月亮和六便士 第八章(1)

 　　Chapter 8 八

　　On reading over what I have written of the Stricklands, I am conscious that they must seem shadowy.  回过头来读了读我写的思特里克兰德夫妇的故事，我感到这两个人被我写得太没有血肉了。

　　I have been able to invest them with none of those characteristics which make the persons of a book exist with a real life of their own;  要使书中人物真实动人，需要把他们的性格特征写出来，而我却没有赋予他们任何特色。

　　and, wondering if the fault is mine, I rack my brains to remember idiosyncrasies which might lend them vividness.  我想知道这是不是我的过错，我苦思苦想，希望回忆起一些能使他们性格鲜明的特征。

　　I feel that by dwelling¹ on some trick of speech or some queer habit I should be able to give them a significance peculiar² to themselves.  我觉得如果我能够详细写出他们说话的某些习惯或者他们的一些离奇的举止，或许就能够突出他们的特点了。

　　As they stand they are like the figures in an old tapestry³; they do not separate themselves from the background,  像我现在这样写，这两个人好象是一幅古旧挂毯上的两个人形，同背景很难分辨出来；

　　and at a distance seem to lose their pattern, so that you have little but a pleasing piece of colour.  如果从远处看，那就连轮廓也辨别不出，只剩下一团花花绿绿的颜色了。

　　My only excuse is that the impression they made on me was no other.  我只有一种辩解：他们给我的就是这样一个印象。

　　There was just that shadowiness about them which you find in people whose lives are part of the social organism, so that they exist in it and by it only.  有些人的生活只是社会有机体的一部分，他们只能生活在这个有机体内，也只能依靠它而生活，这种人总是给人以虚幻的感觉；思特里克兰德夫妇正是这样的人。

　　They are like cells in the body, essential, but, so long as they remain healthy, engulfed⁴ in the momentous⁵ whole.  他们有如体内的细胞，是身体所决不能缺少的，但是只要他们健康存在一天，就被吞没在一个重大的整体里。

　　The Stricklands were an average family in the middle class.  思特里克兰德这家人是普普通通的一个中产阶级家庭。

　　A pleasant, hospitable⁶ woman, with a harmless craze for the small lions of literary society;  一个和蔼可亲、殷勤好客的妻子，有着喜欢结交文学界小名人的无害的癖好；

　　a rather dull man, doing his duty in that state of life in which a merciful Providence⁷ had placed him; two nice-looking, healthy children.  一个并不很聪明的丈夫，在慈悲的上帝安排给他的那种生活中兢兢业业、恪尽职责：两个漂亮、健康的孩子。

　　Nothing could be more ordinary.  没有什么比这一家人更为平凡的了。

　　I do not know that there was anything about them to excite the attention of the curious. 我不知道这一家人有什么能够引起好奇的人注意的。

　　When I reflect on all that happened later, I ask myself if I was thick-witted not to see that there was in Charles Strickland at least something out of the common.  当我想到后来发生的种种事情时，不禁自问：是不是当初我过于迟钝，没有看出查理斯?思特里克兰德身上与常人不同的地方啊？

　　Perhaps. I think that I have gathered in the years that intervene between then and now a fair knowledge of mankind,  也许是这样的。从那个时候起到现在已经过了这么多年，在此期间我对人情世故知道了不少东西，

　　but even if when I first met the Stricklands I had the experience which I have now, I do not believe that I should have judged them differently.  但是即使当初我认识他们夫妇时就已经有了今天的阅历，我也不认为我对他们的判断就有所不同。

　　But because I have learnt that man is incalculable, I should not at this time of day be so surprised by the news that reached me when in the early autumn I returned to London. 只不过有一点会和当年不一样：在我了解到人是多么玄妙莫测之后，我今天决不会象那年初秋我刚刚回到伦敦时那样，在听到那个消息以后会那样大吃一惊了。

1 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

2 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

3 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

4 engulfed   

v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was engulfed by a crowd of reporters. 他被一群记者团团围住。
• The little boat was engulfed by the waves. 小船被波浪吞没了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

6 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。

7 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。