旷野英文词典——精通英文必备（二）；另一面

深秋的旷野

雪夜读书。正在读的书。
　　

深秋的旷野

Sparrow这一意象在Simon&Garfunkel 的歌中出现过不止一次。If I Could:
　　I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail
　　Yes, I would
　　If I could
　　I surely would
　　叶广芩《贵妃东渡》p. 235：
　　正想入非非，日本人高声朗诵道，“长安一片月，万户捣衣声”。立刻感受到了自己境界的低矮，脑子里怎的尽是一门吃！
　　捣衣声之后的句号如果在英文里要放在引号内。中国的古文是没有标点符号的，标点来自（result from）西方。写英文时，别的标点都好掌握，唯独引号内的这个，被老师改过几次，所以印象深刻。
　　里尔克的另首诗The Apple Orchard 我也很喜欢。
　　他的Autumn Day和杜甫的一首诗在意境上有相通之处：悲悯，舍己；所不同的是诉诸的对象。
　　忙累的生活。思维零零碎碎，还是记下来，供自己查阅；或许有朋友不嫌浅陋，也喜欢看呢。

深秋的旷野

The Apple Orchard
　　Come let us watch the sun go down
　　and walk in twilight through the orchard's green.
　　Does it not seem as if we had for long
　　collected, saved and harbored within us
　　old memories? To find releases and seek
　　new hopes, remembering half-forgotten joys,
　　mingled with darkness coming from within,
　　as we randomly voice our thoughts aloud
　　wandering beneath these harvest-laden trees
　　reminiscent of Durer woodcuts, branches
　　which, bent under the fully ripened fruit,
　　wait patiently, trying to outlast, to
　　serve another season's hundred days of toil,
　　straining, uncomplaining, by not breaking
　　but succeeding, even though the burden
　　should at times seem almost past endurance.
　　Not to falter! Not to be found wanting!
　　Thus must it be, when willingly you strive
　　throughout a long and uncomplaining life,
　　committed to one goal: to give yourself!
　　And silently to grow and to bear fruit.

深秋的旷野

几年前读过的一首诗，当时能背下来。
　　记忆力很坏，现在只能记起来一句：
　　Life is not a stroll in field.
　　这句好像也是标题，作者是前苏联作家，写过《日瓦戈医生》的Pasternak，如果我没记错。
　　在网上搜也没找到，那位网友知道这首诗？

深秋的旷野

正在读的书。估计很多人读过。
　　

深秋的旷野

There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain… Or so says the legend.
　　小说开首前的一段话，很优美，寓含了主题和小说名字The Thorn Birds的由来。年轻时，看到这样的句子、段落，都会抄下来，低徊不已。而到了我现在这个岁数……也还是把它抄下来，其实我关心的是单词superlative, 在我的词汇笔记里这也是个重点词。
　　这一段用语并不生僻艰涩。outcarol稍难一点？想一想同构造的另一词outshine, 常见词哈，就很好理解这个词。carol是个常见词，狄更斯的一部小说名字就叫《圣诞颂歌》（A Christmas Carol）。

深秋的旷野

《荆棘鸟》，刚读完第一章，没有精读哈，遇见自己按不感兴趣的，就跳过去。
　　已成年的儿子Frank 希望有一天能为辛苦劳作的母亲Fee雇一个保姆，母亲对儿子说：
　　“It’s wrong because it can’t be! You know there’s no money to keep you at school, and if you can’t stay at school, how are you ever going to be anything better than a manual worker? You accent, your clothes and your hands show that you labor for a living. But it’s no disgrace to have calluses on your hands.”
　　教育的重要性。对于普通人家来说，教育可能是改善命运的唯一途径。这一点看来中西方皆然。
　　这一章里还有一大段风景的描写，是我的最爱。摘一句：
　　New Zealand’s scourges thundered up out of the bowels of the earth rather than descended from the skies.

深秋的旷野

《荆棘鸟》第4章。
　　“You didn’t convert?”
　　“I’m not a hypocrite, Father de Bricassart. I had lost faith in my own church, and I had no wish to espouse a different, equally meaningless creed.”
　　Fee 和Ralph 主教之间的对话。之所以摘引，是因为这几个单词：convert（改变，主要指信仰）, C-单词389楼；espouse（信奉）， E-单词780楼；creed（信条），C-单词427楼，在第一个帖子里，都贴过。
　　这一章及随后一章，Frank 看到母亲Fee又一次怀孕，很气愤，怒骂他的父亲Paddy“老色鬼！”(“The dirty old goat!”)，还和父亲打了起来，“You’re no better than a shitty old dog after any bitch you can stick your thing into!”
　　在读这几章时，还遇到了单词fastidious, unfathomable, 很熟悉，因为在F-单词里贴出过。

深秋的旷野

深秋的旷野

feasible adj. practical；reasonable 可行的，可用的
　　简单词
　　Writing the dictionary isn’t feasible since I don’t have enough time, money and energy.
　　以下是和高度兴奋有关的一组F-词，类似发烧哈（fever）。
　　febrile adj. fervent; fervid; feverish, marked by intense emotion or activity 高度兴奋的；发热的
　　Facing the celebrity, there was a febrile excitement in the fans.
　　fervent adj. ardent; passionate
　　fervid adj. very, very hot
　　fervor n. ardor; passion; zeal 热情
　　Screaming and crying, avid fans couldn’t hide their fervor for the celebrity.
　　I write this post with fervor.