【有声英语文学名著】英国病人 01

 In memory of Skip and Mary Dickinson 

For Quintin and Griffin 

And for Louise Dennys, with thanks 

 

 

‘Most of you, I am sure, remember the tragic¹ circumstances of the death of Geoffrey Clifton at Gilf Kebir, followed later by 

the disappearance² of his wife, Katharine Clifton, which took place during the 1939 desert expedition in search of Zerzura. 

“I cannot begin this meeting tonight without referring very sympathetically to those tragic occurrences. 

“The lecture this evening ...” 

 

From the minutes of the Geographical³ Society meeting of November 194-, London 

 

 

The Villa 

The girl named Hana, stands up the garden where she has been working and looks into the distance. She has sensed a shift in the weather. There is another gust⁴ of wind, a buckle⁵ of noise in the air, and the tall cypresses⁶ sway. She turns and moves uphill towards the house, climbing over a low wall, feeling the first drops of rain on her bare arms. She crosses the loggia and quickly enters the house. 

In the kitchen she doesn’t pause but goes through it and climbs the stairs which are in darkness and then continues along the long hall, at the end of which is a wedge of light from an open door. She turns into the room which is another garden—this one made up of trees and bowers⁷ painted over its walls and ceiling. 

The man lies on the bed, his body exposed to the breeze, and he turns his head slowly towards her as she enters. 

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

3 geographical   

adj.地理的；地区(性)的

参考例句：

• The current survey will have a wider geographical spread.当前的调查将在更广泛的地域范围內进行。
• These birds have a wide geographical distribution.这些鸟的地理分布很广。

4 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。

5 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

6 cypresses   

n.柏属植物，柏树( cypress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Green and luxuriant are the pines and cypresses. 苍松翠柏郁郁葱葱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Before them stood a grove of tall cypresses. 前面是一个大坝子，种了许多株高大的松树。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

7 bowers   

n.（女子的）卧室( bower的名词复数 )；船首锚；阴凉处；鞠躬的人

参考例句：

• If Mr Bowers is right, low government-bond yields could lose their appeal and equities could rebound. 如果鲍尔斯先生的预计是对的，那么低收益的国债将会失去吸引力同时股价将会反弹。 来自互联网