the stake. Fred liked play, especially billiards, as he liked hunting or riding a steeple-chase; and he only liked it the better because he wanted money and hoped to win. But the twenty pounds' worth of seed-corn had been planted in vain in the seductive green plot--all of it at least which had not been dispersed by the roadside--and Fred found himself close upon the term of payment with no money at command beyond the eighty pounds which he had deposited with his mother. The broken-winded horse which he rode represented a present which had been made to him a long while ago by his uncle Featherstone: his father always allowed him to keep a horse, Mr. Vincy's own habits making him regard this as a reasonable demand even for a son who was rather exasperating. This horse, then, was Fred's property, and in his anxiety to meet the imminent bill he determined to sacrifice a possession without which life would certainly be worth little. He made the resolution with a sense of heroism--heroism forced on him by the dread of breaking his word to Mr. Garth, by his love for Mary and awe of her opinion. He would start for Houndsley horse-fair which was to be held the next morning, and--simply sell his horse, bringing back the money by coach?--Well, the horse would hardly fetch more than thirty pounds, and there was no knowing what might happen; it would be folly to balk himself of luck beforehand. It was a hundred to one that some good chance would fall in his way; the longer he thought of it, the less possible it seemed that he should not have a good chance, and the less reasonable that he should not equip himself with the powder and shot for bringing it down. He would ride to Houndsley with Bambridge and with Horrock "the vet," and without asking them anything expressly, he should virtually get the benefit of their opinion. Before he set out, Fred got the eighty pounds from his mother.

弗雷德并非赌徒:他没有那种将全部神经能量悬于偶然或风险之上的特定病症,仿佛酒鬼离不开酒杯；他只有那种弥漫性的赌博倾向,没有酒精的激烈,却以最健康的血液进行,保持着一种欢乐的想象活动,按照欲望塑造事件,对自己的天气毫不担忧,只看到别人搭上这班船必然会有好处。希望在任何形式的投掷中都感到快乐,因为成功的希望是确定的；而且更慷慨的快乐在于让尽可能多的人分享赌注。弗雷德喜欢赌博,尤其是台球,就像他喜欢狩猎或越野障碍赛一样；他之所以更加喜欢,是因为他需要钱,并且希望赢。但那份价值二十镑的种子却在诱人的绿色地块上白费了--至少那些没有散落在路边的部分--而弗雷德发现自己已临近付款期限,手头除了交给母亲的那八十镑外,一文不名。他骑的那匹喘气的马是许久以前他叔叔费瑟斯通送给他的礼物；父亲一直允许他养一匹马,文西先生自己的习惯使他觉得,即使是对于一个有些恼人的儿子,这也是合理的要求。于是,这匹马便是弗雷德的财产,在他急于偿付迫在眉睫的期票时,他决定牺牲掉这件没有它生活便不值一提的东西。他是带着一种英雄气概做出这个决定的--这种英雄气概是被对加思先生食言的恐惧、对玛丽的爱以及对她的意见的敬畏所迫。他打算第二天一早动身去亨兹利马市,卖掉这匹马,然后搭马车带着钱回来？--唉,那匹马最多能卖三十镑,而且谁知道会发生什么呢？预先放弃运气未免愚蠢。极有可能会有好事落到他头上；他想得越久,就越觉得不可能没有好运气,也越觉得不配好弹药去捕获它是不合理的。他将和班布里奇以及“兽医”霍罗克一起骑马去亨兹利,不用明问,实际上就能从他们的意见中获益。出发前,弗雷德从母亲那里拿到了那八十镑。

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suspension /səˈspenʃən/

n. 暂停；悬吊➕

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imminent /ˈɪmɪnənt/

adj. 即将发生的；迫近的➕

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heroism /ˈheroʊɪzəm/

n. 英雄气概；英勇行为➕

🔊 Most of those who saw Fred riding out of Middlemarch in company with Bambridge and Horrock, on his way of course to Houndsley horse-fair, thought that young Vincy was pleasure-seeking as usual; and but for an unwonted consciousness of grave matters on hand, he himself would have had a sense of dissipation, and of doing what might be expected of a gay young fellow. Considering that Fred was not at all coarse, that he rather looked down on the manners and speech of young men who had not been to the university, and that he had written stanzas as pastoral and unvoluptuous as his flute-playing, his attraction towards Bambridge and Horrock was an interesting fact which even the love of horse-flesh would not wholly account for without that mysterious influence of Naming which determinates so much of mortal choice. Under any other name than "pleasure" the society of Messieurs Bambridge and Horrock must certainly have been regarded as monotonous; and to arrive with them at Houndsley on a drizzling afternoon, to get down at the Red Lion in a street shaded with coal-dust, and dine in a room furnished with a dirt-enamelled map of the county, a bad portrait of an anonymous horse in a stable, His Majesty George the Fourth with legs and cravat, and various leaden spittoons, might have seemed a hard business, but for the sustaining power of nomenclature which determined that the pursuit of these things was "gay."

大多数看见弗雷德与班布里奇和霍罗克一道骑马出米德尔马契>>（显然是去亨兹利马市）的人,都以为年轻的文西又像往常一样寻欢作乐去了；若不是手头有桩严肃的事让他感到异常,他自己也会有一种放纵的感觉,觉得在做一个快乐年轻人该做的事。考虑到弗雷德并不粗俗,他反而瞧不起那些没上过大学的年轻人的举止言谈,而且他写过像他的笛声一样田园而恬淡的诗句,他之所以被班布里奇和霍罗克吸引,是一个有趣的事实,单凭爱马之心无法完全解释,除非加上那种决定了凡人多少选择的命名神秘力量。若冠以“快乐”以外的任何名称,班布里奇和霍罗克先生们的社交必定会被视为单调；在一个细雨蒙蒙的下午和他们一起来到亨兹利,在煤灰遮阴的街道上下榻于红狮旅馆,在一间装饰着污迹斑斑的县地图、一幅无名的马厩中劣马画像、乔治四世陛下（带着腿和领结）以及各种铅制痰盂的房间里用餐,这原本可能是一桩苦差事,但命名法提供了支撑力量,它将这些追求定为“欢乐”。

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unwonted /ʌnˈwoʊntɪd/

adj. 不寻常的；罕见的➕

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dissipation /ˌdɪsɪˈpeɪʃən/

n. 放荡；挥霍➕

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nomenclature /ˈnoʊmənkleɪtʃər/

n. 命名法；术语➕

🔊 In Mr. Horrock there was certainly an apparent unfathomableness which offered play to the imagination. Costume, at a glance, gave him a thrilling association with horses (enough to specify the hat-brim which took the slightest upward angle just to escape the suspicion of bending downwards), and nature had given him a face which by dint of Mongolian eyes, and a nose, mouth, and chin seeming to follow his hat-brim in a moderate inclination upwards, gave the effect of a subdued unchangeable sceptical smile, of all expressions the most tyrannous over a susceptible mind, and, when accompanied by adequate silence, likely to create the reputation of an invincible understanding, an infinite fund of humour--too dry to flow, and probably in a state of immovable crust,--and a critical judgment which, if you could ever be fortunate enough to know it, would be the thing and no other. It is a physiognomy seen in all vocations, but perhaps it has never been more powerful over the youth of England than in a judge of horses.

霍罗克先生身上显然有一种深不可测的特质,给想象力提供了发挥空间。服饰一眼就给人以与马紧密相关的激动联系（只需指出那顶帽檐,它微微上扬,恰好避开向下弯曲的嫌疑）,而大自然赋予他一副面孔:蒙古式的眼睛,鼻子、嘴巴和下巴似乎都随着帽檐微微上翘,造成一种克制的、不可改变的怀疑微笑的效果--在所有表情中,这种表情对敏感的心灵最具支配力,当伴随足够的沉默时,很可能造就一种无敌的理解力、无穷的幽默感（太干涩而无法流动,或许处于坚不可摧的硬壳状态）以及一种批判性判断--如果你有幸了解它,那便是独一无二的真理。这种面相在各个行业中都能见到,但也许它对英格兰年轻人的影响力从未超过在评判马匹这一行当。

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unfathomableness /ʌnˈfæðəməbəlnəs/

n. 深不可测；不可理解➕

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susceptible /səˈseptəbəl/

adj. 易受影响的；敏感的➕

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physiognomy /ˌfɪziˈɒnəmi/

n. 相貌；脸型➕

🔊 Mr. Horrock, at a question from Fred about his horse's fetlock, turned sideways in his saddle, and watched the horse's action for the space of three minutes, then turned forward, twitched his own bridle, and remained silent with a profile neither more nor less sceptical than it had been.

霍罗克先生听到弗雷德有关马匹球节的询问,侧身坐在马鞍上,盯着那匹马的动作整整三分钟,然后转回身去,抖动了一下自己的缰绳,沉默不语,侧脸的怀疑神情丝毫未变。

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fetlock /ˈfetlɒk/

n. （马的）距毛；球节➕

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sideways /ˈsaɪdweɪz/

adv. 向侧面地；斜着地➕

🔊 The part thus played in dialogue by Mr. Horrock was terribly effective. A mixture of passions was excited in Fred--a mad desire to thrash Horrock's opinion into utterance, restrained by anxiety to retain the advantage of his friendship. There was always the chance that Horrock might say something quite invaluable at the right moment. Mr. Bambridge had more open manners, and appeared to give forth his ideas without economy. He was loud, robust, and was sometimes spoken of as being "given to indulgence"--chiefly in swearing, drinking, and beating his wife. Some people who had lost by him called him a vicious man; but he regarded horse-dealing as the finest of the arts, and might have argued plausibly that it had nothing to do with morality. He was undeniably a prosperous man, bore his drinking better than others bore their moderation, and, on the whole, flourished like the green bay-tree. But his range of conversation was limited, and like the fine old tune, "Drops of brandy," gave you after a while a sense of returning upon itself in a way that might make weak heads dizzy. But a slight infusion of Mr. Bambridge was felt to give tone and character to several circles in Middlemarch; and he was a distinguished figure in the bar and billiard-room at the Green Dragon. He knew some anecdotes about the heroes of the turf, and various clever tricks of Marquesses and Viscounts which seemed to prove that blood asserted its pre-eminence even among black-legs; but the minute retentiveness of his memory was chiefly shown about the horses he had himself bought and sold; the number of miles they would trot you in no time without turning a hair being, after the lapse of years, still a subject of passionate asseveration, in which he would assist the imagination of his hearers by solemnly swearing that they never saw anything like it. In short, Mr. Bambridge was a man of pleasure and a gay companion.

霍罗克先生在对话中扮演的这个角色极其有力。弗雷德心中激起混合的激情--一种疯狂的欲望,想迫使霍罗克说出意见,却又因渴望维系友谊而受制。霍罗克随时可能在关键时刻说出宝贵的话。班布里奇先生则较为开放,似乎毫不吝啬地抛出想法。他声音洪亮、体格强壮,有时被人说“耽于放纵”--主要是骂人、喝酒和打老婆。那些因他损失钱财的人说他是个恶棍；但他视贩马为最精妙的艺术,而且可能言之凿凿地辩称这与道德无关。他无疑是个成功人士,喝酒比别人的节制状态还要好,总体上像月桂树一样繁茂。但他谈话的范围有限,就像那首好听的古调“白兰地之滴”,过一会儿就会让人感觉回到原点,令头脑虚弱者眩晕。但少量班布里奇先生的参与,便被觉得为米德尔马契的若干圈子增添了格调与特色；他是绿龙旅馆酒吧和台球室的显赫人物。他知道一些关于赛马场英雄的轶事,以及侯爵和子爵们各种狡黠的把戏,这似乎证明了血统甚至在无赖中也占优势；但他记忆中最细微的保留之处,主要体现在他自己买卖过的马匹上--这些马多少年来能在不流汗的情况下飞快地跑多少英里,仍是他在郑重宣誓中激动地断言的主题,他会帮助听者想象,声称他们从未见过类似的情况。简而言之,班布里奇先生是个享乐之人,是个快乐的伙伴。

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effective /ɪˈfektɪv/

adj. 有效的；产生预期效果的➕

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passions /ˈpæʃənz/

n. 强烈的情感,激情➕

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restrained /rɪˈstreɪnd/

adj. 克制的；受约束的➕

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anxiety /æŋˈzaɪəti/

n. 焦虑；忧虑➕

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invaluable /ɪnˈvæljuəbl/

adj. 非常宝贵的；无法估价的➕

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robust /rəʊˈbʌst/

adj. 强健的；结实的；坚定的➕

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indulgence /ɪnˈdʌldʒəns/

n. 放纵；沉溺；嗜好➕

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swearing /ˈsweərɪŋ/

n. 咒骂；发誓➕

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vicious /ˈvɪʃəs/

adj. 恶毒的；恶性的；凶残的➕

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horse-dealing /ˈhɔːs diːlɪŋ/

n. 马匹买卖；马匹交易➕

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plausibly /ˈplɔːzəbli/

adv. 看似合理地；似乎可信地➕

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morality /məˈræləti/

n. 道德；美德；道德准则➕

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undeniably /ˌʌndɪˈnaɪəbli/

adv. 不可否认地；显然地➕

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prosperous /ˈprɒspərəs/

adj. 繁荣的；成功的；富裕的➕

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moderation /ˌmɒdəˈreɪʃən/

n. 适度；节制；缓和➕

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flourished /ˈflʌrɪʃt/

v. 繁荣；茂盛；兴旺➕

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infusion /ɪnˈfjuːʒən/

n. 注入；灌输；泡制➕

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distinguished /dɪˈstɪŋɡwɪʃt/

adj. 卓越的；著名的；高贵的➕

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anecdotes /ˈænɪkdoʊts/

n. 轶事；趣闻➕

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turf /tɜːf/

n. 赛马场；草皮；地盘➕

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Marquesses /ˈmɑːkwɪsɪz/

n. 侯爵（复数）➕

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Viscounts /ˈvaɪkaʊnts/

n. 子爵（复数）➕

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asserted /əˈsɜːtɪd/

v. 断言；坚持声称；维护➕

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pre-eminence /priːˈemɪnəns/

n. 卓越；杰出；优越➕

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retentiveness /rɪˈtentɪvnəs/

n. 保持力；记忆力➕

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trot /trɒt/

v. 小跑；快步走➕

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lapse /læps/

n. 流逝；失误；失效➕

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passionate /ˈpæʃənət/

adj. 充满激情的；热烈的；狂热的➕

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asseveration /əˌsevəˈreɪʃən/

n. 郑重声明；断言➕

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solemnly /ˈsɒləmli/

adv. 庄严地；郑重地➕

🔊 Fred was subtle, and did not tell his friends that he was going to Houndsley bent on selling his horse: he wished to get indirectly at their genuine opinion of its value, not being aware that a genuine opinion was the last thing likely to be extracted from such eminent critics. It was not Mr. Bambridge's weakness to be a gratuitous flatterer. He had never before been so much struck with the fact that this unfortunate bay was a roarer to a degree which required the roundest word for perdition to give you any idea of it.

弗雷德很微妙,他没有告诉朋友们自己去亨兹利是铁了心要卖马:他想间接得到他们对那匹马价值的真实看法,却不知道从这样高明的评论者口中套出真实看法是最不可能的事。班布里奇先生并不擅长无端的奉承。他以前从未如此强烈地意识到,这匹倒霉的栗色马嘶哑得厉害,要形容它,非得用上最重的诅咒不可。

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subtle /ˈsʌtl/

adj. 微妙的；狡猾的；敏锐的➕

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indirectly /ˌɪndɪˈrektli/

adv. 间接地；迂回地➕

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genuine /ˈdʒenjuɪn/

adj. 真正的；真实的；真诚的➕

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eminent /ˈemɪnənt/

adj. 杰出的；著名的；卓越的➕

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critics /ˈkrɪtɪks/

n. 批评家；评论家；批评者➕

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weakness /ˈwiːknəs/

n. 弱点；软弱；嗜好➕

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gratuitous /ɡrəˈtjuːɪtəs/

adj. 无理由的；不必要的；免费的➕

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flatterer /ˈflætərər/

n. 奉承者；谄媚者➕

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unfortunate /ʌnˈfɔːtʃənət/

adj. 不幸的；令人遗憾的➕

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bay /beɪ/

n. 栗色马；海湾➕

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roarer /ˈrɔːrər/

n. 嘶鸣的马；咆哮者➕

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perdition /pəˈdɪʃən/

n. 毁灭；沉沦；地狱➕

🔊 "You made a bad hand at swapping when you went to anybody but me, Vincy! Why, you never threw your leg across a finer horse than that chestnut, and you gave him for this brute. If you set him cantering, he goes on like twenty sawyers. I never heard but one worse roarer in my life, and that was a roan: it belonged to Pegwell, the corn-factor; he used to drive him in his gig seven years ago, and he wanted me to take him, but I said, 'Thank you, Peg, I don't deal in wind-instruments.' That was what I said. It went the round of the country, that joke did. But, what the hell! the horse was a penny trumpet to that roarer of yours." "Why, you said just now his was worse than mine," said Fred, more irritable than usual. "I said a lie, then," said Mr. Bambridge, emphatically. "There wasn't a penny to choose between 'em."

“文西,你要是跟别人做交换,那可真是失算了！你从未骑过比那匹栗色马更好的马,你却拿它换了这头畜生。你要是让它慢跑,它就像二十个锯木匠一样喘。我生平只听过一匹更糟的喘马,那是一匹沙毛马:是粮商佩格韦尔的；七年前他常驾着它出行,他想让我接手,可我说:‘谢了,佩格,我不吹管乐器。’我就是这么说的。这个笑话全县都传遍了。可不管怎么说！你那匹喘马跟这家伙比,不过是小喇叭！” “你刚才还说他的比我糟呢。”弗雷德比平时更急躁地说。“那是我在撒谎。”班布里奇先生加重语气说,“它们之间半点差别也没有。”

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brute /bruːt/

n. 畜生；残忍的人；野兽➕

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cantering /ˈkæntərɪŋ/

v. 慢跑（马的一种步态）➕

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sawyers /ˈsɔːjərz/

n. 锯木工；锯木匠➕

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roan /rəʊn/

n. 沙毛马（一种毛色混杂的马）➕

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corn-factor /ˈkɔːn fæktər/

n. 谷物商人（尤指批发商）➕

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gig /ɡɪɡ/

n. 轻便双轮马车；演出➕

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wind-instruments /ˈwɪnd ɪnstrʊmənts/

n. 管乐器➕

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penny trumpet /ˈpeni ˈtrʌmpɪt/

n. 廉价小喇叭（比喻不值钱的东西）➕

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irritable /ˈɪrɪtəbl/

adj. 易怒的；急躁的➕

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emphatically /ɪmˈfætɪkli/

adv. 强调地；断然地➕

🔊 Fred spurred his horse, and they trotted on a little way. When they slackened again, Mr. Bambridge said-- "Not but what the roan was a better trotter than yours." "I'm quite satisfied with his paces, I know," said Fred, who required all the consciousness of being in gay company to support him; "I say his trot is an uncommonly clean one, eh, Horrock?" Mr. Horrock looked before him with as complete a neutrality as if he had been a portrait by a great master.

弗雷德策马前行,他们小跑了一段。再次放慢时,班布里奇先生说:“不过那匹沙毛马的快步确实比你的好些。” “我对它的步法已经很满意了。”弗雷德说,他需要与快乐伙伴同行的意识来支撑自己,“我说它的快步非常利落,是吧,霍罗克？”霍罗克先生望着前方,完全中立,仿佛是一位大师笔下的肖像。

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spurred /spɜːrd/

v. 用马刺催马前进；刺激➕

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trotted /ˈtrɒtɪd/

v. 小跑（过去式）➕

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slackened /ˈslækənd/

v. 减慢；放松➕

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trotter /ˈtrɒtər/

n. 快步马；小跑步者➕

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paces /ˈpeɪsɪz/

n. 步态；步速（复数）➕

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uncommonly /ʌnˈkɒmənli/

adv. 异常地；罕见地➕

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neutrality /njuːˈtræləti/

n. 中立；中性➕

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portrait /ˈpɔːrtrət/

n. 肖像；画像；描绘➕

🔊 Fred gave up the fallacious hope of getting a genuine opinion; but on reflection he saw that Bambridge's depreciation and Horrock's silence were both virtually encouraging, and indicated that they thought better of the horse than they chose to say.

弗雷德放弃了得到真实意见的虚幻希望；但反思之下,他发现班布里奇的贬低和霍罗克的沉默实际上都是鼓励,表明他们对那匹马的评价比他们愿意说出来的要好。

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fallacious /fəˈleɪʃəs/

adj. 谬误的；欺骗性的➕

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depreciation /dɪˌpriːʃiˈeɪʃən/

n. 贬值；贬低；折旧➕

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virtually /ˈvɜːtʃuəli/

adv. 实际上；几乎；虚拟地➕

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encouraging /ɪnˈkʌrɪdʒɪŋ/

adj. 令人鼓舞的；鼓励的➕

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indicated /ˈɪndɪkeɪtɪd/

v. 表明；指示；暗示➕

🔊 That very evening, indeed, before the fair had set in, Fred thought he saw a favourable opening for disposing advantageously of his horse, but an opening which made him congratulate himself on his foresight in bringing with him his eighty pounds. A young farmer, acquainted with Mr. Bambridge, came into the Red Lion, and entered into conversation about parting with a hunter, which he introduced at once as Diamond, implying that it was a public character. For himself he only wanted a useful hack, which would draw upon occasion; being about to marry and to give up hunting. The hunter was in a friend's stable at some little distance; there was still time for gentlemen to see it before dark. The friend's stable had to be reached through a back street where you might as easily have been poisoned without expense of drugs as in any grim street of that unsanitary period. Fred was not fortified against disgust by brandy, as his companions were, but the hope of having at last seen the horse that would enable him to make money was exhilarating enough to lead him over the same ground again the first thing in the morning. He felt sure that if he did not come to a bargain with the farmer, Bambridge would; for the stress of circumstances, Fred felt, was sharpening his acuteness and endowing him with all the constructive power of suspicion. Bambridge had run down Diamond in a way that he never would have done (the horse being a friend's) if he had not thought of buying it; every one who looked at the animal--even Horrock--was evidently impressed with its merit. To get all the advantage of being with men of this sort, you must know how to draw your inferences, and not be a spoon who takes things literally. The colour of the horse was a dappled gray, and Fred happened to know that Lord Medlicote's man was on the look-out for just such a horse. After all his running down, Bambridge let it out in the course of the evening, when the farmer was absent, that he had seen worse horses go for eighty pounds. Of course he contradicted himself twenty times over, but when you know what is likely to be true you can test a man's admissions. And Fred could not but reckon his own judgment of a horse as worth something.

就在当天傍晚,市集尚未开始之际,弗雷德觉得自己看到了一个有利的机会,可以高价卖掉他的马,但这个机会让他庆幸自己事先带来了那八十镑。一个认识班布里奇先生的年轻农夫走进红狮旅馆,开始谈论要卖掉一匹猎马,他马上称它为“钻石”,暗示它名声在外。他自己只需要一匹能用的代步马,必要时还能拉车；因为他要结婚了,打算放弃打猎。那匹猎马寄养在稍远处一个朋友的马厩里；天黑前还有时间让各位先生去看看。要到达那个朋友的马厩,得穿过一条后街,在那个卫生状况不佳的年代,在那阴森的街道上你很容易像不用花钱买毒药就被毒死一样。弗雷德不像他的同伴那样能用白兰地抵御厌恶,但希望终于看到能让他赚钱的马,这兴奋足以让他第二天一早就再次踏上那条路。他确信,如果自己不和那农夫成交,班布里奇就会；弗雷德觉得,环境的压力正在磨砺他的机敏,赋予他所有建设性的怀疑能力。班布里奇对“钻石”大加贬低,如果他不打算买,绝不会这样（那马是朋友的）；每个看那匹马的人--甚至霍罗克--显然都对其优点印象深刻。要想从与这类人共处中获得全部好处,你必须懂得如何推断,而不是像个傻瓜一样照单全收。那匹马是斑点的灰色,弗雷德碰巧知道梅德利科特勋爵的手下正在物色这样一匹马。经过他一番贬低之后,班布里奇在晚上农夫不在时透露,他见过更糟的马能卖到八十镑。当然他前后矛盾了二十多次,但当你大致知道真相时,就能检验一个人的承认。而且弗雷德不能不认为自己判断马匹的眼光还是有些价值的。

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disposing /dɪˈspəʊzɪŋ/

v. 处理；安排；处置➕

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advantageously /ˌædvənˈteɪdʒəsli/

adv. 有利地；方便地➕

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foresight /ˈfɔːrsaɪt/

n. 先见之明；远见➕

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acquainted /əˈkweɪntɪd/

adj. 熟悉的；了解的➕

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implying /ɪmˈplaɪɪŋ/

v. 暗示；意味着➕

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hack /hæk/

n. 役用马；出租马车➕

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occasion /əˈkeɪʒən/

n. 场合；时机；原因➕

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grim /ɡrɪm/

adj. 严峻的；阴森的；冷酷的➕

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unsanitary /ʌnˈsænətri/

adj. 不卫生的；有害健康的➕

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fortified /ˈfɔːrtɪfaɪd/

v. 加强；设防；增强➕

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disgust /dɪsˈɡʌst/

n. 厌恶；反感➕

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exhilarating /ɪɡˈzɪləreɪtɪŋ/

adj. 令人兴奋的；使人愉快的➕

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bargain /ˈbɑːrɡɪn/

n. 交易；便宜货；讨价还价➕

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stress /stres/

n. 压力；强调；紧张➕

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circumstances /ˈsɜːrkəmstænsɪz/

n. 环境；情况；境况➕

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sharpening /ˈʃɑːrpənɪŋ/

v. 使锋利；磨炼；加强➕

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acuteness /əˈkjuːtnəs/

n. 敏锐；剧烈；尖锐➕

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endowing /ɪnˈdaʊɪŋ/

v. 赋予；捐赠➕

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constructive /kənˈstrʌktɪv/

adj. 建设性的；积极的；构造的➕

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suspicion /səˈspɪʃən/

n. 怀疑；嫌疑；猜想➕

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merit /ˈmerɪt/

n. 优点；功绩；价值➕

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inferences /ˈɪnfərənsɪz/

n. 推论；推断（复数）➕

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literally /ˈlɪtərəli/

adv. 字面上地；真正地；简直➕

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dappled gray /ˈdæpld ɡreɪ/

n. 灰色带斑点的马➕

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Lord /lɔːrd/

n. 贵族；勋爵；上帝➕

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look-out /ˈlʊk aʊt/

n. 留神；警戒；瞭望员➕

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contradicted /ˌkɒntrəˈdɪktɪd/

v. 反驳；与…矛盾➕

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reckon /ˈrekən/

v. 认为；估计；计算➕

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judgment /ˈdʒʌdʒmənt/

n. 判断；判决；评判➕

🔊 The farmer had paused over Fred's respectable though broken-winded steed long enough to show that he thought it worth consideration, and it seemed probable that he would take it, with five-and-twenty pounds in addition, as the equivalent of Diamond. In that case Fred, when he had parted with his new horse for at least eighty pounds, would be fifty-five pounds in pocket by the transaction, and would have a hundred and thirty-five pounds towards meeting the bill; so that the deficit temporarily thrown on Mr. Garth would at the utmost be twenty-five pounds.

那农夫在弗雷德那匹体面但喘气的马前停了足够久,显示出他觉得值得考虑；似乎他很可能接受它,外加二十五镑现金,来交换“钻石”。这样一来,弗雷德转手卖掉新马至少得到八十镑,这笔交易他就净赚五十五镑,共有一百三十五镑可以用来付账；那么临时转嫁到加思先生身上的亏空最多只有二十五镑。

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respectable /rɪˈspektəbl/

adj. 可敬的；体面的；相当好的➕

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broken-winded /ˈbrəʊkən ˈwɪndɪd/

adj. 呼吸急促的；喘气的（指马）➕

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steed /stiːd/

n. 骏马；战马（诗歌用语）➕

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consideration /kənˌsɪdəˈreɪʃən/

n. 考虑；体贴；报酬➕

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probable /ˈprɒbəbl/

adj. 可能的；很可能发生的➕

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equivalent /ɪˈkwɪvələnt/

n. 等价物；等同物➕

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transaction /trænˈzækʃən/

n. 交易；业务；办理➕

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deficit /ˈdefɪsɪt/

n. 赤字；亏损；不足➕

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temporarily /ˈtempərərili/

adv. 暂时地；临时地➕

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utmost /ˈʌtməʊst/

adj. 极度的；最大的；最远的➕

🔊 By the time he was hurrying on his clothes in the morning, he saw so clearly the importance of not losing this rare chance, that if Bambridge and Horrock had both dissuaded him, he would not have been deluded into a direct interpretation of their purpose: he would have been aware that those deep hands held something else than a young fellow's interest.

到早晨他匆匆穿衣服时,已如此清楚地看到不能错过这个难得的机会,即使班布里奇和霍罗克都劝阻他,他也不会被蒙蔽而直接按字面意思理解他们的意图:他会意识到,这些老手另有盘算,不是为了年轻人的利益。

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importance /ɪmˈpɔːrtns/

n. 重要性；重要➕

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rare /rer/

adj. 稀有的；罕见的；难得的➕

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dissuaded /dɪˈsweɪdɪd/

v. 劝阻；劝止➕

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deluded /dɪˈluːdɪd/

v. 欺骗；哄骗➕

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interpretation /ɪnˌtɜːrprɪˈteɪʃən/

n. 解释；理解；翻译➕

🔊 With regard to horses, distrust was your only clew. But scepticism, as we know, can never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill: something we must believe in and do, and whatever that something may be called, it is virtually our own judgment, even when it seems like the most slavish reliance on another. Fred believed in the excellence of his bargain, and even before the fair had well set in, had got possession of the dappled gray, at the price of his old horse and thirty pounds in addition--only five pounds more than he had expected to give.

关于马匹,怀疑是唯一的线索。但正如我们所知,怀疑主义永远无法彻底应用,否则生活就会停滞不前:我们必须相信并做些什么,无论那叫什么,实际上都是我们自己的判断,即使它看起来像是完全奴性地依赖他人。弗雷德相信自己的交易很好,甚至在市集正式开始前,就以他的旧马外加三十镑换得了那匹灰色花斑马--只比他预期的多出了五镑。

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distrust /dɪsˈtrʌst/

n. 不信任；怀疑➕

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clew /kluː/

n. 线索；线团（古语,同 clue）➕

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scepticism /ˈskeptɪsɪzəm/

n. 怀疑态度；怀疑主义➕

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thoroughly /ˈθʌrəli/

adv. 彻底地；完全地➕

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applied /əˈplaɪd/

v. 应用；施加；申请（过去分词）➕

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standstill /ˈstændstɪl/

n. 停顿；停滞➕

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slavish /ˈsleɪvɪʃ/

adj. 奴隶般的；盲从的；卑屈的➕

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reliance /rɪˈlaɪəns/

n. 依赖；信赖➕

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excellence /ˈeksələns/

n. 卓越；优秀；杰出➕

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possession /pəˈzeʃən/

n. 拥有；占有；财产➕

🔊 But he felt a little worried and wearied, perhaps with mental debate, and without waiting for the further gayeties of the horse-fair, he set out alone on his fourteen miles' journey, meaning to take it very quietly and keep his horse fresh.

但他感到有些焦虑和疲惫,也许是心理争执所致；他没有等待马市上更多的欢乐,便独自踏上十四英里的归途,打算走得很慢,让马保持精神。

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wearied /ˈwɪərid/

adj. 疲倦的；厌倦的➕

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debate /dɪˈbeɪt/

n. 辩论；争论；讨论➕

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gayeties /ˈɡeɪətiz/

n. 欢乐；快乐的活动（复数,旧式拼写）➕

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horse-fair /ˈhɔːrs fɛr/

n. 马市；马匹交易会➕

Book 3. Waiting For Death – Chapter one (第一章)