The Lumber-Room
美音、自然拼读、分级阅读与词汇复习
Jagborough.
贾格伯勒
Nicholas was not to be of the party; he was in disgrace.
尼古拉斯不应参加该党;他感到羞耻。
Only that morning he had refused to eat his wholesome bread-and-milk on the seemingly frivolous ground that there was a frog in it.
就在那天早上 他拒绝吃他那健康的面包和牛奶 在看似琐碎的地上
Older and wiser and better people had told him that there could not possibly be a frog in his bread- and-milk and that he was not to talk nonsense; he continued, nevertheless, to talk what seemed the veriest nonsense, and described with much detail the colouration and markings of the alleged frog.
年长、更聪明、更优秀的人告诉他,他的面包和牛奶里不可能有青蛙,他不会胡说八道;不过,他继续谈论那些看起来很烦恼的胡说八道,并非常详细地描述了所指称的青蛙的颜色和标记。
The dramatic part of the incident was that there really was a frog in Nicholas’ basin of bread- and-milk; he had put it there himself, so he felt entitled to know something about it.
事件的戏剧性部分是尼古拉斯的面包和牛奶盆地里真的有一只青蛙;他亲自放在那里,因此他觉得应该知道一些事情。
The sin of taking a frog from the garden and putting it into a bowl of wholesome bread-and- milk was enlarged on at great length, but the fact that stood out clearest in the whole affair, as it presented itself to the mind of Nicholas, was that the older, wiser, and better people had been proved to be profoundly in error in matters about which they had expressed the utmost assurance.
从花园取出一只青蛙并放入一碗健康的面包和牛奶的罪过被大大地扩展了,但是在整个事务中最明显的是,当它呈现给尼古拉斯的思想时,这个事实就是,那些年长的,更聪明的,更好的人被证明在他们所表示的最大保证的事项上,在错误中是深刻的.
“You said there couldn’t possibly be a frog in my bread-and-milk; there was a frog in my bread-and-milk,” he repeated, with the insistence of a skilled tactician who does not intend to shift from favourable ground.
“你说我的面包和牛奶里不可能有青蛙;我的面包和牛奶里有青蛙。 ”他重复说,这位熟练的战术家坚持说,他不打算从有利的地方转移。
So his boy-cousin and girl-cousin and his quite uninteresting younger brother were to be taken to Jagborough sands that afternoon and he was to stay at home.
所以,他的儿子-库宁和女孩-库宁 和他相当不感兴趣的弟弟 要被带到贾格伯勒沙地 当天下午,他要呆在家里。
His cousins’ aunt, who insisted, by an unwarranted stretch of imagination, in styling herself his aunt also, had hastily invented the Jagborough expedition in order to impress on Nicholas the delights that he had justly forfeited by his disgraceful conduct at the breakfast-table.
他的堂兄弟的姑妈,用无端的想象力坚持说,他姨妈也草率地发明了Jagborough探险队,目的是给Nicholas留下他因在早餐桌的可耻行为而失去的乐趣。
It was her habit, whenever one of the children fell from grace, to improvise something of a festival nature from which the offender would be rigorously debarred; if all the children sinned collectively they were suddenly informed of a circus in a neighbouring town, a circus of unrivalled merit and uncounted elephants, to which, but for their depravity, they would have been taken that very day.
她的习惯是,每当一个孩子从恩典中掉下来时,即兴表演一些节日性质的东西,使罪犯被严格地取消资格;如果所有的孩子都集体犯罪,他们突然被告知在相邻的小镇上有一个马戏团,一个无与伦比的功绩和没有计数的大象,如果没有他们的堕落,他们就会在那一天被带走。
A few decent tears were looked for on the part of Nicholas when the moment for the departure of the expedition arrived.
当探险队出发的时刻到来时,尼古拉斯方面寻找到一些体面的眼泪.
As a matter of fact, however, all the crying was done by his girl-cousin, who scraped her knee rather painfully against the step of the carriage as she was scrambling in.
但事实上,所有的哭声都是由他的女孩-库辛所为,当她冲入马车的台阶时,她相当痛苦地刮去她的膝盖.
“How she did howl,” said Nicholas cheerfully, as the party drove off without any of the elation of high spirits that should have characterised it.
Nicholas高兴地说,“她是如何嚎叫的”,当该党在毫无喜悦地驱走时,本来应该表现出这种喜悦精神。
“She’ll soon get over that,” said the soi-disant aunt; “it will be a glorious afternoon for racing about over those beautiful sands.
“她很快会克服的,” 异性姨妈说,“在那些美丽的沙地上赛车将是一个光荣的下午。
How they will enjoy themselves!”
他们怎么享受呢?」
“Bobby won’t enjoy himself much, and he won’t race much either,” said Nicholas with a grim chuckle; “his boots are hurting him.
尼古拉斯(Nicholas)说:“Bobby不会很享受,
They’re too tight.”
他们太紧了。 “
“Why didn’t he tell me they were hurting?”
为什么他不告诉我他们受伤了? “
asked the aunt with some asperity.
问姨妈有些焦虑。
“He told you twice, but you weren’t listening.
他两次告诉你,
You often don’t listen when we tell you important things.”
我们告诉你重要的事情, “
“You are not to go into the gooseberry garden,” said the aunt, changing the subject.
姨妈说,“你不能去鹅莓园,”他把话题换了。
“Why not?”
“为什么不呢? “
demanded Nicholas.
要求尼古拉斯。
“Because you are in disgrace,” said the aunt loftily.
姨妈说:“因为你很丢脸。”
Nicholas did not admit the flawlessness of the reasoning; he felt perfectly capable of being in disgrace and in a gooseberry garden at the same moment.
尼古拉斯不承认推理的无瑕疵;他觉得完全能够同时在一棵鹅莓花园被羞辱.
His face took on an expression of considerable obstinacy.
他的脸表现出相当固执的态度。
It was clear to his aunt that he was determined to get into the gooseberry garden, “only,” as she remarked to herself, “because I have told him he is not to.”
他的姨妈清楚地知道,他决心“只”进入鹅莓园,正如她对自己说的那样,“因为我已经告诉他他不会”。
Now the gooseberry garden had two doors by which it might be entered, and once a small person like Nicholas could slip in there he could effectually disappear from view amid the masking growth of artichokes, raspberry canes, and fruit bushes.
现在鹅莓园有两扇门可以进入, 一旦像尼古拉斯这样的小人物可以溜进去, 他就可以在马先蒿、树莓杖和水果树丛的遮盖下从景色中消失。
The aunt had many other things to do that afternoon, but she spent an hour or two in trivial gardening operations among flower beds and shrubberies, whence she could keep a watchful eye on the two doors that led to the forbidden paradise.
姨妈那天下午还有许多事情要做,但她花了一两个小时在花床和灌木间进行细小的园艺操作,从此她就可以对导致被禁入天堂的两扇门保持警觉.
She was a woman of few ideas, with immense powers of concentration.
她是一个女人,没有什么想法, 拥有巨大的集中的力量。
Nicholas made one or two sorties into the front garden, wriggling his way with obvious stealth of purpose towards one or other of the doors, but never able for a moment to evade the aunt’s watchful eye.
Nicholas一两次飞入前花园, 带着明显的隐秘目的,
As a matter of fact, he had no intention of trying to get into the gooseberry garden, but it was extremely convenient for him that his aunt should believe that he had; it was a belief that would keep her on self-imposed sentry-duty for the greater part of the afternoon.
事实上,他并无意想进入鹅莓花地,但对于他来说,他的姑妈应该相信他有这种想法是极为方便的;这种信念会让她在下午的大部分时间里继续从事自给的哨兵任务.
Having thoroughly confirmed and fortified her suspicions Nicholas slipped back into the house and rapidly put into execution a plan of action that had long germinated in his brain.
彻底证实了她的怀疑 尼古拉斯滑回了屋里,并迅速将一个在脑中长期发芽的行动计划付诸执行.
By standing on a chair in the library one could reach a shelf on which reposed a fat, important- looking key.
坐在图书馆的椅子上 就能到达一个架子上 将一个肥胖又重要的钥匙重新放在上
The key was as important as it looked; it was the instrument which kept the mysteries of the lumber-room secure from unauthorised intrusion, which opened a way only for aunts and such-like privileged persons.
关键在于它看起来同样重要;它使木材房的秘密不受未经授权的侵入,这只为姑姑和类似特权人士打开了一条道路。
Nicholas had not had much experience of the art of fitting keys into keyholes and turning locks, but for some days past he had practised with the key of the schoolroom door; he did not believe in trusting too much to luck and accident.
Nicholas没有多少关于把钥匙装入钥匙孔和转锁的艺术经验,但过去几天里,他一直用教室门的钥匙练习;他不相信信任太过于运气和意外。
The key turned stiffly in the lock, but it turned.
钥匙在锁上僵硬地转了弯,但转了弯.
The door opened, and Nicholas was in an unknown land, compared with which the gooseberry garden was a stale delight, a mere material pleasure.
门打开了,尼古拉斯在一片未知之地,与之相较,鹅莓园是一时的快活,仅仅是物质上的快活.
Often and often Nicholas had pictured to himself what the lumber-room might be like, that region that was so carefully sealed from youthful eyes and concerning which no questions were ever answered.
通常,尼古拉斯常常把自己想象成伐木房可能是什么样子,这个区域被小心翼翼地从年轻人的眼中封闭了起来,从未回答过任何问题。
It came up to his expectations.
这符合他的期望。
In the first place it was large and dimly lit, one high window opening on to the forbidden garden being its only source of illumination.
最初它很大,灯光暗淡,一个高高的窗户打开被禁的花园,是它唯一的发光之源.
In the second place it was a storehouse of unimagined treasures.
二为一库所出无想宝所.
The aunt- by-assertion was one of those people who think that things spoil by use and consign them to dust and damp by way of preserving them.
姨妈是其中之一 认为事情被破坏 通过使用, 并送去尘土和潮湿的方式保存。
Such parts of the house as Nicholas knew best were rather bare and cheerless, but here there were wonderful things for the eye to feast on.
Nicholas最清楚的那部分房子 相当光鲜和无趣 但这里有美好的东西 供眼花一现
First and foremost there was a piece of framed tapestry that was evidently meant to be a fire-screen.
首先,还有一块布设的挂毯 显然是防火屏
To Nicholas it was a living, breathing story; he sat down on a roll of Indian hangings, glowing in wonderful colours beneath a layer of dust, and took in all the details of the tapestry picture.
对尼古拉斯来说,这是一个活生生的故事;他坐在一卷印度活活活活活活活活活活的活活活活活活活的活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活活
A man, dressed in the hunting costume of some remote period, had just transfixed a stag with an arrow; it could not have been a difficult shot because the stag was only one or two paces away from him; in the thickly-growing vegetation that the picture suggested it would not have been difficult to creep up to a feeding stag, and the two spotted dogs that were springing forward to join in the chase had evidently been trained to keep to heel till the arrow was discharged.
一个人穿了某个遥远时期的狩猎服装,刚用一箭将一只鹿换了;这不可能是一个困难的镜头,因为一两步鹿离他只有一两步之遥;在画面所暗示的密集生长的植被中,爬上喂食的一只鹿不会很困难,两只正向前跑去加入追逐的被发现的狗显然被训练要保持脚跟直到被放出.
That part of the picture was simple, if interesting, but did the huntsman see, what Nicholas saw, that four galloping wolves were coming in his direction through the wood?
照片的这一部分很简单,如果有趣的话,但猎人有没有看到,尼古拉斯看到,四只奔跑的狼从木头朝他的方向走来?
There might be more than four of them hidden behind the trees, and in any case would the man and his dogs be able to cope with the four wolves if they made an attack?
树后可能藏有4个以上,无论怎样,如果发动了攻击,那人和他的狗能否应付这4个狼?
The man had only two arrows left in his quiver, and he might miss with one or both of them; all one knew about his skill in shooting was that he could hit a large stag at a ridiculously short range.
这名男子只留下了两把箭,他可能带着一把或两把都错过了;他对射击技巧的了解都在于他可以在一个荒谬而短的距离上打出一只大鹿.
Nicholas sat for many golden minutes revolving the possibilities of the scene; he was inclined to think that there were more than four wolves and that the man and his dogs were in a tight corner.
尼古拉斯坐了多起黄金分钟来旋转了场景的可能性;他倾向于认为有超过四只狼,而那人和他的狗在紧凑的角落.
But there were other objects of delight and interest claiming his instant attention: there were quaint twisted candlesticks in the shape of snakes, and a teapot fashioned like a china duck, out of whose open beak the tea was supposed to come.
但还有其他乐器和兴趣的物体要求他立即注意:有古董扭曲的烛台以蛇的形状出现,还有一个茶壶形似瓷鸭,茶叶应该从其中被打开的喙来取出.
How dull and shapeless the nursery teapot seemed in comparison!
婴儿茶壶看起来很枯燥又无形状
And there was a carved sandal-wood box packed tight with aromatic cotton-wool, and between the layers of cotton- wool were little brass figures, hump-necked bulls, and peacocks and goblins, delightful to see and to handle.
还有一个雕刻的沙木盒, 里面装有芳香的棉花-乌鸦, 棉-羊毛层之间是小黄铜人物, 驼峰-颈牛, 孔雀和妖精, 很高兴看到和处理。
Less promising in appearance was a large square book with plain black covers; Nicholas peeped into it, and, behold, it was full of coloured pictures of birds.
在外表上不太有希望的是一本大正方形的书,上面有黑色的被子;尼古拉斯偷窥到里面,看来,里面充满了鸟类的彩色相片.
And such birds!
还有这些鸟!
In the garden, and in the lanes when he went for a walk, Nicholas came across a few birds, of which the largest were an occasional magpie or wood-pigeon; here were herons and bustards, kites, toucans, tiger-bitterns, brush turkeys, ibises, golden pheasants, a whole portrait gallery of undreamed-of creatures.
在花园中,和去散步的道上,尼古拉斯相遇了几只鸟,其中最大的一只是偶有的mag或木生ge;这里有 her和花生,风筝,土豆,虎咬,刷火鸡,比比斯,金色的野鸡,是一整幅由未梦想出生的活生生生的画廊.
And as he was admiring the colouring of the mandarin duck and assigning a life-history to it, the voice of his aunt in shrill vociferation of his name came from the gooseberry garden without.
而当他欣赏着普通话鸭子的彩色并给它分配一个生平历史时,他姨妈在拼出自己名字时所发出的声音来自没有的鹅莓园.
She had grown suspicious at his long disappearance, and had leapt to the conclusion that he had climbed over the wall behind the sheltering screen of the lilac bushes; she was now engaged in energetic and rather hopeless search for him among the artichokes and raspberry canes.
她对他的长期失踪感到怀疑,并跳跃到一个结论,即他从丁香树丛的掩蔽屏后爬上墙来;她现在在马先蒿和树莓手杖中从事精力充沛和相当绝望地寻找他.
“Nicholas, Nicholas!”
“尼可拉斯,尼古拉斯!”
she screamed, “you are to come out of this at once.
她喊道:“你马上出来。
It’s no use trying to hide there; I can see you all the time.”
躲在那里是没有用的, “
It was probably the first time for twenty years that anyone had smiled in that lumber-room.
这大概是20年来 第一次有人在木材房里微笑
Presently the angry repetitions of Nicholas’ name gave way to a shriek, and a cry for somebody to come quickly.
尼可拉斯(Nicholas)之名的愤怒再现,
Nicholas shut the book, restored it carefully to its place in a corner, and shook some dust from a neighbouring pile of newspapers over it.
尼古拉斯关闭了这本书,仔细地将其恢复到一角的位置,从相邻的一堆报纸上摇出一些尘埃.
Then he crept from the room, locked the door, and replaced the key exactly where he had found it.
然后他从房间里跳出,把门锁上,把钥匙换成了他找到的地方。
His aunt was still calling his name when he sauntered into the front garden.
他的姨妈在走入前花园时仍然叫起他的名字来.
“Who’s calling?”
" 谁在打电话? “
he asked.
他问。
“Me,” came the answer from the other side of the wall; “didn’t you hear me?
" 我,"从墙的另一边得到答案;"你没有听到吗?
I’ve been looking for you in the gooseberry garden, and I’ve slipped into the rain-water tank.
我在鹅莓园找你,
Luckily there’s no water in it, but the sides are slippery and I can’t get out.
幸运的是里面没有水,
Fetch the little ladder from under the cherry tree—” “I was told I wasn’t to go into the gooseberry garden,” said Nicholas promptly.
Nicholas迅速表示:「我被告知我不该去鹅莓园。
“I told you not to, and now I tell you that you may,” came the voice from the rain-water tank, rather impatiently.
“我告诉过你不要,现在我告诉你可以”,雨水箱里的声音相当不耐烦。
“Your voice doesn’t sound like aunt’s,” objected Nicholas; “you may be the Evil One tempting me to be disobedient.
“你的声音不像姑妈的声音,” Nicholas 反对说,“你可能是邪恶者,引诱我叛逆。
Aunt often tells me that the Evil One tempts me and that I always yield.
姨妈经常说邪恶者诱惑我 我总是屈服
This time I’m not going to yield.”
这次我不会屈服。 “
“Don’t talk nonsense,” said the prisoner in the tank; “go and fetch the ladder.”
“不要胡说八道,”囚犯在坦克里说,“去取起梯子来。 “
“Will there be strawberry jam for tea?”
“茶有草莓果酱吗? “
asked Nicholas innocently.
问尼古拉斯无罪。
“Certainly there will be,” said the aunt, privately resolving that Nicholas should have none of it.
姨妈说,“当然会私下决定,尼古拉斯不应拥有这些东西。
“Now I know that you are the Evil One and not aunt,” shouted Nicholas gleefully; “when we asked aunt for strawberry jam yesterday she said there wasn’t any.
“现在我知道你是邪恶者而不是姑妈,”尼古拉斯欢呼道:“当我们昨天向姑妈要草莓果酱时,她说没有。
I know there are four jars of it in the store cupboard, because I looked, and of course you know it’s there, but she doesn’t, because she said there wasn’t any.
我知道商店橱柜里有四罐,因为我看了,你当然知道有,但她没有,因为她说没有。
Oh, Devil, you have sold yourself!”
魔鬼,你出卖了自己!”
There was an unusual sense of luxury in being able to talk to an aunt as though one was talking to the Evil One, but Nicholas knew, with childish discernment, that such luxuries were not to be over-indulged in.
有一种不寻常的奢侈感,能够与一个姑姑交谈,好像有人在和邪恶者交谈一样,但尼古拉斯带着幼稚的分辨,知道这样的奢侈不会被过度地灌输.
He walked noisily away, and it was a kitchenmaid, in search of parsley, who eventually rescued the aunt from the rain-water tank.
他无所事事地走开,是一个厨房女佣,为寻找帕斯利而来,她最终从雨水箱中救出姑姑.
Tea that evening was partaken of in a fearsome silence.
那天晚上的茶在恐惧的寂静中被分到
The tide had been at its highest when the children had arrived at Jagborough Cove, so there had been no sands to play on—a circumstance that the aunt had overlooked in the haste of organising her punitive expedition.
当孩子们到达Jagborough湾时,潮流达到了最高点,因此没有沙子可玩——姑姑在匆忙组织惩罚性远征时忽视了这种情况。
The tightness of Bobby’s boots had had disastrous effect on his temper the whole of the afternoon, and altogether the children could not have been said to have enjoyed themselves.
整个下午,Bobby的靴子很紧,对他的脾气产生了灾难性影响,而且完全不能说孩子们享受了。
The aunt maintained the frozen muteness of one who has suffered undignified and unmerited detention in a rain- water tank for thirty-five minutes.
姨妈在雨箱里被冷冻地拘留了35分钟。
As for Nicholas, he, too, was silent, in the absorption of one who has much to think about; it was just possible, he considered, that the huntsman would escape with his hounds while the wolves feasted on the stricken stag.
至于尼古拉斯,他也默默地默默地吸收了想得太多了的人;他认为这仅仅是可能的,猎人会带着猎犬出逃,而狼群则在被困的鹿上吃吃.