23.Anne Comes to Grief in an Affair of Honor为尊严受苦-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《绿山墙的安妮Anne of Green Gables》下

Chapter XXIII Anne Comes to Grief in an Affair of Honor A week after the tea at the manse Diana Barry gave a party. They had a very good time and nothing untoward happened until after tea, when they found themselves in the Barry garden, a little tired of all their games and ripe for any enticing①} form of mischief{② which might present itself. This presently took the form of "daring." Daring was the fashionable amusement among the Avonlea small fry③ just then. It had begun among the boys, but soon spread to the girls, and all the silly things that were done in Avonlea that summer because the doers④ thereof were "dared" to do them would fill a book by themselves. Josie's triumph being rather more pronounced than good taste permitted, Anne Shirley dared her to walk along the top of the board fence which bounded the garden to the east. Josie walked the Barry fence with an airy unconcern which seemed to imply that a little thing like that wasn't worth a "dare." Josie descended from her perch}, flushed with victory, and darted a defiant{ glance at Anne. Anne tossed her red braids .240. 第二十三章 为尊严受苦 在牧师家喝过茶一周之后,戴安娜·巴里举 办了一次聚会。 姑娘们玩得很开心,一点儿没出岔子,等到 ① enticing /n'tarsin/ a. 引诱 喝过茶,她们来到巴里家的花园,觉得有点儿玩 的,迷人的 儿腻了,就想换个口味,来点儿刺激的游戏,于 ② mischief /mistfif/ n. 恶作 剧,胡闹:淘气 是马上有人想到了“激将”游戏。 ③ small fry 儿童 当时这种游戏在埃文利的孩子们中正流行。 先是男孩子们开始玩儿,很快在女孩子中也兴起 来。那个夏天埃文利发生的所有荒唐事都是肇事 ④doer/d加:an. 做某事的人 者受别人将军才干出来的,这些事足可以写满一 行动家 本书了。 乔西的得意扬扬劲儿显然是过了头,于是安 婉·雪利将她--要她从花园的木栅栏上一直走 到东头。乔西边走边做出一副无所谓的样子,好 像在说这么点小事根本不值得将军。乔西从墙上 perch /p3:t[/n. 栖息处:高 下来,兴奋得脸都红了,她挑鲜地警了安婉一 处 眼。 defiant /dr'faiant/ g. 挑辩的 安婉把红小辩一甩。 .241· Anne of Green Gabfes "I don't think it's such a very wonderful thing to walk a little, low. board fence," she said. "I knew a girl in Marysville who could walk the ridgepole of a roof." "I don't believe it," said Josie flatly. "I don't believe anybody could walk a ridgepole. YOU couldn't, anyhow." "Couldn't I?" cried Anne rashly. “Then I dare you to do it," said Josie defiantly. "I dare you to climb up there and walk the ridgepole of Mr. Barry's kitchen roof." Anne turned pale, but there was clearly only one thing to be done. She walked toward the house, where a ladder was leaning against the kitchen roof. “Don't you do it, Anne," entreated Diana."You'll fall off and be killed." "I must do it. My honor is at stake①," said Anne solemnly. Anne climbed the ladder amid breathless silence, gained the ridgepole, balanced herself uprightly② on that precarious③ footing, and started to walk along it, dizzily conscious that she was uncomfortably high up in the world and that walking ridgepoles was not a thing in which your imagination helped you out much. Nevertheless, she managed to take several steps before the catastrophe④ came. Then she swayed, lost her balance, stumbled, staggered, and fell, sliding down over the sun-baked roof and crashing off it through the tangle of Virginia creeper beneath-all before the dismayedcircle below could give a simultaneous, terrified shriek. Fortunately she fell on where the roof extended down over the porch so nearly to the ground that a fall therefrom was a much less serious thing. Diana and the other girls found Anne lying all white and limp{} among the wreck{} and ruin of the Virginia creeper^{}. “Anne, are you killed?" shrieked Diana, throwing herself on her .242· 绿山墙的安妃 “我觉得在又小又矮的木栅栏上走没什么了 不起,”安娓说,“我知道马里斯维尔有个女孩 儿能在屋顶上走。” “我不信,”乔西断然地说, “我不信有谁能 在屋脊上走,反正你不行。” “我不行?”安呢冲动地大叫起来。 “那你走呀,”乔西轻蔑地说,“我倒要看你 有没有本事爬上去,在巴里先生家厨房的屋顶上 走一趟。” 安呢的脸色变得苍白,但是很明显没有别的 选择了。她朝房子走去,墙边靠着一只梯子。 “别上去,安呢,”戴安娜恳求她,“你会掉 下来摔死的。” “我必须上去,我的名誉受到了威胁。”安婉 ①at stake在危险中,处于成 神情庄重地说。 败关头 ② uprightly /Ap.rartlv/ ad. 笔 众人屏声静气看着安呢爬上梯子到了屋顶 直地 她颤颤巍巍地站直了身子,开始向前走去,迷迷 ③ precarious /prr'kear1as/ a.不 糊糊地觉得自已升到了空中,这滋味可不好受。 安全的 她明百了走屋顶可不是件想象力可以帮上什么忙 的事。不过安婉还是走了好几步,接着就出了 ④ catastrophe /ko'taestrofr/ n 事。她身子一偏,失去了平衡,脚下一绊,晃了 大灾难,大祸 晃就摔倒了,整个人从厨房的阳面屋顶滑了下 来,稀里哗啦地砸过一堆五叶地锦爬藤掉了下 dismaved /ds'meid a. 惊惜 去--房下惊慌失措的姑娘们还没叫出声来,这 的 一切就发生了。 simultaneous /smol'teinias/ a. 同时发生 幸运的是,安婉掉下来的那面屋顶和门廊的 的,同步的 屋顶斜坡连在一起,屋沿离地面很近,所以从那 limp/mp/a.柔软的.无力 儿摔下来不会很重。戴安娜和其他女孩子发现安 的,软弱的 ③wreck/rek/n. 失事,残 晁脸色苍白,毫无生气地躺在砸得乱糟糟的爬藤 creeper /kri:pa/n.角氢植物 中间。 ·243· Anne of Green Gabfes knees beside her friend. "Oh, Anne, dear Anne, speak just one word to me and tell me if you're killed." Anne sat dizzily up and answered uncertainly: "No, Diana, I am not killed, but I think I am rendered^{}unconscious." "Where?" sobbed Carrie Sloane. "Oh, where, Anne?" Before Anne could answer Mrs. Barry appeared on the scene. At sight of her Anne tried to scramble to her feet, but sank back again with a sharp little cry of pain. "What's the matter? Where have you hurt yourself?" demanded Mrs. Bary. “My ankle②," gasped③ Anne. "Oh, Diana, please find your father and ask him to take me home. I know I can never walk there." Marilla was out in the orchard picking a panful④ of summer apples when she saw Mr. Barry coming. In his arms he carried Anne, whose head lay limply{ against his shoulder. At that moment Marilla knew as she hurried wildly down the slope that Anne was dearer to her than anything else on earth "Mr. Barry, what has happened to her?" she gasped, more white and shaken than the self-contained, sensible Marilla had been for many years. Anne herself answered, lifting her head "Don't be very frightened, Marilla. I was walking the ridgepole and I fell off. I expect I have sprained^{}my ankle. But, Marilla, I might have broken my neck. Let us look on the bright side of things." "I might have known you'd go and do something of the sort when I let you go to that party," said Marilla, sharp and shrewish{} in her very relief. “Bring her in here, Mr. Barry, and lay her on the sofa." Matthew, hastily summoned from the harvest field, was straightway .244· 绿山墙的安婉 “安妃,你死了吗?”戴安娜扑通一声跪在安 晁旁边尖叫道,“啊,安呢,亲爱的安呢,告诉 我你是死是活,你倒是说句话呀。” ① render /rendo/ v.使得,致使 这时安呢昏头昏脑地坐了起来,含含糊糊地 说:“没死,戴安娜,我没死,不过我觉得失去 了知觉。” “哪儿?”卡莉·斯隆抽泣着问,“噢,安妃。 你什么地方没有知觉了?”安呢没答话,巴里太 太已经到了跟前。安婉看见她,挣扎着想站起 来,可是疼得尖叫一声又倒了下去。 “出了什么事?你哪儿伤着了?”巴里太太 ②ankle /aenkal/n. ,关节 问。 ③ gasp /ga:sp/v. 喘气说出 ④ panful /paenful/n. 一满锅 “我的脚腕,”安娓气喘吁吁地说,“哦,戴 (的量).一满盘(的量 安娜,请叫你爸爸来送我回家。我知道自己绝对 走不回去了。” limply /lrmpl/ad. 柔软地 四肢无力地 玛丽拉正在果园里摘一盆夏苹果,忽然看见 slope /slaup n.斜坡,斜面 巴里先生穿过木桥向山坡上走来,安呢躺在他怀 里,脑袋软绵绵地靠着他的肩膀。 此刻,当玛丽拉不顾一切地冲下山坡的时 候,她明白了安呢对于她来说比世上任何东西都 要宝贵。 “巴里先生,她怎么了?”玛丽拉气嘴吁吁地 问,多年来理智镇静的玛丽拉从没像现在这样脸 色苍白,浑身发抖。 sprain /sprein/ v. 扭伤 安婉抬起头自已做了回答。 “别害怕,玛丽拉,我在屋顶上走,摔下来 了,我想是扭了脚腕。可是玛丽拉,我本来有可 ③ shrewish/frunf/a.(旧)泼 能把脖子摔断的,咱们往好处想吧。” 妇一样的 “我早就该想到,让你去聚会,你肯定会捕 出点儿娄子。”玛丽拉说,她松了口气就又变得 .245· Anne of Green Gabfes dispatched for the doctor, who in due time came, to discover that the injury was more serious than they had supposed. Anne's ankle was broken. That night, when Marilla went up to the east gable, where a white- faced girl was lying, a plaintive{①voice greeted her from the bed: "Aren't you very sorry for me, Marilla? What would you have done if you had been dared to walk a ridgepole?" "I'd have stayed on good firm ground and let them dare away. Such absurdity②!"said Marilla. Anne sighed. "But you have such strength of mind, Marilla. I haven't. I just felt that I couldn't bear Josie Pye's scorn. I won't be able to go around for six or seven weeks and I'll miss the new lady teacher. And Gil- everybody will get ahead of me in class. But I'll try to bear it all bravely if only you won't be cross with me, Marilla." “There, there, I'm not cross," said Marilla. "Here now, try and eat some supper." "Isn't it fortunate I've got such an imagination?" said Anne."It will help me through splendidly, I expect. What do people who haven't any imagination do when they break their bones, do you suppose, Marilla?" Anne had good reason to bless her imagination many a time and oft during the tedious③ seven weeks that followed. But she was not solely④ dependent on it. She had many visitors and not a day passed without one or more of the schoolgirls dropping in to bring her flowers and books and tell her all the happenings in the juvenile world of Avonlea. "Everybody has been so good and kind, Marilla," sighed Anne happily. "Even Superintendent Bell came to see me, and he's really a ·246· 绿山墙的安婉 尖刻暴躁。 “巴里先生,把她抱过来,放在沙发 上。” 马修被人急匆匆地从田里叫了回来,立刻就 去请医生,不一会儿医生来了,他发现安呢的伤 势比他们想象的要严重。她的脚课骨断了。 ① plaintive /pleintrw a. 哀伤 那天夜里,玛丽拉走进东侧房,床上躺着一 的,可怜的 个脸色苍白的小姑娘,这姑娘悲哀地问:“难道 您不为我难过吗,玛丽拉?要是有人叫阵,让您 走房顶,您会怎么办呢?” ② absurdity /ab'sa:ditu/ n. 荒 谬,荒谬的事 “我就牢牢地站在地上,让他们白叫。太荒 唐了!”玛丽拉说。 安婉叹了口气。 “您的头脑真是太坚强了,玛丽拉。我就不 行,我真觉得受不了乔西·派伊的嘲笑。我六七 个星期都下不了地,我会想新来的女老师的。还 有吉尔一一班上所有同学都要超过我了。不过只 要您不生我的气,玛丽拉,我就会勇敢地面对现 实的。” “好啦,好啦,我不生气,”玛丽拉说, “那 现在就想法吃一点儿饭。” “我有这样的想象力难道不是幸运的吗?”安 呢说,“我希望它可以帮助我顺利渡过难关。玛 丽拉,您说那些没有想象力的人要是折断了骨 头,他们该怎么办呢?” ③ tedious /ti:dosa 沉问的 在接下来的枯燥乏味的七个星期中,安晁有 单调乏味的 ④solely /saull/ad 独自地 充分的理由不止一次地庆幸自己有想象力,但是 单独地 她并不是完全靠想象力度日的。来看她的人很 juvenile /d3u:vanail/ a. 年 多,每天都少不了有一个甚至几个女同学给她带 轻的,青少年的 来鲜花和书籍,还把埃文利的孩子们中间所发生 的一切讲给她听。 ·247· Anne of Green Gables very fine man. Mrs. Allan has been to see me fourteen times. Mrs. Lynde said it in a kind of way that made me feel she might hope I'd be a better girl but didn't really believe I would. Even Josie Pye came to see me. I received her as politely as I could, because I think she was sorry she dared me to walk a ridgepole. Diana has been a faithful friend. She's been over every day to cheer my lonely pillow. But oh, I shall be so glad when I can go to school for I've heard such exciting things about the new teacher. The girls all think she is perfectly sweet. Diana and Ruby Gillis and Jane Andrews are preparing a dialogue, called 'A Morning Visit,' for next Friday. I think it must be splendid and I believe I shall find that Miss Stacy is a kindred spirit." ·248. 绿山墙的安妃 “每个人都那么好,玛丽拉,”安呢感叹道 语调中充满了快乐,“啊,就连贝尔学监都来看 过我,他真是个大好人。阿伦太太来看过我十四 次。林德太太的语气让我觉得她只是希望我变得 更乘,可实际上并不相信我能做到。连乔西·派 伊也来看过我。我尽量客客气气地对她,因为我 想她激我走屋顶,她自已也很后悔。戴安娜始终 是忠诚的朋友,她每天都来帮我排遣寂寞。不过 等我能去上学,我还是会很高兴,我已经听说了 新老师那么多有趣的事。所有女生都认为新老师 可爱极了。戴安娜、鲁比·吉利斯和简·安德鲁斯 正在准备一段对话,叫作《清晨来访》,下周五 表演。我想这些活动肯定很棒,而且我相信我会 发现斯塔西小姐是我的知音。” .249·