儒琴英语咀嚼《伤残的树》一书的用词。《伤残的树》The Crippled Tree 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
11.squalor
noun [ U ]/ˈskwɑː.lɚ/
the condition of being extremely dirty and unpleasant, often because of lack of money 肮脏; 邋遢
These people are forced to live in squalor.
It was a dirty, damp, smelly flat – the usual student squalor.
…, imprisoned in indifference, in dirt, in squalor, an enormous rat-cage without beginning and end that she paced, a rat-cage she had walked into led by what had once been love and was now the wail of a child, another child in her belly, …( Page 11)
12. yawning
adjective [ before noun ]/ˈjɑː.nɪŋ/ (Cambridge)
A) used to describe a difference or amount that is extremely large and difficult to reduce
（差异或数量）巨大的，难以缩减的
There exists nowadays a yawning gap between rich and poor. 如今贫富之间存在着巨大的差异。
B) A yawning space or hole is very wide.
（空间或洞孔）豁开的
a yawning crevasse 巨大的裂缝
Everything always dirty, one could not get away from dirt. She opened the lid, then left the suitcase yawning as a grave upon the carpet. ( Page 12)
13. grime
noun [ U ] /ɡraɪm/ (Cambridge)
a layer of dirt on skin or on a building
污垢，尘垢，积垢
The walls were covered with grime. 墙上满是污垢。
Her hands left their grime upon the woolen shawl, the child’s white woolen dress so difficult to wash. ( Page 2)
14. picket fence
noun [ C ]/ˈpɪk.ɪt ˌfens/ (Cambridge)
a type of low fence made of a row of flat sticks that are pointed at the top and often painted white, which is seen as typical of a comfortable, traditional American home
尖桩篱栅
Outside, beyond the pickets of the fence surrounding the small garden where now the sentinel head watched. (Page 2)
15. bun
noun (HAIRSTYLE)[ C ] (Cambridge）
a woman’s hairstyle where the hair is brought together into a round shape at the back of the head
圆发髻
She wore her hair in a bun. 她将头发挽成一个圆发髻。
…pointing at the house where the lived the foreign woman, at the head: the women, hair grey with dust, tight buns low in the neck, children, standing or being carried, clouds of flies hovering round the women…(Page 12)
16. nerve-racking
adjective (also nerve-wracking) /ˈnɝːvˌræk.ɪŋ/ (Cambridge)
Something that is nerve-racking is difficult to do and causes a lot of worry for the person involved in it.
伤脑筋的；使人心烦的
My wedding was the most nerve-racking thing I’ve ever experienced. 我的婚礼是我经历过的最伤脑筋的事情。
…clouds of flies hovering round the women, an old man, two or three younger men; all, all in that ubiquitous, nerve-racking blue cloth, … (Page 12)
17. variegated
adjective /ˈver.i.ə.ɡeɪ.t̬ɪd/ （Cambridge）
variegation noun /ˌver.i.əˈɡeɪ.ʃən/
having a pattern of different colours or marks
色彩斑驳的；有斑点的
…a blue of infinite variegation but still menacing as a uniform; all laughing, pointing at the head like a standard above the tomatoes, at the house where the foreign woman lived…(Page 12)
18. disembowel
verb [ T ]/ˌdɪs.ɪmˈbaʊ.əl/ (Cambridge)
-ll- or US usually -l-
to remove the stomach and bowels from a dead animal, or to kill a person in this way, especially in the past as a punishment
除去（动物）的内脏；（尤指旧时作为刑罚）开（人）的膛
“Laugh, laugh… they would laugh if you disembowelled them, Brutes, Brutes.” She started shouting, holding on to the door that she had opened. (Page 12)
19. imbecile
noun [ C ] /ˈɪm.bə.sɪl/ (Cambridge)
a person who behaves in an extremely stupid way
低能者，弱智者，蠢人
What an imbecile that boy is! 那个男孩真笨！
“Brutes, imbeciles, you’ll all have you heads cut off. Idiots.” She made the gesture of a head being shopped off… (Page 12)
20. scurry
verb & noun /ˈskɝː.i/ (Cambridge)
to move quickly, with small, short steps
碎步快跑
The mouse scurried across the floor. 老鼠从地板上嗖地溜过。
The noise of the explosion sent everyone scurrying back into their homes. 听到爆炸声，每个人都急忙跑回家去。
…slammed the door shut, and the ceiling dropped gravel and the scurry of a rat sounded briefly above her. (Page 12)