美国语文第六册 第27期:受惊的艺术家(3)

 　　One morning, Duhobret was missing at the scene of his daily labors². 一天早晨，杜霍布赖特没有来画室上工。

　　His absence created much remark, and many were the jokes passed upon the occasion. 他的旷工掀起轩然大波，大家议论纷纷，拿他取笑。

　　One surmised³ this, and another that, as the cause of the phenomenon; 有的乱加猜测，有的则深究起导致这一现象的原因，

　　and it was finally agreed that the poor fellow must have worked himself into an absolute skeleton, 最后大家一致认为这个可怜的家伙准是变成骷髅了，

　　and taken his final stand in the glass frame of some apothecary⁴, or been blown away by a puff⁵ of wind, while his door happened to stand open. 正在某药店的玻璃橱窗理展示呢，或者他住处的门刚一开，他就被一阵风给吹走了。

　　No one thought of going to his lodgings⁶ to look after him or his remains⁷. 没有谁想到应该去他的住处看看他到底怎么了。

　　Meanwhile, the object of their mirth was tossing on a bed of sickness. 就在他们七嘴八舌地议论时，他们取笑的对象正因为生病在床上挣扎呢。

　　Disease, which had been slowly sapping the foundations of his strength, burned in every vein⁸; 疾病已经慢慢地蛀蚀了他身体这幢大厦的地基，每一根血管都淤塞了，

　　his eyes rolled and flashed in delirium⁹; his lips, usually so silent, muttered wild and incoherent words. 在神智昏迷中他的眼珠转动着，一闪一闪的。他那平常很少翕张的嘴唇，此时胡乱迸出不连贯的谵语来。

　　In his days of health, poor Duhobret had his dreams, as all artists, rich or poor, will sometimes have. 在他身体健康那段日子，可怜的杜霍布赖特做过各种各样的梦，都是梦想做大艺术家，有时梦到自己是腰缠万贯的人，有时又梦到自己穷困潦倒。

　　He had thought that the fruit of many years' labor¹, disposed of to advantage, might procure¹⁰ him enough to live, in an economical way, for the rest of his life. 他本想凭借自己多年的辛劳，只要精打细算应该足以解决生计，他的余生不会在为生计发愁的。

　　He never anticipated fame or fortune; the height of his ambition or hope was, 他从来不敢奢望名满天下或者腰缠万贯。他最大的报抱负或者希望就是，

　　to possess a tenement¹¹ large enough to shelter him from the inclemencies of the weather, with means enough to purchase one comfortable meal per day. 能有一幢足以遮风避雨的房子，每天能够买到可口的饭菜，仅此而已。

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

3 surmised   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• From the looks on their faces, I surmised that they had had an argument. 看他们的脸色，我猜想他们之间发生了争执。
• From his letter I surmised that he was unhappy. 我从他的信中推测他并不快乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 apothecary   

n.药剂师

参考例句：

• I am an apothecary of that hospital.我是那家医院的一名药剂师。
• He was the usual cut and dry apothecary,of no particular age and color.他是那种再普通不过的行医者，说不出多大年纪，相貌也没什么值得一提的。

5 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

6 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

9 delirium   

n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋

参考例句：

• In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。
• For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月，约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。

10 procure   

vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条

参考例句：

• Can you procure some specimens for me?你能替我弄到一些标本吗？
• I'll try my best to procure you that original French novel.我将尽全力给你搞到那本原版法国小说。

11 tenement   

n.公寓；房屋

参考例句：

• They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
• She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里，她觉得很得意。