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● solidity of character：性格上的稳重。the spirit of patient inquiry：耐心探求的精神。最后一个noun clause的意思是：他还缺一种素质。这种素质，无以名之，姑名之曰philosophical bent：研究哲理的倾向（或兴趣）。
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Without looking up, he addressed an envelope hurriedly, the pen making a dry, scratching sound. Then he blotted and stamped the envelope, inserted the sheet, put the letter into his pocket, picked up his hat, and left the office. He would, he remembered, pass a postbox on his way home.
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● addressed：写地址。dry：墨水不足故干。scratching sound：笔尖抓纸的声音。blotted：用吸水纸（blotting-paper）来吸。stamped：贴上邮票。inserted：将（信纸）放入信封。
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● postbox：邮箱。对于Tom很不利的一封推荐信（？）就此要寄给奖学金委员会了。
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现代英文选评注 The Ballet Dancer芭蕾舞家
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Jane Mayhall (1918—2009)
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本篇选自《1949年美国最佳短篇小说集》（The Best American Short Stories 1949，edited by Martha Foley）。作者珍·梅霍是一位女作家，曾有多种作品问世。原题“The Men”，记作者记忆中印象最深刻的三位男性，第一位就是这里所要转载介绍的舞蹈家，第二位是她中学时代的一个图书馆管理员，第三位是大学时代的一位教授。就严格的体例言之，全文似乎不像是一篇短篇小说，而像是三则速写（sketches）。但是作者对于感觉印象，把握得准而且稳；尤其可贵的是她对于瞬息间感觉印象的变化，都能很正确生动地记录下来。本文不但可以当一件艺术品来欣赏，作者这种认真的写作态度，也是值得有志文学创作之士效法的。
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I remember when I was eleven years old and attended a ballet for the first time. It was held at the Memorial Auditorium, a large building in the town where I lived.
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During the first group of dances, I sat up very high in the balcony with my family and the stage seemed too far away. It was a pretty show at such a distance, but the dancers with their bright dots of costumes appeared as small and no more alive than marionettes.
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● ballet：普通译作“芭蕾舞”。按：ballet以舞蹈表示故事的进展和人物感情的起伏，似可译作“舞剧”。
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● Memorial Auditorium：纪念堂。
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● first group of dances：头几个舞。balcony：楼座。
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● 这里末一句开始显出作者的功夫：从远远的、高高的楼座望底下台上，该是怎么回事。戏是很美丽的戏，但是舞者们显得太小，动作也不活泼，同木偶（marionettes）戏差不多。costumes：演员的服装，大多为丝绢所制，本有光彩，经灯光照耀，更显明亮，但是观察者坐得远，一身衣服看上去只成一小点（dot），故云bright dots of costumes。
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● as small之后，照一般语法书规定，还应跟一个as。
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When intermission came some friends of the family suggested that I sit down in the second row orchestra with them. This was probably because they considered me a “nice little girl,” a point of view to which I had no objection.
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● intermission：休息时间，观众可以离座出去谈话。
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● sit down之sit是subjunctive mood现在式。作者家里长辈的朋友在楼下正厅有空座，提议把她接到那边去看。先不过是一种提议，并非是事实，故用subjunctive mood。
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● second row orchestra：正厅第二排。orchestra这里不解释作“乐队”，而是“正厅前座”。
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● 他们认为她是一个“乖小女孩”（nice little girl），所以要她坐在一起。他们这种看法，她并不反对。a point of view 综括地代表前面所说的这种“看法”，是一种同位语的说明法。
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The world of second row orchestra was an immensely different one. The seats were softer and had slightly reclining backs. Here the members of the audience sat with much dignity, as if each had been appointed to a separate throne, I thought. A sweet flowery scent came from the ladies. As they settled into their places, one heard a faint sound of silk and fur.
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● 她的长辈如何地让她下去，她如何地被搀着走……这些与题旨无关，作者都略而不记。
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● world：指环境而言，从楼上搬到楼下来坐，好像进了另外一个“世界”。immensely different：大大地不同。
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● backs：椅子的靠背。slightly reclining：微向后倾。
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