读者文摘:父亲在工作和照顾女儿之间的斗争(3)

I CAN DO MY OWN work fairly well during most of these chores,

大部分的家务活，我都能很好地完成。

and so I concentrate on Melville.

所以我把注意力集中在梅尔维尔的出题上。

("Discuss the similarity of the alienation¹ theme in Bartleby the Scrivener and Kafka's Metamorphosis.")

（“讨论《文书巴托尔比》与卡夫卡的《变形记》中两个主题的相似性。”

But I am soon sidetracked.

但我很快分了神。

Unfortunately, I had not counted on the arrival of the "bib-bibs." ("Bib-bibs" are birds.)

我万万没有想到Bib-bibs会来（Bib-bibs是一种鸟）。

"Bib-bibs, bib-bibs!" shrieks² Meghan, her eyes alive with expectation.

“Bib-bibs，Bib-bibs！”梅根尖叫着，眼睛里充满了期待。

She insists that I go with her to the window.

她坚持要我陪她到窗口。

"In a second. Just let me finish this question.

“等一下，我要问你一个问题。

Have you read Kafka's Metamorphosis, Meghan? You haven't?

你读过卡夫卡的《变形记》吗，梅根？没有读过吧?

You'd really enjoy it."

你会喜欢的。”

The sarcasm³ leaves no mark, and she pulls me by the hand (two fingers, actually) toward the window.

话一点不起作用，她拉着我的手（实际上是两根手指）走向窗口。

I see myself as a slow-wit in some novel, being led oaflike to watch the bib-bibs.

我把自己看作是某些小说中的弱智，被牵着去看bib-bibs。

And we do watch them.

我们看着这些鸟，

They chatter⁴ incessantly⁵ and leap back and forth⁶ on the lawn just outside our apartment window.

喋喋不休，在公寓窗外的草坪上跳来跳去。

Meghan is absorbed, but as I watch them,

梅根被吸引住了，但当我看着这些鸟的时候，

I wonder whether I parked the car under a tree last night.

我在想昨晚我有没有把车停在树下。

Suddenly she bolts from the room (she seldom walks),

突然她冲出房间（她很少走路），

and I hear her naked feet slapping against the wooden floor outside.

我听见她赤裸的双脚拍打着外面木地板的声音。

She returns with Dumpty.

她把Dumpty带回来了。

She holds him up to the window, stretching him out by his two pathetic, triangular⁷ arms and whispering into his nonexistent ear,

梅根双手环绕着把它抱到窗前，对着它那不存在的耳朵低声说：

"Bib-bibs, Hindy, bibbibs!" Dumpty smiles.

“Bib-bibs Hindy bibbibs !”Dumpty 带着微笑。

It's a much wider smile than it used to be.

笑容比以前更甜了。

1 alienation   

n.疏远；离间；异化

参考例句：

• The new policy resulted in the alienation of many voters.新政策导致许多选民疏远了。
• As almost every conceivable contact between human beings gets automated,the alienation index goes up.随着人与人之间几乎一切能想到的接触方式的自动化，感情疏远指数在不断上升。

2 shrieks   

n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• shrieks of fiendish laughter 恶魔般的尖笑声
• For years, from newspapers, broadcasts, the stages and at meetings, we had heard nothing but grandiloquent rhetoric delivered with shouts and shrieks that deafened the ears. 多少年来， 报纸上， 广播里， 舞台上， 会场上的声嘶力竭，装腔做态的高调搞得我们震耳欲聋。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。

4 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

5 incessantly   

ad.不停地

参考例句：

• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。
• It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 triangular   

adj.三角（形）的，三者间的

参考例句：

• It's more or less triangular plot of land.这块地略成三角形。
• One particular triangular relationship became the model of Simone's first novel.一段特殊的三角关系成了西蒙娜第一本小说的原型。