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名篇欣赏 （走近纯正英语） almaling 主题：泰戈尔:《飞鸟集》 之九 http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-85-340274-1.shtml １５１ 神的巨大的威权是在柔和的微风里，而不在狂风暴雨之中。 God’s great power is in the gentle breeze, not in the storm. ...... １５４ 采着花瓣时，得不到花的美丽。 By plucking her petals you do not gather the beauty of the flower. ...... 主题：《乱世佳人》经典台词 Gone With The Wind http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-16-325071-1.shtml 3.Whatever comes, I’ll love you, just as I do now. Until I die. 无论发生什么事,我都会像现在一样爱你,直到永远。 4.I think it’s hard winning a war with words. 我认为纸上谈兵没什么作用。 。 。 。 。 。 > . 。 http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-2-340760-1.shtml 名篇欣赏 （走近纯正英语） 12 楼 起 http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-2-415875-1.shtml 名篇欣赏 （走近纯正英语） [续1] http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-2-428804-1.shtml 名篇欣赏 （走近纯正英语） [续2] . . 最后由 小小诗鬼 于 2008-04-17 06:52:18编辑 |
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万般皆下品 唯有读书高 It is vitally important to read.
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"I think Sarah has gone to the Gardens," she said, turning round. "You always keep reminding me of Sarah. There's nothing between us; anything there ever was is all off long ago.... Are you going for a walk?" She was glad of the chance to get a mouthful of fresh air, and they went towards the hunting gate. William held it open and she passed through. The plantations were enclosed by a wooden fence, and beyond them the bare downs rose hill after hill. On the left the land sloped into a shallow valley sown with various crops; and the shaws about Elliot's farm were the last trees. Beyond the farmhouse the downs ascended higher and higher, treeless, irreclaimable, scooped into long patriarchal solitudes, thrown into wild crests. There was a smell of sheep in the air, and the flock trotted past them in good order, followed by the shepherd, a huge hat and a crook in his hand, and two shaggy dogs at his heels. A brace of partridges rose out of the sainfoin, and flew down the hills; and watching their curving flight Esther and William saw the sea under the sun-setting, and the string of coast towns. "A lovely evening, isn't it?" Esther acquiesced; and tempted by the warmth of the grass they sat down, and the mystery of the twilight found way into their consciousness. "We shan't have any rain yet awhile." "How do you know?" "I'll tell you," William answered, eager to show his superior knowledge. "Look due south-west, straight through that last dip in that line of hills. Do you see anything?" . http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html . |
"No, I can see nothing," said Esther, after straining her eyes for a few moments. You will strain your eyes by reading in such poor light. 你在这样弱的光线下看书会损伤视力的。 The author seems to strain after novelty. 作者似乎在力图标新立异。 "I thought not.... Well, if it was going to rain you would see the Isle of Wight." For something to say, and hoping to please, Esther asked him where the race-course was. http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html "There, over yonder. I can't show you the start, a long way behind that hill, Portslade way; then they come right along by that gorse and finish up by Truly barn-- you can't see Truly barn from here, that's Thunder's barrow barn; they go quite half a mile farther." "And does all that land belong to the Gaffer?" "Yes, and a great deal more, too; but this down land isn't worth much--not more than about ten shillings an acre." "And how many acres are there?" "Do you mean all that we can see?" "Yes." "The Gaffer's property reaches to Southwick Hill, and it goes north a long way. I suppose you don't know that all this piece, all that lies between us and that barn yonder, once belonged to my family." "To your family?" "Yes, the Latches were once big swells; in the time of my great-grandfather the Barfields could not hold their heads as high as the Latches. My great-grandfather had a pot of money, but it all went." "Racing?" . . |
"A good bit, I've no doubt. A rare 'ard liver, cock-fighting, 'unting, 'orse-racing from one year's end to the other. Then after 'im came my grandfather; he went to the law, and a sad mess he made of it--went stony-broke and left my father without a sixpence; that is why mother didn't want me to go into livery. The family 'ad been coming down for generations, and mother thought that I was born to restore it; and so I was, but not as she thought, by carrying parcels up and down the King's Road." http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html Esther looked at William in silent admiration, and, feeling that he had secured an appreciative listener, he continued his monologue regarding the wealth and rank his family had formerly held, till a heavy dew forced them to their feet. In front of them was the moon, and out of the forlorn sky looked down the misted valleys; the crests of the hills were still touched with light, and lights flew from coast town to coast town, weaving a luminous garland. The sheep had been folded, and seeing them lying in the greyness of this hill-side, and beyond them the massive moonlit landscape and the vague sea, Esther suddenly became aware, as she had never done before, of the exceeding beauty of the world. Looking up in William's face, she said-- "Oh, how beautiful!" . . |
As they descended the drove-way their feet raised the chalk, and William said-- "This is bad for Silver Braid; we shall want some more rain in a day or two.... We're not beaten yet, (not) by a long chalk. 我们还没有败, 远远没败. Chalk that up to experience. 把那事归于经验问题 Let's come for a walk round the farm," he said suddenly. "The farm belongs to the Gaffer, but he's let the Lodge to a young fellow called Johnson. He's the chap that Peggy used to go after--there was awful rows about that, and worse when he forestalled the Gaffer about Egmont." The conversation wandered agreeably, and they became more conscious of each other. He told her all he knew about the chap who had jilted Miss Mary, and the various burlesque actresses at the Shoreham Gardens who had captivated Ginger's susceptible heart. While listening she suddenly became aware that she had never been so happy before. Now all she had endured seemed accidental; she felt that she had entered into the permanent; and in the midst of vague but intense sensations William showed her the pigeon-house with all the blue birds dozing on the tiles, a white one here and there. They visited the workshop, the forge, and the old cottages where the bailiff and the shepherd lived; and all this inanimate nature--the most insignificant objects--seemed inspired, seemed like symbols of her emotion. http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html . They left the farm and wandered on the high road until a stile leading to a cornfield beguiled and then delayed their steps. The silence of the moonlight was clear and immense; and they listened to the trilling of the nightingale in the copse hard by. First they sought to discover the brown bird in the branches of the poor hedge, and then the reason of the extraordinary emotion in their hearts. It seemed that all life was beating in that moment, and they were as it were inflamed to reach out their hands to life and to grasp it together. Even William noticed that. And the moon shone on the mist that had gathered on the long marsh lands of the foreshore. Beyond the trees the land wavered out into down land, the river gleamed and intensely. This moment was all the poetry of their lives. The striking of a match to light his pipe, which had gone out, put the music to flight, and all along the white road he continued his monologue, interrupted only by the necessity of puffing at his pipe. . . |
"Mother says that if I had twopence worth of pride in me I wouldn't have consented to put on the livery; but what I says to mother is, 'What's the use of having pride if you haven't money?' I tells her that I am rotten with pride, but my pride is to make money. I can't see that the man what is willing to remain poor all his life has any pride at all.... But, Lord! I have argued with mother till I'm sick; she can see nothing further than the livery; that's what women are--they are that short-sighted.... A lot of good it would have done me to have carried parcels all my life, and when I could do four mile an hour no more, to be turned out to die in the ditch and be buried by the parish. 'Not good enough,' says I. 'If that's your pride, mother, you may put it in your pipe and smoke it, and as you 'aven't got a pipe, perhaps behind the oven will do as well,'--that's what I said to her. I saw well enough there was nothing for me but service, and I means to stop here until I can get on three or four good things and then retire into a nice comfortable public-house and do my own betting." "You would give up betting then?" http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html "I'd give up backing 'orses, if you mean that.... What I should like would be to get on to a dozen good things at long prices--half-a-dozen like Silver Braid would do it. For a thousand or fifteen hundred pounds I could have the 'Red Lion,' and just inside my own bar I could do a hundred-pound book on all the big races." Esther listened, hearing interminable references to jockeys, publicans, weights, odds, and the certainty, if he had the "Red Lion," of being able to get all Joe Walker's betting business away from him. Allusions to the police, and the care that must be taken not to bet with anyone who had not been properly introduced, frightened her; but her fears died in the sensation of his arm about her waist, and the music that the striking of a match had put to flight had begun again in the next plantation, and it began again in their hearts. But if he were going to marry Sarah! The idea amused him; he laughed loudly, and they walked up the avenue, his face bent over hers. . . |
VII The Barfield calculation was that they had a stone in hand. Bayleaf, Mr. Leopold argued, would be backed to win a million of money if he were handicapped in the race at seven stone; and Silver Braid, who had been tried again with Bayleaf, and with the same result as before, had been let off with only six stone. More rain had fallen, the hay-crop had been irretrievably ruined, the prospects of the wheat harvest were jeopardized, but what did a few bushels of wheat matter? Another pound of muscle in those superb hind-quarters was worth all the corn that could be grown between here and Henfield. Let the rain come down, let every ear of wheat be destroyed, so long as those delicate fore-legs remained sound. These were the ethics that obtained at Woodview, and within the last few days showed signs of adoption by the little town and not a few of the farmers, grown tired of seeing their crops rotting on the hill-sides. The fever of the gamble was in eruption, breaking out in unexpected places--the station-master, the porters, the flymen, all had their bit on, and notwithstanding the enormous favouritism of two other horses in the race--Prisoner and Stoke Newington--Silver Braid had advanced considerably in the betting. Reports of trials won had reached Brighton, and not more than five-and-twenty to one could now be obtained. http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html The discovery that the Demon had gone up several pounds in weight had introduced the necessary alloy into the mintage of their happiness; the most real consternation prevailed, and the strictest investigation was made as to when and how he had obtained the quantities of food required to produce such a mass of adipose tissue. Then the Gaffer had the boy upstairs and administered to him a huge dose of salts, seeing him swallow every drop; and when the effects of the medicine had worn off he was sent for a walk to Portslade in two large overcoats, and was accompanied by William, whose long legs led the way so effectively. On his return a couple of nice feather beds were ready, and Mr. Leopold and Mr. Swindles themselves laid him between them, and when they noticed that he was beginning to cease to perspire Mr. Leopold made him a nice cup of hot tea. "That's the way the Gaffer used to get the flesh off in the old days when he rode the winner at Liverpool." . . |
"It's the Demon's own fault," said Mr. Swindles; "if he hadn't been so greedy he wouldn't have had to sweat, and we should 'ave been spared a deal of bother and anxiety." "Greedy!" murmured the little boy, in whom the warm tea had induced a new perspiration; "I haven't had what you might call a dinner for the last three months. I think I'll chuck the whole thing." "Not until this race is over," said Mr. Swindles. "Supposing I was to pass the warming-pan down these 'ere sheets. What do you say, Mr. Leopold? They are beginning to feel a bit cold." "Cold! I 'ope you'll never go to a 'otter place. For God's sake, Mr. Leopold, don't let him come near me with the warming-pan, or else he'll melt the little flesh that's left off me." "You 'ad better not make such a fuss," said Mr. Leopold; "if you don't do what you are told, you'll have to take salts again and go for another walk with William." "If we don't warm up them sheets 'e'll dry up," said Mr. Swindles. "No, I won't; I'm teeming." Fish and shrimp teem in this river. 这条河盛产鱼虾。 This river is teeming with fish and shrimps. It's teeming with rain. 正在下大雨。 . It was teeming down and we all got soaked. 大雨倾盆，我们全都湿透了。 . His mind was still teeming with various projects. . 他的脑子里依然塞满了各式各样的计划。 "Be a good boy, and you shall have a nice cut of mutton when you get up," said Mr. Leopold. "How much? Two slices?" "Well, you see, we can't promise; it all depends on how much has come off, and 'aving once got it hoff, we don't want to put it on again." "I never did 'ear such rot," said Swindles. "In my time a boy's feelings weren't considered--one did what one considered good for them." http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html Mr. Leopold strove to engage the Demon's attention with compliments regarding his horsemanship in the City and Sub. while Mr. Swindles raised the bedclothes. . . |
http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html "Oh, Mr. Swindles, you are burning me." "For 'eaven's sake don't let him start out from under the bed like that! Can't yer 'old him? Burning you! I never even touched you with it; it was the sheet that you felt." "Then the sheet is at 'ot as the bloody fire. Will yer leave off?" "What! a Demon like you afraid of a little touch of 'eat; wouldn't 'ave believed it unless I 'ad 'eard it with my own ears," said Mr. Leopold. "Come, now, do yer want to ride the crack at Goodwood or do yer not? If you do, remain quiet, and let us finish taking off the last couple of pounds." "It is the last couple of pounds that takes it out of one; the first lot comes off jest like butter," said the boy, rolling out of the way of the pan. "I know what it will be; I shall be so weak that I shall just ride a stinking bad race." Mr. Leopold and Mr. Swindles exchanged glances. It was clear they thought that there was something in the last words of the fainting Demon, and the pan was withdrawn. But when the boy was got into the scale again it was found that he was not yet nearly the right weight, and the Gaffer ordered another effort to be made. The Demon pleaded that his feet were sore, but he was sent off to Portslade in charge of the redoubtable William. And as the last pounds came off the Demon's little carcass Mr. Leopold's face resumed a more tranquil expression. It began to be whispered that instead of hedging any part of his money he would stand it all out, and one day a market gardener brought up word that he had seen Mr. Leopold going into Brighton. "Old Watkins isn't good enough for him, that's about it. If Silver Braid wins, Woodview will see very little more of Mr. Leopold. He'll be for buying one of them big houses on the sea road and keeping his own trap." . . . |
The great day was now fast approaching The great day was now fast approaching http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html VIII The great day was now fast approaching, and the Gaffer had promised to drive his folk in a drag to Goodwood. No more rain was required, the colt's legs remained sound, and three days of sunshine would make all the difference in their sum of happiness. In the kitchen Mrs. Latch and Esther had been busy for some time with chickens and pies and jellies, and in the passage there were cases packed with fruit and wine. The dressmaker had come from Worthing, and for several days the young ladies had not left her. And one fine morning, very early--about eight o'clock--the wheelers were backed into the drag that had come from Brighton, and the yard resounded with the blaring of the horn. Ginger was practising under his sister's window. "You'll be late! You'll be late!" With the exception of two young gentlemen, who had come at the invitation of the young ladies, it was quite a family party. Miss Mary sat beside her father on the box, and looked very charming in white and blue. Peggy's black hair seemed blacker than ever under a white silk parasol, which the Chinese [sultan's] parasol (trees) 梧桐 阳伞下的女士 Woman with Parasol (克劳德莫奈印象主义世界名画) she waved negligently above her as she stood up calling and talking to everyone until the Gaffer told her angrily to sit down, as he was going to start. Then William and the coachman let go the leaders' heads, and running side by side swung themselves into their seats. At the same moment a glimpse was caught of Mr. Leopold's sallow profile amid the boxes and the mackintoshes that filled the inside of the coach. "Oh, William did look that handsome in those beautiful new clothes! ...Everyone said so--Sarah and Margaret and Miss Grover. I'm sorry you did not come out to see him." Mrs. Latch made no answer, and Esther remembered how she hated her son to wear livery, and thought that she had perhaps made a mistake in saying that Mrs. Latch should have come out to see him. "Perhaps this will make her dislike me again," thought the girl. Mrs. Latch moved about rapidly, and she opened and closed the oven; then, raising her eyes to the window and seeing that the other women were still standing in the yard and safely out of hearing, she said-- "Do you think that he has bet much on this race?" . . 最后由 小小诗鬼 于 2008-03-22 11:00:01编辑 |
"Oh, how should I know, Mrs. Latch?... But the horse is certain to win." "Certain to win! I have heard that tale before; they are always certain to win. So they have won you round to their way of thinking, have they?" said Mrs. Latch, straightening her back. "I know very well indeed that it is not right to bet; but what can I do, a poor girl like me? If it hadn't been for William I never would have taken a number in that sweepstakes." "Do you like him very much, then?" "He has been very kind to me--he was kind when--" "Yes, I know, when I was unkind. I was unkind to you when you first came. You don't know all. I was much troubled at that time, and somehow I did not--. But there is no ill-feeling?... I'll make it up to you-- I'll teach you how to be a cook." "Oh, Mrs. Latch, I am sure----" "Never mind that. When you went out to walk with him the other night, did he tell you that he had many bets on the race?" "He talked about the race, like everyone else, but he did not tell me what bets he had on." "No, they never do do that.... But you'll not tell him that I asked you?" "No, Mrs. Latch, I promise." "It would do no good, he'd only be angry; it would only set him against me. I am afraid that nothing will stop him now. Once they get a taste for it it is like drink. I wish he was married, that might get him out of it. Some woman who would have an influence over him, some strong-minded woman. I thought once that you were strong-minded----" At that moment Sarah and Grover entered the kitchen talking loudly. They asked Mrs. Latch how soon they could have dinner--the sooner the better, for the Saint had told them that they were free to go out for the day. They were to try to be back before eight, that was all. Ah! the Saint was a first-rate sort. She had said that she did not want anyone to attend on her. She would, get herself a bit of lunch in the dining-room. Mrs. Latch allowed Esther to hurry on the dinner, and by one o'clock they had all finished. Sarah and Margaret were going into Brighton to do some shopping, Grover was going to Worthing to spend the afternoon with the wife of one of the guards of the Brighton and South Coast Railway. Mrs. Latch went upstairs to lie down. So it grew lonelier and lonelier in the kitchen. Esther's sewing fell out of her hands, and she wondered what she should do. She thought that she might go down to the beach, and soon after she put on her hat and stood thinking, remembering that she had not been by the sea, that she had not seen the sea since she was a little girl. But she remembered the tall ships that came into the harbour, sail falling over sail, and the tall ships that floated out of the harbour, sail rising over sail, catching the breeze as they went aloft--she remembered them. . . |
A suspension bridge, ornamented with straight-tailed lions, took her over the weedy river, and having crossed some pieces of rough grass, she climbed the shingle bank. The heat rippled the blue air, and the sea, like an exhausted caged beast, licked the shingle. Sea-poppies bloomed under the wheels of a decaying bathing-machine, and Esther wondered. But the sea here was lonely as a prison, and, seeing the treeless coast with its chain of towns, her thoughts suddenly reverted to William. She wished he were with her, and for pleasant contemplation she thought of that happy evening when she saw him coming through the hunting gate, when, his arm about her, William had explained that if the horse won she would take seven shillings out of the sweepstakes. She knew now that William did not care about Sarah; and that he cared for her had given a sudden and unexpected meaning to her existence. She lay on the shingle, her day-dream becoming softer and more delicate as it rounded into summer sleep. And when the light awoke her she saw flights of white clouds--white up above, rose-coloured as they approached the west; and when she turned, a tall, melancholy woman. "Good evening, Mrs. Randal," said Esther, glad to find someone to speak to. "I've been asleep." "Good evening, Miss. You're from Woodview, I think?" "Yes, I'm the kitchen-maid. They've gone to the races; there was nothing to do, so I came down here." http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html Mrs. Randal's lips moved as if she were going to say something. But she did not speak. Soon after she rose to her feet. "I think that it must be getting near tea-time; I must be going. You might come in and have a cup of tea with me, if you're not in a hurry back to Woodview." Esther was surprised at so much condescension, and in silence the two women crossed the meadows that lay between the shingle bank and the river. Trains were passing all the while, scattering, it seemed, in their noisy passage over the spider-legged bridge, the news from Goodwood. http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html The news seemed to be borne along shore in the dust, and, as if troubled by prescience of the news, Mrs. Randal said, as she unlocked the cottage door---- "It is all over now. The people in those trains know well enough which has won." "Yes, I suppose they know, and somehow I feel as if I knew too. I feel as if Silver Braid had won." . . |
Mrs. Randal's home was gaunt as herself. Everything looked as if it had been scraped, and the spare furniture expressed a meagre, lonely life. She dropped a plate as she laid the table, and stood pathetically looking at the pieces. When Esther asked for a teaspoon she gave way utterly. http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters1.html "I haven't one to give you; I had forgotten that they were gone. I should have remembered and not asked you to tea." "It don't matter, Mrs. Randal; I can stir up my tea with anything-- a knitting-needle will do very well--" "I should have remembered and not asked you back to tea; but I was so miserable, and it is so lonely sitting in this house, that I could stand it no longer.... Talking to you saved me from thinking, and I did not want to think until this race was over. If Silver Braid is beaten we are ruined. Indeed, I don't know what will become of us. For fifteen years I have borne up; I have lived on little at the best of times, and very often have gone without; but that is nothing compared to the anxiety-- to see him come in with a white face, to see him drop into a chair and hear him say, 'Beaten a head on the post,' or 'Broke down, otherwise he would have won in a canter.' I have always tried to be a good wife and tried to console him, and to do the best when he said, 'I have lost half a year's wages, I don't know how we shall pull through. ' I have borne with ten thousand times more than I can tell you. The sufferings of a gambler's wife cannot be told. Tell me, what do you think my feelings must have been when one night I heard him calling me out of my sleep, when I heard him say, 'I can't die, Annie, without bidding you good-bye. I can only hope that you will be able to pull through, and I know that the Gaffer will do all he can for you, but he has been hit awful hard too. You mustn't think too badly of me, Annie, but I have had such a bad time that I couldn't put up with it any longer, and I thought the best thing I could do would be to go.' That's just how he talked--nice words to hear your husband speak in your ear through the darkness! There was no time to send for the doctor, so I jumped out of bed, put the kettle on, and made him drink glass after glass of salt and water. At last he brought up the laudanum." Esther listened to the melancholy woman, and remembered the little man whom she saw every day so orderly, so precise, so sedate, so methodical, so unemotional, into whose life she thought no faintest emotion had ever entered--and this was the truth. "So long as I only had myself to think of I didn't mind; but now there are the children growing up. He should think of them. Heaven only knows what will become of them... John is as kind a husband as ever was if it weren't for that one fault; but he cannot resist having something on any more than a drunkard can resist the bar-room." "Winner, winner, winner of the Stewards' Cup!" The women started to their feet. When they got into the street the boy was far away; besides, neither had a penny to pay for the paper, and they wandered about the town hearing and seeing nothing, so nervous were they. At last Esther proposed to ask at the "Red Lion" who had won. Mrs. Randal . . |
begged her to refrain, urging that she was unable to bear the tidings should it be evil. . "Silver Braid," the barman answered. . The girl rushed through the doors. . "It is all right, it is all right; he has won!" . . http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters2.html . |
Soon after the little children in the lane were calling forth "Silver Braid won!" And overcome by the excitement Esther walked along the sea-road to meet the drag. She walked on and on until the sound of the horn came through the crimson evening and she saw the leaders trotting in a cloud of dust. Ginger was driving, and he shouted to her, "He won!" The Gaffer waved the horn and shouted, "He won!" Peggy waved her broken parasol and shouted, "He won!" Esther looked at William. He leaned over the back seat and shouted, "He won!" She had forgotten all about late dinner. What would Mrs. Latch say? On such a day as this she would say nothing. http://www.fullbooks.com/Esther-Waters2.html . . |
remained of a beefsteak pudding. (已经出帖) . . IX Nearly everything came down untouched. But if little was eaten upstairs, plenty was eaten downstairs; the mutton was finished in a trice, and Mrs. Latch had to fetch from the larder what remained of a beefsteak pudding. http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-2-340760-1.shtml 名篇欣赏 （走近纯正英语） 12 楼 起 http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-2-415875-1.shtml 名篇欣赏 （走近纯正英语） [续1] http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-2-428804-1.shtml 名篇欣赏 （走近纯正英语） [续2] . . |
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