🔊 But the bed I made up for myself was sufficiently uncomfortable to give me a wakeful night, and I thought a good deal of what the unlucky Dutchman had told me.

我给自己铺的床极不舒适,足以让我彻夜难眠,反复思量着那个倒霉的荷兰人告诉我的事。

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sufficiently /səˈfɪʃəntli/

adv. 足够地➕

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wakeful /ˈweɪkfl/

adj. 失眠的、清醒的➕

🔊 I was not so much puzzled by Blanche Stroeve's action, for I saw in that merely the result of a physical appeal. I do not suppose she had ever really cared for her husband, and what I had taken for love was no more than the feminine response to caresses and comfort which in the minds of most women passes for it. It is a passive feeling capable of being roused for any object, as the vine can grow on any tree; and the wisdom of the world recognises its strength when it urges a girl to marry the man who wants her with the assurance that love will follow. It is an emotion made up of the satisfaction in security, pride of property, the pleasure of being desired, the gratification of a household, and it is only by an amiable vanity that women ascribe to it spiritual value. It is an emotion which is defenceless against passion.

我对布兰奇·斯特罗夫的行为并不十分困惑,因为我看出那不过是肉体吸引的结果。我想她从未真正在乎过她的丈夫,而我曾以为的爱,无非是女性对爱抚和安逸的反应,在大多数女人心中,这就被当作爱情了。这是一种被动的感情,能为任何对象所激起,就像藤蔓能攀附在任何树上；世俗的智慧深谙其力量,因为它敦促女孩嫁给那个想要她的男人,并保证爱情会随之而来。这种情感由安于现状的满足、拥有财产的骄傲、被人渴慕的快意以及成家立室的欣慰交织而成,而女人将其赋予精神价值,不过是出于一种讨人喜欢的虚荣。这种感情在激情面前不堪一击。

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appeal /əˈpiːl/

n. 吸引力、呼吁➕

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feminine /ˈfemənɪn/

adj. 女性的、阴柔的➕

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caresses /kəˈresɪz/

n. 爱抚（复数）➕

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roused /raʊzd/

v. 激起、唤醒（过去式）➕

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assurance /əˈʃʊərəns/

n. 保证、自信➕

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gratification /ˌɡrætɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/

n. 满足、喜悦➕

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amiable /ˈeɪmiəbl/

adj. 和蔼的、亲切的➕

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vanity /ˈvænəti/

n. 虚荣、自负➕

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ascribe /əˈskraɪb/

v. 归因于、归功于➕

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defenceless /dɪˈfensləs/

adj. 无防备的、脆弱的➕

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passion /ˈpæʃn/

n. 激情、热情➕

🔊 I suspected that Blanche Stroeve's violent dislike of Strickland had in it from the beginning a vague element of sexual attraction. Who am I that I should seek to unravel the mysterious intricacies of sex? Perhaps Stroeve's passion excited without satisfying that part of her nature, and she hated Strickland because she felt in him the power to give her what she needed. I think she was quite sincere when she struggled against her husband's desire to bring him into the studio; I think she was frightened of him, though she knew not why; and I remembered how she had foreseen disaster. I think in some curious way the horror which she felt for him was a transference of the horror which she felt for herself because he so strangely troubled her. His appearance was wild and uncouth; there was aloofness in his eyes and sensuality in his mouth; he was big and strong; he gave the impression of untamed passion; and perhaps she felt in him, too, that sinister element which had made me think of those wild beings of the world's early history when matter, retaining its early connection with the earth, seemed to possess yet a spirit of its own. If he affected her at all, it was inevitable that she should love or hate him. She hated him.

我怀疑布兰奇·斯特罗夫对斯特里克兰的强烈厌恶从一开始就掺杂着模糊的性吸引力。我又是何人,竟敢试图解开性那神秘错综的奥秘？也许斯特罗夫的热情激发了她天性中的那一部分,却未能满足它,而她恨斯特里克兰,是因为她在他身上感受到能给予她所需的力量。我认为她竭力反对丈夫把他带进画室时是真心实意的；我想她怕他,却又说不出所以然；我记得她曾预见到灾难。我认为,她对他感到的恐惧,在某种奇妙的方式上,是她对自己感到恐惧的转移,因为他如此奇特地搅乱了她的心绪。他的外表狂野粗陋；眼神疏离,嘴唇性感；他高大强壮；给人一种未经驯服的激情的印象；也许她也从他身上感受到那种邪恶的元素,让我想起世界早期历史中的那些野性生物,那时的物质仍与大地血脉相连,仿佛拥有独立精魂。如果他真的影响了她,她不可避免地会爱他或恨他。她恨他。

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attraction /əˈtrækʃn/

n. 吸引力、吸引➕

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unravel /ʌnˈrævl/

v. 解开、阐明➕

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intricacies /ˈɪntrɪkəsiz/

n. 复杂细节（复数）➕

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foreseen /fɔːˈsiːn/

v. 预见（过去分词）➕

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transference /ˈtrænsfərəns/

n. 转移、移情➕

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uncouth /ʌnˈkuːθ/

adj. 粗野的、笨拙的➕

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aloofness /əˈluːfnəs/

n. 冷漠、疏远➕

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sensuality /ˌsenʃuˈæləti/

n. 肉欲、感官性➕

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untamed /ʌnˈteɪmd/

adj. 未驯服的、野性的➕

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sinister /ˈsɪnɪstə/

adj. 邪恶的、不祥的➕

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inevitable /ɪnˈevɪtəbl/

adj. 不可避免的➕

🔊 And then I fancy that the daily intimacy with the sick man moved her strangely. She raised his head to give him food, and it was heavy against her hand; when she had fed him she wiped his sensual mouth and his red beard. She washed his limbs; they were covered with thick hair; and when she dried his hands, even in his weakness they were strong and sinewy. His fingers were long; they were the capable, fashioning fingers of the artist; and I know not what troubling thoughts they excited in her. He slept very quietly, without a movement, so that he might have been dead, and he was like some wild creature of the woods, resting after a long chase; and she wondered what fancies passed through his dreams. Did he dream of the nymph flying through the woods of Greece with the satyr in hot pursuit? She fled, swift of foot and desperate, but he gained on her step by step, till she felt his hot breath on her neck; and still she fled silently, and silently he pursued, and when at last he seized her was it terror that thrilled her heart or was it ecstasy?

然后我想象,每天与病人的亲密接触奇怪地打动了她。她抬起他的头喂食,头沉重地压在她手上；喂完后,她擦去他性感的嘴唇和红胡子。她清洗他的四肢；它们覆盖着浓密的毛发；当她擦干他的手时,即使虚弱中,它们也强壮有力。他的手指修长；那是艺术家灵巧、能塑造的手指；我不知道它们在她心中激起了什么烦扰的思绪。他睡得很安静,一动不动,仿佛死去一般,他就像森林里的某种野生生物,在长途追逐后休息；她不禁揣想,是怎样的幻梦掠过了他的脑海。他是否梦到宁芙在希腊的森林中飞奔,萨堤尔穷追不舍？她逃得飞快,脚步绝望,但他一步步逼近,直到她感到他滚热的呼吸喷在颈后；她依旧无声地逃,他无声地追,最后当他抓住她时,她心中颤栗的是恐惧还是狂喜？

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intimacy /ˈɪntɪməsi/

n. 亲密、亲近➕

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sensual /ˈsenʃuəl/

adj. 感官的、肉欲的➕

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sinewy /ˈsɪnjuːi/

adj. 肌肉发达的、强壮的➕

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fashioning /ˈfæʃənɪŋ/

v. 塑造、制作（现在分词）➕

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nymph /nɪmf/

n. 仙女、女神➕

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satyr /ˈsætə/

n. 萨提尔（神话中的森林之神）➕

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pursuit /pəˈsjuːt/

n. 追求、追逐➕

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ecstasy /ˈekstəsi/

n. 狂喜、入迷➕

🔊 Blanche Stroeve was in the cruel grip of appetite. Perhaps she hated Strickland still, but she hungered for him, and everything that had made up her life till then became of no account. She ceased to be a woman, complex, kind and petulant, considerate and thoughtless; she was a Maenad. She was desire.

布兰奇·斯特罗夫被欲望残酷地攫住。也许她仍然恨斯特里克兰,但她渴求他,而此前构成她生活的一切都变得无关紧要。她已不复为女人,而成了一个酒神女祭司,成了欲望本身。

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appetite /ˈæpɪtaɪt/

n. 欲望、食欲➕

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hungered /ˈhʌŋɡəd/

v. 渴望（过去式）➕

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petulant /ˈpetʃələnt/

adj. 脾气暴躁的、任性的➕

🔊 But perhaps this is very fanciful; and it may be that she was merely bored with her husband and went to Strickland out of a callous curiosity. She may have had no particular feeling for him, but succumbed to his wish from propinquity or idleness, to find then that she was powerless in a snare of her own contriving. How did I know what were the thoughts and emotions behind that placid brow and those cool gray eyes?

但这或许纯属臆想；也可能她只是厌倦了她的丈夫,出于一种冷酷的好奇心去找斯特里克兰。她可能对他没有特别的感觉,只是因亲近或闲散而屈服于他的意愿,然后发现自己无力挣脱自己设下的陷阱。我如何知道那平静的额头和冷静的灰眼睛背后是怎样的思绪和情感？

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fanciful /ˈfænsɪfl/

adj. 想象的、奇异的➕

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callous /ˈkæləs/

adj. 无情的、冷漠的➕

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succumbed /səˈkʌmd/

v. 屈服、 succumbed（过去式）➕

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propinquity /prəˈpɪŋkwəti/

n. 邻近、接近➕

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snare /sneə/

n. 陷阱、圈套➕

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contriving /kənˈtraɪvɪŋ/

v. 设计、策划（现在分词）➕

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placid /ˈplæsɪd/

adj. 平静的、温和的➕

🔊 But if one could be certain of nothing in dealing with creatures so incalculable as human beings, there were explanations of Blanche Stroeve's behaviour which were at all events plausible. On the other hand, I did not understand Strickland at all. I racked my brain, but could in no way account for an action so contrary to my conception of him. It was not strange that he should so heartlessly have betrayed his friends' confidence, nor that he hesitated not at all to gratify a whim at the cost of another's misery. That was in his character. He was a man without any conception of gratitude. He had no compassion. The emotions common to most of us simply did not exist in him, and it was as absurd to blame him for not feeling them as for blaming the tiger because he is fierce and cruel. But it was the whim I could not understand.

但如果与像人类这样难以捉摸的生物打交道时,什么都无法确定,那么对布兰奇·斯特罗夫行为的解释至少有些是合理的。另一方面,我完全无法理解斯特里克兰。我绞尽脑汁,却怎么也无法解释一个与我对他看法如此相悖的行为。他如此无情地背叛朋友的信任并不奇怪,他也不犹豫地以他人的痛苦为代价来满足一时兴起。这符合他的性格。他是个毫无感恩概念的人。他没有同情心。我们大多数人共有的情感在他身上根本不存在,责怪他没有这些情感,就如同责怪老虎凶猛残忍一样荒谬。但我无法理解的,是他这乖张的念头。

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incalculable /ɪnˈkælkjələbl/

adj. 不可预测的、无数的➕

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plausible /ˈplɔːzəbl/

adj. 似乎合理的、可信的➕

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racked /rækt/

v. 折磨、使痛苦（过去式）➕

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heartlessly /ˈhɑːtləsli/

adv. 无情地、残忍地➕

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gratify /ˈɡrætɪfaɪ/

v. 使满足、使高兴➕

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whim /wɪm/

n. 一时兴起、奇想➕

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gratitude /ˈɡrætɪtjuːd/

n. 感激、感谢➕

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compassion /kəmˈpæʃn/

n. 同情、怜悯➕

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absurd /əbˈsɜːd/

adj. 荒谬的、可笑的➕

🔊 I could not believe that Strickland had fallen in love with Blanche Stroeve. I did not believe him capable of love. That is an emotion in which tenderness is an essential part, but Strickland had no tenderness either for himself or for others; there is in love a sense of weakness, a desire to protect, an eagerness to do good and to give pleasure-if not unselfishness, at all events a selfishness which marvellously conceals itself; it has in it a certain diffidence. These were not traits which I could imagine in Strickland. Love is absorbing; it takes the lover out of himself; the most clear-sighted, though he may know, cannot realise that his love will cease; it gives body to what he knows is illusion, and, knowing it is nothing else, he loves it better than reality. It makes a man a little more than himself, and at the same time a little less. He ceases to be himself. He is no longer an individual, but a thing, an instrument to some purpose foreign to his ego. Love is never quite devoid of sentimentality, and Strickland was the least inclined to that infirmity of any man I have known. I could not believe that he would ever suffer that possession of himself which love is; he could never endure a foreign yoke. I believed him capable of uprooting from his heart, though it might be with agony, so that he was left battered and ensanguined, anything that came between himself and that uncomprehended craving that urged him constantly to he knew not what.

我无法相信斯特里克兰爱上了布兰奇·斯特罗夫。我不相信他有爱的能力。爱这种情感中温柔是必不可少的成分,但斯特里克兰对自己或他人都没有温柔；爱中有一种软弱感,一种保护的欲望,一种行善和给予快乐的渴望--如果不是无私,至少是一种伪装得极其巧妙的自私；它带有某种羞怯。这些都不是我能想象在斯特里克兰身上的特质。爱令人全神贯注；它使爱者忘却自我；最清醒的人,尽管可能知道,也无法意识到他的爱会终止；它赋予他所知的幻象以实体,并且知道它别无他物,他却爱它胜过现实。它使人略高于自我,同时也略低于自我。他不再是自己。他不再是一个个体,而是一个东西,一个服务于与自我无关的目的的工具。爱从不完全缺乏多愁善感,而斯特里克兰是我所认识的人中最不倾向于这种弱点的。我无法相信他会忍受那种占有自我的爱；他永远无法忍受异己的枷锁。我相信,任何事物只要横亘在他与那驱策他不断奔向未知的、难以名状的渴望之间,他都能将其从心中连根拔除,哪怕这会让他痛不欲生,落得遍体鳞伤、鲜血淋漓。

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diffidence /ˈdɪfɪdəns/

n. 缺乏自信、羞怯➕

🔊

traits /treɪts/

n. 特质、特征（复数）➕

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absorbing /əbˈsɔːbɪŋ/

adj. 吸引人的、全神贯注的➕

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clear-sighted /ˌklɪə ˈsaɪtɪd/

adj. 有远见的、明智的➕