书城教材教辅新课标英语学习资源库-天国花园
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第22章 Good Humour(3)

Here rests a remarkably stingy (stingy adj.吝啬的,小气的,缺乏的,有刺的)woman.During her lifetime she used to get up at night and mew,so that the neighbours might think she kept a cat—she was so remarkably stingy.

这儿躺着一个异常吝啬的妇人。在她活着的时候,她常常夜间起来,学着猫叫,使邻人相信她养了一只猫——她是那么地吝啬!

Here lies a lady of good family;in company she always wanted to let her singing be heard,and then she sang“mi manca la voce”,that was the only true thing in her life.

这儿躺着一个出自名门的小姐,她跟别人在一起的时候,总是希望人们听到她的歌声。她唱:“mi manca lavoce!”这是她生命中一件惟一真实的事情。

Here is a maiden of another kind.When the canary bird of the heart begins to chirp (chirp v.吱喳而鸣,尖声地说n.喳喳声,唧唧声),reason puts her fingers in her ears.The maiden was going to be married,but—well,its an everyday story,and we will let the dead rest.

这儿躺着一个另一类型的姑娘!当心里的金丝雀在歌唱着的时候,理智的指头就来塞住她的耳朵。这位美丽的姑娘总是“差不多快要结婚了”。不过——晤,这是一个老故事……我们还是让死者休息吧。

Here sleeps a widow who carried melody in her mouth and gall in her heart.She used to go out for prey in the families round about.And the prey she hunted was her neighboursfaults,and she was an indefatigable (indefatigable adj.不知疲倦的)hunter.

这儿躺着一个寡妇。她嘴里满是天鹅的歌声,但她的心中却藏着猫头鹰的胆汁。她常常到邻家去猎取人家的缺点。这很像古时的“警察朋友”,他跑来跑去想要找到一座并不存在的阴沟上的桥。

Heres a family sepulchre (sepulcher n.坟墓).Every member of this family held so firmly to the opinions of the rest,that if all the world,and the newspapers into the bargain,said of a certain thing it is so and so,and the little boy came home from school and said,“Ive learned it thus and thus.”they declared his opinion to be the only true one,because he belonged to the family.And it is an acknowledged fact,that if the yard cock of the family crowed at midnight,they would declare it was morning,though the watchmen and all the clocks in the city were crying out that it was twelve oclock at night.

这儿是一个家庭的坟地。这家庭的每一分子都相信,假如整个世界和报纸说“如此这般”,而他们的小孩从学校里回来说:“我听到的是那样,”那么他的说法就是惟一的真理,因为他是这家里的一分子。大家也都知道:如果这家里的一个公鸡在半夜啼叫,这家的人就要说这是天明,虽然守夜人和城里所有的钟都说这是半夜。

The great poet Goethe concludes his“Faust”with the words“may be continued”,and our wanderings in the churchyard may be continued too.I come here often.If any of my friends,or my nonfriends,go on too fast for me,I go out to my favourite spot,and select a mound,and bury him or her there—bury that person who is yet alive;and there those I bury must stay till they come back as new and improved characters.I inscribe their life and their deeds,looked at in my fashion,in my record;and thats what all people ought to do.They ought not to be vexed (vexed adj.焦急的,为难的,恼怒的)when any one goes on ridiculously,but bury him directly,and maintain their good humour,and keep to the Intelligencer,which is usually a book。written by people under competent guidance.

伟大的诗人歌德在他的《浮士德》的结尾说了这样的话:“可能继续下去。”我们在墓地里的散步也是这样。我常常到这儿来!如果我的任何朋友,或者敌人弄得我活不下去的话,我就来到这块地方,拣一块绿草地,献给我打算埋掉的他或她,立刻把他们埋葬掉。他们躺在那儿,没有生命,没有力量,直到他们变成更新和更好的人才活转来。我把他们的生活和事迹,依照我的看法,在我的“坟墓书”上记录下来,用我的一套看法去研究它们。大家也应该这样做。当人们做了太对不起人的事情的时候,你不应该只感觉苦恼,而应该立刻把他们埋葬掉,同时保持自己的好心境和阅读《新闻报》——这报纸上的文章是由许多人写成的,但是有一只手在那里牵线。

When the time comes for me to be beund with my history in the boards of the grave,I hope they will put up as my epitaph(epitaph n.墓志铭,碑文),“A good humoured one.”And thats my story.

有一天,当我应该把我自己和我的故事装进坟墓里去的时候,我希望人们写这样一个墓志铭:“一个好心境的人!”这就是我的故事。