名著精讀《飄》第三章 第1節

ELLEN O’HARA was thirty-two years old, and, according to the standards of her day, she was a middle-aged woman, one who had borne six children and buried three. She was a tall woman, standing a head higher than her fiery little husband, but she moved with such quiet grace in her swaying hoops that the height attracted no attention to itself. Her neck, rising from the black taffeta sheath of her basque, was creamy-skinned, rounded and slender, and it seemed always tilted slightly backward by the weight of her luxuriant hair in its net at the back of her head. From her French mother, whose parents had fled Haiti in the Revolution of 1791, had come her slanting dark eyes, shadowed by inky lashes, and her black hair; and from her father, a soldier of Napoleon, she had her long straight nose and her square-cut jaw that was softened by the gentle curving of her cheeks. But only from life could Ellen’s face have acquired its look of pride that had no haughtiness, its graciousness, its melancholy and its utter lack of humor.
　
愛倫·奧哈拉現年３２歲，依當時的標準已是個中年婦人，她生有六個孩子，但其中三個已經夭折。她高高的，比那位火爆性子的矮個兒丈夫高出一頭，不過她的舉止是那麼文靜，走起路來只見那條長裙子輕盈地搖擺，這樣也就不顯得怎麼高了。她那奶酪色的脖頸圓圓的，細細的，從緊身上衣的黑綢圓領中端端正正地伸出來，但由於腦後那把戴着網套的豐盈秀髮頗爲濃重，便常常顯得略後向仰。她母親是法國人，是一對從1791年革命中逃亡到海地來的夫婦所生，她給愛倫遺傳了這雙在墨黑睫毛下略略傾斜的黑眼睛和這一頭黑髮。她父親是拿破崙軍隊中的一名士兵，傳給她一個長長的、筆直的鼻子和一個有棱有角的方顎，只不過後者在她兩頰的柔美曲線的調和下顯得不那麼惹眼了。同時愛倫的臉也僅僅通過生活才養馬了現在這副莊嚴而並不覺得傲慢的模樣，這種優雅，這種憂鬱而毫無幽默感的神態。

She would have been a strikingly beautiful woman had there been any glow in her eyes, any responsive warmth in her smile or any spontaneity in her voice that fell with gentle melody on the ears of her family and her servants. She spoke in the soft slurring voice of the coastal Georgian, liquid of vowels, kind to consonants and with the barest trace of French accent. It was a voice never raised in command to a servant or reproof to a child but a voice that was obeyed instantly at Tara, where her husband’s blustering and roaring were quietly disregarded.

如果她的眼神中有一點煥發的光采，她的笑容中帶有一點殷勤的溫煦，她那使兒女和僕人聽來感到輕柔的聲音中有一點自然的韻味，那她便是一個非常漂亮的女人了。她說話用的是海濱佐治亞人那種柔和而有點含糊的口音，元音是流音，子音咬得不怎麼準，略略帶法語腔調。這是一種即使命令僕人或斥責兒女時也從不提高的聲音，但也是在塔拉農場人人都隨時服從的聲音，而她的丈夫的大喊大叫在那裏卻經常被悄悄地忽略了。

As far back as Scarlett could remember, her mother had always been the same, her voice soft and sweet whether in praising or in reproving, her manner efficient and unruffled despite the daily emergencies of Gerald’s turbulent household, her spirit always calm and her back unbowed, even in the deaths of her three baby sons. Scarlett had never seen her mother’s back touch the back of any chair on which she sat. Nor had she ever seen her sit down without a bit of needlework in her hands, except at mealtime, while attending the sick or while working at the bookkeeping of the plantation.

從思嘉記得的最早時候起，她母親便一直是這個樣子，她的聲音，無論在稱讚或者責備別人時，總是那麼柔和而甜蜜；她的態度，儘管傑拉爾德在紛紛擾擾的家事中經常要出點亂子，卻始終是那麼沉着，應付自如；她的精神總是平靜的，脊背總是挺直的，甚至在她的三個幼兒夭折時也是這樣。思嘉從沒見過母親坐着時將背靠在椅子背上，也從沒見過她手裏不拿點針線活兒便坐下來（除了吃飯），即使是陪伴病人或審覈農場賬目的時候。

It was delicate embroidery if company were present, but at other times her hands were occupied with Gerald’s ruffled shirts, the girls’ dresses or garments for the slaves. Scarlett could not imagine her mother’s hands without her gold thimble or her rustling figure unaccompanied by the small negro girl whose sole function in life was to remove basting threads and carry the rosewood sewing box from room to room, as Ellen moved about the house superintending the cooking, the cleaning and the wholesale clothes-making for the plantation.

在有客人在場時，她手裏是精巧的刺繡，別的時候則是縫製傑拉爾德的襯衫、女孩子的衣裳或農奴們的衣服。思嘉很難想象母親手上不戴那個金頂針，或者她那一路啊啊啊啊的身影后面沒有那個黑女孩，後者一生中唯一的任務是給她拆繃線，以及當愛倫爲了檢查烹飪、洗滌和大批的縫紉活兒而在滿屋子四處亂跑動時，捧着那個紅木針線拿兒從一個房間走到另一個房間。

e[greis] n. 優美，優雅，恩惠 vt. 使榮耀，使優美

She performed on the balance beam with much grace.
她在平衡木上表演得非常優美。

riant adj. 繁茂的，豐富的，肥沃的，奢華的

There is luxuriant tropical vegetation in our country.
我們國家有很多繁茂的熱帶植物。

ting adj. 傾斜的，歪斜的 動詞slant的現在分詞形式

n. 顎，頜，鉗口，說教 v. 喋喋不休，教訓

On hearing the news, his jaw dropped.
聽到這個消息，他驚訝得張口結舌。

htiness n. 傲慢，不遜

ncholy n. 憂沉，悲哀，愁思 adj. 憂沉的，使人悲傷的，愁思的

A deep melancholy runs through her poetry.
她的詩中貫穿著悲傷的情調。

kingly adv. 顯著地，突出地，驚人地，引人注目地

Fine clothes added to his strikingly handsome appearance.
華麗的服裝使他那極其英俊的外貌更爲增色。

onsive adj. 回答的，應答的，易感應的

taneity n. 自然性，自生，自發

onant n. 輔音 adj. 一致的，調和的，輔音的

English has 24 consonant phonemes.
英語有24個輔音音素。

tering adj. 洶涌的，狂風大作的，狂暴的

The gale blustered all night.
大風颳了一夜。

ffled adj. 不騷動的，不混亂的，安靜的

She spoke with unruffled calm.
她從容不迫地講話。

ulent adj. 狂暴的，騷動的，動盪的，洶涌的

The sea is too turbulent for sailing.
海浪太大，不宜航行。

ble n. 頂針，嵌環，套管

She put a thimble over the finger when sewing.
縫紉時，她在手上戴一枚頂針。

15. unaccompanied adj. 無伴侶的，不伴隨的，無伴奏的

He traveled unaccompanied by his parents.
他沒有父母陪伴而去旅行。

rintend[:prin'tend] vt. 指揮，管理，監督

The manager is superintending the staff's work.
經理正在監督工人的工作。

her French mother, whose parents had fled Haiti in the Revolution of 1791, had come her slanting dark eyes, shadowed by inky lashes, and her black hair;

【難句解析】whose引導的定語從句修飾French mother, 後面的had come...是倒裝，實際的主語是her slanting dark k hair；

【句子翻譯】她母親是法國人，是一對從1791年革命中逃亡到海地來的夫婦所生，她給愛倫遺傳了這雙在墨黑睫毛下略略傾斜的黑眼睛和這一頭黑髮。

would have been a strikingly beautiful woman had there been any glow in her eyes, any responsive warmth in her smile or any spontaneity in her voice that fell with gentle melody on the ears of her family and her servants.

【難句解析】這是個虛擬語氣的句子，would have been是假設，表示事實不是這樣的，意思是“原本可以是”；後面的had there been表條件，意思是“如果...”；

【句子翻譯】如果她的眼神中有一點煥發的光采，她的笑容中帶有一點殷勤的溫煦，她那使兒女和僕人聽來感到輕柔的聲音中有一點自然的韻味，那她便是一個非常漂亮的女人了。

was delicate embroidery if company were present, but at other times her hands were occupied with Gerald’s ruffled shirts, the girls’ dresses or garments for the slaves.

【難句解析】句中的company是“有人陪伴”的意思，而不是“公司”；be occupied with“忙於...”；

【句子翻譯】在有客人在場時，她手裏是精巧的刺繡，別的時候則是縫製傑拉爾德的襯衫、女孩子的衣裳或農奴們的衣服。