儒琴英语咀嚼《伤残的树》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
1.cripple
verb [ T ] /ˈkrɪp.əl/ （Cambridge）
1）to injure someone so that they are unable to walk or move in a normal way
使受伤致残；使跛
2） to cause serious damage to someone or something, making him, her, or it weak and not effective
严重损坏；严重削弱
a country crippled by war 因战争而元气大伤的国家
自传书名《伤残的树》： The Crippled Tree – The Unforgettable Story of War and Revolution in China （封面）
2. decapitate
verb [ T ]/dɪˈkæp.ə.teɪt/ （Cambridge）
to cut off the head of a person
把…斩首，砍…的头
Today I should not have time to write you a very long letter, because the bandits were here last night, and the cook has been decapitated. His head is in the garden, so I have shut the window. (Page 11)
3. talcum powder
noun [ U ]/ˈtæl.kəm ˌpaʊ.dɚ/ (Cambridge)
a powder, usually having a pleasant smell, put on the skin to make it feel smooth or to help it stay dry
滑石粉，爽身粉
The little one is crying with prickly heat. but I cannot get any talcum power so please send me two dozens tins, it is easy to get in England. (Page 11)
4. corset
noun [ C ]/ˈkɔːr.sət/ (Cambridge)
a tight piece of underwear worn on the middle part of a woman’s body to make her waist appear smaller, especially in the past
（尤指过去女子用来束腰以显得苗条的）紧身褡，束腹
I have had to give up my corsets too, and you would not recognize me, I drag myself in slippers all day long. (Page 11)
5. deface
verb [ T ]/dɪˈfeɪs/ (Cambridge)
to damage and spoil the appearance of something by writing or drawing on it
损坏…的外观；涂污
He was fined for defacing library books. 他因在从图书馆借来的书上乱写乱画而被罚款。
The pen caught the residue in the inkwell, streaked a hair across the sloping handwriting, defacing the last word. Marguerite broke down. (Page 11)
6. rack
verb [ T often passive ]/ræk/ (Cambridge)
to cause physical or mental pain, or trouble, to someone or something
使肉体（或精神上）受巨大痛苦；折磨
Even at the end, when cancer racked his body, he was calm and cheerful.
即使在最后，当他的身体备受癌症病魔摧残的时候，他仍然镇定自若、乐观开朗。
The tears, as if squeezed out, ran down her almost lashless eyes on to her thin cheeks. She paced the room, racked by the sobs. “Enough, it is enough. My God, I cannot stand any more. I pack, and I go.” ( Page 11)
7. cataclysm
noun [ C ] literary /ˈkæt̬.ə.klɪ.zəm/ (Cambridge)
an event that causes a lot of destruction, or a sudden, violent change
剧变；大灾难；大变动
And yet she went on, she had gone on, she would go on living in China, unable to tear herself away, until thirty years later a final cataclysm made the choice for her. (Page 11)
8. frolic
verb [ I ] /ˈfrɑː.lɪk/ (Cambridge）
present participle frolicking | past tense and past participle frolicked
to play and behave in a happy way
嬉戏，玩闹
A group of suntanned children were frolicking on the beach.
一群晒得黝黑的孩子在海滩上嬉戏。
Round her the dirty plaster of the walls, the mate ceiling which dropped blobs of dry earth when rats frolicked above it at night. (Page 11 )
9. somnolent
adjective literary /ˈsɑːm.nəl.ənt/ (Cambridge）
almost sleeping, or causing sleep
瞌睡的，催眠的，令人昏昏欲睡的
a somnolent summer’s afternoon 一个令人昏昏欲睡的夏日午后
… the earthen floor with its rotting carpet laid in front of the sagging iron bed, the cot with the wailing child, gave back a heavy somnolent indifference, … (Page11)
10. enmity
noun [ C or U ]/ˈen.mə.t̬i/ (Cambridge)
a feeling of hate
仇恨，怨恨；敌意
She denied any personal enmity towards him. 她否认自己对他怀有任何私怨。
…the enormous indifference more suffocating than any enmity, more void than any vacuum, making of the whole populous land a desert where she turned on herself, imprisoned among the crowds, …