美国语文第五册 第269期:家庭场景(3)

 　　You try to drop the notion, as if it were not fairly your own; 你试图挥去那团荒谬念头，好像那完全不是你的真实想法，

　　you affect to slight it, as you would slight a boy who presumed on your acquaintance, but whom you have no desire to know. 你假装不去想那满心惊悚，好像路上走来个孩子，与你套近乎说是你的熟人，而你压根不动声色。

　　Yet your mother—how strange it is!—has no fears of such dark fancies. 可是，你的妈妈，看来不可思议！你好像丝毫没有黑暗虚妄的恐惧。

　　Even now, as you stand beside her, and as the twilight¹ deepens in the room, 即便现在，暮色使房间更为昏暗，你伫立她的身边，

　　her low, silvery voice is stealing upon your ear, telling you that she can not be long with you; 她那银铃般声音轻轻在你耳边响起，她告诉你，不能长久与你生活一起，

　　—that the time is coming, when you must be guided by your own judgment², and struggle with the world unaided by the friends of your boyhood. 离别的时刻已经来临，今后闯荡社会只能依靠你自己判断，独自一人在这个世界打拼，别再指望孩提时代所有的外来肩膀。

　　There is a little pride, and a great deal more of anxiety, in your thoughts now, 你目光坚毅地看着家里壁炉里恍惚光焰，

　　as you look steadfastly³ into the home blaze, while those delicate fingers, so tender of your happiness, play with the locks upon your brow. 思绪万千的心里或许存有些许骄傲，更多的则是忧虑。那些精致手指打开了你眉间心结，你的幸福刹那间变得旖旎温柔。

　　To struggle with the world,—that is a proud thing; to struggle alone,—there lies the doubt! 在世打拼，毕竟引以为豪；独自一人打拼，困惑不安郁闷！

　　Then crowds in swift upon the calm of boyhood the first anxious thought of youth. 青春时代第一次忧心忡忡，就这样急遽闯入童年的静穆安宁。

　　The hands of the old clock upon the mantel that ticked off the hours when Charlie sighed and when Charlie died, draw on toward midnight. 查理在叹息，查理已死去，壁炉架上古老壁钟仍然滴答不停，时针现在指向午夜。

　　The shadows that the fireflame makes grow dimmer and dimmer. 炉火阴影变得愈加黯淡，模糊不清。

　　And thus it is, that Home,—boy home, passes away forever,—like the swaying of a pendulum,—like the fading of a shadow on the floor. 这就是家，男孩的家，永远消逝不再的家，好像钟摆不停摇动中，地面阴影随之一点点烟消云散。

1 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

2 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

3 steadfastly   

adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝

参考例句：

• So he sat, with a steadfastly vacant gaze, pausing in his work. 他就像这样坐着，停止了工作，直勾勾地瞪着眼。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• Defarge and his wife looked steadfastly at one another. 德伐日和他的妻子彼此凝视了一会儿。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记