高级英语no_signposts_in_the_sea翻译
别妄想泡我
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2021年01月26日 16:53
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关于秋天的诗句-
In the dining-saloon I sit at a table with three other men; Laura sits some way oft with a married
couple and their daughter. I can observe her without her knowing, and this gives me pleasure, for
it is as in a moving picture that I can note the grace of her gestures, whether she raises a glass of
wine to her lips or turns with a remark to one of her neighbours or takes a cigarette from her case
with those slender fingers. I have never had much of an eye for noticing the clothes of women, but
I get the impression that Laura is always in grey and white by day, looking cool when other people
are
flushed
and
shiny
in
the
tropical
heat;
in
the
evening
she
wears
soft
rich
colours,
dark
red,
olive green, midnight blue, always of the most supple flowing texture. I ventured to say something
of
the
kind
to
her,
when
she
laughed
at
my
clumsy
compliment
and
said
I
had
better
take
to
writing fashion articles instead of political leaders.
在餐 厅里，
我同另外三个男人围坐在一张桌子旁，
而劳拉同一对夫妇及他们的女儿一块儿坐
在离我不远的地方。
我可以观察她而不让她发觉，
这使我觉得开心，
因为我可以像看电 影一
样地欣赏她优雅的动作，
不论是举杯送到唇边，
还是扭头与邻座交谈，
抑 或是用她那纤细的
手指从烟盒中夹取香烟的动作。
我向来不太会欣赏也不大注意女人的衣着，< br>但我却有这样的
印象：
劳拉白天总穿着灰色和白色的衣服，
因而当别人被热带的 高温烘烤得红光满面时，
她
看上去却给人一种清爽的感觉。
到了晚间，她又总是穿着深 红、橄榄绿、深蓝等色调柔和富
丽、
质料柔软光滑的衣服。
当我不揣冒昧地将这话对她 讲时，
她对我这种笨拙的恭维报以开
心的大笑，还说我最好不再写什么政坛人物的述评文章而改 行专写时装评论算了。
The tall Colonel whose name is Dalrymple seems a nice chap . He and I and Laura and a Chinese
woman improbably galled Mme Merveille have made up a Bridge-tour and thus beguile ourselves
for an hour or so after dinner while others dance on deck. The Colonel, who is not too offensively
an Empire-builder, sometimes tries to talk to me about public affairs; he says he used to read me,
and is rather charmingly deferential , prefacing his remarks by 'Of course it's not for me to suggest
to you…
or foreign policy should be handled. He is by no means stupid or ill-informed; a little opinionated
perhaps, and just about as far to the Right as anybody could go, but I like him, and try not to tease
him by putting forward views which would only bring a puzzled look to his face. Besides, I do not
want to become involved in discussion. I observe with amusement how totally the concerns of the
world, which once absorbed me to the exclusion of all else except an occasional relaxation with
poetry or music, have lost interest for me eve to the extent of a bored distaste. Doubtless some
instinct impels me gluttonously to cram these the last weeks of my life with the gentler things I
never
had
time
for,
releasing
some
suppressed
inclination
which
in
fact
was
always
latent.
Or
maybe Laura's unwitting influence has called it out.
※
那个名叫达里波的高个子上校看样子是个好相处的人。他和 我同劳拉及一个竟被人
称呼为麦尔维尔夫人的中国妇女凑成一桌桥牌，四人搭档。这样，
晚饭后 ，当其他的人在甲
板上跳舞时，
我们便用打牌来消遣个把小时。
上校不是个令人讨厌的 帝国的卫道士，
他经常
找我谈论一些国家大事。
他说他以前常读我写的文章；他说话温 文尔雅，彬彬有礼，一开口
总是先来上一句
“当然，
我没有资格建议您……”
接下来他就会明确地谈他该如何处置关于
某项国内或外交事务的意见。他决不算愚笨，也绝谈不上孤陋寡 闻，只是可能有一点偏执，
政治思想上极端右倾保守，
但我对他颇有好感，
因而尽量不 提出一些只会使他露出困惑的神
色的见解，以免使他难堪。况且，我也不想陷入讨论的旋涡。我有趣地发 觉，自己过去除偶
尔借诗歌或音乐消遣放松一下外，
一心专注的世界大事现在不仅是索然无味，
而且简直是令
人厌烦了。
这无疑是自己受某种本能的驱使，
要贪婪地用一些过 去无暇享受的赏心乐事来填
补自己生命中的最后几周，
释放那些在过去虽受到压抑但一直潜伏在 自己心中的欲望。
也许
是劳拉的无意的影响唤起了我心中的欲望。
Dismissive as Pharisee, I regarded as moonlings all those whose life was lived on a less practical
plane. Protests about damage to 'natural beauty' froze me wit,
and could spare no regrets for a lake dammed into hydraulic use for the benefit of an industrial
city in the Midlands. And so it was for all things. A hard materialism was my creed, accepted as a
law
of
progress;
any
ascription
of
disinterested
motives
aroused
not
only
my
suspicion
but
my
scorn.
※
过去，我像法利赛人一 样自以为是，轻视别人。只要别人的生活不像我这么讲求实
际，我就把他们看作月球居民。
对于 人们因“大自然的美”遭到破坏而提出的抗议我嗤之以
鼻，
因为我相信文明的进步的合理性。< br>对于为了利用水力使内地某个工业城市受益而在某个
湖泊上筑起拦湖大坝这种事情我根本不觉得遗 憾。
对一切事物我都是这种态度。
我信仰绝对
的实用主义，
并将其看作是人类 进步的自然法则。
任何人若标榜自己的行为出于无私的动机，
那不仅会引起我的怀疑，而且会引 起我的轻蔑。
And now see how I stand, as sentimental and sensitive as any old maid doing water-colour s of
sunsets! I once flattered myself that I was an adult man; I now perceive that I am gloriously and
abolescently silly. A new Clovis, loving what I have despised, and suffering from calf-love into the
bar gain, I want my till of beauty before I go. Geographically I did not care and scarcely know
where I am. There are no signposts in the sea.
可是看看现在 的我吧，竟然像一个老处女正用水彩画着西下的残阳，十分地多愁善感
!
我曾
自诩为老 成持重，现在却意识到自己原来这么幼稚无知。就像那个改弦易辙的克洛维一样，
我竟然对自己过去所鄙 视的一切开始热爱起来，
并且还要遭受少年初恋的痛苦。
我想在离开
人世之前尽情享受 一切美好的东西。我不知道也不想知道自己身处何方。茫茫大海无路标。
The young moon lies on her back tonight as is her habit in the tropics, and as, I think, is suitable if
not seemly for a virgin. Not a star but might not shoot down and accept the invitation to become
her lover. When all my fellow-passengers have finally dispersed to bed, I creep up again to the
deserted deck and slip into the swimming pool and float, no longer what people believe me to be,
a middle-aged journalist taking a holiday on an ocean-going liner, but a liberated being, bathed in
() mythological water s, an Endymion young and strong, with a god for his father and a vision of
the world inspired from Olympus. All weight is lifted from my limbs; 1 am one with the night; I
understand the meaning of pantheism . How my friends would laugh if they knew I had come to
this!
To
have
discarded
,
as
I
believe,
all
usual
frailties
,
to
have
become
incapable
of
envy,
ambition, malice , the desire to score off my neighbour, to enjoy this purification even as I enjoy
the clean voluptuousness of the warm breeze on my skin and the cool support of the water. Thus, I
imagine,
must
the
pious
feel
cleansed
on
leaving
the
confessional
after
the
solemnity
of
absolution .
※
< br>今夜的一弯新月仰面斜躺在天空，这是月亮在热带地区常见的姿势。在我看来，这
种姿势对一个少 女来说虽说有些不雅，
但却还是适宜的。
没有哪一颗星星不愿飞射下来接受
邀请做她的 情人。
当船上的其他乘客最后一个个都回舱就寝之后，
我一个人又悄悄爬上空荡
荡的甲 板，
滑人游泳池，
在水面上浮游着。
这时我已不再是人们所熟悉的那位在远洋海轮上< br>度假的中年记者了，
而是一个无拘无束的沐浴着天池神水的自由快乐的人，
就像神话中那 位
有天神作父亲并有一双奥林匹斯山诸神所赐的观察人世的慧眼的年轻健壮的恩底弥翁。
我只< br>觉身体四肢轻飘飘的没有任何重量，
并且和夜的世界合为一体。
我悟出了泛神论的真正意 义。
我的那些朋友们若知道我已变成这样，他们不知会笑成什么样子
!
在享受着这暖风 浴肤，凉
水托体所带来的清新快感时，我相信我的心灵也得到了净化，丢弃了凡人皆有的种种弱点，变得不会嫉妒，没有野心，没有恶意，与世无争。照我想象，那些虔诚的教徒在做完庄严的
忏悔仪式 离开忏悔室时，他们心灵得到净化的感觉一定就像我此时的感觉一样。
Sometimes Laura and I lean over the taffrail , and that is happiness. It may be by daylight, looking
at the sea, rippled with little white ponies, or with no ripples at all but on-ly the lazy satin of blue,
marbled at the edge where the passage of our ship has disturbed it. Or it may be at night, when the
sky surely seems blacker than ever at home and the stars more golden. I recall a phrase from the
diary of a half-
literate soldier, ‘ The stars seemed little cuts in the black cover, through which a
bright beyond was seen.' Sometimes these untaught scribblers have a way of putting things.
※
有时，劳拉 和我一起倚在船尾栏杆上，这对我是一种幸福。倘是在白天，我们凭栏
远眺大海，
只见海面上时 而翻卷起白色的浪花，
时而平静得宛若一幅微微飘动起伏着的蓝色
缎面，完全见不到翻起的浪花 ，只有我们的轮船驶过之处才泛起一道道如大理石般的波纹。
若是在夜晚，我们翘首望天，这儿的夜空比 故乡的更黑，
星光却显得更加璀璨。此时此景令
我不由想起一个粗通文墨的士兵在日记中写的这 样一句话：
“星星看起来就像一个黑锅盖上
挖的许多小窟窿，透过这些小窟窿可以看见锅盖外面 的亮光。
”有时候那些没念过书的人信
笔涂鸦写的东西倒也有那么两下子。
The wireless told us today that there is fog all over England.
据无线电广播，今天全英格兰弥漫着大雾。
Sometimes we follow a coastline, it may be precipitous bluffs of grey limestone rising sheer out of
the sea, or a low-lying arid stretch with miles of white sandy beach, and no sign of habitation, very
bleachedand
barren.
These
coasts
remind
me
of
people;
either
they
are
forbidding
and
unapproachable , or else they present no mystery and show all they have to give at a glance, you
feel the country would continue to be flat and featureless however far you penetrated inland. What
I like best are the stern cliffs, with ranges of mountains soaring behind them, full of possibilities,
peaks
to
be
scaled
only
by
the
most
daring.
What
plants
of
the
high
altitudes
grow
unravished
among
their
crags
and
valleys?
So
do
I
let
my
imagination
play
over
the
recesses
of
Laura's
Character,
so
austere
in
the foreground but
nurturing
what
treasures
of
tenderness, like
delicate
flowers, for the discovery of the venturesome.
※
有时，我们的轮船沿着海岸线航行。时而是突拔而起的石灰岩峭壁，时而是地势低
洼连绵数英里的茫茫沙滩，渺无人迹，凄惨荒凉。这种海岸景象使我联想到这样一些人，
他们或者是令人望而生畏，难以接近，或者是无秘可隐，让人一眼就可看穿。看见这些海岸，
你会产生 这样的感觉：不论你向内陆腹地深人多远，那里的土地都将和岸边一样平淡无奇。
我最喜爱的是岸边的那 些悬崖峭壁及其背后的那高耸云端、
神秘莫测的峰峦叠嶂，
那山峰只
有最英勇无畏的人 才能够攀登上去。
在崇山峻岭之间人迹未至的石隙和幽谷中生长着的是一
些什么样的高原植物呢
?
我也这样地让自己的想象力尽情地探索劳拉性格深处的秘密。她的
性情表面上严肃冷 峻，
但她内心里却蕴育着丰富温柔的情感，
宛如娇嫩的花朵，
等待着勇士
去发 现。
My fellow-passengers apparently do not share my admiration.
‘
Drearee sorter cowst,' said an Australian.
‘
Makes you Iong for a bit of green. '
同船的其他乘客们显然不能以我这样的眼光去欣赏海岸上的景色。
“这海 岸景象真是荒凉，
”一位澳大利亚人说。
“它让人渴望见到一点绿色。
”
Darkness
falls,
and
there
is
nothing
but
the
intermittent
g1eam
of
a
1iahthouse
on
a
solitary
promontory .
※
夜幕降临，四野茫茫，唯见一处荒凉的岬角的一座灯塔上的航标灯忽明忽暗地闪烁
着。
We rounded just such a cape towards sunset, the most easterly point of a continent, dramatically
high and lonely, a great purple mountain overhung by a great purple cloud. The sea had turned to a
corresponding dusk of lavender . Aloofad on the top, the yellow 1iaht revolved, steady, warning; I
wondered what mortal controlled it, in what must be one of the loneliest, most forbidding spots on
Earth.
Haunted
too,
for
many
wrecks
had
piled
up
on the
reefs
in
the
past,
when
there
was
no
beacon to guide them.
※
日落时分，我们的轮船正好绕过这样一个海角，它位于一块 大陆的最东端，是一座
孤峰高耸的紫色大山，
山顶上笼罩着大片紫色的云雾。
海水也相 应地变成了淡紫色。
山顶上，
黄色的航标灯不停地旋转着，
向过往船只发出警示信号。
我心中好奇，
在这也许称得上世界
上最荒僻最危险的地方，究竟是什么样的人在那里看 守着灯塔呢
?
那一带还是鬼魂出没的地
方，因为在过去没有指航灯指航的岁月里，那儿 的礁石上堆满了遇难船只的残骸。
The Colonel joined us.
‘
How would you care for that man's job?' he said.
‘
I suppose he sets relieved every so often?'
‘
On the contrary, he refuses ever to leave. He is an Italian, and he has been there for years
and years, with a native woman for his only company. Most people would think him crazy, but I
must say I find it refreshing to think there are still a few odd fish left in the world.
上校来到了我们身边。
“你觉得那人的职业怎样
?
’
’他问道。
“大概经常有人来换班吧
?
’
’
“恰恰相反，他一直不肯离开那儿。他是个意大利人，在那儿守了好多好多年了，与他
作伴的只有一个当地妇女。
一般人大概都会觉得他这人古怪，
但我一想到世上居然还剩着这< br>样几个怪人，就感到挺惬意。
”
This is the unexpected kind of remark that makes me like the Colonel; there is a touch of rough
poetry about him. I like also the out-of-the-way information which he imparts from time to time
without
insistence;
he
has
traveled
much,
and
has
used his
eyes
and
kept
his
ears
open.
I
have
discovered also that he knows quite a lot about sea-birds; he puts me right about the different sorts
of gull, and tells me very nicely that that couldn't possibly be an albatross , not in these waters.