第一冊(cè)第22篇：鄉(xiāng)村客棧一個(gè)陰雨的星期天
Washington Irving 華盛頓·歐文
A wet Sunday in a country inn ! Whoever has had the luck to experience one(1) can alone judge of(2) my situation. The rain pattered against the casements; the bells tolled for church with a melancholy sound. I went to the windows in quest of something to amuse the eye; but it seemed as if I had been placed completely out of the reach of ail amusement. The windows of my bed-room looked out(3) among tiled roofs and stacks of chimneys, while those of my sitting-room commanded a full view of(4) the stable yard. I know of nothing more calculated to make a man sick of this world than a stable yard on a rainy day. The place was littered with wet straw that had been kicked about by travellers and stable-boys. In one corner was a stagnant pool of water, surrounding an island of muck; there were several half-drowned fowls crowded together under a cart, among which was a miserable, crest-fallen cock, drenched out of ail life and spirit; his drooping tail matted, as it were, into a single feather, along which the water trickled from his hack; near the cart was a half- dozing cow, chewing her cud, and standing patiently to be rained on, with wreaths of vapour(5) rising from her reeking hide; a wall-eyed(6) horse, tired of the loneliness of the stable, was poking his spectral head out of a window, with the rain dripping on it from the eaves; an unhappy cur, chained to a dog-house hard by, uttered something every now and then between a bark and a yelp; a drab of a kitchen wench(7) tramped backwards and forwards through the yard in pat- tens, looking as sulky as the weather itself; everything, iq short, was comfortless and forlorn, excepting a crew of hardened ducks, assembled like boon companions round a puddle and making a riotous noise over their liquor.
中文譯文：
鄉(xiāng)村客棧一個(gè)陰雨的星期天!凡有幸度過這樣一天的人，都能體會(huì)我現(xiàn)在的處境。雨點(diǎn)子噼噼啪啪地打在窗子上，教堂里傳來沉重的鐘聲，召喚人們?nèi)プ龆Y拜.我走到窗前，想找一些賞心悅目的東西，但看來我已完全被摒于一切歡樂之外.從臥室的窗口望出去，是一片磚瓦的屋頂和林立的煙囪，而從起居室的窗口往下看，則能望見整個(gè)馬廄院子。我覺得再電沒有比雨天的馬廄院子更令人厭舸的了.遍地是淋濕了的稻草，被旅客和小馬倌們踢得凌亂不堪。在院子的一角，一潭污水圍著孤島似的糞堆，幾只幾平被雨水淋透的雞簇?fù)碓谝惠v馬車底下，其中一只可憐的公雞，倒垂著雞冠，被淋得沒精打彩，毫無生氣，它那耷拉著的尾巴粘結(jié)在一起，仿佛只成了一根羽毛，雨水順著它從背脊往下直淌，高馬車不遠(yuǎn)處.有一頭睡跟惺忪的奶牛，嘴里嚼著反芻的食物，默默地站在那里，任憑雨水打在身上，濕淋琳的背上日出繚繞的水氣;一匹眼珠小而眼白特大的馬厭倦了馬廄里的寂寞，把它那幽靈似的腦袋從窗口探了出來，屋檐上的雨水漓瀝滴瀝地落在它頭上;一只不幸的雜種狗被鏈條拴在近旁的狗窩里，時(shí)時(shí)發(fā)出似吠似嗥的聲音;一個(gè)邋遢廚娘拖著木屐，邁著沉重的步子在院子里進(jìn)進(jìn)出出，她那郁郁不樂的神色，就象陰沉的天氣一樣;總之，除了一群飽經(jīng)風(fēng)雨的鴨子，象飲酒作樂的朋友那樣聚集在污水潭的四周呷呷嬉水而外，這兒的一切都令人感到凄涼的沮喪。
英文注釋：
(1) One： 代詞：這里指的是"A wet Sunday in a country inn"，作experience的賓語。
(2)judge of：對(duì)……作出評(píng)價(jià)。
(3)looked out： (房間等)面朝。
(4)commanded a full view of…. 俯瞰……的全景;居高臨下，可以全部看見…"。
(5) wreaths of vapour： wreath是煙、云作螺旋狀的渦圈，這里的wreath of vapour指繚繞升起的水氣渦圈。
(6) wall-eyed： 眼白特別大的，兩醒珠向外斜視的。
(7)a drab of a kitchen wench： 一個(gè)邋遢廚娘。drab：不整潔的女人，邋遢女人。莢語中常用a … of a…這種名詞結(jié)構(gòu)來描寫人或物，如a fool or a man(一個(gè)呆子般的男人)，a beast of a Place(一個(gè)很臟的地方)等等。
