《简·爱》 Chapter 37 第三十七章（2）

I thought I had taken a wrong direction and lost my way.

我以为我走错了方向，迷路了。

The darkness of natural as well as of sylvan¹ dusk gathered over me.

大自然的黑暗和森林的黄昏笼罩着我。

I looked round in search of another road.

我环顾四周寻找另一条路。

There was none: all was interwoven stem, columnar trunk, dense² summer foliage³ -- no opening anywhere.

一点也没有：所有的都是交织在一起的茎，柱状的树干，浓密的夏季树叶——任何地方都没有出口。

I proceeded: at last my way opened, the trees thinned a little;

我继续往前走去。这条路终于有了出口，树林也稀疏些了。

presently I beheld⁴ a railing, then the house -- scarce, by this dim light, distinguishable from the trees;

我立刻看到了一排栏杆。随后是房子——在暗洞洞的光线中，依稀能把它与树木分开。

so dank and green were its decaying walls.

颓败的墙壁阴湿碧绿。

Entering a portal, fastened only by a latch⁵, I stood amidst a space of enclosed ground, from which the wood swept away in a semicircle.

我进了一扇只不过上了栓的门，站在围墙之内的一片空地上，那里的树木呈半园形展开。

There were no flowers, no garden-beds; only a broad gravel-walk girdling a grass-plat, and this set in the heavy frame of the forest.

没有花草，没有苗圃。只有一条宽阔的砂石路绕着一小片草地，藏于茂密的森林之中。

The house presented two pointed⁶ gables in its front;

房子的正面有两堵突出的山墙。

the windows were latticed and narrow: the front door was narrow too, one step led up to it.

窗子很窄，装有格子，正门也很窄小，一步就到了门口，

The whole looked, as the host of the Rochester Arms had said, "quite a desolate⁷ spot."

正如“罗切斯特纹章”的老板所说，整个庄园显得“十分荒凉”，

It was as still as a church on a week-day: the pattering rain on the forest leaves was the only sound audible in its vicinage.

静得像周日的教堂。落在树叶上的哗哗雨声是附近入耳的唯一声音。

"Can there be life here?" I asked.

“这儿会有生命吗？”我暗自问道。

Yes, life of some kind there was;

不错，是存在着某种生命，

for I heard a movement -- that narrow front-door was unclosing, and some shape was about to issue from the grange.

因为我听见了响动——狭窄的正门打开了，田庄里就要出现某个人影了。

1 sylvan   

adj.森林的

参考例句：

• Venerable oaks forms a sylvan archway.古老的栎树形成一条林荫拱道。
• They lived in a sylvan retreat.他们住在一个林中休养地。

2 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

3 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

4 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

5 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。