儒琴英语文学词汇咀嚼《绿山墙的安妮》(Anne of Green Gables)一书的用词。 《绿山墙的安妮》是加拿大作家露西·莫德·蒙哥马利（L. M. Montgomery）1908年的一部小说。这本书适用于所有年龄段，自20世纪中期以来一直被认为是经典的儿童小说。
Chapter 1 — Mrs. Rachel Lynde is Surprised
第一章 林德夫人的疑惑
段落 15 – 19
“We’re all pretty well,” said Mrs. Rachel. “I was kind of afraid YOU weren’t, though, when I saw Matthew starting off today. I thought maybe he was going to the doctor’s.”
Marilla’s lips twitched understandingly. She had expected Mrs. Rachel up; she had known that the sight of Matthew jaunting off so unaccountably would be too much for her neighbor’s curiosity.
“Oh, no, I’m quite well although I had a bad headache yesterday,” she said. “Matthew went to Bright River. We’re getting a little boy from an orphan asylum in Nova Scotia and he’s coming on the train tonight.”
If Marilla had said that Matthew had gone to Bright River to meet a kangaroo from Australia Mrs. Rachel could not have been more astonished. She was actually stricken dumb for five seconds. It was unsupposable that Marilla was making fun of her, but Mrs. Rachel was almost forced to suppose it.
“Are you in earnest, Marilla?” she demanded when voice returned to her.
“我们都很好。”雷切尔太太说，“不过，我今天看到马修出远门，还担心是因为你的身体不舒服，他请大夫去了呢。”
玛瑞拉会心地笑了一下，她早就料到雷切尔太太会来的，她知道马修破例出门对于她的这个邻居来说实在是太意外了，她一定会来探个究竟的。
“哦，不，我身体一直都很好，虽说昨天还有点头痛。”玛瑞拉说，“马修到布莱特河那边去了。我们打算从新斯科舍省的孤儿院里领养一个小男孩。他乘坐的火车今晚就到。”
即使玛瑞拉说马修到布莱特河那边是去接一只来自澳大利亚的袋鼠，雷切尔太太也不会像现在这样吃惊。整整五秒钟，她惊讶得一句话也说不出来。很显然，玛瑞拉没有和她开玩笑，可是雷切尔太太宁愿相信玛瑞拉是在说笑。
“这是真的吗？”雷切尔太太终于缓过神来了，好不容易可以说话了。(崇文书局. Kindle Edition）
重点用词
start off ： to begin to move toward a particular place or in a particular direction 出门旅行；动身出门；踏上旅途
twitch：to move jerkily : quiver 抖动;颤抖
jaunt off ：/dʒɑːnt/ v & n, to make a usually short journey for pleasure 短途旅行;为了娱乐的短程旅行
unaccountably：impossible to account for; inexplicable:无法解释地;令人费解地
orphan asylum： a public institution for the care of orphans； orphanage 孤儿院
unsupposable：not able to be supposed 不可能被假定
段落 20 – 21
“Yes, of course,” said Marilla, as if getting boys from orphan asylums in Nova Scotia were part of the usual spring work on any well-regulated Avonlea farm instead of being an unheard of innovation.
Mrs. Rachel felt that she had received a severe mental jolt. She thought in exclamation points. A boy! Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of all people adopting a boy! From an orphan asylum! Well, the world was certainly turning upside down! She would be surprised at nothing after this! Nothing!
“当然是真的。”玛瑞拉说道，听她的口气，就好像从新斯科舍省的孤儿院里领个男孩回来只是安维利的任何一个管理有序的农场中很普通的一件春季农活，而绝非什么闻所未闻的稀罕事。
雷切尔太太感到大为震惊，她在心中惊叫：“天哪，男孩！玛瑞拉和马修·卡斯伯特要领养一个男孩！从孤儿院里！疯了！简直是疯了！再也不会有什么比这件事更令她感到吃惊了！再也不会！” (崇文书局. Kindle Edition）
重点用词
jolt： /dʒoʊlt/： shock; an unpleasant shock or surprise 震惊，惊讶
exclamation point：a mark ! used especially after an interjection or exclamation to indicate forceful utterance or strong feeling 感叹号!表示强有力的话语或强烈的感情
of all people (idiom): —used to emphasize that a specified person is the person one most or least expect to do or know something 用来强调一个特定的人, 这个人是人们最希望或最不希望做或知道某事的人
Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert of all people adopting a boy! 试译：绝对没有想到玛瑞拉和马修·卡斯伯特要领养一个男孩。
