马克吐温最佳短篇小说 10 Punch Brothers Punch

 　　Will the reader please to cast his eye over the following verses , and see if he can discover anything harmful in them?

　　Conductor, when you receive a fare,Punch in the presence of the passenjare!

　　A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare,A buff trip slip for a six-cent fare,A pink trip slip for a three-cent fare,Punch in the presence of the passenjare!

　　CHORUSPunch, brothers! punch with care!

　　Punch in the presence of the passenjare!

　　I came across these jingling¹ rhymes in a newspaper, a little while ago, and read them a couple of times. They took instant and entire possession of me. All through breakfastthey went waltzing through my brain; and when, at last, I rolled up my napkin, I could not tell whether I had eaten anything or not. I had carefully laid out my day's work theday before--thrilling tragedy in the novel which I am writing. I went to my den² to begin my deed of blood. I took up my pen, but all I could get it to say was, "Punch in thepresence of the passenjare." I fought hard for an hour, but it was useless. My head kept humming, "A blue trip slip for an eight-cent fare, a buff trip slip for a six-cent fare," and so on and so on, without peace or respite³. The day's work was ruined--I could see that plainly enough. I gave up and drifted down-town, and presently discovered that my feet were keeping time to that relentless⁴ jingle⁵. When I could stand it no longer I altered my step. But it did no good; those rhymes accommodated themselves to the new step and went on harassing⁶ me just as before. I returned home, and suffered all the afternoon;suffered all through an unconscious and unrefreshing dinner; suffered, and cried, andjingled all through the evening; went to bed and rolled, tossed, and jingled⁷ right along,the same as ever; got up at midnight frantic⁸, and tried to read; but there was nothingvisible upon the whirling page except "Punch! punch in the presence of thepassenjare." By sunrise I was out of my mind, and everybody marveled and wasdistressed at the idiotic⁹ burden of my ravings--"Punch! oh, punch! punch in the presence of the pass enjare!"

1 jingling   

叮当声

参考例句：

• A carriage went jingling by with some reclining figure in it. 一辆马车叮当驶过，车上斜倚着一个人。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Melanie did not seem to know, or care, that life was riding by with jingling spurs. 媚兰好像并不知道，或者不关心，生活正马刺丁当地一路驶过去了呢。

2 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

3 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。

4 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

5 jingle   

n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵

参考例句：

• The key fell on the ground with a jingle.钥匙叮当落地。
• The knives and forks set up their regular jingle.刀叉发出常有的叮当声。

6 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

7 jingled   

喝醉的

参考例句：

• The bells jingled all the way. 一路上铃儿叮当响。
• Coins in his pocket jingled as he walked. 走路时，他衣袋里的钱币丁当作响。

8 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

9 idiotic   

adj.白痴的

参考例句：

• It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
• The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。