1705006649
1705006650
One evening she was walking by the canal when The Golden Barque passed. The light was very clear and searching. It showed every plank, battered and tar-stained, on the rough hulk, but for all that it lost none of its magic for Mary. The little shrunken driver, head down, the lips moving, walking beside the horse. She heard his low mutters as he passed. The red-faced man was stooping over the side of the boat, swinging out a vessel tied to a rope, to haul up some water. He was singing a ballad in a monotonous voice. A tall, dark, spare man was standing by the funnel, looking vacantly ahead. Then Mary’s eyes travelled to the tiller.
1705006651
1705006652
● searching：搜索性的；发隐抉微的；无孔不入的。初次看见金船，是在暮色苍茫雾气低迷之中。这次虽然仍旧是黄昏，光线却特别明亮，她对于金船有更进一步的认识。
1705006653
1705006654
● plank：船身（hulk）上的板条。木船上一条条的板都可看得清清楚楚，那些板条已经破烂（battered）沾有柏油污迹（tar-stained）。木船敝旧如此，其非“金船”殆无疑义。但是即使如此（for all that）木船仍旧有它的魔力（magic）。
1705006655
1705006656
● 前面所介绍过的几个人，这里重又出现，只是状貌声音都比较清楚了。第一个是那小个儿赶马的，她现在看得见他嘴唇的动作，听得见他在喃喃自语。另一个是那红脸汉子，他俯身船舷之外，用一只吊桶样的东西（vessel：器皿）在河里打水。一面取水，一面唱着山歌。还有一个高挑身材黑瘦（spare）子。那是以前没有出现过的。此人站在烟囱边上，茫然地往前方注视。
1705006657
1705006658
● 眼睛向三个人身上一转，然后又落到掌舵那地方。请注意travelled这个字是从“旅行”衍伸出来的意义。这个字《简明牛津字典》解释作“用心地或是有次序地一件一件东西看过去”，该字典并举了这样一个例：His eye travelled over the scene.
1705006659
1705006660
Mary stepped back with some embarrassment when she saw the face. She backed into a hawthorn that grew all alone on the canal bank. It was covered with bloom. A shower of the white petals fell about her when she stirred the branches. They clung about her hair like a wreath. He raised his cap and smiled. Mary did not know the face was so eager, so boyish. She smiled a little nervously at last. His face lit up, and he touched his cap again.
1705006661
1705006662
● 她看见那个男人，总觉得有点不自在，现在仍旧如此。
1705006663
1705006664
● backed：这个字可以作动词用的。她往后一退，以山楂（hawthorn）的枝叶掩身。河岸上孤零零的（all alone）就是这么一棵树。人入花丛，树枝受震，群英纷落（a shower），附着（clung）在她的头发上，她好像戴了一顶花冠（wreath）。这是她同那个男子第二次觌面，作者对于Mary的美，并没有描写，但是她的娇羞，加上头发上的白花瓣（petal），她那时的美，我们也不难想象了。
1705006665
1705006666
● raised his cap：脱帽高举行礼。
1705006667
1705006668
● 帽子一脱，那人的脸就看得清楚了。Mary想不到他的脸竟是如此的热情流露（eager），如此的稚气可掬。
1705006669
1705006670
● at last：人家对她行礼，她没法再矜持，最后只好窘迫地微微一笑。她笑了，他的脸上也容光焕发（lit是light的过去式）了。那时他的帽子已经戴上，他就举手触帽行礼。
1705006671
1705006672
The red-faced man stood by the open hatchway going into the hold, the vessel of water in his hand. He looked at Mary and then at the figure beside the tiller.
1705006673
1705006674
“Eh, Michael,” the red-faced man said quizzically. The youth turned back to the boat, and Mary felt the blush spreading over her face.
1705006675
1705006676
“Michael!”
1705006677
1705006678
Mary repeated the name a little softly to herself. The gods had delivered up one of their great secrets.
1705006679
1705006680
● hatchway：甲板上的出入口。going形容hatchway这个出入口是通到船的底部（hold）的。
1705006681
1705006682
● quizzically：开玩笑的样子。那红脸汉已经猜到那男人的心事了。
1705006683
1705006684
● Michael：这个名字第一次出现。女的对于那个男的，已有好感，可是不知道他的名字。她恐怕非常想知道他的名字，可是作者对于这种心理状态，决不用一字描写（一写恐怕就“俗”）。但是她听见了这个名字，脸就红到耳朵根（spreading over her face），还轻轻地自言自语念这个名字——这种暗示，不就够了吗？（这种暗示的写法，中国旧诗里很常见。）最后还说了这么一句话：天神总算把一件大秘密让凡人知道了。为什么是“大秘密”呢？她的亟于想知道那人的名字，不言可喻。从此以后，那人不再是the figure beside the tiller，而是Michael了。
1705006685
1705006686
● gods：想是爱尔兰古时的神，不是基督教的神。基督教的神应该用大写G，而且也没有复数形式的。delivered up：交出，献出（不再吝啬）。
1705006687
1705006688
She watched The Golden Barque until two square slits in the stern that served as port holes looked like two little Japanese eyes. Then she heard a horn blowing. It was the horn they blew to apprise lock-keepers of the approach of a boat. But the nearest lock was a mile off. Besides, it was a long, low sound the horn made, not the sharp, commanding blast they blew for lock-keepers. Mary listened to the low sound of the horn, smiling to herself. Afterwards the horn always blew like that whenever The Goldn Barque was passing the solitary hawthorn.
1705006689
1705006690
● 船又驶远，她还是以目遥送。slits：孔；通常指“长条的裂口”，但是这里是“正方形的”。stern：船尾。port holes：船上的窗洞。船走远了，船尾的两个窗洞也渐缩小，最后看来只像日本人的两只小眼睛。西洋人通常以为东方人的眼睛小，好像东方人以为“高鼻子”是西洋人的特征一样。
1705006691
1705006692
● horn：号角，喇叭。they blew的they泛指“那船上的人”。这种用法为语法家所不取，但是很常见。apprise：通知。
1705006693
1705006694
● lock：运河中由水闸控制的一段水道。运河是人造的河，水面可能有几段高，有几段低。高低水道间，有水闸控制。船行至高低水道差异之处，先得用信号（如吹喇叭）通知管闸的人（lock-keeper）把水闸放开。
1705006695
1705006696
● 船上忽然吹起喇叭来了，那是为什么呢？水闸还远得很呢，再则，要通知开闸，喇叭的声音是尖锐短促，带着命令（commanding）的意味，这是Mary所知道的；但是现在喇叭的声音是悠长迟缓，这种低声的喇叭是吹给谁听的呢？Mary笑起来了。
1705006697
1705006698
● 以后船还在那棵树下过，行到那地方，船上就轻轻地吹起喇叭。男方的情感，作者也不直接描写，只是用暗示。笔墨如此经济，而情感已跃然纸上，作者真写情好手也。
[
上一页 ]
[ :1.705006649e+09 ]
[
下一页 ]