儒琴英语咀嚼《伤残的树》(The Crippled Tree)一书的用词。《伤残的树》是英籍女作家韩素音自传之一。写她的中国父亲在欧洲留学时与她比利时母亲恋爱结合的故事，以及她在童年时期的生活见闻。韩素音的英文造诣在当代英美文坛堪称一流，其精美、清丽、雅洁的文笔早在西方评论界获得公认。
英语文学词汇 Literature Terms
71.couch
verb formal /kaʊtʃ/
couch sth in/as sth
to express something in a particular way
以（某种方式）表达
[ often passive ] I don’t understand this form – it’s all couched in legal terminology. 我看不懂这张表——满篇法律术语。
All such contracts drawn up, and now incomprehensible to the new generation growing up in China, were couched in the usual euphemisms of divisions of responsibility in the care of shrines, ancestral sanctuaries and graves. ( Page 32)
72. fortitude
noun [ U ]formal /ˈfɔːr.t̬ə.tuːd/ （Cambridge）
courage over a long period
勇气，坚韧，刚毅
I thought she showed remarkable fortitude during that period. 我认为她在那段时期表现出了惊人的勇气。
I was absent nine months, and during this time Fourth Daughter in law stood in my place; she endured the ordeal (of Land Reform) many months with fortitude;… ( Page 33)
73. spill blood
literary
to kill or hurt people
制造流血事件；杀人；伤人
…the peasants came with grievances of the past, and these were checked. It is good that we had not spilled blood or been grievously unjust, and that we were not great landowners, only rich farmers. ( Page 33)
74. veneration
noun [ U ]/ˌven.ɚˈeɪ.ʃən/
the feeling or act of venerating (= very much respecting) someone or something
尊敬, 崇敬, 崇拜
But our family has always kept profound veneration for the Sanctuaries and the graves, since our whole prosperity depends on them. I have had some rubbings made of the gravestones before they were removed. (Page 33)
75. sprightly
adjective uk /ˈspraɪt.li/ （Cambridge）
(especially of old people) energetic and in good health
精力充沛的；（尤指老年人）老当益壮的，矍铄的
He’s a sprightly old man of 75. 他75岁了，是个精神矍铄的老人。
He was sprightly of spirit, though he now moved stiffly with a cane; his talk was of the rubbings he had made of the grave-stones, and he was concerned that my father might have lost the copy he had posted in 1952. ( Page 33)
76. scrupulous
adjective /ˈskruː.pjə.ləs/
scrupulous adjective
extremely honest; extremely careful
襟怀坦白的；审慎的；严格认真的; 严格的，严谨的，
In the new peace, order and security come to China today, scrupulous historians were delving into the family records, and everyone I knew was either writing or compiling memoirs….. ( Page 34)
77. collateral
adjective /kəˈlæt̬.ɚ.əl/
connected but less important, or of the same family although not directly related
附带的，次要的；（亲戚）旁系的，非直系的
…holdings later divided as collateral branched sprang up and settled in other parts of the province, fields disposed of when the Family’s fortunes ebbed, as they did during the First World War. ( Page 35)
78. rhubarb
noun /ˈruː.bɑːrb/
rhubarb noun (FOOD)[ U ]
a plant that has long, sour-tasting red and green stems that can be cooked and eaten as a fruit
（可食用的）大黄
Next door to the tobacco shop, new destroyed, was one selling medicines, and this was auspicious, for those who came to buy black hen’s feet, tiger-bone wine,sliced antlers of young deer, and rhubarb,…（ Page 36）
79. cloaca
In animal anatomy, a cloaca /kloʊˈeɪkə/ kloh-AY-kə (plural cloacae /kloʊˈeɪsi/ kloh-AY-see or /kloʊˈeɪki/ kloh-AY-kee) is the posterior orifice that serves as the only opening for the digestive, reproductive, and urinary tracts (if present) of many vertebrate animals, opening at the vent; a cloaca is defined as a defect in which the rectum, vagina, and urinary tract meet and fuse, creating a single common channel.
泄殖腔(cloaca)为肠的末端略为膨大处。输尿管和生殖管都开口于此腔,成为粪、尿与生殖细胞共同排出的地方,以单一的泄殖腔孔开口于体外。软骨鱼、两栖类、爬行类、鸟类和哺乳类中的单孔类都有泄殖腔;而圆口类、硬骨鱼类。
And therefor, in the city of Chengdu in the nineteenth century, and up to 1949, some of the wealthiest families were those owning the public cloacae and selling excrement to the countryside. (Page 36）
80. prolix
adjective /ˈproʊ.lɪks/
using too many words and therefore boring or difficult to read or listen to
冗长的；啰唆的；好长篇大论的
The author’s prolix style has done nothing to encourage sales of the book. 这个作者冗长的写作风格无益于促进该书的销售。
I remember Third Uncle on this subject, which rendered him prolix, for he was always aware of the earth, the sowing and planting and reaping of it: “There things are necessary, water, earth and manure. ( Page 36)