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● apology：道歉，赔罪。
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“Thank you, sir,” Charlie mumbled. He entered a slow torture, trying to keep awake until the class bell rang. But fifteen minutes had to pass before the bell would ring.
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When the bell rang the class rose quickly and began clumping out. When the last had gone out, Dr. Kenshaw unscrewed his fountain pen and opened his roll book. He ran his finger down the list until he came to “Wingate, C.” and in the space opposite under “Smstr Grd” he marked a precise little F.
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● slow torture：慢性的受罪。还有十五分钟才得下课，他又不敢再在堂上睡觉。
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● clumping=walking heavily。
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● unscrewed：取下笔套。roll book：点名册子，就是record book。Wingate, C.：点名册以姓氏排列，故首书是Wingate，C是Charles的缩写。
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● Smstr Grd是Semester Grade的省写。前文已经说明，他再得一个F，就要被除名了。precise：清清楚楚的。
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A whiffling snore escaped Charlie Wingate in the back of the room. Dr. Kenshaw took his overcoat from its hanger, slipped into it, and strapped up his brief case. He put on his hat and strode out of the lecture room, slamming the door. The noise made a hollow echo in the empty room, but it did not disturb Charlie Wingate. He slept on behind his amber glasses.
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● whiffling：轻轻的如微风之声。snore：鼾声。escaped：从他（鼻子里）发出来。
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● hanger：衣架。its代替overcoat’s。slipped into it：穿上大衣（全身滑进大衣里面去）。strapped up：把皮带扣上。
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● strode（stride的过去式）：大踏步地走出去。slamming the door：把门砰的一关。
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● hollow echo：空洞的回声。但是可怜的Charlie又睡熟了。
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现代英文选评注 Prescott历史家普瑞斯各德
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Van Wyck Brooks (1886—1963)
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本文作者勃鲁克斯是美国当代文学批评家，著作很多，最重要的是皇皇五巨册的《美国文学史》（Makers and Finders: A History of the Writer in America,1800–1915）。勃氏以生动华丽的文字，传记家的笔法，描写美国过去的文坛实况和文人言行，使得读者有身历其境、面对古人之感。所以有人说他这部文学史读来和历史小说一样地有趣。
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本文选自《新英格兰的盛世》（The Flowering of New England,1815–1865），这一本书在他全部文学史里按出版年份来说是最早的一本（1936年出版），也是最成功的一本。在《新英格兰的盛世》这一时期里，美国文坛名家辈出，如朗费罗、爱默生、霍桑、梭罗等皆是，历史家普瑞斯各德的成就也许比不上他们这些人，但普氏以半盲之人，全凭苦心毅力，完成他的那部巨著The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella，实在也值得介绍于中国读者之前。
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Suddenly, in l837, out of the throng of historical studies, honest and laborious, some of them fervent, none of them august, a great work appeared, like a wonder of nature, as it seemed to American readers, —The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was a brilliant performance, as any child could see and no scholar was ever to deny. Its limitations were obvious enough. It was not a philosophical history. The author had no great leading views, nor any profound feeling for human motives. There were depths upon depths behind and beneath the story that he had never plumbed. But, as a work of art, a great historical narrative, grounded at every point in historical fact, and with all the glow and colour of Livy and Froissart, it was a magnificent success. Its outlines were as firm as those of a cartoon of Raphael, and its pageantry of picturesque detail was calculated to feed as never before the starved imagination of the country. The book had been planned like a battle and built as stoutly as a Salem clipper, destined to sail through many enchanted minds for generations to come.
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● throng：大量，很多种。1837年前几年间，美国出了好多种历史研究著作，都是老老实实苦心经营（laborious）之作，有几种热情充沛，但是没有一本是令人叹服（august）的杰作，忽然在那一年，从（out of）那一堆书里，出现了一本巨著，据美国读者看来，就像是一件奇迹（wonder of nature）。
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● 伊培利亚半岛上Aragon国国王Ferdinand于1469年娶Isabella为后，Isabella于1474年复继位为Castile国的女王，这两国的联合奠定了今日西班牙的基础。十五世纪的西班牙在他们统治（reign）之下，国势极盛，哥伦布发现新大陆，就是在他们俩赞助下完成的。普氏的巨著，就是以这个时代为题材。
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● brilliant performance：精彩之作。这一点小孩子都看得出来，专家学者也从没有人否认过。
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● limitations：限制，缺点。虽然是本巨著，但并非十全十美，缺点很明显。
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● philosophical history：哲学历史。从哲学观点来写的历史，历史中包含哲学思想者。
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● leading views：主要的观点。great这里应作“高明”解。human motives：人类行为的动机。普通历史家只研究事情本身，有心理学修养的历史家，还要研究事情后面的动机。但是普氏在这方面并没有深刻的认识。
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