A Tale of Two Cities (excerpt)
狄更斯在《雙城記》一書的開頭就說, “這是一個(gè)最好的時(shí)代,也是一個(gè)最壞的時(shí)代” 。妙哉斯言!這段文字中多個(gè)平行句所表達(dá)的希望與絕望、光明與黑暗、理想與現(xiàn)實(shí)一直深深地打動(dòng)讀者。文中句型的反復(fù)、形式上的對(duì)偶、內(nèi)容上的對(duì)比、總體結(jié)構(gòu)上的平行(排比) ,都值得我們細(xì)細(xì)體味。
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.
—— Charles Dickens
[注釋]:
wisdom: a wise outlook, plan, or course of action 智慧,明智的行為,學(xué)識(shí)
epoch: a particular period of history, especially one considered remarkable or noteworthy age, era,
period 新紀(jì)元,時(shí)代,時(shí)期
incredulity: the state or quality of being incredulous; disbelief 懷疑
despair: to lose all hope 絕望,失望
查爾斯·狄更斯(1812—1870) ,英國(guó)大名鼎鼎的作家,是 19 世紀(jì)英國(guó)現(xiàn)實(shí)主義文學(xué)的主要代表。他筆耕一生,靠勤奮和汗水創(chuàng)作出《大衛(wèi)·科波菲爾》 、《雙城記》等世界名著。他的作品以妙趣橫生的幽默、細(xì)致入微的心理分析以及現(xiàn)實(shí)主義描寫與浪漫主義氣氛的有機(jī)結(jié)合而著稱?!?/p>