Alfred Tennyson
Tennyson’s pipe was almost indispensable to him, and I remember one time when I and several friends were staying at his house, the question of tobacco turned up.1 Some of his friends taunted Tennyson that he could never give up tobacco. “Anybody can do that,” he said, “if he chooses2 to do it.” When his friends still continued to doubt and tease him, “Well,” he said, “I shall give up smoking from tonight.” The very same evening I was told that he threw his tobacco and pipe out of the window of his bedroom. The next day he became very moody and captious, the third day no one knew what to do with him. But after a disturbed night I was told that he got3 out of bed in the morning, went3 quietly into the garden, picked up one of his pipes, stuffed it with the remains of the tobacco scattered about, and then having had a few puffs came to breakfast all right again.
— M. Mueller
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pipe n. 烟斗
indispensable adj. 必不可少的
taunt v. 嘲笑；奚落
tease v. 戏弄
moody adj. 闷闷不乐的
captious adj. 好找岔子的
stuff v. 把……装满
scatter v. 使散布在各处
puff n. （抽）一口烟
中译 戒烟（丁尼生）
烟斗对丁尼生来说几乎是必不可少的。记得有一次，我和几个朋友留住他家时，议论到吸烟的问题。他的朋友中有人讥笑他，说他永远也戒不了烟。他说：“如果决意要做的话，任何人都做得到。”在朋友们继续怀疑和戏弄他的时候，他便说：“我今晚就戒烟。”就在当天晚上，有人告诉我，他把烟丝和烟斗从他卧室的窗口扔了出去。第二天他变得郁郁寡欢，吹毛求疵。到了第三天，大家都拿他没办法了。可是，又一个不安的夜晚之后，我获悉，他早晨起了床便悄悄地走进花园，拣起一只烟斗，把散落的剩余烟丝装进烟斗。他喷出几团烟雾之后，便过来用早餐，情绪恢复如初。
——〔英〕穆埃勒
原来如此！
Alfred Tennyson（丁尼生，1809-1892），英国诗人，其诗音韵和谐，辞藻华丽，风格优美。他在剑桥大学学习时（1827-1831）就已经发表诗作而荣获奖章。1850年桂冠诗人华兹华斯（Wordsworth）死后，丁尼生就承袭了“桂冠诗人”（“poet laureate”）的职位。主要诗作有《夏洛蒂小姐》（The Lady of Shalott, 1832）、《尤利西斯》（Ulysses, 1842）等。
每个人都有他的癖好或习性。名人的癖好更惹人注目。这些癖好称为 idiosyncrasy / idiosyncrasies。
本文作者Max Mueller（穆埃勒）为丁尼生的朋友。
增值英语
1 the question...turned up
sth turns up 某事（意外地）发生，出现：
The lost papers have turned up. 丢失的文件找到了。
Mr. Green was always waiting for something to turn up. 格林先生老是等着走运。
sb turns up 指某人露面、出现：
Very few people turned up for the meeting. 很少几个人出席会议。
2 if he chooses to do...
句式 choose to-v. 情愿；决定；故意：
You can improve your English if you choose to. 你只要愿意，就能够提高英语水平。
She could not have failed to see it, but she had chosen to ignore it.
这个她不会看不见，只是故意不理会罢了。
3 ...he got out of bed..., went quietly..., picked up...,
stuffed it..., and then...came to breakfast...
句式 这一句里的主语是 he，谓语部分是五个并列结构，不需重复主语he，因而起到语言简练紧凑，文笔流畅，描写生动的效果。丁尼生烟癖难改，说了大话不能履行诺言的天真模样跃然纸上。
The car ran out of control, skidded along the road, ran onto the pavement and knocked down a lamp-post before it stopped.
汽车失去控制，一路滑行，冲上行人路，撞倒灯柱后才停下来。
名言
For man is man and master of his fate.
— A. Tennyson
人就是主宰自己命运的主人。 ——丁尼生