Lesson 16 Mary had a little lamb 内容鉴赏

Lesson 16 Mary had a little lamb

1. Mary and her husband Dimitri lived in the tiny village of Perachora in southern Greece.

the tiny village of Perachora in southern Greece 希腊南部一个叫波拉考拉的小村庄.

译: 玛丽和他的丈夫迪米特里住在希腊南部一个叫波拉考拉的小村庄里.

2. One of Mary’s prize possessions was a little white lamb which her husband had given her.

prize n.奖品, adj. 珍贵的, 宝贵的.

one of Mary's prize possessions 玛丽珍贵的财产之一.

a little white lamb 一只白色的小羔羊.

which her husband had given her 为定语从句, 修饰 a little white lamb. 在定语从句中, her husband had given her处的时态为过去完成时, 这是因为"她丈夫给她一只白色的小羔羊"这一动作发生在作者评论"玛丽珍贵的财产之一是一只白色的小羔羊"之前, 即"她丈夫给她一只白色的小羔羊"发生在过去的过去, 所以用过去完成时. 

译: 玛丽珍贵的财产之一是一只白色的小羔羊, 这小羔羊是她丈夫送给她的.

3. She kept it tied to a tree in a field during the day and went to fetch it every evening.

fetch 取来, 接来    fetch it 将小羔羊牵回家.

keep it tied to a tree 将它拴在树上.

in a field 在地里.

译: 白天她将小羔羊拴在地里的一颗树上, 傍晚将它牵回家.

4. One evening, however, the lamb was missing.

the lamb was missing 用了过去进行时, 目的是对one evening这个时间进行强调.

译: 可是, 在一天晚上, 小羔羊不见了.

5. The rope had been cut, so it was obvious that the lamb had been stolen.

the rope had been cut 用了过去完成时, 这是相对于上一句 the lamb was missing 而言的: 即在小羔羊丢失前, 绳子就已经被剪断了(小偷先剪断绳子, 方能偷走小羔羊). 那么, "绳子被剪断"发生在"小羔羊丢失"之前, 所以用过去完成时.

the lamb had been stolen 用了过去完成时, 这是相对于 it was obvious 而言的: 即在作者发出"这是显然的"的评论之前, 小羔羊就已经被偷走了. 那么, "小羔羊被偷走"发生在作者的评价"这是显然的"之前, 所以用过去完成时.

译: 绳子被剪断了, 所以显然小羔羊被偷走了.

6. When Dimitri came in from the fields, his wife told him what had happened.

 Dimitri came in from the fields. 迪米特里从地里回来.

what had happened 用了过去完成时, 这是相对于 his wife told him 而言的.

译: 迪米特里从地里回来, 他的妻子和他说明了情况.

7. Dimitri at once set out to find the thief. He knew it would not prove difficult in such a small village.

at once 立刻, 马上.

set out 出发.

it would not prove difficult to do = it would not be difficult to do. 做什么并不是件难事. 

译: 迪米特里马上出发去找偷羔羊的人. 他知道在这样一个小村庄里抓住小偷并不是件难事.

8. After telling several of friends about the theft, Dimitri found out that his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly acquired a new lamb.

find out 发现.

acquire 获得, 取得, 学到. (通过某种手段获得)

his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly acquired a new lamb 用了过去完成时, 这是相对于 Dimitri found out 而言的: 即迪米特里发现之前, 他的邻居就已经得到了一只小羔羊. 那么, "他的邻居得到了一只小羔羊"发生在"迪米特里发现"之前, 所以用过去完成时.

译: 把失窃的事告诉了几个朋友后, 迪米特里发现, 他的邻居阿列科, 突然得到一只羔羊.

9. Dimitri immediately went to Aleko’ s house and angrily accused him of stealing the lamb.

accuse him of stealing the lamb 指控他偷羔羊.

译: 迪米特里立即前往阿列科家, 气呼呼地指控他偷走了自己的羔羊.

10. He told him he had better return it or he would call the police.

had better return it 最好归还(带有威胁、告诫的语气).   had better do 比 should do 和 ought to do 语气更强烈, 常带有威胁、告诫或催促的意思.

call the police 打电话报警.

译: 他告诉阿列科最好将羔羊归还给他, 否则他就打电话报警.

11. Aleko denied taking it and led Dimitri into his backyard. It was true that he had just bought a lamb, he explained, but his lamb was black.

Aleko denied taking it 阿列科否认偷了羔羊.

he had just bought a lamb 用了过去完成时, 这是相对于 it was true 而言的: 即"阿列科买了一只小羔羊"发生在其发出"it was true"评论之前, 所以用过去完成时.

he explained 为插入语.

译: 阿列科否认偷了羔羊, 并带着迪米特里来到了自己的后院. 不假, 他确实刚买了一只小羔羊, 他解释道, 但是他的羔羊是黑色的.

12. Ashamed of having acted so rashly, Dimitri apologized to Aleko for having accused him.

ashamed of having acted so rashly 为伴随状语, 说明迪米特里在向阿列科道歉时, 一只由于刚才行为的莽撞而感到羞愧.

由于迪米特里先行为莽撞, 之后他才向阿列科道歉, 所以迪米特里的莽撞行为发生在他道歉之前, 所以应用完成时态修饰act rashly.

由于迪米特里先指控阿列科偷羔羊, 后向其道歉, 所以迪米特里指控阿列科的行为发生在他道歉之前, 所以应用完成时态修饰accuse him.

译: 迪米特里为刚才的莽撞行为感到不好意思, 向阿列科道了歉, 说是错怪了他. (此处翻译十分巧妙)

13. While they were talking it began to rain and Dimitri stayed in Aleko’ s house until the rain stopped.

while 后一般用延续性动词, 而 when 后一般用瞬间动词.

while they were talking 与 until the rain stopped 都为句子的时间状语.

译: 当他们正在说话时, 天下起了雨, 迪米特里便呆在阿列科家避雨, 一直等到雨停为止.

14. When he went outside half an hour later, he was astonished to find that the little black lamb was almost white.

astonish 使......惊讶.

译:半小时后, 当他从屋里出来时, 惊讶地发现那只黑色的羔羊几乎变成了白色.

15. Its wool, which had been dyed black, had been washed clean by the rain.

dye 染. 

由于"羔羊的毛被染成黑色"发生在"迪米特里惊讶地发现小黑羔羊的毛几乎变成了白色"之前, 所以用过去完成时表达"羔羊的毛被染成黑色".

由于"羔羊的毛被雨水冲刷干净"发生在"迪米特里惊讶地发现小黑羔羊的毛几乎变成了白色"之前,所以用过去完成时表达"羔羊的毛被雨水冲刷干净".

译: 原来羊毛上染的黑色被雨水冲刷掉了.

在英语表达中, 使用完成时态是一件十分正常的事情——特别是在主句-从句结构中尤为常见. 下面我将给出两个例子, 来帮助大家理解使用完成时态的场合.

① When he went outside half an hour later, he was astonished to find that the little black lamb was almost white. 抛却前面的时间状语从句不看, 后面的句子由主句和宾语从句组成. 主句的时态是一般过去时, 宾语从句的时态也是一般过去时: 这是因为"他惊讶地发现"和"小黑羔羊的毛几乎变成了白色"这两个动作几乎同时发生, 也就是说不存在一前一后的关系, 所以都用一般过去时修饰即可. 

② After telling several of his friends about the theft, Dimitri found out that his neighbour, Aleko, had suddenly acquired a new lamb.  抛却前面的时间状语从句不看, 后面的句子由主句和宾语从句组成. 主句的时态是一般过去时, 宾语从句的时态是过去完成时: 这是因为宾语从句中讲述的"阿列科突然得到一只小羔羊"和主句中讲述的"迪米特里发现"这两个动作存在先后关系, 且在迪米特里发现前, 阿列科就已经得到一只小羔羊了, 所以用过去完成时表达"阿列科家突然得到了一只小羔羊".