🔊 It was four o'clock when the ceremony was over and the carriages began to arrive. There had been a crowd following all the way, owing to the exuberance of Marija Berczynskas. The occasion rested heavily upon Marija's broad shoulders--it was her task to see that all things went in due form, and after the best home traditions; and, flying wildly hither and thither, bowling every one out of the way, and scolding and exhorting all day with her tremendous voice, Marija was too eager to see that others conformed to the proprieties to consider them herself. She had left the church last of all, and, desiring to arrive first at the hall, had issued orders to the coachman to drive faster. When that personage had developed a will of his own in the matter, Marija had flung up the window of the carriage, and, leaning out, proceeded to tell him her opinion of him, first in Lithuanian, which he did not understand, and then in Polish, which he did. Having the advantage of her in altitude, the driver had stood his ground and even ventured to attempt to speak; and the result had been a furious altercation, which, continuing all the way down Ashland Avenue, had added a new swarm of urchins to the cortege at each side street for half a mile. This was unfortunate, for already there was a throng before the door. The music had started up, and half a block away you could hear the dull "broom, broom" of a cello, with the squeaking of two fiddles which vied with each other in intricate and altitudinous gymnastics. Seeing the throng, Marija abandoned precipitately the debate concerning the ancestors of her coachman, and, springing from the moving carriage, plunged in and proceeded to clear a way to the hall. Once within, she turned and began to push the other way, roaring, meantime, "Eik! Eik! Uzdaryk-duris!" in tones which made the orchestral uproar sound like fairy music.

仪式结束时已是下午四点,马车开始陆续抵达。由于玛丽亚·贝尔钦斯卡斯的热情洋溢,一路上簇拥着一大群人。这场婚事沉甸甸地压在玛丽亚宽厚的肩膀上--她的任务是确保一切按规矩进行,并遵循最纯正的家庭传统；于是她四处狂奔,把每个人撞开,整天用她那巨大的嗓门责骂和训诫,玛丽亚太急于让别人遵守礼仪,自己却顾不上。她是最后一个离开教堂的,想第一个到达大厅,便命令车夫加快速度。当车夫在这件事上显示出自己的意志时,玛丽亚一把推开车窗,探出身去,先用立陶宛语（他听不懂）,然后用波兰语（他听得懂）向他表达自己的看法。车夫仗着个子高,寸步不让,甚至试图开口回嘴；结果爆发了一场激烈的争吵,一直持续到阿什兰大道尽头,半英里之内每一条小巷都有一群新的顽童加入队列。这很不妙,因为门前已经挤满了人。音乐已经响起,半个街区外都能听到大提琴沉闷的“嗡嗡”声,以及两把小提琴尖利的吱嘎声,它们互相竞争,在复杂而高难的急速旋音中一较高下。看到人群,玛丽亚立刻中断了关于车夫祖宗的争论,从行驶的马车上一跃而下,冲进人群,奋力开出一条通往大厅的路。一进到里面,她转过身又开始朝另一个方向推搡,同时咆哮道:“走！走！关门！”那声音让管弦乐的喧嚣听起来简直像仙乐一般。

🔊

exuberance /ɪɡˈzuːbərəns/

n. 热情洋溢,兴高采烈➕

🔊 "Z. Graiczunas, Pasilinksminimams darzas. Vynas. Sznapsas. Wines and Liquors. Union Headquarters"--that was the way the signs ran. The reader, who perhaps has never held much converse in the language of far-off Lithuania, will be glad of the explanation that the place was the rear room of a saloon in that part of Chicago known as "back of the yards." This information is definite and suited to the matter of fact; but how pitifully inadequate it would have seemed to one who understood that it was also the supreme hour of ecstasy in the life of one of God's gentlest creatures, the scene of the wedding feast and the joy-transfiguration of little Ona Lukoszaite!

“Z. 格拉伊丘纳斯,娱乐花园。葡萄酒。烈酒。葡萄酒与烈酒。工会总部”--招牌上是这样写的。读者或许从未与远方的立陶宛语言有过多少交流,但会很乐意得知,这个地方是芝加哥“牲口围栏后区”一间酒馆的后室。这个信息明确而符合事实；但对那些明白这也是上帝最温柔造物生命中至高狂喜时刻的人而言,这是婚宴的现场,是小姑娘奥娜·卢科扎伊特因喜悦而容光焕发的地方--这样的描述又是多么可悲地不足啊！

🔊

ecstasy /ˈekstəsi/

n. 狂喜,入迷➕

🔊 She stood in the doorway, shepherded by Cousin Marija, breathless from pushing through the crowd, and in her happiness painful to look upon. There was a light of wonder in her eyes and her lids trembled, and her otherwise wan little face was flushed. She wore a muslin dress, conspicuously white, and a stiff little veil coming to her shoulders. There were five pink paper roses twisted in the veil, and eleven bright green rose leaves. There were new white cotton gloves upon her hands, and as she stood staring about her she twisted them together feverishly. It was almost too much for her--you could see the pain of too great emotion in her face, and all the tremor of her form. She was so young--not quite sixteen--and small for her age, a mere child; and she had just been married--and married to Jurgis,* (*Pronounced Yoorghis) of all men, to Jurgis Rudkus, he with the white flower in the buttonhole of his new black suit, he with the mighty shoulders and the giant hands.

她站在门口,由表姐玛丽亚引领着,挤过人群后气喘吁吁,幸福得令人不忍直视。她眼中闪烁着惊奇的光芒,眼皮微微颤动,原本苍白的小脸涨得通红。她穿着一件格外洁白的细棉布连衣裙,一条僵硬的小面纱垂到肩膀。面纱上缠着五朵粉色的纸玫瑰和十一片鲜绿色的玫瑰叶。她手上戴着崭新的白色棉手套,站在那里环顾四周时,她焦躁不安地把双手扭在一起。这让她几乎承受不住--你能看到她脸上因过度激动而流露出的痛苦,以及她全身的颤抖。她那么年轻--还不到十六岁--而且身材比实际年龄还显小,简直是个孩子；而她才刚刚结婚--嫁给的竟然是尤尔吉斯,在所有人当中,是尤尔吉斯·鲁德库斯,他崭新黑色西装扣眼上别着白色花朵,他有着宽厚的肩膀和巨大的手掌。

🔊

feverishly /ˈfiːvərɪʃli/

adv. 狂热地,兴奋地（常带焦虑）➕

🔊 Ona was blue-eyed and fair, while Jurgis had great black eyes with beetling brows, and thick black hair that curled in waves about his ears--in short, they were one of those incongruous and impossible married couples with which Mother Nature so often wills to confound all prophets, before and after. Jurgis could take up a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound quarter of beef and carry it into a car without a stagger, or even a thought; and now he stood in a far corner, frightened as a hunted animal, and obliged to moisten his lips with his tongue each time before he could answer the congratulations of his friends.

奥娜蓝眼睛白皮肤,而尤尔吉斯有一双浓眉大黑眼,浓密的黑色卷发垂在耳边--简而言之,他们是那种不协调又不可能的夫妻,大自然母亲常以此让所有预言家（无论事前事后）困惑不已。尤尔吉斯能扛起二百五十磅的四分之一牛肉,毫不摇晃甚至毫不费力地搬进货车；而此刻他却站在远处的角落里,像一头被追捕的野兽般惊恐,每次回答朋友的祝贺前都得用舌头舔舔嘴唇。

🔊

incongruous /ɪnˈkɒŋɡruəs/

adj. 不协调的,不相称的➕

🔊 Gradually there was effected a separation between the spectators and the guests--a separation at least sufficiently complete for working purposes. There was no time during the festivities which ensued when there were not groups of onlookers in the doorways and the corners; and if any one of these onlookers came sufficiently close, or looked sufficiently hungry, a chair was offered him, and he was invited to the feast. It was one of the laws of the veselija that no one goes hungry; and, while a rule made in the forests of Lithuania is hard to apply in the stockyards district of Chicago, with its quarter of a million inhabitants, still they did their best, and the children who ran in from the street, and even the dogs, went out again happier.

渐渐地,旁观者和宾客之间形成了一种分离--至少分离到足以进行仪式的程度。在随后的庆祝活动中,门口和角落里始终有一群群的旁观者；如果其中任何一位靠得足够近,或者看起来足够饥饿,就会有人递给他一把椅子,邀请他入席。婚宴的规矩之一就是不能让任何人挨饿；尽管在立陶宛森林里制定的规则很难应用到拥有二十五万居民的芝加哥牲口围栏区,但他们还是尽力了,那些从街上跑进来的孩子,甚至狗,离开时都比来时更开心。

🔊

festivities /feˈstɪvətiz/

n. 庆祝活动,庆典➕

🔊 A charming informality was one of the characteristics of this celebration. The men wore their hats, or, if they wished, they took them off, and their coats with them; they ate when and where they pleased, and moved as often as they pleased. There were to be speeches and singing, but no one had to listen who did not care to; if he wished, meantime, to speak or sing himself, he was perfectly free. The resulting medley of sound distracted no one, save possibly alone the babies, of which there were present a number equal to the total possessed by all the guests invited. There was no other place for the babies to be, and so part of the preparations for the evening consisted of a collection of cribs and carriages in one corner. In these the babies slept, three or four together, or wakened together, as the case might be. Those who were still older, and could reach the tables, marched about munching contentedly at meat bones and bologna sausages.

迷人的不拘礼节是这次庆祝活动的特点之一。男人们戴着帽子,或者如果愿意,他们也可以脱掉,连同外套一起；他们随时随地吃饭,想挪动就挪动。会有演讲和唱歌,但不想听的人不必听；与此同时,如果他自己想说话或唱歌,也完全自由。由此产生的混杂声音不会分散任何人的注意力,可能只有婴儿除外--在场的婴儿数量等于所有受邀宾客拥有的总数。没有其他地方可放婴儿,因此晚间准备工作的一部分包括在一个角落里收集一批小床和婴儿车。婴儿们就在里面睡觉,三四个挤在一起,或者一起醒来。那些稍大一些、能够到桌子的孩子,则走来走去,心满意足地啃着肉骨头和博洛尼亚香肠。

🔊

medley /ˈmedli/

n. 混合曲,混杂➕

🔊 The room is about thirty feet square, with whitewashed walls, bare save for a calendar, a picture of a race horse, and a family tree in a gilded frame. To the right there is a door from the saloon, with a few loafers in the doorway, and in the corner beyond it a bar, with a presiding genius clad in soiled white, with waxed black mustaches and a carefully oiled curl plastered against one side of his forehead. In the opposite corner are two tables, filling a third of the room and laden with dishes and cold viands, which a few of the hungrier guests are already munching. At the head, where sits the bride, is a snow-white cake, with an Eiffel tower of constructed decoration, with sugar roses and two angels upon it, and a generous sprinkling of pink and green and yellow candies. Beyond opens a door into the kitchen, where there is a glimpse to be had of a range with much steam ascending from it, and many women, old and young, rushing hither and thither. In the corner to the left are the three musicians, upon a little platform, toiling heroically to make some impression upon the hubbub; also the babies, similarly occupied, and an open window whence the populace imbibes the sights and sounds and odors.

房间大约三十英尺见方,墙壁粉刷成白色,除了一个日历、一幅赛马画和一个金框家谱外,空无一物。右边有一扇通向酒馆的门,门口有几个闲汉,再往里的一角是个吧台,由一位身穿脏污白色衣服、留着上蜡黑色小胡子、前额一侧贴着精心抹油卷发的守护神掌管。对面角落里有两张桌子,占据了房间的三分之一,上面摆满了盘子和冷盘,几个最饿的客人已经开始大嚼。上首坐着新娘,那里有一个雪白的蛋糕,上面有埃菲尔铁塔式的装饰点缀,有糖玫瑰和两个天使,还慷慨地撒满了粉色、绿色和黄色的糖果。再往里有一扇门通向厨房,可以瞥见一个炉子,上面冒出大量蒸汽,许多女人,老的少的,正忙忙碌碌地跑来跑去。左边角落里是三位乐师,站在一个小小的台子上,正英勇地努力在喧嚣中制造一些效果；还有婴儿们,同样也忙个不停,以及一扇敞开的窗户,人们从那里汲取景象、声音和气味。

🔊

hubbub /ˈhʌbʌb/

n. 喧闹声,混乱➕

🔊 Suddenly some of the steam begins to advance, and, peering through it, you discern Aunt Elizabeth, Ona's stepmother--Teta Elzbieta, as they call her--bearing aloft a great platter of stewed duck. Behind her is Kotrina, making her way cautiously, staggering beneath a similar burden; and half a minute later there appears old Grandmother Majauszkiene, with a big yellow bowl of smoking potatoes, nearly as big as herself. So, bit by bit, the feast takes form--there is a ham and a dish of sauerkraut, boiled rice, macaroni, bologna sausages, great piles of penny buns, bowls of milk, and foaming pitchers of beer. There is also, not six feet from your back, the bar, where you may order all you please and do not have to pay for it. "Eiksz! Graicziau!" screams Marija Berczynskas, and falls to work herself--for there is more upon the stove inside that will be spoiled if it be not eaten.

突然,一些蒸汽开始涌动,透过蒸汽,你辨认出伊丽莎白姨妈,奥娜的继母--他们叫她泰塔·埃尔兹别塔--高高举着一大盘炖鸭。她后面跟着卡特里娜,小心翼翼地走着,摇摇晃晃地端着同样的盘子；半分钟后,老马约什凯内祖母出现了,捧着一个大黄色碗,里面冒着热气的土豆,几乎和她本人一样大。就这样,宴席一点一点地成形了--有一份火腿和一盘酸菜,米饭,通心粉,博洛尼亚香肠,成堆的廉价小圆面包,一碗碗牛奶,以及泛着泡沫的啤酒罐。另外,就在你背后不到六英尺的地方就是吧台,你可以在那里随意点东西,而且不用付钱。“快点！快点！”玛丽亚·贝尔钦斯卡斯尖叫着,自己也动手干了起来--因为炉子上还有更多东西,如果不吃掉就会坏掉。

🔊

sauerkraut /ˈsaʊərkraʊt/

n. 德国泡菜,酸菜➕

🔊 So, with laughter and shouts and endless badinage and merriment, the guests take their places. The young men, who for the most part have been huddled near the door, summon their resolution and advance; and the shrinking Jurgis is poked and scolded by the old folks until he consents to seat himself at the right hand of the bride. The two bridesmaids, whose insignia of office are paper wreaths, come next, and after them the rest of the guests, old and young, boys and girls. The spirit of the occasion takes hold of the stately bartender, who condescends to a plate of stewed duck; even the fat policeman--whose duty it will be, later in the evening, to break up the fights--draws up a chair to the foot of the table. And the children shout and the babies yell, and every one laughs and sings and chatters--while above all the deafening clamor Cousin Marija shouts orders to the musicians.

于是,在笑声、喊声、无尽的戏谑和欢乐中,客人们各就各位。那些年轻男子大多聚集在门口,此刻鼓起勇气走上前来；而害羞的尤尔吉斯被老人们戳着骂着,终于同意坐在新娘的右手边。两位伴娘,她们职位的标志是纸花环,紧随其后,接着是其余客人,老老少少,男孩女孩。节日的氛围感染了威严的酒保,他屈尊吃了一盘炖鸭；就连胖警察--他的职责是在晚些时候阻止斗殴--也在桌子下端拉了一把椅子坐下。孩子们喊叫着,婴儿们哭嚎着,每个人都在笑、唱、闲聊--而在这震耳欲聋的喧闹之上,表姐玛丽亚正向乐师们发号施令。

🔊

merriment /ˈmerɪmənt/

n. 欢乐,嬉戏➕

🔊 The musicians--how shall one begin to describe them? All this time they have been there, playing in a mad frenzy--all of this scene must be read, or said, or sung, to music. It is the music which makes it what it is; it is the music which changes the place from the rear room of a saloon in back of the yards to a fairy place, a wonderland, a little corner of the high mansions of the sky.

乐师们--该从哪里开始描述他们呢？这段时间以来,他们一直在那里,疯狂地演奏着--所有这些场景都必须伴随着音乐来阅读、述说或歌唱。正是音乐赋予了它现在的样子；正是音乐把这个地方从牲口围栏后区酒馆的后室变成了一个仙境,一个奇境,天堂高殿的一角。

🔊

wonderland /ˈwʌndərlænd/

n. 仙境,奇境➕

🔊 The little person who leads this trio is an inspired man. His fiddle is out of tune, and there is no rosin on his bow, but still he is an inspired man--the hands of the muses have been laid upon him. He plays like one possessed by a demon, by a whole horde of demons. You can feel them in the air round about him, capering frenetically; with their invisible feet they set the pace, and the hair of the leader of the orchestra rises on end, and his eyeballs start from their sockets, as he toils to keep up with them. Tamoszius Kuszleika is his name, and he has taught himself to play the violin by practicing all night, after working all day on the "killing beds." He is in his shirt sleeves, with a vest figured with faded gold horseshoes, and a pink-striped shirt, suggestive of peppermint candy. A pair of military trousers, light blue with a yellow stripe, serve to give that suggestion of authority proper to the leader of a band. He is only about five feet high, but even so these trousers are about eight inches short of the ground. You wonder where he can have gotten them or rather you would wonder, if the excitement of being in his presence left you time to think of such things. For he is an inspired man. Every inch of him is inspired--you might almost say inspired separately. He stamps with his feet, he tosses his head, he sways and swings to and fro; he has a wizened-up little face, irresistibly comical; and, when he executes a turn or a flourish, his brows knit and his lips work and his eyelids wink--the very ends of his necktie bristle out. And every now and then he turns upon his companions, nodding, signaling, beckoning frantically--with every inch of him appealing, imploring, in behalf of the muses and their call.

领导这个三人组的小个子是个被灵感眷顾的人。他的小提琴走调,弓上也没有松香,但他仍然是个被灵感眷顾的人--缪斯之手已经放在了他身上。他演奏时仿佛被魔鬼附身,不,是被一大群魔鬼附身。你能感觉到它们在他周围的空气中疯狂地跳着舞；它们用无形的脚定下节奏,而乐队指挥的头发根根竖起,眼珠从眼眶里突出来,他拼命追赶着它们。他叫塔莫休斯·库什莱卡,他是在“屠宰车间”干了一整天活之后,通过整夜练习自学拉小提琴的。他穿着衬衣袖子,马甲上印着褪色的金色马蹄铁,粉色条纹衬衫让人想起薄荷糖。一条浅蓝色带黄条纹的军裤,赋予了乐队指挥应有的那种权威感。他只有大约五英尺高,但即便如此,这条裤子还是离地面短了大约八英寸。你会好奇他是在哪里弄到这条裤子的--或者说,如果你在他面前激动得没时间想这种事,你可能会好奇。因为他是个被灵感眷顾的人。他浑身上下都充满灵感--几乎可以说每个部位都是独立的灵感。他跺着脚,甩着头,前后摇摆晃动；他有一张干瘪的小脸,逗得人忍俊不禁；每当他来一个旋转或花式结束时,他眉头紧锁,嘴唇翕动,眼皮眨动--连他领带的末端都竖了起来。而且他不时转向同伴们,点头示意、打手势、疯狂招手--用他浑身上下每一个部分为缪斯和她们的召唤而恳求、哀求。

🔊

frenetically /frəˈnetɪkli/

adv. 疯狂地,狂热地➕

🔊 For they are hardly worthy of Tamoszius, the other two members of the orchestra. The second violin is a Slovak, a tall, gaunt man with black-rimmed spectacles and the mute and patient look of an overdriven mule; he responds to the whip but feebly, and then always falls back into his old rut. The third man is very fat, with a round, red, sentimental nose, and he plays with his eyes turned up to the sky and a look of infinite yearning. He is playing a bass part upon his cello, and so the excitement is nothing to him; no matter what happens in the treble, it is his task to saw out one long-drawn and lugubrious note after another, from four o'clock in the afternoon until nearly the same hour next morning, for his third of the total income of one dollar per hour.

因为另外两名乐师几乎配不上塔莫休斯。第二小提琴手是个斯洛伐克人,一个高瘦的男子,戴着黑框眼镜,有着被过度驱使的骡子那种沉默而耐心的表情；他对鞭子的反应微弱,然后又总是回到旧辙。第三个人很胖,长着一张圆圆的、红红的、多愁善感的鼻子,他演奏时眼睛朝天,带着无限渴望的表情。他用大提琴演奏低音部分,所以激动对他不算什么；无论高音部发生什么,他的任务就是从下午四点一直拉到第二天凌晨将近同一时间,一个接一个地拉出冗长而悲伤的音符,从而赚取每小时总收入一美元中属于他的那三分之一。

🔊

lugubrious /ləˈɡuːbriəs/

adj. 悲哀的,阴郁的➕

🔊 Before the feast has been five minutes under way, Tamoszius Kuszleika has risen in his excitement; a minute or two more and you see that he is beginning to edge over toward the tables. His nostrils are dilated and his breath comes fast--his demons are driving him. He nods and shakes his head at his companions, jerking at them with his violin, until at last the long form of the second violinist also rises up. In the end all three of them begin advancing, step by step, upon the banqueters, Valentinavyczia, the cellist, bumping along with his instrument between notes. Finally all three are gathered at the foot of the tables, and there Tamoszius mounts upon a stool. Now he is in his glory, dominating the scene.

开宴还不到五分钟,塔莫休斯·库什莱卡已经激动得站了起来；再过一两分钟,你会看到他开始向桌子那边靠拢。他鼻孔扩张,呼吸急促--他的魔鬼在驱赶他。他向同伴们点头摇头,用他的小提琴拉扯他们,直到第二小提琴手的高个子也站了起来。最后,三个人都开始一步一步地向宴客们逼近,大提琴手瓦伦蒂纳维丘斯在音符之间笨拙地拖着乐器前进。最终三个人都聚集在桌子脚下,塔莫休斯站到一个凳子上。现在他处于巅峰,掌控着场面。

🔊

banqueters /ˈbæŋkwɪtərz/

n. 参加宴会的人,宴客➕

🔊 Some of the people are eating, some are laughing and talking--but you will make a great mistake if you think there is one of them who does not hear him. His notes are never true, and his fiddle buzzes on the low ones and squeaks and scratches on the high; but these things they heed no more than they heed the dirt and noise and squalor about them--it is out of this material that they have to build their lives, with it that they have to utter their souls. And this is their utterance; merry and boisterous, or mournful and wailing, or passionate and rebellious, this music is their music, music of home. It stretches out its arms to them, they have only to give themselves up. Chicago and its saloons and its slums fade away--there are green meadows and sunlit rivers, mighty forests and snow-clad hills. They behold home landscapes and childhood scenes returning; old loves and friendships begin to waken, old joys and griefs to laugh and weep. Some fall back and close their eyes, some beat upon the table. Now and then one leaps up with a cry and calls for this song or that; and then the fire leaps brighter in Tamoszius' eyes, and he flings up his fiddle and shouts to his companions, and away they go in mad career. The company takes up the choruses, and men and women cry out like all possessed; some leap to their feet and stamp upon the floor, lifting their glasses and pledging each other.

有些人正在吃饭,有些人在说笑--但如果你认为他们中没有一个人听见他演奏,那就大错特错了。他的音符从来不准,低音嗡嗡作响,高音吱嘎尖利；但他们对这些毫不在意,就像他们不在意周围的污秽、噪音和肮脏一样--他们只能用这些材料来构建自己的生活,用它来倾诉自己的灵魂。而这就是他们的倾诉；欢快喧闹,或哀伤悲泣,或激昂叛逆,这音乐就是他们的音乐,是家乡的音乐。它向他们伸出双臂,他们只需尽情投入。芝加哥、它的酒馆和贫民窟都消失了--眼前是绿色的草地、阳光照耀的河流、广袤的森林和白雪覆盖的山丘。他们看到故乡的风景和童年的景象重现；旧日的爱情和友谊开始苏醒,旧日的欢乐和悲伤开始欢笑和哭泣。有些人向后靠去,闭上眼睛,有些人敲着桌子。不时有人跳起来喊着要唱这首那首歌；然后塔莫休斯的眼中火光更亮,他挥起小提琴,向同伴们喊叫,他们就疯狂地跑了起来。众人唱起合唱,男人女人像着了魔一样呼喊；有些人跳起来跺着地板,举起酒杯相互敬酒。

🔊

squalor /ˈskwɒlər/

n. 肮脏,污秽不堪的环境➕

🔊 Before long it occurs to some one to demand an old wedding song, which celebrates the beauty of the bride and the joys of love. In the excitement of this masterpiece Tamoszius Kuszleika begins to edge in between the tables, making his way toward the head, where sits the bride. There is not a foot of space between the chairs of the guests, and Tamoszius is so short that he pokes them with his bow whenever he reaches over for the low notes; but still he presses in, and insists relentlessly that his companions must follow. During their progress, needless to say, the sounds of the cello are pretty well extinguished; but at last the three are at the head, and Tamoszius takes his station at the right hand of the bride and begins to pour out his soul in melting strains.

不久,有人要求唱一首古老的婚礼歌曲,赞美新娘的美貌和爱情的欢乐。在这首杰作的激动中,塔莫休斯·库什莱卡开始在桌子之间挤进去,朝着新娘坐着的上首走去。客人的椅子之间没有一英尺空间,而塔莫休斯个子很矮,每次为低音下弓时都会戳到他们；但他仍向前挤,顽固地坚持他的同伴必须跟上。在行进过程中,不用说,大提琴的声音几乎被淹没了；但最后三个人还是到了上首,塔莫休斯站在新娘的右手边,开始用融情的曲调倾泻他的灵魂。

🔊

masterpiece /ˈmɑːstərpiːs/

n. 杰作,代表作➕

🔊 Little Ona is too excited to eat. Once in a while she tastes a little something, when Cousin Marija pinches her elbow and reminds her; but, for the most part, she sits gazing with the same fearful eyes of wonder. Teta Elzbieta is all in a flutter, like a hummingbird; her sisters, too, keep running up behind her, whispering, breathless. But Ona seems scarcely to hear them--the music keeps calling, and the far-off look comes back, and she sits with her hands pressed together over her heart. Then the tears begin to come into her eyes; and as she is ashamed to wipe them away, and ashamed to let them run down her cheeks, she turns and shakes her head a little, and then flushes red when she sees that Jurgis is watching her.

小奥娜太激动了,吃不下东西。偶尔她尝一小口,那是表姐玛丽亚捏她的肘部提醒她的时候；但大部分时间,她只是坐在那里,睁着同样惊恐好奇的眼睛凝视着。泰塔·埃尔兹别塔像蜂鸟一样紧张不已；她的妹妹们也不停地跑到她身后,气喘吁吁地低语。但奥娜似乎几乎听不见她们--音乐不断召唤,那种遥远的神情又回来了,她双手交握在胸前坐着。然后眼泪开始涌上她的眼眶；她既不好意思擦拭,也不愿意让泪水流下脸颊,她便转过头,轻轻摇了摇,当看到尤尔吉斯在注视她时,脸又涨得通红。

🔊

flutter /ˈflʌtər/

n. 激动不安,慌乱➕

🔊

breathless /ˈbreθləs/

adj. 气喘吁吁的; 屏息的➕

🔊

far-off /ˌfɑːr ˈɒf/

adj. 遥远的; 出神的➕

🔊

gazing /ˈɡeɪzɪŋ/

v. 凝视,注视➕

🔊

flushes /ˈflʌʃɪz/

v. (脸)发红; 冲洗➕

🔊 When in the end Tamoszius Kuszleika has reached her side, and is waving his magic wand above her, Ona's cheeks are scarlet, and she looks as if she would have to get up and run away. In this crisis, however, she is saved by Marija Berczynskas, whom the muses suddenly visit. Marija is fond of a song, a song of lovers' parting; she wishes to hear it, and, as the musicians do not know it, she has risen, and is proceeding to teach them. Marija is short, but powerful in build. She works in a canning factory, and all day long she handles cans of beef that weigh fourteen pounds. She has a broad Slavic face, with prominent red cheeks. When she opens her mouth, it is tragical, but you cannot help thinking of a horse. She wears a blue flannel shirt-waist, which is now rolled up at the sleeves, disclosing her brawny arms; she has a carving fork in her hand, with which she pounds on the table to mark the time. As she roars her song, in a voice of which it is enough to say that it leaves no portion of the room vacant, the three musicians follow her, laboriously and note by note, but averaging one note behind; thus they toil through "Sudiev' kvietkeli, tu brangiausis; stanza after stanza of a lovesick swain's lamentation:-

当塔莫休斯·库什莱卡终于来到她身边,在她头顶挥舞着魔棒时,奥娜的脸颊绯红,看起来好像不得不站起来跑掉。然而在这紧要关头,她被玛丽亚·贝尔钦斯卡斯救了,缪斯突然造访了玛丽亚。玛丽亚喜欢一首歌,一首关于恋人离别的歌；她想听这首歌,但乐师们不会,于是她站起来,开始教他们。玛丽亚个子矮小,但体格强壮。她在罐头厂工作,整天摆弄十四磅重的牛肉罐头。她有一张宽阔的斯拉夫面孔,突出的红脸颊。当她张嘴时,那模样既滑稽又夸张,但你忍不住会想到一匹马。她穿着一件蓝色法兰绒衬衫式上衣,袖子现在卷到胳膊肘,露出肌肉发达的手臂；她手里拿着一把切肉叉,用它敲打桌子打拍子。当她用足以填满整个房间的声音吼出她的歌时,三位乐师费力地跟着她,一个音符一个音符地学,但平均落后一个音符；就这样他们费力地唱完了《再见,亲爱的花朵》--一首相思青年的悲叹,一节又一节:

🔊

scarlet /ˈskɑːrlət/

adj. 猩红色的,鲜红的➕

🔊

crisis /ˈkraɪsɪs/

n. 危机; 紧要关头➕

🔊

muses /ˈmjuːzɪz/

n. 缪斯(希腊神话中掌管文艺的女神); 灵感➕

🔊

proceeding /prəˈsiːdɪŋ/

v. 继续; 进行➕

🔊

canning /ˈkænɪŋ/

adj. 罐装的; 罐头加工的➕

🔊

prominent /ˈprɒmɪnənt/

adj. 突出的; 显著的➕

🔊

tragical /ˈtrædʒɪkl/

adj. 悲剧的; 悲惨的➕

🔊

flannel /ˈflænl/

n. 法兰绒➕

🔊

disclosing /dɪsˈkləʊzɪŋ/

v. 显露; 揭露➕

🔊

brawny /ˈbrɔːni/

adj. 强壮的; 肌肉发达的➕

🔊

carving /ˈkɑːvɪŋ/

adj. 雕刻用的; 切肉用的➕

🔊

roars /rɔːz/

v. 吼叫; 大声唱➕

🔊

laboriously /ləˈbɔːriəsli/

adv. 费力地; 辛苦地➕

🔊

toil /tɔɪl/

v. 辛苦工作; 艰难地行进➕

🔊

stanza /ˈstænzə/

n. 诗节; 节➕

🔊

swain /sweɪn/

n. 乡下的年轻人; 情郎➕

🔊

lamentation /ˌlæmənˈteɪʃn/

n. 悲叹; 哀悼➕

🔊

shirt-waist /ˈʃɜːrt weɪst/

n. 女衬衫(一种宽松的衬衫式上衣)➕

🔊 Sudiev' ir laime, man biednam, Matau--paskyre teip Aukszcziausis, Jog vargt ant svieto reik vienam!"

“再见吧,幸福,我这可怜的人,我看到至高者已注定,我必须在世上独自受苦！”

🔊 When the song is over, it is time for the speech, and old Dede Antanas rises to his feet. Grandfather Anthony, Jurgis' father, is not more than sixty years of age, but you would think that he was eighty. He has been only six months in America, and the change has not done him good. In his manhood he worked in a cotton mill, but then a coughing fell upon him, and he had to leave; out in the country the trouble disappeared, but he has been working in the pickle rooms at Durham's, and the breathing of the cold, damp air all day has brought it back. Now as he rises he is seized with a coughing fit, and holds himself by his chair and turns away his wan and battered face until it passes.

歌曲结束后,该演讲了,老德德·安塔纳斯站了起来。祖父安东尼,尤尔吉斯的父亲,还不到六十岁,但你会以为他八十岁了。他到美国才六个月,环境改变对他没好处。他壮年时在棉纺厂工作,但后来染上咳嗽病,不得不离开；到了乡下,这毛病消失了,但他一直在达勒姆公司的腌制车间工作,整天呼吸寒冷潮湿的空气,又让病复发了。现在他站起来,一阵咳嗽袭来,他扶着椅子,转过苍白憔悴的脸,等咳嗽过去。

🔊

manhood /ˈmænhʊd/

n. 成年; 男子气概➕

🔊

mill /mɪl/

n. 工厂; 磨坊➕

🔊

coughing /ˈkɒfɪŋ/

n. 咳嗽; 咳嗽病➕

🔊

pickle /ˈpɪkl/

n. 泡菜; 腌制食品➕

🔊

damp /dæmp/

adj. 潮湿的; 有湿气的➕

🔊

seized /siːzd/

v. 抓住; 突然侵袭➕

🔊

fit /fɪt/

n. (疾病等的)突然发作; 一阵➕

🔊

wan /wɒn/

adj. 苍白的; 病态的➕

🔊

battered /ˈbætərd/

adj. 憔悴的; 破旧的➕

🔊 Generally it is the custom for the speech at a veselija to be taken out of one of the books and learned by heart; but in his youthful days Dede Antanas used to be a scholar, and really make up all the love letters of his friends. Now it is understood that he has composed an original speech of congratulation and benediction, and this is one of the events of the day. Even the boys, who are romping about the room, draw near and listen, and some of the women sob and wipe their aprons in their eyes. It is very solemn, for Antanas Rudkus has become possessed of the idea that he has not much longer to stay with his children. His speech leaves them all so tearful that one of the guests, Jokubas Szedvilas, who keeps a delicatessen store on Halsted Street, and is fat and hearty, is moved to rise and say that things may not be as bad as that, and then to go on and make a little speech of his own, in which he showers congratulations and prophecies of happiness upon the bride and groom, proceeding to particulars which greatly delight the young men, but which cause Ona to blush more furiously than ever. Jokubas possesses what his wife complacently describes as "poetiszka vaidintuve"--a poetical imagination.

通常婚宴上的演讲是从书本中挑出来背熟的；但年轻时候的德德·安塔纳斯曾是个学者,实际上为他所有的朋友写过情书。现在大家都知道他即兴创作了一篇原创的祝贺和祝福演说,这是当天的大事之一。就连在房间里嬉闹的男孩子们也凑近倾听,一些女人抽泣着,把围裙按在眼睛上。气氛非常肃穆,因为安塔纳斯·鲁德库斯产生了一种想法,觉得自己不会在孩子们身边待太久了。他的演讲让大家都泪眼汪汪,以至于客人之一约库巴斯·什泽德维拉斯（他在哈尔斯特德街开着一家熟食店,胖胖的,心宽体胖）激动得站起来说事情也许没那么糟,然后继续做了一段自己的简短发言,对新郎新娘大加祝贺并预言幸福,还谈到了细节,让年轻人非常高兴,却让奥娜的脸红得更厉害了。约库巴斯拥有他妻子得意地描述为“诗意想象力”的东西。

🔊

custom /ˈkʌstəm/

n. 习俗; 风俗➕

🔊

youthful /ˈjuːθfl/

adj. 年轻的; 青春的➕

🔊

scholar /ˈskɒlər/

n. 学者; 有学问的人➕

🔊

composed /kəmˈpəʊzd/

v. 创作; 组成➕

🔊

original /əˈrɪdʒənl/

adj. 原创的; 最初的➕

🔊

congratulation /kənˌɡrætʃuˈleɪʃn/

n. 祝贺; 贺词➕

🔊

benediction /ˌbenɪˈdɪkʃn/

n. 祝福; 祈祷➕

🔊

romping /ˈrɒmpɪŋ/

v. 嬉闹; 欢快地玩耍➕

🔊

sob /sɒb/

v. 啜泣; 呜咽➕

🔊

solemn /ˈsɒləm/

adj. 庄严的; 严肃的➕

🔊

possessed /pəˈzest/

adj. 着迷的; 被(想法)占据的➕

🔊

tearful /ˈtɪərfl/

adj. 流泪的; 含泪的➕

🔊

delicatessen /ˌdelɪkəˈtesn/

n. 熟食店; 熟食➕

🔊

hearty /ˈhɑːrti/

adj. 热情的; 丰盛的➕

🔊

showers /ˈʃaʊəz/

v. 大量给予; 阵雨般落下➕

🔊

prophecies /ˈprɒfəsiz/

n. 预言; 预见➕

🔊

bride /braɪd/

n. 新娘➕

🔊

groom /ɡruːm/

n. 新郎➕

🔊

particulars /pərˈtɪkjʊlərz/

n. 细节; 详情➕

🔊

delight /dɪˈlaɪt/

v. 使高兴; 使愉快➕

🔊

blush /blʌʃ/

v. 脸红; 羞愧➕

🔊

furiously /ˈfjʊriəsli/

adv. 狂怒地; 猛烈地➕

🔊

complacently /kəmˈpleɪsntli/

adv. 自满地; 得意地➕

🔊

poetical /pəʊˈetɪkl/

adj. 诗的; 富有诗意的➕

🔊

imagination /ɪˌmædʒɪˈneɪʃn/

n. 想象力; 想象➕

🔊 Now a good many of the guests have finished, and, since there is no pretense of ceremony, the banquet begins to break up. Some of the men gather about the bar; some wander about, laughing and singing; here and there will be a little group, chanting merrily, and in sublime indifference to the others and to the orchestra as well. Everybody is more or less restless--one would guess that something is on their minds. And so it proves. The last tardy diners are scarcely given time to finish, before the tables and the debris are shoved into the corner, and the chairs and the babies piled out of the way, and the real celebration of the evening begins.

现在许多客人都吃完了,既然没有假装客套的必要,宴会就开始散了。一些人聚在吧台周围；一些人四处走动,又说又唱；这里那里会有一小群人,欢快地哼唱着,对其他人乃至乐队都漠不关心。每个人都或多或少有些坐立不安--你会猜测他们心里有事。事实证明确实如此。最后迟来的用餐者几乎还没时间吃完,桌子连同残羹冷炙就被推到角落,椅子和婴儿都被堆到一边,当晚真正的庆祝活动开始了。

🔊

pretense /prɪˈtens/

n. 假装; 借口➕

🔊

ceremony /ˈserəməni/

n. 仪式; 典礼➕

🔊

banquet /ˈbæŋkwɪt/

n. 宴会; 盛宴➕

🔊

wander /ˈwɒndər/

v. 闲逛; 漫步➕

🔊

chanting /ˈtʃɑːntɪŋ/

v. 吟唱; 反复喊叫➕

🔊

merrily /ˈmerəli/

adv. 快乐地; 愉快地➕

🔊

sublime /səˈblaɪm/

adj. 崇高的; 极端的➕

🔊

indifference /ɪnˈdɪfrəns/

n. 冷漠; 不关心➕

🔊

restless /ˈrestləs/

adj. 不安的; 焦躁的➕

🔊

proves /pruːvz/

v. 证明; 证实➕

🔊

tardy /ˈtɑːrdi/

adj. 迟到的; 行动缓慢的➕

🔊

diners /ˈdaɪnərz/

n. 用餐者; 食客➕

🔊

debris /dəˈbriː/

n. 碎片; 残骸➕

🔊

shoved /ʃʌvd/

v. 推; 猛推➕

🔊

piled /paɪld/

v. 堆放; 堆叠➕

🔊

celebration /ˌselɪˈbreɪʃn/

n. 庆祝; 庆典➕

🔊 Then Tamoszius Kuszleika, after replenishing himself with a pot of beer, returns to his platform, and, standing up, reviews the scene; he taps authoritatively upon the side of his violin, then tucks it carefully under his chin, then waves his bow in an elaborate flourish, and finally smites the sounding strings and closes his eyes, and floats away in spirit upon the wings of a dreamy waltz. His companion follows, but with his eyes open, watching where he treads, so to speak; and finally Valentinavyczia, after waiting for a little and beating with his foot to get the time, casts up his eyes to the ceiling and begins to saw--"Broom! broom! broom!"

接着,塔莫休斯·库什莱卡给自己添了一罐啤酒后回到台上,站起来审视了全场；他用权威的姿态敲了敲小提琴的侧板,然后小心地把它夹在颏下,然后挥动琴弓做了一个复杂的花式动作,最后猛拉琴弦,闭上眼睛,灵魂乘着如梦般的华尔兹翅膀飘然而去。他的同伴跟着,但眼睛睁着,看着自己落脚的地方；最后瓦伦蒂纳维丘斯等了一会儿,用脚打拍子,然后抬起眼睛望着天花板,开始拉锯--“嗡！嗡！嗡！”

🔊

replenishing /rɪˈplenɪʃɪŋ/

v. 补充; 重新添满➕

🔊

authoritatively /ɔːˈθɒrɪtətɪvli/

adv. 权威地; 命令式地➕

🔊

tucks /tʌks/

v. 塞进; 卷起➕

🔊

elaborate /ɪˈlæbərət/

adj. 精心制作的; 复杂的➕

🔊

flourish /ˈflʌrɪʃ/

n. 华丽的动作; 挥舞➕

🔊

smites /smaɪts/

v. 重击; 打击➕

🔊

sounding /ˈsaʊndɪŋ/

adj. 发出声音的; 响亮的➕

🔊

floats /fləʊts/

v. 漂浮; 飘动➕

🔊

dreamy /ˈdriːmi/

adj. 梦幻般的; 恍惚的➕

🔊

waltz /wɔːlts/

n. 华尔兹; 圆舞曲➕

🔊

companion /kəmˈpænjən/

n. 同伴; 伙伴➕

🔊

treads /tredz/

v. 踩; 踏➕

🔊

casts /kɑːsts/

v. 投; 投射➕

🔊

platform /ˈplætfɔːrm/

n. 平台; 站台➕

🔊 The company pairs off quickly, and the whole room is soon in motion. Apparently nobody knows how to waltz, but that is nothing of any consequence--there is music, and they dance, each as he pleases, just as before they sang. Most of them prefer the "two-step," especially the young, with whom it is the fashion. The older people have dances from home, strange and complicated steps which they execute with grave solemnity. Some do not dance anything at all, but simply hold each other's hands and allow the undisciplined joy of motion to express itself with their feet. Among these are Jokubas Szedvilas and his wife, Lucija, who together keep the delicatessen store, and consume nearly as much as they sell; they are too fat to dance, but they stand in the middle of the floor, holding each other fast in their arms, rocking slowly from side to side and grinning seraphically, a picture of toothless and perspiring ecstasy.

众人迅速配对,整个房间很快动了起来。显然没人知道怎么跳华尔兹,但那无关紧要--有音乐,他们跳舞,各自随意,就像之前唱歌一样。大多数人喜欢“两步舞”,尤其是年轻人,这是他们的时尚。年纪大的人跳家乡的舞蹈,陌生而复杂的舞步,他们以严肃的庄重来跳。有些人根本不跳什么舞步,只是互相牵着手,让不受约束的欢乐通过脚来表达。其中有约库巴斯·什泽德维拉斯和他的妻子卢西娅,他们一起经营熟食店,消耗的几乎和卖的一样多；他们太胖了跳不动,但站在地板中央,紧紧拥抱在一起,慢慢地左右摇晃,咧嘴笑着,一副天使般的无牙流汗狂喜的画面。

🔊

company /ˈkʌmpəni/

n. 一群人; 公司➕

🔊

motion /ˈməʊʃn/

n. 运动; 动作➕

🔊

apparently /əˈpærəntli/

adv. 显然; 看来➕

🔊

consequence /ˈkɒnsɪkwəns/

n. 后果; 重要性➕

🔊

prefer /prɪˈfɜːr/

v. 更喜欢; 偏好➕

🔊

fashion /ˈfæʃn/

n. 时尚; 流行方式➕

🔊

complicated /ˈkɒmplɪkeɪtɪd/

adj. 复杂的; 难懂的➕

🔊

execute /ˈeksɪkjuːt/

v. 执行; 表演➕

🔊

grave /ɡreɪv/

adj. 严肃的; 庄重的➕

🔊

solemnity /səˈlemnəti/

n. 庄严; 严肃➕

🔊

undisciplined /ʌnˈdɪsɪplɪnd/

adj. 无纪律的; 不受约束的➕

🔊

consume /kənˈsjuːm/

v. 消费; 消耗; 吃/喝➕

🔊

grinning /ˈɡrɪnɪŋ/

v. 露齿而笑; 咧嘴笑➕

🔊

seraphically /sɪˈræfɪkli/

adv. 像天使般地; 极幸福地➕

🔊

toothless /ˈtuːθləs/

adj. 无牙的; 没有牙齿的➕

🔊

perspiring /pərˈspaɪərɪŋ/

v. 出汗; 流汗➕

🔊

rocking /ˈrɒkɪŋ/

v. 摇摆; 摇晃➕

🔊 Of these older people many wear clothing reminiscent in some detail of home--an embroidered waistcoat or stomacher, or a gaily colored handkerchief, or a coat with large cuffs and fancy buttons. All these things are carefully avoided by the young, most of whom have learned to speak English and to affect the latest style of clothing. The girls wear ready-made dresses or shirt waists, and some of them look quite pretty. Some of the young men you would take to be Americans, of the type of clerks, but for the fact that they wear their hats in the room. Each of these younger couples affects a style of its own in dancing. Some hold each other tightly, some at a cautious distance. Some hold their hands out stiffly, some drop them loosely at their sides. Some dance springily, some glide softly, some move with grave dignity. There are boisterous couples, who tear wildly about the room, knocking every one out of their way. There are nervous couples, whom these frighten, and who cry, "Nusfok! Kas yra?" at them as they pass. Each couple is paired for the evening--you will never see them change about. There is Alena Jasaityte, for instance, who has danced unending hours with Juozas Raczius, to whom she is engaged. Alena is the beauty of the evening, and she would be really beautiful if she were not so proud. She wears a white shirtwaist, which represents, perhaps, half a week's labor painting cans. She holds her skirt with her hand as she dances, with stately precision, after the manner of the grandes dames. Juozas is driving one of Durham's wagons, and is making big wages. He affects a "tough" aspect, wearing his hat on one side and keeping a cigarette in his mouth all the evening. Then there is Jadvyga Marcinkus, who is also beautiful, but humble. Jadvyga likewise paints cans, but then she has an invalid mother and three little sisters to support by it, and so she does not spend her wages for shirtwaists. Jadvyga is small and delicate, with jet-black eyes and hair, the latter twisted into a little knot and tied on the top of her head. She wears an old white dress which she has made herself and worn to parties for the past five years; it is high-waisted--almost under her arms, and not very becoming,--but that does not trouble Jadvyga, who is dancing with her Mikolas. She is small, while he is big and powerful; she nestles in his arms as if she would hide herself from view, and leans her head upon his shoulder. He in turn has clasped his arms tightly around her, as if he would carry her away; and so she dances, and will dance the entire evening, and would dance forever, in ecstasy of bliss. You would smile, perhaps, to see them--but you would not smile if you knew all the story.

这些年纪较大的人中,许多人的衣着细节上让人想起家乡--一件绣花马甲或胸衣,一块色彩鲜艳的手帕,一件有宽袖口和花哨纽扣的外套。年轻人则小心翼翼地避免所有这些,他们中的大多数已经学会说英语,并喜欢最新样式的服装。女孩们穿着成衣或衬衫式上衣,有些看起来相当漂亮。有些年轻男子你会以为是美国人,店员类型,只是因为他们还在房间里戴着帽子。每对年轻夫妇都有自己的跳舞风格。有的抱得很紧,有的保持谨慎的距离。有的双手僵硬地伸着,有的松松地垂在身体两侧。有的跳得轻盈有弹性,有的轻柔地滑行,有的带着庄重的尊严移动。还有一些喧闹的夫妇,疯狂地在房间里乱转,把每个人都撞开。有一些紧张的夫妇,被这些人吓到,在他们经过时喊道:“走开！干什么？”每对夫妇都是成对整晚--你永远看不到他们换伴。比如阿莱娜·雅萨伊蒂特,她与尤奥扎斯·拉丘斯（她的未婚夫）不停地跳了好几个小时。阿莱娜是当晚的美人,如果她不是那么骄傲的话,她会是真正的美人。她穿着一件白色衬衫式上衣,这大约代表了她给罐头喷漆的半周工资。她跳舞时用手提着裙子,姿势端庄精准,模仿贵妇的样子。尤奥扎斯是达勒姆公司的马车夫之一,工资很高。他喜欢摆出“强硬”的样子,帽子歪戴,整晚嘴里叼着香烟。还有亚德维加·马尔钦库斯,她也很美,但谦逊。亚德维加也喷漆罐头,但她还要靠这份工作供养一个生病的母亲和三个小妹妹,所以她不会把工资花在衬衫式上衣上。亚德维加个子小巧玲珑,乌黑的眼睛和头发,头发挽成一个小髻系在头顶。她穿着一件旧的白色连衣裙,是自己做的,过去五年一直穿着它参加派对；裙子是高腰的--几乎到腋下,不太合身--但这并没让亚德维加烦恼,她正和她的米科拉斯跳舞。她个子小,而他高大强壮；她依偎在他怀里,好像要躲起来,把头靠在他肩上。他则紧紧抱住她,好像要把她带走；她就这么跳着,会跳一整晚,而且会永远跳下去,沉浸在狂喜之中。你也许会笑,看到他们--但如果你知道所有故事,你就不会笑了。

🔊

reminiscent /ˌrɛmɪˈnɪsənt/

adj. 令人回忆的；使人想起的➕

🔊

embroidered /ɪmˈbrɔɪdərd/

adj. 刺绣的；绣花的➕

🔊

cautious /ˈkɔːʃəs/

adj. 谨慎的；小心的➕

🔊

stiffly /ˈstɪfli/

adv. 僵硬地；生硬地➕

🔊

loosely /ˈluːsli/

adv. 松散地；宽松地➕

🔊

glide /ɡlaɪd/

v. 滑行；滑翔➕

🔊

dignity /ˈdɪɡnɪti/

n. 尊严；庄重➕

🔊

boisterous /ˈbɔɪstərəs/

adj. 喧闹的；欢闹的➕

🔊

unending /ʌnˈendɪŋ/

adj. 无尽的；无休止的➕

🔊

engaged /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒd/

adj. 已订婚的；忙于……的➕

🔊

precision /prɪˈsɪʒən/

n. 精确；精密➕

🔊

stately /ˈsteɪtli/

adj. 庄严的；高贵的➕

🔊

humble /ˈhʌmbəl/

adj. 谦逊的；卑微的➕

🔊

invalid /ˈɪnvəlɪd/

adj. 病弱的；无效的➕

🔊

delicate /ˈdelɪkət/

adj. 精致的；脆弱的➕

🔊

jet-black /ˌdʒɛt ˈblæk/

adj. 乌黑的➕

🔊

becoming /bɪˈkʌmɪŋ/

adj. 合适的；相称的➕

🔊

nestles /ˈnɛsəlz/

v. 依偎；安卧➕

🔊

clasped /klɑːspt/

v. 紧握；抱住➕

🔊

bliss /blɪs/

n. 极乐；幸福➕

🔊 This is the fifth year, now, that Jadvyga has been engaged to Mikolas, and her heart is sick. They would have been married in the beginning, only Mikolas has a father who is drunk all day, and he is the only other man in a large family. Even so they might have managed it (for Mikolas is a skilled man) but for cruel accidents which have almost taken the heart out of them. He is a beef-boner, and that is a dangerous trade, especially when you are on piecework and trying to earn a bride. Your hands are slippery, and your knife is slippery, and you are toiling like mad, when somebody happens to speak to you, or you strike a bone. Then your hand slips up on the blade, and there is a fearful gash. And that would not be so bad, only for the deadly contagion. The cut may heal, but you never can tell. Twice now; within the last three years, Mikolas has been lying at home with blood poisoning--once for three months and once for nearly seven. The last time, too, he lost his job, and that meant six weeks more of standing at the doors of the packing houses, at six o'clock on bitter winter mornings, with a foot of snow on the ground and more in the air. There are learned people who can tell you out of the statistics that beef-boners make forty cents an hour, but, perhaps, these people have never looked into a beef-boner's hands.

现在已经是第五年了,亚德维加与米科拉斯订婚,她的心都碎了。他们本来一开始就会结婚,只是米科拉斯有一个整天醉醺醺的父亲,而他是这个大家庭中唯一的其他男人。即便如此,他们本来也能应付（因为米科拉斯是个熟练工）,但残酷的意外几乎夺走了他们的勇气。他是剔骨工,那是个危险的行业,尤其是当你按件计酬、努力挣钱娶新娘时。你的手是滑的,刀也是滑的,你像疯子一样拼命干,这时有人碰巧跟你说话,或者你碰到了骨头。然后你的手滑到刀刃上,出现一道可怕的伤口。如果光是伤口倒还不太糟,但还有致命的感染。伤口可能愈合,但你永远说不准。在过去三年里,已经有两次了,米科拉斯因为血液中毒躺在家里的床上--一次三个月,一次将近七个月。最后一次还丢掉了工作,那意味着又多了六个星期在寒冷的冬日早晨六点钟站在食品加工厂门口,地上有一英尺厚的雪,空中还有更多雪花飘落。有些博学的人可以告诉你统计数据,剔骨工每小时赚四十美分,但也许这些人从未看过剔骨工的手。

🔊

slippery /ˈslɪpəri/

adj. 滑的；光滑的➕

🔊

toiling /ˈtɔɪlɪŋ/

v. 苦干；辛勤工作➕

🔊

gash /ɡæʃ/

n. 深长的伤口；划痕➕

🔊

deadly /ˈdedli/

adj. 致命的；极度的➕

🔊

contagion /kənˈteɪdʒən/

n. 传染；蔓延➕

🔊

heal /hiːl/

v. 愈合；治愈➕

🔊

poisoning /ˈpɔɪzənɪŋ/

n. 中毒➕

🔊

bitter /ˈbɪtər/

adj. 严寒的；苦的；痛苦的➕

🔊

learned /ˈlɜːrnɪd/

adj. 有学问的；博学的➕

🔊

statistics /stəˈtɪstɪks/

n. 统计；统计数据➕

🔊 When Tamoszius and his companions stop for a rest, as perforce they must, now and then, the dancers halt where they are and wait patiently. They never seem to tire; and there is no place for them to sit down if they did. It is only for a minute, anyway, for the leader starts up again, in spite of all the protests of the other two. This time it is another sort of a dance, a Lithuanian dance. Those who prefer to, go on with the two-step, but the majority go through an intricate series of motions, resembling more fancy skating than a dance. The climax of it is a furious prestissimo, at which the couples seize hands and begin a mad whirling. This is quite irresistible, and every one in the room joins in, until the place becomes a maze of flying skirts and bodies quite dazzling to look upon.

当塔莫休斯和他的同伴们不得不休息时（这是必须的,不时要休息）,跳舞的人就在原地停下,耐心等待。他们似乎从不会累；而且就算累了也没地方坐。不过只休息一分钟,因为领头者又会开始,尽管另外两人一再抗议。这次是另一种舞蹈,一种立陶宛舞蹈。喜欢的人继续跳两步舞,但大多数人跳一系列复杂的动作,更像是花样滑冰而非舞蹈。高潮是疯狂的极速部分,这时舞伴们拉起手开始疯狂的旋转。这是不可抗拒的,房间里每个人都加入进来,直到这个地方变成飞舞的裙子和身体的迷宫,令人眼花缭乱。

🔊

halt /hɔːlt/

v. 停止；暂停➕

🔊

perforce /pərˈfɔːrs/

adv. 必然地；不得已地➕

🔊

protests /prəˈtɛsts/

n. 抗议；反对➕

🔊

intricate /ˈɪntrɪkət/

adj. 复杂精细的；错综复杂的➕

🔊

resembling /rɪˈzemblɪŋ/

v. 类似于；与……相像➕

🔊

climax /ˈklaɪmæks/

n. 高潮；顶点➕

🔊

furious /ˈfjʊriəs/

adj. 狂怒的；猛烈的➕

🔊

seize /siːz/

v. 抓住；夺取➕

🔊

whirling /ˈwɜːrlɪŋ/

n. 旋转；回旋➕

🔊

irresistible /ˌɪrɪˈzɪstəbəl/

adj. 不可抗拒的；极具诱惑力的➕

🔊

maze /meɪz/

n. 迷宫；错综复杂的事物➕

🔊

dazzling /ˈdæzlɪŋ/

adj. 耀眼的；令人眼花缭乱的➕

🔊 But the sight of sights at this moment is Tamoszius Kuszleika. The old fiddle squeaks and shrieks in protest, but Tamoszius has no mercy. The sweat starts out on his forehead, and he bends over like a cyclist on the last lap of a race. His body shakes and throbs like a runaway steam engine, and the ear cannot follow the flying showers of notes--there is a pale blue mist where you look to see his bowing arm. With a most wonderful rush he comes to the end of the tune, and flings up his hands and staggers back exhausted; and with a final shout of delight the dancers fly apart, reeling here and there, bringing up against the walls of the room. After this there is beer for every one, the musicians included, and the revelers take a long breath and prepare for the great event of the evening, which is the acziavimas.

但此刻最壮观的景象是塔莫休斯·库什莱卡。老旧的小提琴在抗议中吱嘎尖叫,但塔莫休斯毫不留情。汗水从他额头渗出,他弯下腰,像一个在比赛最后一圈的自行车手。他的身体像失控的蒸汽机一样颤抖和悸动,耳朵跟不上飞泻的音符--在你看向他拉弓的手臂处,只有一片淡蓝色的雾。他以最惊人的冲刺结束了曲子,然后举起双手,摇摇晃晃地向后退去,精疲力竭；随着最后一声喜悦的呼喊,舞者们四散开来,跌跌撞撞,靠着房间的墙壁稳住身体。之后每个人都喝啤酒,包括乐师们,狂欢者们深吸一口气,为当晚的重头戏--答谢典礼--做准备。

🔊

squeaks /skwiːks/

v. 吱吱叫；发出短促尖声➕

🔊

shrieks /ʃriːks/

v. 尖叫；发出尖锐声➕

🔊

cyclist /ˈsaɪklɪst/

n. 骑自行车的人➕

🔊

lap /læp/

n. 一圈（跑道）；膝部➕

🔊

throbs /θrɒbz/

v. 悸动；有规律地颤动➕

🔊

runaway /ˈrʌnəweɪ/

adj. 失控的；逃跑的➕

🔊

mist /mɪst/

n. 薄雾；水汽➕

🔊

bowing /ˈbaʊɪŋ/

adj. 拉弓的；弯腰的➕

🔊

flings /flɪŋz/

v. 猛抛；急伸➕

🔊

staggers /ˈstæɡərz/

v. 蹒跚；摇晃➕

🔊

exhausted /ɪɡˈzɔːstɪd/

adj. 精疲力竭的➕

🔊

reeling /ˈriːlɪŋ/

v. 踉跄；旋转➕

🔊

revelers /ˈrevələrz/

n. 狂欢者；寻欢作乐的人➕

🔊

protest /ˈprəʊtɛst/

n. 抗议；反对➕

🔊 The acziavimas is a ceremony which, once begun, will continue for three or four hours, and it involves one uninterrupted dance. The guests form a great ring, locking hands, and, when the music starts up, begin to move around in a circle. In the center stands the bride, and, one by one, the men step into the enclosure and dance with her. Each dances for several minutes--as long as he pleases; it is a very merry proceeding, with laughter and singing, and when the guest has finished, he finds himself face to face with Teta Elzbieta, who holds the hat. Into it he drops a sum of money--a dollar, or perhaps five dollars, according to his power, and his estimate of the value of the privilege. The guests are expected to pay for this entertainment; if they be proper guests, they will see that there is a neat sum left over for the bride and bridegroom to start life upon.

答谢典礼是一种仪式,一旦开始,将持续三四个小时,包括一段不间断的舞蹈。客人们组成一个大圆圈,手拉手,当音乐响起时,开始围着圈移动。新娘站在中央,男人们一个接一个地走进圈内与她跳舞。每个人跳几分钟--随他喜欢；这是一个非常欢乐的过程,伴随着笑声和歌声,当客人跳完后,他发现自己面对着泰塔·埃尔兹别塔,她拿着帽子。他往里面放一笔钱--一美元,也许是五美元,取决于他的能力和他对这个特权的估价。客人们应该为这场娱乐付费；如果他们是称职的客人,他们会确保留出一笔可观的余钱,让新娘新郎开始新生活。

🔊

uninterrupted /ˌʌnɪntəˈrʌptɪd/

adj. 不间断的；连续的➕

🔊

enclosure /ɪnˈkloʊʒər/

n. 围场；围栏；附件➕

🔊

merry /ˈmɛri/

adj. 愉快的；欢乐的➕

🔊

estimate /ˈɛstɪmət/

n. 估计；评估➕

🔊

privilege /ˈprɪvəlɪdʒ/

n. 特权；特殊待遇➕

🔊

entertainment /ˌɛntərˈteɪnmənt/

n. 娱乐；款待➕

🔊

neat /niːt/

adj. 整洁的；净得的（指金额）➕

🔊 Most fearful they are to contemplate, the expenses of this entertainment. They will certainly be over two hundred dollars and maybe three hundred; and three hundred dollars is more than the year's income of many a person in this room. There are able-bodied men here who work from early morning until late at night, in ice-cold cellars with a quarter of an inch of water on the floor--men who for six or seven months in the year never see the sunlight from Sunday afternoon till the next Sunday morning--and who cannot earn three hundred dollars in a year. There are little children here, scarce in their teens, who can hardly see the top of the work benches--whose parents have lied to get them their places--and who do not make the half of three hundred dollars a year, and perhaps not even the third of it. And then to spend such a sum, all in a single day of your life, at a wedding feast! (For obviously it is the same thing, whether you spend it at once for your own wedding, or in a long time, at the weddings of all your friends.) It is very imprudent, it is tragic--but, ah, it is so beautiful! Bit by bit these poor people have given up everything else; but to this they cling with all the power of their souls--they cannot give up the veselija! To do that would mean, not merely to be defeated, but to acknowledge defeat--and the difference between these two things is what keeps the world going. The veselija has come down to them from a far-off time; and the meaning of it was that one might dwell within the cave and gaze upon shadows, provided only that once in his lifetime he could break his chains, and feel his wings, and behold the sun; provided that once in his lifetime he might testify to the fact that life, with all its cares and its terrors, is no such great thing after all, but merely a bubble upon the surface of a river, a thing that one may toss about and play with as a juggler tosses his golden balls, a thing that one may quaff, like a goblet of rare red wine. Thus having known himself for the master of things, a man could go back to his toil and live upon the memory all his days.

这些娱乐的开销想想都可怕。肯定会超过二百美元,也许三百美元；而三百美元比这房间里许多人的年收入还要多。这里有身强力壮的男人,从早到晚在水深一寸的冰冷地窖里工作--这些人一年中有六七个月从周日下午到下一个周日早晨都见不到阳光--而他们一年挣不到三百美元。这里有年幼的孩子,几乎还没到十几岁,几乎看不到工作台面--他们的父母撒谎才为他们谋到职位--他们一年连三百美元的一半都挣不到,也许连三分之一都没有。然后竟然要把这样一笔钱,全花在人生中的一天,花在一场婚宴上！（因为很显然,无论是你一次性花在自己的婚礼上,还是长时间花在朋友们的所有婚礼上,都是一回事。）这是非常不明智的,是悲剧性的--但是,啊,它又是如此美好！这些可怜的人一点一点地放弃了其他一切；但对这一点,他们用灵魂的全部力量紧紧抓住--他们不能放弃婚宴！那样做不仅意味着失败,而且意味着承认失败--而这两者之间的区别正是世界运转的动力。婚宴是从遥远的时代传下来的；它的意义在于,一个人可以住在洞穴里,凝视着影子,只要他一生中能有一次挣脱锁链,感觉到自己的翅膀,看到太阳；只要他一生中能有一次证明:生活,连同它的一切烦恼和恐惧,终究不是什么了不起的大事,不过是在河面上的一串泡沫,一个可以像魔术师抛掷金球那样抛掷玩耍的东西,一个可以像喝一杯珍贵的红酒那样一饮而尽的东西。这样一来,一个人认识到自己是万物的主宰,就可以回到劳作中去,靠回忆度过余生。

🔊

fearful /ˈfɪəfəl/

adj. 可怕的；令人恐惧的➕

🔊

contemplate /ˈkɒntəmpleɪt/

v. 沉思；考虑➕

🔊

expenses /ɪkˈspensɪz/

n. 费用；开支➕

🔊

income /ˈɪnkʌm/

n. 收入；收益➕

🔊

able-bodied /ˌeɪbəl ˈbɒdid/

adj. 强壮的；体格健全的➕

🔊

cellars /ˈseləz/

n. 地窖；地下室➕

🔊

ice-cold /ˌaɪs ˈkoʊld/

adj. 冰冷的➕

🔊

scarce /skers/

adj. 稀少的；缺乏的➕

🔊

teens /tinz/

n. 青少年时期（13-19岁）➕

🔊

sum /sʌm/

n. 金额；总数➕

🔊

feast /fiːst/

n. 盛宴；宴会➕

🔊

obviously /ˈɑːbviəsli/

adv. 显然地➕

🔊

imprudent /ɪmˈpruːdənt/

adj. 轻率的；不明智的➕

🔊

tragic /ˈtrædʒɪk/

adj. 悲剧的；悲惨的➕

🔊

cling /klɪŋ/

v. 紧紧抓住；坚持➕

🔊

souls /soʊlz/

n. 灵魂；心灵➕

🔊

defeated /dɪˈfiːtɪd/

adj. 被击败的；失败的➕

🔊

acknowledge /əkˈnɒlɪdʒ/

v. 承认；认可➕

🔊

defeat /dɪˈfiːt/

n. 失败；击败➕

🔊

dwell /dwel/

v. 居住；栖身➕

🔊

gaze /ɡeɪz/

v. 凝视；注视➕

🔊

chains /tʃeɪnz/

n. 锁链；链条➕

🔊

behold /bɪˈhoʊld/

v. 看见；目睹（正式）➕

🔊

testify /ˈtestɪfaɪ/

v. 作证；证明➕

🔊

cares /kers/

n. 忧虑；烦恼（复数）➕

🔊

terrors /ˈterəz/

n. 恐怖；可怕的事物（复数）➕

🔊

juggler /ˈdʒʌɡlər/

n. 杂耍演员；变戏法的人➕

🔊

quaff /kwɒf/

v. 痛饮；畅饮➕

🔊

goblet /ˈɡɑːblət/

n. 高脚杯；酒杯➕

🔊

rare /rer/

adj. 稀有的；罕见的➕

🔊

thus /ðʌs/

adv. 因此；这样➕

🔊 Endlessly the dancers swung round and round--when they were dizzy they swung the other way. Hour after hour this had continued--the darkness had fallen and the room was dim from the light of two smoky oil lamps. The musicians had spent all their fine frenzy by now, and played only one tune, wearily, ploddingly. There were twenty bars or so of it, and when they came to the end they began again. Once every ten minutes or so they would fail to begin again, but instead would sink back exhausted; a circumstance which invariably brought on a painful and terrifying scene, that made the fat policeman stir uneasily in his sleeping place behind the door.

跳舞的人不停地旋转,一圈又一圈--转晕了就往相反方向转。就这样连续了几个小时--夜幕已经降临,两盏冒着烟的油灯使房间光线昏暗。乐师们此刻已经耗尽了他们所有的激情,只演奏一首曲子,疲惫而拖沓。大约有二十个小节,当他们奏完时,又重新开始。每隔大约十分钟,他们会停住不再开始,而是筋疲力尽地倒回去；这种情况总会引发痛苦而可怕的一幕,让胖警察在他门后睡觉的地方不安地动来动去。

🔊

endlessly /ˈendləsli/

adv. 无止境地；连续地➕

🔊

frenzy /ˈfrenzi/

n. 疯狂；狂热➕

🔊

wearily /ˈwɪrəli/

adv. 疲倦地；厌烦地➕

🔊

ploddingly /ˈplɒdɪŋli/

adv. 沉重缓慢地；吃力地➕

🔊

circumstance /ˈsɜːrkəmstæns/

n. 情况；环境➕

🔊

invariably /ɪnˈveriəbli/

adv. 总是；不变地➕

🔊

uneasily /ʌnˈiːzɪli/

adv. 不安地；焦虑地➕

🔊 It was all Marija Berczynskas. Marija was one of those hungry souls who cling with desperation to the skirts of the retreating muse. All day long she had been in a state of wonderful exaltation; and now it was leaving--and she would not let it go. Her soul cried out in the words of Faust, "Stay, thou art fair!" Whether it was by beer, or by shouting, or by music, or by motion, she meant that it should not go. And she would go back to the chase of it--and no sooner be fairly started than her chariot would be thrown off the track, so to speak, by the stupidity of those thrice accursed musicians. Each time, Marija would emit a howl and fly at them, shaking her fists in their faces, stamping upon the floor, purple and incoherent with rage. In vain the frightened Tamoszius would attempt to speak, to plead the limitations of the flesh; in vain would the puffing and breathless ponas Jokubas insist, in vain would Teta Elzbieta implore. "Szalin!" Marija would scream. "Palauk! isz kelio! What are you paid for, children of hell?" And so, in sheer terror, the orchestra would strike up again, and Marija would return to her place and take up her task.

这一切都是玛丽亚·贝尔钦斯卡斯的功劳。玛丽亚是那种饥饿的灵魂,绝望地抓住正在撤退的缪斯的裙摆。一整天她都处于奇妙兴奋的状态；而现在它正在离开--她不愿让它走。她的灵魂用浮士德的话呼喊:“停下,你是如此美丽！”无论是通过啤酒,还是喊叫,还是音乐,还是运动,她就是不打算让它走。她会回去追逐它--但刚一开始她的战车就会出轨,可以说是被那些该死的乐师们愚蠢的行为所打断。每次,玛丽亚都会发出一声嚎叫,冲向乐师们,在他们面前挥舞拳头,跺脚,气得脸色发紫、语无伦次。受惊的塔莫休斯徒劳地试图说话,试图用肉体的局限来辩护；气喘吁吁的约库巴斯先生徒劳地坚持；泰塔·埃尔兹别塔徒劳地恳求。“滚开！”玛丽亚尖叫道。“等等！让开！你们这些地狱之子,是拿钱干什么的？”于是,纯粹出于恐惧,乐队又重新奏起来,玛丽亚回到她的位置,继续她的任务。

🔊

exaltation /ˌɪɡzɔːlˈteɪʃən/

n. 兴高采烈,得意➕

🔊

desperation /ˌdɛspəˈreɪʃən/

n. 绝望,拼命➕

🔊

thrice /θraɪs/

adv. 三次,三倍➕

🔊

accursed /əˈkɜːrsɪd/

adj. 被诅咒的,可恶的➕

🔊

incoherent /ˌɪnkəʊˈhɪərənt/

adj. 语无伦次的,不连贯的➕

🔊

implore /ɪmˈplɔːr/

v. 恳求,哀求➕

🔊 She bore all the burden of the festivities now. Ona was kept up by her excitement, but all of the women and most of the men were tired--the soul of Marija was alone unconquered. She drove on the dancers--what had once been the ring had now the shape of a pear, with Marija at the stem, pulling one way and pushing the other, shouting, stamping, singing, a very volcano of energy. Now and then some one coming in or out would leave the door open, and the night air was chill; Marija as she passed would stretch out her foot and kick the doorknob, and slam would go the door! Once this procedure was the cause of a calamity of which Sebastijonas Szedvilas was the hapless victim. Little Sebastijonas, aged three, had been wandering about oblivious to all things, holding turned up over his mouth a bottle of liquid known as "pop," pink-colored, ice-cold, and delicious. Passing through the doorway the door smote him full, and the shriek which followed brought the dancing to a halt. Marija, who threatened horrid murder a hundred times a day, and would weep over the injury of a fly, seized little Sebastijonas in her arms and bid fair to smother him with kisses. There was a long rest for the orchestra, and plenty of refreshments, while Marija was making her peace with her victim, seating him upon the bar, and standing beside him and holding to his lips a foaming schooner of beer.

她现在承担了庆祝活动的全部重担。奥娜靠兴奋撑着,但所有女人和大多数男人都累了--只有玛丽亚的灵魂未被征服。她驱使着舞者--曾经是圆圈,现在变成了梨形,玛丽亚在梨柄处,一边拉一边推,喊着,跺着,唱着,一个十足的精力火山。不时有人进进出出,开着门,夜晚的空气寒冷；玛丽亚经过时会伸出脚踢门把手,门砰的一声关上！有一次这个过程酿成了一场灾难,塞巴斯蒂安·什泽德维拉斯成为不幸的受害者。小塞巴斯蒂安,三岁,一直漫无目的地游荡,把一瓶叫做“汽水”的液体举到嘴边,粉红色,冰凉可口。穿过门口时,门重重地撞在他身上,紧接着的尖叫让舞蹈停了下来。玛丽亚,一天一百次威胁要谋杀,却会为一只苍蝇的受伤而哭泣,她一把抱起小塞巴斯蒂安,看样子要把他闷死在吻里。乐队休息了很长时间,并享用了大量点心,而玛丽亚正在与她的受害者和解,让他坐在吧台上,站在他旁边,把一杯泛着泡沫的啤酒举到他嘴边。

🔊

calamity /kəˈlæməti/

n. 灾难,祸患➕

🔊

hapless /ˈhæpləs/

adj. 不幸的,倒霉的➕

🔊

oblivious /əˈblɪviəs/

adj. 未注意的,不知不觉的➕

🔊 In the meantime there was going on in another corner of the room an anxious conference between Teta Elzbieta and Dede Antanas, and a few of the more intimate friends of the family. A trouble was come upon them. The veselija is a compact, a compact not expressed, but therefore only the more binding upon all. Every one's share was different--and yet every one knew perfectly well what his share was, and strove to give a little more. Now, however, since they had come to the new country, all this was changing; it seemed as if there must be some subtle poison in the air that one breathed here--it was affecting all the young men at once. They would come in crowds and fill themselves with a fine dinner, and then sneak off. One would throw another's hat out of the window, and both would go out to get it, and neither could be seen again. Or now and then half a dozen of them would get together and march out openly, staring at you, and making fun of you to your face. Still others, worse yet, would crowd about the bar, and at the expense of the host drink themselves sodden, paying not the least attention to any one, and leaving it to be thought that either they had danced with the bride already, or meant to later on. All these things were going on now, and the family was helpless with dismay. So long they had toiled, and such an outlay they had made!

与此同时,房间的另一个角落里,泰塔·埃尔兹别塔和德德·安塔纳斯以及几个更亲近的家庭朋友正在焦急地商议。他们遇到了麻烦。婚宴是一种契约,一种不言而喻的契约,因此对所有人更具约束力。每个人的份额都不同--但每个人都完全清楚自己的份额,并努力多给一点。然而现在,自从他们来到这个新国家,一切都变了；似乎他们呼吸的空气中一定有一种微妙的毒药--它同时影响着所有年轻人。他们会成群结队地来,饱餐一顿丰盛的晚餐,然后溜走。一个人会把另一个人的帽子扔出窗外,然后两个人都会出去捡帽子,然后两个人都再也见不到了。或者有时五六个人会聚在一起,公开走出去,盯着你看,当面嘲笑你。还有更糟的,会挤在吧台周围,由主人出钱把自己灌得烂醉,对任何人都毫不理会,让人觉得他们要么已经和新娘跳过舞了,要么打算稍后再跳。所有这些事情现在都在发生,全家人无可奈何地惊慌失措。他们辛苦了这么久,付出了这么多！

🔊

compact /ˈkɒmpækt/

n. 契约,协定➕

🔊

subtle /ˈsʌtəl/

adj. 微妙的,细微的➕

🔊

outlay /ˈaʊtleɪ/

n. 支出,费用➕

🔊

dismay /dɪsˈmeɪ/

n. 沮丧,惊慌➕

🔊 Ona stood by, her eyes wide with terror. Those frightful bills--how they had haunted her, each item gnawing at her soul all day and spoiling her rest at night. How often she had named them over one by one and figured on them as she went to work--fifteen dollars for the hall, twenty-two dollars and a quarter for the ducks, twelve dollars for the musicians, five dollars at the church, and a blessing of the Virgin besides--and so on without an end! Worst of all was the frightful bill that was still to come from Graiczunas for the beer and liquor that might be consumed. One could never get in advance more than a guess as to this from a saloon-keeper--and then, when the time came he always came to you scratching his head and saying that he had guessed too low, but that he had done his best--your guests had gotten so very drunk. By him you were sure to be cheated unmercifully, and that even though you thought yourself the dearest of the hundreds of friends he had. He would begin to serve your guests out of a keg that was half full, and finish with one that was half empty, and then you would be charged for two kegs of beer. He would agree to serve a certain quality at a certain price, and when the time came you and your friends would be drinking some horrible poison that could not be described. You might complain, but you would get nothing for your pains but a ruined evening; while, as for going to law about it, you might as well go to heaven at once. The saloon-keeper stood in with all the big politics men in the district; and when you had once found out what it meant to get into trouble with such people, you would know enough to pay what you were told to pay and shut up.

奥娜站在一旁,眼睛因恐惧而睁大。那些可怕的账单--它们如何一直困扰着她,每一项都在白天啃噬着她的灵魂,晚上破坏她的睡眠。她多少次一个个地数着它们,在上班路上反复计算--大厅十五美元,鸭子二十二美元二十五美分,乐师十二美元,教堂五美元,此外还有圣母的祝福--如此等等,没完没了！最糟的是即将从格拉伊丘纳斯那里来的可怕账单,用于可能消耗的啤酒和烈酒。你永远无法预先从酒馆老板那里得到比猜测更准确的信息--然后到了时候,他总是挠着头来找你,说他猜得太低了,但已经尽力了--你的客人喝得太醉了。你肯定会被他毫不留情地欺骗,即使你自认为是他数百个朋友中最亲密的。他会用一个半空的桶开始招待你的客人,然后用一个半满的桶结束,然后你会被收取两桶啤酒的费用。他会同意以一定价格提供一定质量的酒,到了时候,你和你的朋友会喝一些无法形容的可怕毒药。你可以抱怨,但除了毁掉一个晚上,什么也得不到；至于去告他,你不如直接上天堂。酒馆老板和当地所有的政客都关系密切；一旦你知道了和这种人惹上麻烦意味着什么,你就会明白该乖乖付钱闭口不言。

🔊

frightful /ˈfraɪtfəl/

adj. 可怕的,令人惊恐的➕

🔊

haunted /ˈhɔːntɪd/

adj. 受到折磨的,闹鬼的➕

🔊

gnawing /ˈnɔːɪŋ/

v. 啃,折磨（比喻）➕

🔊

unmercifully /ʌnˈmɜːrsɪfəli/

adv. 无情地,残忍地➕

🔊 What made all this the more painful was that it was so hard on the few that had really done their best. There was poor old ponas Jokubas, for instance--he had already given five dollars, and did not every one know that Jokubas Szedvilas had just mortgaged his delicatessen store for two hundred dollars to meet several months' overdue rent? And then there was withered old poni Aniele--who was a widow, and had three children, and the rheumatism besides, and did washing for the tradespeople on Halsted Street at prices it would break your heart to hear named. Aniele had given the entire profit of her chickens for several months. Eight of them she owned, and she kept them in a little place fenced around on her backstairs. All day long the children of Aniele were raking in the dump for food for these chickens; and sometimes, when the competition there was too fierce, you might see them on Halsted Street walking close to the gutters, and with their mother following to see that no one robbed them of their finds. Money could not tell the value of these chickens to old Mrs. Jukniene--she valued them differently, for she had a feeling that she was getting something for nothing by means of them--that with them she was getting the better of a world that was getting the better of her in so many other ways. So she watched them every hour of the day, and had learned to see like an owl at night to watch them then. One of them had been stolen long ago, and not a month passed that some one did not try to steal another. As the frustrating of this one attempt involved a score of false alarms, it will be understood what a tribute old Mrs. Jukniene brought, just because Teta Elzbieta had once loaned her some money for a few days and saved her from being turned out of her house.

更让人痛苦的是,这对那些确实尽了最大努力的少数人来说很难过。比如可怜的约库巴斯先生--他已经给了五美元,难道不是每个人都知道约库巴斯·什泽德维拉斯刚刚把他的熟食店抵押了二百美元,以支付几个月的欠租吗？还有憔悴的老寡妇阿涅莱--她是个寡妇,有三个孩子,还有风湿病,她为哈尔斯特德街上的店主们洗衣服,工钱低得让你听了会心碎。阿涅莱捐出了她几个月来养鸡的全部所得。她有八只鸡,把它们养在后楼梯上用栅栏围起来的小地方。阿涅莱的孩子们整天在垃圾堆里扒食物喂这些鸡；有时那里的竞争太激烈,你可能会看到他们在哈尔斯特德街上贴着排水沟走,他们的母亲跟在后面,确保没人抢走他们的发现。金钱无法衡量这些鸡对老尤克尼内太太的价值--她以不同的方式珍视它们,因为她觉得自己通过它们不劳而获--凭借它们,她胜过了一个在这么多其他方面胜过她的世界。所以她一天到晚看护着它们,学会了像猫头鹰一样在夜间看管它们。很久以前丢了一只,之后没有一个月不有人试图偷另一只。由于阻止这一企图需要二十次假警报,可以理解老尤克尼内太太带来了多么珍贵的礼物,就因为泰塔·埃尔兹别塔曾经借给她一些钱几天,使她免于被赶出家门。

🔊

mortgaged /ˈmɔːrɡɪdʒd/

v. 抵押（房产等）➕

🔊

overdue /ˌoʊvərˈdjuː/

adj. 过期的,逾期未付的➕

🔊

rheumatism /ˈruːmətɪzəm/

n. 风湿病➕

🔊

tradespeople /ˈtreɪdzˌpiːpəl/

n. 商人,手艺工人➕

🔊

tribute /ˈtrɪbjuːt/

n. 贡品,致敬➕

🔊 More and more friends gathered round while the lamentation about these things was going on. Some drew nearer, hoping to overhear the conversation, who were themselves among the guilty--and surely that was a thing to try the patience of a saint. Finally there came Jurgis, urged by some one, and the story was retold to him. Jurgis listened in silence, with his great black eyebrows knitted. Now and then there would come a gleam underneath them and he would glance about the room. Perhaps he would have liked to go at some of those fellows with his big clenched fists; but then, doubtless, he realized how little good it would do him. No bill would be any less for turning out any one at this time; and then there would be the scandal--and Jurgis wanted nothing except to get away with Ona and to let the world go its own way. So his hands relaxed and he merely said quietly: "It is done, and there is no use in weeping, Teta Elzbieta." Then his look turned toward Ona, who stood close to his side, and he saw the wide look of terror in her eyes. "Little one," he said, in a low voice, "do not worry--it will not matter to us. We will pay them all somehow. I will work harder."

当关于这些事的悲叹进行时,越来越多的朋友围拢过来。有些人凑得更近,希望偷听谈话,而这些人本身就有罪--这实在是对圣人耐心的考验。最后,在别人的催促下,尤尔吉斯来了,故事又对他讲了一遍。尤尔吉斯沉默地听着,浓黑的双眉紧锁。不时有一丝闪光从眉毛下闪过,他会扫视房间。也许他愿意用紧握的拳头去对付那些家伙中的一些人；但随后,他无疑意识到这对他没什么好处。此时赶走任何人,账单不会减少一分；而且还会引起丑闻--尤尔吉斯只想带着奥娜离开,让世界自行其道。所以他放松了双手,只是平静地说:“事情已经做了,哭也没用,泰塔·埃尔兹别塔。”然后他的目光转向奥娜,她紧挨着他站着,他看到了她眼中的巨大恐惧。“小东西,”他低声说,“别担心--这不会影响我们的。我们会想办法付清所有账单。我会更努力地工作。”

🔊

scandal /ˈskændəl/

n. 丑闻,丑事➕

🔊 That was always what Jurgis said. Ona had grown used to it as the solution of all difficulties--"I will work harder!" He had said that in Lithuania when one official had taken his passport from him, and another had arrested him for being without it, and the two had divided a third of his belongings. He had said it again in New York, when the smooth-spoken agent had taken them in hand and made them pay such high prices, and almost prevented their leaving his place, in spite of their paying. Now he said it a third time, and Ona drew a deep breath; it was so wonderful to have a husband, just like a grown woman--and a husband who could solve all problems, and who was so big and strong!

尤尔吉斯总是这么说。奥娜已经习惯将这句话作为解决所有困难的方法--“我会更努力地工作！”他在立陶宛时就这样说过,当时一个官员拿走了他的护照,另一个因他没有护照而逮捕了他,两人瓜分了他三分之一的财产。他再次在纽约这样说,当时那个口齿伶俐的代理人接手他们,要价奇高,几乎不让他们离开他的地方,尽管他们付了钱。现在他第三次这样说,奥娜深深吸了口气；有个丈夫真是太棒了,就像个成年女人--而且是个能解决所有问题的丈夫,那么高大强壮！

🔊

belongings /bɪˈlɒŋɪŋz/

n. 所有物,财产➕

🔊 The last sob of little Sebastijonas has been stifled, and the orchestra has once more been reminded of its duty. The ceremony begins again--but there are few now left to dance with, and so very soon the collection is over and promiscuous dances once more begin. It is now after midnight, however, and things are not as they were before. The dancers are dull and heavy--most of them have been drinking hard, and have long ago passed the stage of exhilaration. They dance in monotonous measure, round after round, hour after hour, with eyes fixed upon vacancy, as if they were only half conscious, in a constantly growing stupor. The men grasp the women very tightly, but there will be half an hour together when neither will see the other's face. Some couples do not care to dance, and have retired to the corners, where they sit with their arms enlaced. Others, who have been drinking still more, wander about the room, bumping into everything; some are in groups of two or three, singing, each group its own song. As time goes on there is a variety of drunkenness, among the younger men especially. Some stagger about in each other's arms, whispering maudlin words--others start quarrels upon the slightest pretext, and come to blows and have to be pulled apart. Now the fat policeman wakens definitely, and feels of his club to see that it is ready for business. He has to be prompt--for these two-o'clock-in-the-morning fights, if they once get out of hand, are like a forest fire, and may mean the whole reserves at the station. The thing to do is to crack every fighting head that you see, before there are so many fighting heads that you cannot crack any of them. There is but scant account kept of cracked heads in back of the yards, for men who have to crack the heads of animals all day seem to get into the habit, and to practice on their friends, and even on their families, between times. This makes it a cause for congratulation that by modern methods a very few men can do the painfully necessary work of head-cracking for the whole of the cultured world.

小塞巴斯蒂安的最后一声哭泣被压制住了,乐队再次被提醒他们的职责。仪式重新开始--但现在剩下跳舞的人很少了,所以很快就收完了钱,又开始随意跳舞。然而此刻已是午夜过后,情况已不同以往。舞者们呆滞而沉重--大多数人一直在大口喝酒,早已过了兴奋阶段。他们以一种单调的节奏跳舞,一圈又一圈,一小时又一小时,眼睛茫然地盯着空处,仿佛只有一半清醒,处于一种不断加重的麻木之中。男人们紧紧抓住女人,但会有足足半小时彼此看不见对方的脸。有些夫妇不想跳舞,退到角落里,双臂交缠地坐着。另一些喝得更多的人在房间里游荡,撞到各种东西；有的两三人一组,各自唱着自己的歌。随着时间的推移,出现了各种醉态,尤其是在年轻男子中。有些人互相搀扶着跌跌撞撞,说着醉醺醺的情话--另一些人则因最微小的借口开始争吵,进而斗殴,不得不被拉开。现在胖警察彻底醒来了,摸了摸他的警棍,确认它已经准备好履行职责。他必须迅速--因为凌晨两点的斗殴,一旦失控,就像森林大火,可能意味着调动整个分局的预备队。正确的做法是看到每个斗殴者的脑袋就给一棍,免得打脑袋的人太多,一个都打不了。在牲口围栏后区,对打破的脑袋记录很少,因为那些整天打动物脑袋的人似乎养成了习惯,在空闲时对朋友、甚至家人也练习起来。这使得值得庆幸的是,通过现代方法,很少几个人就可以为整个文明世界完成令人痛苦的必要的打脑袋工作。

🔊

stifled /ˈstaɪfəld/

v. 抑制,使窒息➕

🔊

promiscuous /prəˈmɪskjuəs/

adj. 混杂的,滥交的➕

🔊

monotonous /məˈnɒtənəs/

adj. 单调的,毫无变化的➕

🔊

vacancy /ˈveɪkənsi/

n. 空虚,空白,空位➕

🔊

stupor /ˈstjuːpər/

n. 昏迷,恍惚➕

🔊

enlaced /ɪnˈleɪst/

v. 缠绕,交织➕

🔊

maudlin /ˈmɔːdlɪn/

adj. 多愁善感的,感伤的（尤指酒后）➕

🔊

pretext /ˈpriːtekst/

n. 借口,托词➕

🔊

scant /skænt/

adj. 不足的,微小的➕

🔊 There is no fight that night--perhaps because Jurgis, too, is watchful--even more so than the policeman. Jurgis has drunk a great deal, as any one naturally would on an occasion when it all has to be paid for, whether it is drunk or not; but he is a very steady man, and does not easily lose his temper. Only once there is a tight shave--and that is the fault of Marija Berczynskas. Marija has apparently concluded about two hours ago that if the altar in the corner, with the deity in soiled white, be not the true home of the muses, it is, at any rate, the nearest substitute on earth attainable. And Marija is just fighting drunk when there come to her ears the facts about the villains who have not paid that night. Marija goes on the warpath straight off, without even the preliminary of a good cursing, and when she is pulled off it is with the coat collars of two villains in her hands. Fortunately, the policeman is disposed to be reasonable, and so it is not Marija who is flung out of the place.

那天晚上没有打斗--也许是因为尤尔吉斯也很警惕,甚至比警察还警惕。尤尔吉斯喝了很多酒,在这种场合,不管喝不喝,都得付钱,任何人自然都会喝很多；但他是个非常稳重的人,不易发脾气。只有一次差点出事--那是玛丽亚·贝尔钦斯卡斯的错。大约两个小时前,玛丽亚显然已经得出结论:如果角落里的神坛,那位穿着脏污白衣的神祇,并非缪斯真正的家,那至少也是地球上最接近的替代品。而当玛丽亚正醉得想打架时,她听到了关于那些当晚没付钱的坏蛋的事。玛丽亚立刻踏上战争之路,甚至没有事先好好咒骂一番,当她被拉开时,她手里还攥着两个坏蛋的衣领。幸运的是,警察讲理,所以被扔出去的并不是玛丽亚。

🔊

deity /ˈdiːɪti/

n. 神,神性➕

🔊

attainable /əˈteɪnəbəl/

adj. 可达到的,可获得的➕

🔊

preliminary /prɪˈlɪmɪnəri/

adj. 初步的,预备的➕

🔊

disposed /dɪˈspoʊzd/

adj. 有…倾向的,愿意的➕

🔊 All this interrupts the music for not more than a minute or two. Then again the merciless tune begins--the tune that has been played for the last half-hour without one single change. It is an American tune this time, one which they have picked up on the streets; all seem to know the words of it--or, at any rate, the first line of it, which they hum to themselves, over and over again without rest: "In the good old summertime--in the good old summertime! In the good old summertime--in the good old summertime!" There seems to be something hypnotic about this, with its endlessly recurring dominant. It has put a stupor upon every one who hears it, as well as upon the men who are playing it. No one can get away from it, or even think of getting away from it; it is three o'clock in the morning, and they have danced out all their joy, and danced out all their strength, and all the strength that unlimited drink can lend them--and still there is no one among them who has the power to think of stopping.

这一切打断了音乐,不超过一两分钟。然后无情的曲子又开始了--这首曲子已经演奏了半个小时,一个音符都没变。这次是美国调子,是他们在街上学的；似乎所有人都知道歌词--至少知道第一句,他们不停地对哼着:“在那美好的旧夏日时光--在那美好的旧夏日时光！在那美好的旧夏日时光--在那美好的旧夏日时光！”这似乎有些催眠作用,其永无止境的主音重复着。它让每一个听到的人,以及演奏它的人都陷入了一种麻木。没人能摆脱它,甚至想都别想；现在是凌晨三点钟,他们已经跳完了所有的欢乐,跳完了所有的力气,跳完了无限酒精所能给予的所有力量--但他们之中仍然没有人有能力想到要停下来。

🔊

merciless /ˈmɜːrsɪləs/

adj. 无情的,残忍的➕

🔊

hypnotic /hɪpˈnɒtɪk/

adj. 催眠的,有催眠作用的➕

🔊

recurring /rɪˈkɜːrɪŋ/

adj. 反复出现的,循环的➕

🔊 Promptly at seven o'clock this same Monday morning they will every one of them have to be in their places at Durham's or Brown's or Jones's, each in his working clothes. If one of them be a minute late, he will be docked an hour's pay, and if he be many minutes late, he will be apt to find his brass check turned to the wall, which will send him out to join the hungry mob that waits every morning at the gates of the packing houses, from six o'clock until nearly half-past eight. There is no exception to this rule, not even little Ona--who has asked for a holiday the day after her wedding day, a holiday without pay, and been refused. While there are so many who are anxious to work as you wish, there is no occasion for incommoding yourself with those who must work otherwise. Little Ona is nearly ready to faint--and half in a stupor herself, because of the heavy scent in the room. She has not taken a drop, but every one else there is literally burning alcohol, as the lamps are burning oil; some of the men who are sound asleep in their chairs or on the floor are reeking of it so that you cannot go near them. Now and then Jurgis gazes at her hungrily--he has long since forgotten his shyness; but then the crowd is there, and he still waits and watches the door, where a carriage is supposed to come. It does not, and finally he will wait no longer, but comes up to Ona, who turns white and trembles. He puts her shawl about her and then his own coat. They live only two blocks away, and Jurgis does not care about the carriage.

就在同一个星期一早上七点整,他们每个人都必须到达自己的工作岗位,在达勒姆公司或布朗公司或琼斯公司,穿着工作服。如果有人迟到一分钟,就会被扣一小时的工资；如果他迟到很多分钟,很可能发现他的铜牌被翻转向墙,这将使他出门去加入每天早晨从六点到将近八点半聚集在食品加工厂门口饥饿的人群。这条规则没有例外,连小奥娜也不例外--她请求在婚礼后的第二天休假一天,不带薪的休假,但被拒绝了。当有这么多人都急于按你希望的方式工作时,就没有必要为那些必须按其他方式工作的人而给自己添麻烦。小奥娜几乎要晕倒了--因为她自己也半是麻木,因为房间里浓重的气味。她一滴酒也没喝,但那里的每个人都实实在在地燃烧着酒精,就像油灯燃烧着油一样；有些男人坐在椅子上或地板上熟睡着,浑身酒气熏天,你根本无法靠近。尤尔吉斯不时饥渴地凝视着她--他早就忘了自己的羞怯；但那里还有人群,他仍等着,看着门口,那里应该有一辆马车来。没有马车来,终于他不再等待,而是走向奥娜,她脸色发白,浑身颤抖。他给她披上披肩,然后再披上他自己的外套。他们只住在两个街区之外,尤尔吉斯不在乎马车。

🔊

reeking /ˈriːkɪŋ/

v. 发出浓烈的气味（尤指难闻的）➕

🔊 There is almost no farewell--the dancers do not notice them, and all of the children and many of the old folks have fallen asleep of sheer exhaustion. Dede Antanas is asleep, and so are the Szedvilases, husband and wife, the former snoring in octaves. There is Teta Elzbieta, and Marija, sobbing loudly; and then there is only the silent night, with the stars beginning to pale a little in the east.

几乎没有告别--舞者没有注意到他们,所有的孩子和许多老人都已经因极度疲惫而睡着了。德德·安塔纳斯睡着了,什泽德维拉斯夫妇也睡着了,丈夫在打八度鼾声。还有泰塔·埃尔兹别塔和玛丽亚,大声抽泣着；然后只剩下寂静的夜晚,东方星星开始有些发白。

🔊

exhaustion /ɪɡˈzɔːstʃən/

n. 精疲力竭➕

🔊

octaves /ˈɒktɪvz/

n. 八度（音乐术语）➕

🔊 Jurgis, without a word, lifts Ona in his arms, and strides out with her, and she sinks her head upon his shoulder with a moan. When he reaches home he is not sure whether she has fainted or is asleep, but when he has to hold her with one hand while he unlocks the door, he sees that she has opened her eyes. "You shall not go to Brown's today, little one," he whispers, as he climbs the stairs; and she catches his arm in terror, gasping: "No! No! I dare not! It will ruin us!" But he answers her again: "Leave it to me; leave it to me. I will earn more money--I will work harder."

尤尔吉斯一言不发地抱起奥娜,大步走了出去,她头靠在他肩上,发出一声呻吟。到家时,他不确定她是晕倒了还是睡着了,但当他不得不一只手抱着她,另一只手开门时,他看到她已经睁开了眼睛。“今天你不用去布朗公司了,小东西,”他一边上楼一边低语；她惊恐地抓住他的胳膊,喘着气说:“不！不！我不敢！那会毁了我们的！”但他再次回答她:“交给我吧；交给我。我会挣更多钱--我会更努力地工作。”

🔊

strides /straɪdz/

v. 大步走（第三人称单数）➕

🔊

moan /moʊn/

n. 呻吟声；抱怨声➕

🔊

fainted /feɪntɪd/

v. 晕倒（过去式）➕

🔊

ruin /ˈruːɪn/

v. 毁灭；破坏➕

🔊

terror /ˈterər/

n. 恐怖；恐惧➕

🔊

gasping /ˈɡɑːspɪŋ/

v. 喘气；倒抽气（现在分词）➕

Chapter 1 – Chapter one (第一章)