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
91. deportment
noun [ U ] /dɪˈpɔːrt.mənt/
a person’s behavior or manners
一个人的行为或举止
I can find only one frolicsome phrase in Tseng’s diaries , and it is about deportment when with Westerners: “In your association with foreigners, be not too lofty… ( Page 50)
92. unscrupulous
adjective /ʌnˈskruː.pjə.ləs/
behaving in a way that is dishonest or unfair in order to get what you want
无道德原则的；不诚实的；不公正的；无耻的
I can imagine the shrewd, unscrupulous old gentleman planning his daughter-in-law as a strong fortress to contain his son’s weakness. ( Page 50)
93. rhapsodic
adjective /ræpˈsɑːd.ɪk/ (Cambridge)
in the form of a rhapsody, or expressing powerful feelings
狂想曲的；狂喜的，狂热的
Grandmother’s eulogy in stone is rhapsodic. She was married at seventeen, and when her husband was transferred to Kansu Taohung ordered his daughter in law to join her husband there…. ( Page 50)
94. epitaph
noun [ C ] /ˈep.ə.tæf/
a short piece of writing or a poem about a dead person, especially one written on their gravestone
悼文；悼亡诗；（尤指）墓志铭
The gravestone does not mention the incident, out of modesty: it was not becoming to a woman to be brave. Thus her epitaph: (Page 50)
95. squalid
adjective /ˈskwɑː.lɪd/
1) (of places) extremely dirty and unpleasant, often because of lack of money （地方常因缺钱）极其肮脏的，污秽的
2) (of situations and activities) not moral; involving sex and drugs, etc. in an unpleasant way
（情形、活动）道德败坏的，堕落的，丑恶的，淫秽的 (Cambridge)
Engineers, physicians, professors, civil servants, with little interest in politics, they had enough of the corruption, the inefficiency, the squalid methods and police terror… ( Page 53)
96. bide your time
to wait calmly for a good opportunity to do something
静候时机
How many of these docile intellectuals and bureaucrats, now apparently enthusiastic, were actually secret agents, planted there by the Kuomintang, who would bide their time and seek to corrupt the system from within? ( Page 53)
97. make a clean breast of
to tell the truth about something; Confess fully
彻底交代
It was best to make a clean breast of the past misdeeds, give a truthful account of lapses, for the chances of forgiveness. ( Page 53)
98. telling-off
noun [ C usually singular ]/ˌtel.ɪŋˈɑːf/
plural tellings-off
the act of speaking angrily to someone because they have done something wrong
责骂，训斥
…without more punishment than a telling-off, were then about one hundred per cent. But infractions kept hidden were likely to bring one into great trouble. ( Page 54)
99. backbite
verb [ I or T ]/ˈbæk.baɪt/
to say unpleasant and unkind things about someone who is not there
背后说人坏话
We have learnt to reappraise and criticize our own conduct, and we have also been taught not to backbite and gossip but to criticize each other openly. ( Page 57)
100. reflex
noun /ˈriː.fleks/ [ C ]
a physical reaction to something that you cannot control
反射动作；反射作用；本能反应
This time, I have no feeling of hostility, no reflex at being snared. I suddenly want to write down my life, to write down everything that happened.