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● its most vital point：最重要的一点。explored：研究。西班牙历史不算是个冷门（not unknown），可是这一段的历史却没有人写过。
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● Theirs=the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella。momentous：非常重要（的时期）。scattered kingdoms：西班牙本来分几个小国，现在是统一（brought together）了。Naples：意大利那时小国林立，所谓“城邦政治”是也。Naples是现代意大利的一个城市，在那时是一个小国，法国和西班牙为了争取该地的统治权，于1494年发生战争，西班牙先败后胜。Inquisition：异教裁判所。那时的西班牙虐待异教徒（包括犹太人和非正统的基督教徒）很是厉害。the Western hemisphere：西半球。哥伦布的探险是由Ferdinand and Isabella赞助成行的。新大陆于1492年发现。
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● the present government：普氏当时的西班牙政府。archives：档案。thrown open：打开。学者可以自由阅览抄录。
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● They指的是Spanish scholars。学者们整理结果，印行了很多有关十五世纪末叶和十六世纪初叶西班牙历史的文件，编年史和回忆录（情形好像近代吾国学者编印明清史档案一般）。
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● decrepit：衰弱的。到了十九世纪，西班牙国势削弱，殖民地纷纷独立，海外帝国因以丧失（loss of its foreign empire），备受屈辱（humbled），声威大落；虽然力图扫除积弊，奋发自新（lethargy：暮气），然而国势仍旧混乱（chaotic），不能培养（foster）创造伟大著作的生气活力。expression：表达，即文学写作。
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● historiographers：历史编著家，着重整理编订，和史学家（historians）有区别。master-mind：第一流的头脑。assimilate：吸收；它的宾语是documents。for a greater purpose：为了更大的目的；利用这些文献，写出一部巨著。come to light：（经学者整理后）重见天日。西班牙既然没有人动手写一部融会贯通可读可诵的历史书，只好由别国人来越俎代庖了。
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The great theme was at Prescott’s disposal. In order to feel sure-footed in the language, he went over his Spanish grammar again. Then he began to read all round the subject. Beginning with the general laws of nations, the constitutional history of England, the histories of the continental countries, France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, the general history of Spain, before he settled on his special field.
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● at Prescott’s disposal：听他调遣，任他应用。sure-footed：脚头站稳；有充分把握。went over：从头研究一遍。
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● all round the subject：一切有关本题的书籍。
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● constitutional history：宪法史。
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● the continental countries：欧陆各国，以别于英国。his special field：特定的范围，即Ferdinand和Isabella统治西班牙的那一段时期。
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The book was a ten-year task: three and a half years of study before he wrote the opening sentence, three months for chapter one, seven months for the final chapter, two years for condensing and abridging. He had the text set up in type and caused four copies to be printed, for his friends to correct and criticize. Prescott, as he painfully scrawled his chapters, never guessed how hungry his countrymen were for the brilliant glow and colour that he gave them, the pageantry of kings and queens and battles. This was the romance that American longed for. When it was published, the book was a universal triumph.
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● ten-year task：费时十年的工作。
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● condensing：缩短。abridging：节略。材料太多，书虽写成，可删之处尚多，最后费了两年功夫，大加修削。
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● text：书的正文（不连附注或图片等）。set up in type：排印成书。type是印刷用之活字（铅字）。caused four copies to be printed：先印四本，并不发卖，专供朋友评阅正误之用，为的是要精益求精。
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● scrawled：潦草地写；并不是普氏写得潦草，其奈目力不济，写不清楚乎？hungry…for：嗷嗷待哺。the brilliant glow and colour：光华夺目，色彩绮丽的文字。that he gave them是定语从句：他所写给他们看的。the pageantry和glow and colour是“同位语”。帝王后妃和各处战事的描写，无不有声有色，热闹有趣，一幕接着一幕，无异是化装游行或盛大赛会。普氏辛辛苦苦写这部书时，决想不到他这一类的描写会受到美国人这样的欢迎。
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现代英文选评注 Man and Woman男与女
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Erskine Caldwell (1903—1987)
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欧司金·考特威尔生于美国乔治亚州。他是美国当代大小说家之一，曾与海明威、福克纳、司坦培克等齐名，描写美国南部（尤其是乔治亚州）贫穷没落的农村生活，最擅胜场。
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这里所选的一篇短篇小说，篇幅无多，文字十分简单，几乎无需注解。然而其深刻动人之处，却耐人寻味。其描写结构都值得我国短篇小说作家的参考。
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本文采自The Pocket Book of Erskine Caldwell Stories。
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They came slowly up the road through the colorless dawn like shadows left behind by the night. There was no motion in their bodies, and yet their feet scuffed up dust that settled behind them as quickly as it was raised. They lifted their eyes with each step they took, peering toward the horizon for the first red rays of the sun.
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● 第一段点出小说的时间和地点。时间是黑夜已过，旭日未升，地点是公路上。人物只是模模糊糊的They。有多少人呢？是些什么人呢？这里尚未说明，但标题是“男与女”，我们可以暂且假定是一男一女。他们的身形我们还看不清楚，他们只是像“黑夜所遗留下来的影子”。他们的动作我们也看不见，只是他们的脚步拖起（scuffed up）了灰尘，脚步步步向前，灰尘也在他们身后旋起旋落（settled）。
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