儒琴英语文学词汇咀嚼《德伯家的苔丝》(Tess of the Durbervilles)一书的用词。 《苔丝》以哈代的威塞克斯为背景,是一部关于虚伪和双重标准的感人小说。托马斯·哈代(Thomas Hardy,1840—1928), 英国诗人、小说家。他是横跨两个世纪的作家,早期和中期的创作以小说为主,继承和发扬了维多利亚时代的文学传统;晚年以其出色的诗歌开拓了英国20世纪的文学。
sophistry /ˈsɑː.fɪ.stri/
noun: plausible but fallacious argumentation; subtly deceptive reasoning or argumentation
诡辩术; 似是而非的推论
He looked at her imploringly, as if he would willingly have taken a lie from her lips, knowing it to be one, and have made of it, by some sophistry, a valid denial.
他恳求地望着她,仿佛他明知道她在说谎,也愿意听她从嘴里说出,然后用某种诡辩的方法,自欺欺人地把谎言当成真话。(第36章)
infatuated /ɪnˈfætʃ.u.eɪ.t̬ɪd/
adj: filled with or marked by a foolish or extravagant love or admiration:
热恋的,着迷的
Moreover, his affection itself was less fire than radiance, and, with regard to the other sex, when he ceased to believe he ceased to follow; contrasting in this with many impressionable natures, who remain sensuously infatuated with what they intellectually despised.
此外,他的爱情其说是炽热的火焰,不如说是闪耀的光辉; 对于女性,当他不再信任她,他就不再追求了;这有点上他与许多容易动感情的的人形成了鲜明对比,那些人即使在理智认为一个女人可憎可恨,却在情感上仍然迷恋。(第36章)
ebullition /ˌeb.əˈlɪʃ.ən/
noun: a sudden violent outburst or display
(思想、感情等的)奔放,洋溢; 勃然; 爆发,迸发; (水等)沸腾
“I wish half the women in England were as respectable as you,” he said, in an ebullition of bitterness against womankind in general. ” It isn’t a question of respectability, but one of principle!”
“我希望英国有一半的女人都能像你这样受人尊敬,”他说道,突然笼统地怨恨起女性来了, ”这不是体面不体面的问题,而是原则问题!”(第36章)
surreptitious /ˌsɝː.əpˈtɪʃ.əs/
adj: clandestine; stealthy; in secret or by improper means
秘密的,偷偷的;鬼鬼祟祟的
Tess’s feminine hope — shall we confess it –had been so obstinately recuperative as to revive in her surreptitious visions of a domiciliary intimacy continued long enough to break down his coolness even against his judgment.
苔丝作为女性的希望——我们是不是应该承认——具有顽强的恢复能力。 按她偷偷地幻想两人在同一间屋子里亲密生活久了,就能软化他的冷淡,改变他的判断。(第36章)
bewail /bɪˈweɪl/
verb: to cry over; lament; to express sorrow or unhappiness over
为…而悲伤;哀叹
Yet such is the vulpine slyness of Dame Nature, that, Tess had been hoodwinked by her love for Clare into forgetting it might result in vitalizations that would inflict upon others what she had bewailed as misfortune to herself.
然而,大自然女神就是这样狡黠狡诈,直到现在,苔丝被她对克莱尔的爱所冲昏的头脑,忘记了爱情可能带来新的生命,从而把她自己所悲叹的不幸强加在别人身上。(第36章)
proclivity /prəˈklɪv.ə.t̬i/
noun: a natural propensity or inclination; a predisposition;natural or habitual inclination or tendency
癖性;倾向
She therefore could not withstand his argument. But with the self-combating proclivity of the supersensitive, an answer thereto arose in Clare’s own mind, and he almost feared it.
因此她觉得无法反驳他的观点。但是克莱尔本身极其敏感,有一种自我反驳的癖性,克莱尔自己心里就有了一个答案,他几乎害怕了。(第36章)