英文小说佳句欣赏

洋八路

原帖由 拙泥 于 2011-10-5 00:43 发表
You think so? I thought that birds sing at dawn to celebrate a new day and  sing at sunset simply to make it more beautiful.

that is almost right in the eyes and ears and fancies of us humans, but why does the bird have to sing, from bird's point of view?..is it an action or a gesture, uncontrollalbe as it must be, out of the same instinct of shedding a dirt in the air, or is there something mysterious passion and desire in its small body?

洋八路

123 【War and Peace】Prince Andrey not only knew he was going to die, he could feel himself dying; he already felt half dead. He was feeling a sense of remoteness of all earthly things, and a strangely joyful lightness of being. Neither impatient nor anxious, he lay there waiting for what was to come.. The ominous, eternal, remote and unknown presence he had been conscious of throughout the whole of his life was now closing in on him, and becoming – through the strange lightness of being that he was now experiencing – almost intelligible and tangible. – In the past he had dreaded the end. Twice in his life he had experienced that ghastly, agonizing feeling, the fear of death, the end, but now he couldn’t understand why he had been so afraid of it. By Leo Tolstoy  怕死还是不怕死？越想越怕，还是越想越不怕？

洋八路

124 【War and Peace】Fussing with her hair, dressing up and singing songs just to appeal to her husband would have seemed as weird as adorning herself to please herself. Adorning herself to please other people might have been nice – she was not sure -- but she simply didn’t have the time. By Leo Tolstoy  打扮给谁看呢？

洋八路

125 【Anna Karenina 】"And I have confidence in myself when you are leaning on me," he said, but was at once panic-stricken at what he had said, and blushed. And indeed, no sooner had he uttered these words, when all at once, like the sun going behind a cloud, her face lost all its friendliness, and Levin detected the familiar change in her expression that denoted the working of thought; a crease showed on her smooth brow.  -- By Leo Tolstory, Translated by Constance Garnett. -- 错爱。。

拙泥

子非鱼安知鱼之乐？

[ 本帖最后由 拙泥 于 2011-11-14 21:51 编辑 ]

拙泥

Ture, our world is an immensely intriguing world. This is partly why I do not believe that it is all an accident.

拙泥

Previously ("Twice in his life he had experienced...") he had feared death when it came close to him. However, now he felt peaceful or even joyful and could hardly understand his own feeling towards death in the past.

What a beautiful feeling when one faces the ultimate reality-death!

[ 本帖最后由 拙泥 于 2011-11-14 21:52 编辑 ]

洋八路

原帖由 拙泥 于 2011-10-8 01:13 发表
子非鱼焉知鱼之乐？

人非鸟焉知鸟之愁。。

洋八路

126 【Anna Karenina 】"It's this, don't you see," said Stepan Arkadyevitch, "you're very much all of a piece. That's your strong point and your failing. You have a character that's all of a piece, and you want the whole of life to be of a piece too—but that's not how it is. You despise public official work because you want the reality to be invariably corresponding all the while with the aim—and that's not how it is. You want a man's work, too, always to have a defined aim, and love and family life always to be undivided—and that's not how it is. All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow." By Leo Tolstoy Translated by Constance Garnett

-- 有光就有影。。

洋八路

原帖由 洋八路 于 2011-10-7 16:45 发表
125 【Anna Karenina 】"And I have confidence in myself when you are leaning on me," he said, but was at once panic-stricken at what he had said, and blushed. And indeed, no sooner had he uttered these ...

表达不但没错，而且还很有智慧，可惜表错了对象。。。

洋八路

127 【The Portrait of a Lady】Real dusk would not arrive for many hours, but the flood of summer light had begun to ebb, the air had grown mellow, the shadows were long upon the smooth, dense turf.  by Henry James.

--  阳光夏天的一个下午。。

洋八路

128 【The Portrait of A Lady】'Whichever you do will matter very little to her,' said Isabel. 'She doesn't care a straw what men think of her.' by Henry James. -- 男人算根葱？

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129 【The Portrait of A Lady】
'No; the best part's gone, and gone for nothing.'
'Surely not for nothing, ' said Isabel.
"Why not -- what have I got? Neither husband, nor child, nor fortune, nor position, nor the traces of a beauty that I never had. '
' You have many friends, dear lady.'
'I'm not so sure!' cried Madame Merle.    by Henry James

-- 一个单身中年女性的困惑？

注：我现在在上海的‘鸽楼’，听着外面鸟的欢叫 -- 出乎预料，原来上海的鸟叫比悉尼的更抑扬顿挫。。

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-11-7 11:55 编辑 ]

洋八路

130 【The Portrait of a Lady】‘Whatever life you lead you must put your soul in it -- to make any sort of success of it, and from the moment you do that it ceases to be romance, I assure you: it becomes grim reality.’ by Henry James. -- 浪漫和现实无法调和。

洋八路

131 【Anna Karenina】"Yes, she won't forgive me, and she can't forgive me. And the most awful thing about it is that it's all my fault—all my fault, though I'm not to blame. That's the point of the whole situation," he reflected. -  by Leo Tolstoy, Translated by Constance Garnett.

-- ‘（偷情）- 是我的错，但我不该受到谴责’？？

annah

原帖由 洋八路 于 2011-6-8 10:03 发表

原帖由 洋八路 于 2011-6-6 11:26 发表
68. A mist rose between Mrs Creakle and me, and her figure seemed to move in it for an instant.  --  Charles Dickens [David Copperfield]

--  猜一下，如何理解？
作者泪眼模糊时感觉到她在‘雾’中晃动。。不是真的在他们之间有雾。。

这句很美

洋八路

132 【The Portrait of A Lady】‘I shall be delighted to help you in any way in my power.’ 'You're very generous; that's nothing new to me. The best way to hlep me will be to put as many hundred miles of sea between us as possible.' by Henry James. 这个拒绝方式比‘离我远点！’好很多。。


注：从今天开始一日两句，直到弥补完上个月（度假）期间的缺失 - 国内有些地方上不了足迹。。

annah

原帖由 洋八路 于 2011-11-7 11:09 发表
132 【The Portrait of A Lady】‘I shall be delighted to help you in any way in my power.’ 'You're very generous; that's nothing new to me. The best way to hlep me will be to put as many hundred miles ...

很有水准的委婉拒绝。

拙泥

" A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine; without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction..... Something of  vengeance I had tasted for the first time;as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned" -From "Jane Eyre" Charlotte Bronte

人生的第一次反抗- It tasts like aromatic wine.

拙泥

"Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs.... I hold another creed...with this creed I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime;  I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last; with this creed revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low: I live in calm, looking to the end"  - From "jan Eyre" Charlotte Bronte

A big-hearted 14-year old girl, who was often unjustly punished by her teacher in the orphanage.

洋八路

原帖由 拙泥 于 2011-11-8 01:47 发表
" A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine; without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of r ...

aromatic wine 是什么样的，怎么会象中毒一般？

洋八路

133  【Jane Eyre】Mrs. Reed might be at that time some six or seven and thirty; she was a woman of robust frame, square-shouldered and strong-limbed, not tall, and, though stout, not obese: she had a somewhat large face, the under jaw being much developed and very solid; her brow was low, her chin large and prominent, mouth and nose sufficiently regular; under her light eyebrows glimmered an eye devoid of ruth; her skin was dark and opaque, her hair nearly flaxen; her constitution was sound as a bell—illness never came near her;  by Charlotte Bronte. -- 这个描写的很仔细。。尤其喜欢 mouth and nose sufficiently regular...很有想象余地。

洋八路

134  【Jane Eyre】Speak I must: I had been trodden on severely, and must turn: but how?  What strength had I to dart retaliation at my antagonist?  I gathered my energies and launched them in this blunt sentence—

“I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed; and this book about the liar, you may give to your girl, Georgiana, for it is she who tells lies, and not I.”

Mrs. Reed’s hands still lay on her work inactive: her eye of ice continued to dwell freezingly on mine.

“What more have you to say?” she asked, rather in the tone in which a person might address an opponent of adult age than such as is ordinarily used to a child.

That eye of hers, that voice stirred every antipathy I had.  Shaking from head to foot, thrilled with ungovernable excitement, I continued—

“I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will never call you aunt again as long as I live.  I will never come to see you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty.”

“How dare you affirm that, Jane Eyre?”

“How dare I, Mrs. Reed?  How dare I?  Because it is the truth.  You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity.  I shall remember how you thrust me back—roughly and violently thrust me back—into the red-room, and locked me up there, to my dying day; though I was in agony; though I cried out, while suffocating with distress, ‘Have mercy!  Have mercy, Aunt Reed!’  And that punishment you made me suffer because your wicked boy struck me—knocked me down for nothing.  I will tell anybody who asks me questions, this exact tale.  People think you a good woman, but you are bad, hard-hearted.  You are deceitful!”

Ere I had finished this reply, my soul began to expand, to exult, with the strangest sense of freedom, of triumph, I ever felt.  It seemed as if an invisible bond had burst, and that I had struggled out into unhoped-for liberty.  Not without cause was this sentiment: Mrs. Reed looked frightened; her work had slipped from her knee; she was lifting up her hands, rocking herself to and fro, and even twisting her face as if she would cry.

“Jane, you are under a mistake: what is the matter with you?  Why do you tremble so violently?  Would you like to drink some water?”

“No, Mrs. Reed.”

“Is there anything else you wish for, Jane?  I assure you, I desire to be your friend.”

“Not you.  You told Mr. Brocklehurst I had a bad character, a deceitful disposition; and I’ll let everybody at Lowood know what you are, and what you have done.”

“Jane, you don’t understand these things: children must be corrected for their faults.”

“Deceit is not my fault!” I cried out in a savage, high voice.

“But you are passionate, Jane, that you must allow: and now return to the nursery—there’s a dear—and lie down a little.”

“I am not your dear; I cannot lie down: send me to school soon, Mrs. Reed, for I hate to live here.”

“I will indeed send her to school soon,” murmured Mrs. Reed sotto voce; and gathering up her work, she abruptly quitted the apartment.

I was left there alone—winner of the field.  It was the hardest battle I had fought, and the first victory I had gained: I stood awhile on the rug, where Mr. Brocklehurst had stood, and I enjoyed my conqueror’s solitude.  First, I smiled to myself and felt elate; but this fierce pleasure subsided in me as fast as did the accelerated throb of my pulses.  A child cannot quarrel with its elders, as I had done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play, as I had given mine, without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and the chill of reaction.  A ridge of lighted heath, alive, glancing, devouring, would have been a meet emblem of my mind when I accused and menaced Mrs. Reed: the same ridge, black and blasted after the flames are dead, would have represented as meetly my subsequent condition, when half-an-hour’s silence and reflection had shown me the madness of my conduct, and the dreariness of my hated and hating position.

Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.  Willingly would I now have gone and asked Mrs. Reed’s pardon; but I knew, partly from experience and partly from instinct, that was the way to make her repulse me with double scorn, thereby re-exciting every turbulent impulse of my nature.  - by Charlotte Bronte

-- 这个长段子，很精彩，大家耐心看完，可以更好地理解上面拙泥帖子中简爱‘发火’后aromatic wine 的感觉。。..

洋八路

135  【The Portrait of A Lady】‘Last night, very late; in a kind of snail-train they call the express. These Italian trains go at about the rate of an American funeral.'  by Henry James.

-- 火车以送葬的速度行驶。。

洋八路

136 【Anna Karenina】Levin suddenly blushed, not as grown men blush, slightly, without being themselves aware of it, but as boys blush, feeling that they are ridiculous through their shyness, and consequently ashamed of it and blushing still more, almost to the point of tears.  -  by Leo Tolstoy, Translated by Constance Garnett.

-- 有这么害羞的男人？

洋八路

137 【Anna Karenina】But Levin was in love, and so it seemed to him that Kitty was so perfect in every respect that she was a creature far above everything earthly; and that he was a creature so low and so earthly that it could not even be conceived that other people and she herself could regard him as worthy of her. By Leo Tolstory Translated by Constance
-- 爱上了，中毒了，无药可救了。。

洋八路

138 【Anna Karenina】"I'll come some day," he said. "But women, my boy, they're the pivot everything turns upon. Things are in a bad way with me, very bad. And it's all through women. Tell me frankly now," he pursued, picking up a cigar and keeping one hand on his glass; "give me your advice."

"Why, what is it?"

"I'll tell you. Suppose you're married, you love your wife, but you're fascinated by another woman…"

"Excuse me, but I'm absolutely unable to comprehend how…just as I can't comprehend how I could now, after my dinner, go straight to a baker's shop and steal a roll."

Stepan Arkadyevitch's eyes sparkled more than usual.

"Why not? A roll will sometimes smell so good one can't resist it."    by Leo Tolstoy, Translated by Constance Garnett.

---  this is ridiculously amusing, I have to laugh, to the very length and depth of my stomach ...

洋八路

139 【Anna Karenina】Anna glancing down at once recognized Vronsky, and a strange feeling of pleasure and at the same time of dread of something stirred in her heart.  by Leo Tolstory Translated by Constance

-- strange feeling of pleasure  + dread of something .... 莫名其妙的快乐和担忧？？

洋八路

140 【Anna Karenina】And on Vronsky's face, always so firm and independent, she saw that look that had struck her, of bewilderment and humble submissiveness, like the expression of an intelligent dog when it has done wrong. by Leo Tolstory Translated by Constance.  

-- 高傲自信的Vronsky 喜欢上了 Anna，变的如此谦卑。。。

洋八路

141 【The Portrait of a Lady】There's nothing makes us feel so much alive as to see others die. by Henry James.

-- 悲， 想不出说些什么了。。