[短文閱讀] 罪行 part 1

網路摘錄文章:

THE CRIME 1920.

By Max Beerbohm

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1956/1956-h/1956-h.htm#2H_4_0017

On a bleak wet stormy afternoon at the outset of last year's Spring, I was in a cottage, all alone, and knowing that I must be all alone till evening. It was a remote cottage, in a remote county, and had been 'let furnished' by its owner. My spirits are easily affected by weather, and I hate solitude. And I dislike to be master of things that are not mine. 'Be careful not to break us,' say the glass and china. 'You'd better not spill ink on me,' growls the carpet. 'None of your dog's-earing, thumb-marking, back-breaking tricks here!' snarl the books.

去年春天之初，在一個寒冷潮溼，有暴風雨的的午後，我待在一幢別墅裡，獨自一人，而且知道我得一人待到傍晚。這是在遙遠地方附傢俱的遙遠別墅。我的心神甚易受天氣左右，且恨獨處。我不喜歡使用不屬於我的東西。「當心別把我們給砸了，」玻璃杯和瓷器說。「你最好別把墨水灑在我身上，」地毯吼著。「你那些把書頁像狗耳朶般地折角，髒手在書上留下指印，或把書背拆了的技倆都不准用在此，」群書咆哮著。

The books in this cottage looked particularly disagreeable — horrid little upstarts of this and that scarlet or cerulean 'series' of 'standard' authors. Having gloomily surveyed them, I turned my back on them, and watched the rain streaming down the latticed window, whose panes seemed likely to be shattered at any moment by the wind. I have known men who constantly visit the Central Criminal Court, visit also the scenes where famous crimes were committed, form their own theories of those crimes, collect souvenirs of those crimes, and call themselves Criminologists. As for me, my interest in crime is, alas, merely morbid. I did not know, as those others would doubtless have known, that the situation in which I found myself was precisely of the kind most conducive to the darkest deeds. I did but bemoan it, and think of Lear in the hovel on the heath.

別墅裡的書看來特別討厭－這個那個的「標準」作者的深紅或深藍「系列」可怕而自命不凡的小傢伙。我心情低落地瀏覽一下，轉身背對它們，看著大雨奔流似地落在格子窗上，玻璃好似隨時會被大風吹破成碎片。我認識些人，常去光臨中央刑事法庭，又常去知名犯罪現場，就那些犯罪推斷自己的理論，自稱犯罪學家。至於我，對犯罪所感興趣的，唉，只是病態的。我當時不知道，其他人肯定知道，我的處境正是最有助於最黑暗行為的。我只是悲嘆，並想著在荒地茅棚的李爾王。

The wind howled in the chimney, and the rain had begun to sputter right down it, so that the fire was beginning to hiss in a very sinister manner. Suppose the fire went out! It looked as if it meant to. I snatched the pair of bellows that hung beside it. I plied them vigorously. 'Now mind! — not too vigorously. We aren't yours!' they wheezed. I handled them more gently. But I did not release them till they had secured me a steady blaze.

狂風嗥叫地吹入煙囪，雨也開始飛濺進來，所以火開始發出不祥的嘶嘶聲，好像要熄滅了！看來是當真如此。我抓起掛在一旁的風箱，使勁地鼓動著。「注意點！別太用力。我可不是你的！」風箱喘著氣說。我較溫和地使用它，但我沒放下它，直到確保我得到穩定的烈火。

outset [記憶法] ['autsɛt] 著手, 開頭, 最初
cottage [記憶法] [`kɑtɪdʒ; 'kɔtidʒ] 小別墅
furnished [記憶法] 附有傢俱的
solitude [記憶法] [`sɑləˌtud, -ˌtjud; 'sɔlitju:d] 獨處,獨居
growl [記憶法] [graʊl; graul] 咆哮吼叫
carpet [記憶法] [`kɑrpɪt; 'kɑ:pit] 地毯; 毛毯
snarl [記憶法] [snɑrl; snɑ:l] 吠叫,咆哮
horrid [記憶法] [`hɔrɪd; 'hɔrid] 恐怖的,令人驚恐的,可怕的
upstart [記憶法] ['ʌpsta:t] 暴發戶, 自命不凡者
scarlet [記憶法] [`skɑrlɪt; 'skɑ:lət, -lit] 緋色,深紅色
cerulean [記憶法] [sə`rulɪən; si'ru:ljən] 深藍色的,天藍色的
gloomy [記憶法] [`glumɪ; 'glu:mi] 憂鬱的,悶悶不樂的,情緒低落的
survey [記憶法] [sɚ`vɛ; sə'vɛi, sə:-] 仔細打量
latticed [記憶法] 裝有格子的
pane [記憶法] [pɛn; pɛin] 窗玻璃 (的一片)
souvenir [記憶法] [ˌsuvə`nɪr; ˌsu:və'niə] 紀念品,特產
criminologist [ˌkrɪmə`nɑlədʒɪst; ˌkrimi'nɔlədʒist] 犯罪學家
alas [ə`læs; ə'læs] 唉!哎!呀!
morbid [記憶法] [`mɔrbɪd; 'mɔ:bid] 病態的,不健康的;
conducive [記憶法] [kən`djusɪv; kən'dju:siv] 有助益於的
deed [記憶法] [did; di:d] 行為,行動
bemoan [記憶法] [bɪ`mon; bi'moun] 悲嘆
hovel [記憶法] [`hʌvl; 'hʌvl, 'hɔvl] 簡陋的房屋
howl [記憶法] [haul] 嗥叫
chimney [記憶法] [`tʃɪmnɪ; 'tʃimni] 煙囪
sputter [記憶法] [`spʌtɚ; 'spʌtə] 發出劈啪 [茲茲] 聲
hiss [記憶法] [hɪs; his] 嗤嗤聲; 噓噓聲; 嘶嘶聲
sinister [記憶法] [`sɪnɪstɚ; 'sinistə] 不吉利的,不祥的
snatch [記憶法] [snætʃ; snætʃ] 奪去,抓住,搶去
bellows [記憶法] [`bɛloz; 'bɛlouz] 風箱
wheeze [記憶法] [hwiz, wiz; wi:z, hwi:z] 喘著氣說
blaze [記憶法] [blɛz; blɛiz] 烈火