感受原著:蒂凡尼早餐(二)

作者简介

(1924年杜鲁门·卡波特出生于美国新奥尔良州,少时在南方各州生活,在新奥尔良过冬,在亚拉巴马州和新佐治亚州度夏。毕业之后在《纽约客》打杂。1948年他的第一部小说“别的声音,别的房间”出版,深受好评,从而奠定了卡波特在战后美国文坛的地位。其它作品包括《草竖琴》(1951),《蒂凡尼早餐》(1958),《冷血》(1965),这些作品的出版曾一度饱受争议。2004年,他的作品《给变色龙听的音乐》(1980)和《应许的祈祷》(1986)在纽约大卖,2005年,英国企鹅出版社第一次在英国出版他的小说。

1984年8月,杜鲁门·卡波特猝死于女性友人家中。)

//Breakfast at Tiffany's

1. Her bedroom was consistent with her parlour: it perpetuated the same camping-out atmosphere; crates and suitcases, everything packed and ready to go, like the belongings of a criminal who feels the law not far behind.
她的卧室和客厅是一致的:永远都有一种即将露营的气氛;行李箱,手提箱,什么都收拾好了,拎起就走,就好比一个罪犯,总觉得警察就在身后,随时准备逃离。

注解

1. be consistent with: 与...相一致
2. perpetuate:保持
3. crate:板条箱
4. suitcase:手提箱
5. belongings:财产
6. criminal:罪犯
2. I thought of the future, and spoke of the past. Because Holly wanted to know about my childhood. She talked of her own, too; but it was elusive, nameless, placeless, an impressionistic recital, though the impression received was contrary to what one expected, for she gave an almost voluptuous account of swimming and summer, Christmas trees, pretty cousins, and parties: in short, happy in a way that she was not, and never, certainly the background of a child who had run away.
我想到了未来,并谈论了过去。因为荷莉想要知道我的童年。她也向我说起了她的童年。但她含糊其辞,根本就是一种没有名字,没有地点的印象派陈述,尽管这样的印象与你期待的相反,因为她几乎不停的在叙述游泳和夏天,圣诞树,漂亮的表姐,以及各种聚会。总而言之,好像很快乐的样子,但其实她并不快乐,而且这也不是一个离家出走的孩子的背景。

注解

  1. elusive:躲闪的

  2. impressionistic:印象派的

  3. recital:朗诵,陈述

  4. impression:印象

  5. be contrary to:与...相反

  6. voluptuous:丰满的

  7. account:陈述

  8. in short:简而言之

  9. background:背景

  10. run away:逃走,离家出走

3. She was through the doors before I recognized her, which was pardonable, for Holly and libraries were not an easy association to make.
她进门了,我才把她认出,但这是可以原谅的,因为你很难把莫莉和图书馆两者联系在一起。

注解

  1. recognize:认出

  2. pardonable:可原谅的

  3. make an association:联系

4. ... the average personality reshapes frequently, every few years even our bodies undergo a complete overhaul -- desirable or not, it is a natural thing that we should change. All right, here were two people who never would. That is what Mildred Grossman had in common with Holly Golightly. They would never change because they'd been given their character too soon; which, like sudden riches, leads to a lack of proportion: the one had splurged herself into a top-heavy realist, the other a lopsided romantic.
一般人的性格时常发生变化,甚至我们的身体每隔几年都要经历彻底变化 -- 不管你愿意不愿意,这都是很自然的一件事。然而,这里有两个永远都不会变化的人。这就是麦屈德和荷莉的相同之处。她们永远不会改变,那是因为她们的性格形成的太早,这就像一夜暴富引起的比例失调一般:一个成了头重脚轻的现实主义者,一个成了一边倒的浪漫主义者。

注解

  1. reshape = re(重新)+shape(塑造)

  2. undergo:进行

  3. overhaul:大修

  4. desirable:愿意的

  5. have in common with:与...有共同点

  6. sudden riches:突然的财富

  7. lead to:导致

  8. a lack of:缺乏

  9. proportion:比例

  10. splurge oneself into:放任自己成为...

  11. top-heavy:头重脚轻的

  12. realist:现实主义者

  13. lopsided:一边倒的

5. "But you can't give your heart to a wild thing: the more you do, the stronger they get. Until they're strong enough to run into the woods. Or fly to a tree. Then a taller tree. Then the sky. That is how you'll end up, Mr. Bell. If you let yourself love a wild thing. You'll end up looking at the sky."
但你不能把心掏给一个野东西,你越是倾心于他们,他们恢复的越快。直到有一天他们足够强大了,便逃到树林里去。或者飞上枝头,接着再攀高枝,最后飞上天。这就是你好心最终得到的回报,贝尔先生。如果你爱上野东西,你最终只有抬头看天的份儿。“

注解

  1. give one's heart to:倾心于...

  2. end up doing:以做某事告终

//Breakfast at Tiffany's

6." Good luck: and believe me, dearest Doc --it's better to look at the sky than live there. Such an empty place; so vague. Just a country where the thunder goes and things dissapear."
“祝你好运,但是相信我,亲爱的医生--天空只适合仰望,而不适合居住。那是一个空荡荡的地方,一个虚无缥缈的地方,一个雷声过后,什么都不留的地方。”

注解

1. vague:模糊不清的
2. thunder:雷
7. Those final weeks, spanning end of summer and beginning of another autumn, are blurred in memory, perhaps because our understanding of each other had reached that sweet depth where two people communicate more often in silence than in words.
从夏末到初秋的最后几周,我的记忆渐渐模糊,也许是因为我们两个彼此的了解已经达到了一个甜蜜的深度,两人可以经常用默默无语来替代言语交流。

注解

  1. blur:变得模糊

  2. sweet depth:甜蜜的深度

  3. in silence:沉默

  4. in words:用言语

8. I love New York , even though it isn't mine, the way something has to be, a tree or a street or a house, something, anyway, that belongs to me because I belong to it.
我爱纽约,即使它并不是我的,很多事就是这样,一棵树,一栋房子,不管什么,因为我属于它,那么它就属于我了。

注解

  1. even though = even if:即使

  2. belong to:属于

9. Suddenly, watching the tangled colors of Holly's hair flash in the red-yellow leaf light, I love her enough to forget myself, my self-pitying despairs, and be content that something she thought happy was going to happen.
看着荷莉多彩的头发在红黄树叶间闪闪发光,突然之间我对她的爱足以忘记我自己,忘记我自我怜悯的绝望,看到她以为快乐的事情就要发生从而快乐的样子,我也跟着快乐了。

注解

  1. tangled colors:杂色

  2. flash:闪过

  3. self-pitying:自我怜悯的

  4. despair:绝望

  5. content:满足的

10. I wondered what his name was, for I was certain he had one now, certain he'd arrived somewhere he belonged. African hut or whatever, I hope Holly has, too.
我不知道他(荷莉的猫)叫什么名字,但我肯定他一定有名字,肯定他已经找到了他的归宿。不管是在非洲的小茅屋还是别的什么地方,我希望荷莉也找到她的归宿。

注解

  1. be certain:肯定

  2. hut:小屋

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