美国语文第五册 第155期:回家之路(2)

 　　"Have you a wife?" said I. "Yes, and three children," was the answer.  “你有妻子么？”我问他。“有，还有三个孩子。”他回答，

　　He then got up and folded his overcoat anew, and hung it over the back of the seat. 他接着站了起来，再次折叠起他的外套，将其搭在座椅背上。

　　"You are somewhat¹ nervous just now, are you not?" said I.  “你现在有点紧张，对吗？”我又问道。

　　"Well, I should think so," he replied. "I have n't slept soundly for a week.  “是的，确实紧张，”他告诉我，“你知道吗，一星期来，我没睡过一个安稳觉，”

　　Do you know," he went on, speaking in a low tone², 他继续小声地说，

　　I am almost certain this train will run off the track³ and break my neck before I get to Boston.  我几乎确信，这列火车肯定会在抵达波士顿前脱轨，我也会扭断脖子。

　　I have had too much good luck lately for one man. It can't last. 我的运气一直实在太好，好运气不会持久。

　　It rains so hard, sometimes, that you think it's never going to stop; 雨下得太大时，有时，你甚至在想，雨恐怕再也不会停了；

　　then it shines so bright you think it's always going to shine;  可一旦阳光灿烂，你也会想，天，总会这样一如既往地晴下去；

　　and just as you are settled⁴ in either belief, you are knocked over by a change, to show you that you know nothing about it. 正如你对二选一的某种信仰或概念安然若素，你就会被随后变化击垮，这些无非表明，你对这其中关系一无所知。

　　"Well, according⁵ to your philosophy," I said, "you will continue to have sunshine because you are expecting a storm."  “那么，根据你的推理，”我说，“因为你期待暴风雨的来临，说明你想继续拥有阳光。”

　　"Perhaps so," he replied; but it is curious that the only thing which makes me think I shall get through safe is, I fear that I shall not. “或许如此，”他说，不过，这事看来让人好奇，唯一使我考虑的，最终我会安全无恙，当然，我也恐怕不能过关。

　　“I am a machinist,” he continued; I made a discovery; nobody believed in it; “我是个机械师，”他继续说，“我推出一项发明，但无人相信，

　　I spent all my money in trying to bring it out; I mortgaged⁶ my home—everything went.  我花完了所有的钱，试图将这一发现公布于众。我将自己的房子做了抵押，所有财产都没了，

　　Everybody laughed at me—everybody but my wife.  人人都嘲笑我，当然不包括我的妻子。

　　She said she would work her fingers off before I should give it up.  她说在我放弃之前，她得拼命干活。

1 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

2 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

3 track   

n.轨道；足迹；痕迹；磁轨；途径；vt.循路而行；追踪；通过；用纤拉；vi.追踪

参考例句：

• The new race track is nearly six miles in extent.这条新跑道将近六英里长。
• The police are on his track.警察在跟踪他。

4 settled   

a.固定的；稳定的

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled without acrimony. 没有唇枪舌剑，这场纠纷就解决了。
• a settled way of life 安定的生活方式

5 according   

adj.按照，根据

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• We must cut our coat according to our cloth this year.今年我们必须学会量入为出。

6 mortgaged   

v.抵押( mortgage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The house is mortgaged to the bank for twenty thousand dollars. 这房子以两万美元押给银行。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His business is failing; he's mortgaged all his assets to try to save it. 他的企业在亏损，他抵押了所有资产企图挽救它。 来自《简明英汉词典》