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Though Zuleika had never given her heart, strong in her were the desire and the need that it should be given. Whithersoever she had fared, she had seen nothing but youths fatuously prostrate to her—not one upright figure which she could respect. There were the middle-aged men, the old men, who did not bow down to her; but from middle-age, as from eld, she had a sanguine aversion. She could love none but a youth. Nor could she love one who fell prone before her. And before her all youths always did fall prone. She was an empress, and all youths were her slaves. Their bondage delighted her, as I have said. But no empress who has any pride can adore one of her slaves. Whom, then, could proud Zuleika adore?
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● given her heart：把心送人，陷入情网。
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● 第一句中主句又是例装的，动词were在前，主语the desire and the need在后。这许多男人爱慕她，她没有爱慕过任何男人，可是她很想恋爱，也很需要恋爱。it (the heart) should be given：她的心该“奉献给”一个男人。
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● Whithersoever she had fared：她不论走到哪里。fare=go，这是比较古雅的字眼。fatuously：痴呆的。prostrate：匍匐在地。事实上当然不一定有人向她三跪九叩首，这不过引伸前面的homage（青年男子都对她臣服）而已。one upright figure：一个站直的身躯；有自尊心不向她表示爱慕的男人，这种人才是使她尊敬的。
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● bow down：还是引伸homage的意思。eld=old age，这是个古字。我们现在只有elder和eldest这两个形容词，名词eld很少有人用了。sanguine在这里应该解作“热诚的”（warm or ardent），也即是strong。aversion连前面的两个from（from middle-age，from eld）；中年人老年人对她不一定“服贴”，但她也很讨厌中年人、老年人的。
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● 中年人、老年人她不要，青年人毫无骨气，对她恭而敬之，俯首贴耳，这种人她也是不能（Nor could）爱的。prone是形容词，解作“俯伏的”，是subjective complement，形容who。fall prone二字常连用，是idiom。
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● before her：在她面前。did fall prone的did用以加强语气。
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● bondage：奴役。
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● But no empress一句，用现在时态，表示一般情形。adore：敬爱，崇拜。love的含义广泛，adore一定是一种很崇高的情感。
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It was a question which sometimes troubled her.
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To be able to love once—would not that be better than all the homage in the world? But would she ever meet whom, looking up to him, she could love—she, the omnisubjugant? Would she ever, ever meet him?
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● 她老是受人家的爱，她到底还能不能爱别人呢？不一定见了男人就爱，只要她能爱一个男人，只要她能主动地爱一次——这不是比全世界的恭敬都集中在她一人身上还要强吗？To be able to love once：不定式，作名词用。这句的主语that，就是代替这个infinitive phrase的。
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● 后面一句的语法结构，也是比较古的用法。照现代通用说法，应该说But would she ever meet the man whom…，但是按古时的用法，the man这个antecedent是可以省掉的。
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● looking up to him：participial phrase，形容从句中的主语she。looking up：她要“仰首”才看见他，足见这个男人是不向她俯首称臣的。she, the omnisubjugant：she是重复she could love中的she。omnisubjugant是个罕见的字，字典里都不一定查得到，但意义不难了解。omni：是个接头语，表示“全体”（如omnipotent，omniscient……等，这些字的解释请查字典）。subjugant是subjugate（征服）的形容词形式，-ant是个接尾语，表示present participle的意思（如defiant，pliant……等）。连在一起，这个字的解释应作“征服一切的”。
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● 最后一句ever重复地用，非但是为了音调好听，而且也加强情感上绝望的意义。这样一个男人，“这一辈子”还找得到吗？
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It was when she wondered thus, that the wistfulness came into her eyes. Even now, as she sat by the window, that shadow returned to them.
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● wistfulness是一种“若有所思”的神态。她心里思量，能不能找到一位如意郎君的时候，眼睛里就露出这种表情了。这种表情不是一种快乐的表情，它像一种“阴影”。现在她凭窗闲坐，这种阴影又回到她眼睛里来了。
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现代英文选评注 Her Graduation Day毕业的那一天
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Nancy G. Chaikin
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本文作者南珊·蔡金，1945年毕业于密西根大学。她的作品不多，但是她的短篇小说曾两度选入《美国短篇小说佳作选》。
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本文原题“Bachelor of Arts”，刊载于The Best American Short Stories 1955，长达六七千字，这里所选的只是短短的几段。蔡金女士的作风，大抵属于“婉约”一派。本文描写一个大学女生毕业那一天的种种心理变化，细腻熨贴，丝丝入扣。这一派作家可以说都是私淑Henry James的。
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In the morning, with the sun slanting across the floor of her room, she put on her cap and gown and stood before the mirror looking at herself, pleased with how right they looked on her. She could never remember which way the tassel went, but she’d see when she got down to the procession. Now she would only have to come back to this room to collect her bags—they were all packed—and they stood alone in the middle of the floor of the half empty room.
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● slanting：斜（照），斜（射）。此字为动词的分词形式。cap and gown：学士帽与学士服。美国大学生通常只在举行毕业典礼那天，才戴方帽子，穿学士袍。how right they looked on her：这种衣帽给她穿戴了（on her），看来是多么的合适。名词性从句，是with的宾语。（她看了心里很高兴。）
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