大学英语精读第三册课文翻译.docx

1、大学英语精读第三册课文翻译第一课 与法律的小摩擦 我平生只有一次跟警方发生纠葛。被捕和出庭的整个过程在当时是一件非常不愉快的事，但现在倒成了一篇很好的故事。这次经历令人可恼之处在于围绕着我的被捕以及随后庭上审讯而出现的种种武断专横的情况。I have only once been in trouble with the law. The whole process of being arrested and taken to court(法院) was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story n

2、ow. What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent fate in court.事情发生在大约12年前，其时正是2月。几个月前我中学毕业了，但上大学要等到10月。当时我还在家中居住。It happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to universit

3、y until the following October. I was still living at home at the time.一天早晨，我来到里士满。这里是伦敦的一个郊区，离我住的地方不远我在寻找一份临时工作，以便积些钱去旅游。由于天气晴朗，当时又无急事，我便慢悠悠看看橱窗，逛逛公园。有时千脆停下脚步，四处张望。现在看来，一定是这种明显的毫无回的的游逛，使我倒了霉。One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where Ilived. I was looking for a temporary job so tha

4、t I could save up some moneyto go traveling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was takingmy time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimesjust stopping and looking around me. It must have been this obvious aim-lessness that led to my downfall.事情发生在11点半钟光景。我在当地图书馆谋职未成

5、，刚刚走出来，便看到一个人穿越马路，显然是要来跟我说话。我以为他要问我时间，不料他说他是警官，要逮捕我。起先我还以为这是在开玩笑，但又一个警察出现在我的面前，这次是位身着警服的，这一下使我确信无疑了。It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking outof the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, whenI saw a man walking across the road with the obvious inte

6、ntion of talkingto me. I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he wasa police officer and he was arresting me. At first I thought it was somekind of joke. But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and was left in no doubt.“为什么要抓我？”我问道。 “到处游荡，企图作案，”他说。“作什么案？”我又问。“

7、偷窃，”他说。“偷什么？”我追问。“牛奶瓶，”他板着面孔说道。“噢，”我说。事情原来是这样的，在这一地区多次发生小的扒窃案，特别是从门前台阶上偷走牛奶瓶。It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area,particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps.接着，我犯了一个大错误。其时我年方19，留一头蓬乱的长发，自认为是60年代“青年反主流文化”的一员。所以我想装出一副冷漠的、对这一事件满不在乎的样子。于是我尽量用一种漫不经心的极其随便的腔调说，“你们跟踪

8、我多久啦？”这样一来，在他们眼里，我就像是非常熟悉这一套的了，也使他们更加确信我是一个地地道道的坏蛋。Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had longuntidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties youth counterculture.As a result, I wanted to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, soI said, How long have you been fol

9、lowing me? in the most casual andconversational tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quitefamiliar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief thatI was a thoroughly disreputable character.几分钟后，开来了一辆警车。 “坐到后面去，”他们说。“把手放到前排座位的靠背上，不准挪动。”他们分别坐在我的两边。这可再也不是闹着玩的了。在警察局，

10、他们审讯了我好几个小时。我继续装成老于世故、对这种事习以为常。当他们问我在千什么时，我告诉他们在找工作。“啊，”我可以想见他们在想，“果然是个失业的家伙。”At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continuedto try to look worldly and au fait with the situation. When they asked mewhat I had been doing, I told them Id been looking for a job. Aha, Icould see

11、them thinking, unemployed .最后，我被正式指控，并通知我下周一到里士满地方法庭受审。随后他们让我离开。我想在法庭上作自我辩护，但父亲知道这事后，马上请了一位高明的律师。我们星期一出庭的时候，带了各种各样的证人，其中包括我中学的英语老师，作我人品的见证人。但结果法庭没有叫他作证。我的“审判”没有进行到那一步。开庭1 5分钟，法官就驳回了对我的指控。我无罪获释。可怜的警方败诉，我的律师甚至让法庭责成警方承担了诉讼费用。I wanted to conduct my own defense in court, but as soon as my fatherfound out

12、 what had happened, he hired a very good solicitor. We wentalong that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my Englishteacher from school as a character witness. But he was never called on togive evidence. My trial didnt get that far. The magistrate dismissed thecase after fifteen minu

13、tes. I was free. The poor police had never stood achance. The solicitor even succeeded in getting costs awarded against thepolice.这样，我的履历上没有留下犯罪的记录。但当时最令人震惊的，是那些显然导致宣布我无罪的证据。我讲话的口音“表明我受过良好教养”，到庭的有体面的中产阶级的双亲，有可靠的证人，还有，我显然请得起一名很好的律师。从对我指控的这种捕风捉影的做法来看，我肯定，如果我出身在另一种背景的家庭里，并且真的是失了业的话，我完全可能被判有罪。当我的律师要求赔偿诉

14、讼费时，他公然把辩护的证据建立在我“学业优异”这一事实上。And so I do not have a criminal record. But what was most shocking atthe time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on.I had the right accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliablewitnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good s

15、olicitor. Given the obscurenature of the charge, I feel sure that if I had come from a different background,and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would havebeen found guilty. While asking for costs to be awarded, my solicitors casequite obviously revolved around the fact that

16、I had a brilliant academicrecord .与此同时，就在审判室外面，一位抓我的警察正在沮丧地向我母亲抱怨，说是又一个小伙子要跟警察作对了。他带着责各的口气对我说，“我们抓你的时候，你本可以稍微帮J点忙的。”Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who hadarrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngsterhad been turned against the police. You could

17、 have been a bit more helpful when we arrested you, he said to me reproachfully.他说这话什么意思？大概是说我本该显出愤愤不平的样子，并说，“喂，留神，点，你知道你在跟谁说话？我是学业出众的高材生。你敢抓我！”那样一来，他们或许会向我道歉，说不定还会脱帽致意，让我走开呢。What did he mean? Presumably that I should have looked outraged and saidsomething like, Look here, do you know who youre talk

18、ing to? I am a highlysuccessful student with a brilliant academic record. How dare you arrest me!Then they, presumably, would have apologized, perhaps even taken offtheir caps, and let me on my way.第二单元 不肯告发的女人“我从来就不恨北方佬，我所恨的只是战争”我的姨婆贝蒂一讲起她的故事来，总是用这样的话开头。她的故事，在我还小的时候就听过多遍。姨婆住在弗吉尼亚贝利维尔一所旧房子里。每逢我们一家去看

19、望她，她都要讲讲她的故事，那时姨婆贝蒂都快80岁了。但我可以想象到故事里她的容貌刚刚20岁，长着一双亮晶晶的蓝眼睛，非常漂亮。贝蒂范米特完全有理由憎恨内战。她有个兄弟死在葛底斯堡战场上，还有一位当了俘虏。接着，她年轻的丈夫詹姆斯南部邦联的一名军官也被俘虏，关到某地一所不为人知的俘虏营里。9月下旬的一个热天，贝蒂家以前的奴隶迪克朗纳来到贝蒂处，告诉她一件奇怪的事。他在察看离范米特家半英里处的一所农舍时，本以为那是所空房子，但在屋里，他听到有人低声呻吟。他随着呻吟声来到顶楼，发现了一名受伤的联邦政府士兵，在他的身边放着一支步枪。贝蒂姨婆跟我讲起她第一次看到那个身着污渍斑斑的蓝军服、长着胡须的人时，

20、她总是说，“我就像步入一场梦境：可怕的绷带，吓人的气味。孩子，那才是战争的真实写照：没有军号，也没有战旗。有的只是痛苦和污秽，无益与死亡。”在贝蒂范米特眼里，这个伤兵不是敌人，而是一个受苦受难的人。她给他水喝，并设法擦净他那可怕的伤口。然后她走出农舍，到外面呼吸一点清凉的空气，她倚在屋旁，想到她所见到的这一切他那只打烂的右手，那条失去的左腿，真是恶心难忍。贝蒂在顶楼上找到的伤兵的证件，证实他的身份是第十一佛蒙特志愿军D连中尉亨利比德尔，30岁。她知道应该把这个联邦政府军官的情况向南方邦联的军队报告，可是她也明白她不会那样做。她是这样向我解释的：“我一直在想，他是不是在什么地方有一位妻子，等着他

21、，盼着他，可又毫无音信就像我一样。在我看来，唯一重要的事是让她的丈夫重新田到她的身旁。”詹姆斯范米特的妻子慢慢地、耐心地、巧妙地点燃了亨利比德尔身上奄奄一息的生命火花。要说药品，她几乎没有。而她又不肯从南方邦联医院里极少的一点医药用品里去拿。但她尽其所有作了一切努力。当比德尔的体力有所恢复时，他向贝蒂叙说了他在佛蒙特韦斯菲尔德的妻子和子女的J晴况。当贝蒂讲起她的兄弟和詹姆斯时，比德尔也仔细倾听着。贝蒂姨婆总是跟我讲，“我知道他的妻子一定在为他祈祷，就像我为詹姆斯祈祷一样。真奇怪，我和她的感情多么接近。”山谷地带，10月的夜晚变得越来越冷。比德尔的伤田感染突然加剧。在迪克和他妻子詹尼的帮助下，贝

22、蒂趁黑夜将这位联邦政府军官搬到她自家暖和的厨房上面的一个不易发现的阁楼上。但在第二天，比德尔发起高烧。贝蒂明白她必须求人帮助，否则他将会死去，因此找到她的家庭医生，多年的朋友格雷厄姆奥斯本。奥斯本医生为比德尔作了检查，然后摇摇头说，希望甚微，除非能弄到合适的药品。“那好，”贝蒂说。“我到哈珀斯渡口北方军那儿去弄！”医生说她想必疯了。联邦政府军的司令部在将近英里之外，即使找到了北方军，他们也决不会相信她的话。“我把证据带去，”贝蒂说。她到阁楼上取下一份血迹斑斑的文件，上面盖着陆军部的官印。“这是他最后一次晋升的记录，”她说。“我让他们看这个，他们一定会相信我。”她叫医生写下所需药品的清单。次日一

23、早，她就登程赶路。她驱车5个小时，马要休息时，她才停一停。当她终于到达哈珀斯渡口，找到司令官的时候，太阳都快落山了。约翰D史蒂文森将军听了她的叙述，但不信她的话。他说，“夫人，我们已接到比德尔阵亡的报告。”“他还活着，”贝蒂坚持说。“不过，除非他得到单子上的药品，否则他就活不了多久了。”“好吧，”将军最后说，“我不想为了搞清这r点事，而拿一个巡逻队的生命去冒险。”他转向一个下级军官说，“你负责让范米特太太得到这些药品。”他对贝蒂的感谢并没有怎么理会，却说道，“不管你讲的是真是假，你是一位勇敢的女性。”有了贝蒂带回贝利维尔的药品，奥斯本医生才将比德尔从垂危之中拯救了过来。10天之后，比德尔就能拄

24、着迪克为他制作的拐杖一瘸一拐地行走了。“我不能再这样连累你了，”比德尔对贝蒂说道，“我现在身体已经够好了，可以走了。我想尽早回去。”于是，他们作了安排，由贝蒂的邻居和朋友萨姆先生用他的运货马车协助贝蒂将比德尔送交驻守在哈珀斯渡口的联邦政府军司令部。他们将贝蒂的马和萨姆先生的骡一起套上车。比德尔躺在一个装满干草的旧木箱内，他将步枪和拐杖放在身边。行程迟缓而漫长，差一点以灾难而告终。在离联邦政府军防线仅有1小时的路程时，突然出现了两个骑马的人。一个人举着手枪，逼着要钱。另一人将萨姆从车上拉了下来，贝蒂吓呆了，坐着一动不动。就在这时，一声枪响，拿手枪的歹徒应声倒地身亡。又一声枪响，另一个歹徒也躺倒地

25、上。是比德尔开的枪！贝蒂看着他放下步枪，掸掉头发里的干草。“上车吧，萨姆先生，”他说道，“我们赶路吧！”在哈珀斯渡口，士兵们惊奇地盯着这位老农民和这位年轻的女子看。当缺了一条腿的联邦政府军官从装着干草的木箱里站起来时，他们更是惊愕不已。比德尔被派去华盛顿。在华盛顿，他把情况向陆军部长埃德温M斯坦顿作了汇报。斯坦顿给贝蒂写了一封感谢信，并签署了一项将詹姆斯范米特从战俘营释放的命令。可是首先必须找到詹姆斯。经过安排，由比德尔陪同贝蒂寻找她的丈夫。有文件记载，有个叫詹姆斯范米特的曾被送到俄亥俄的一个战俘营。可是当那些衣衫褴褛的俘虏们被带到贝蒂面前时，詹姆斯却不在里面。又查了一个俘虏营，结果也是一样。

26、贝蒂范米特拼命抑制着一种令人战栗不已的恐惧感，她担心她的丈夫已经死去了。后来在特拉华堡，在靠近一排战俘的末尾处，一个高高个子的人从队伍里走了出来，蹒跚着扑到贝蒂怀里。贝蒂拥抱着他，泪流满面。拄着拐杖站立一旁的亨利比德尔也流泪了。I never did hate the Yankees. All that I hated was the war. Thats how my great-aunt Bettie began her story. I heard it manytimes as a child, whenever my family visited Aunt Bettie in the

27、 old house in Berryville, Virginia. Aunt Bettie was almost 80 years old then. But I could picture her as she was in the story she told me- barely 20, pretty, with bright blue eyes.Bettie Van Metre had good reason to hate the Civil War. One of her brothers was killed at Gettysburg, another taken pris

28、oner. Then her young husband, James, a Confederate officer, was captured and sent to an un-known prison camp somewhere.One hot day in late September Dick Runner, a former slave, came to Bettie with a strange report. He had been checking a farmhouse half a mile away from the Van Metre home, a farmhou

29、se he thought was empty. But inside, he heard low groans. Following them to the attic,he found a wounded Union soldier, with a rifle at his side.When Aunt Bettie told me about her first sight of the bearded man in the stained blue uniform, she always used the same words. It was like walking into a n

30、ightmare : those awful bandages, that dreadful smell. Thats what war is really like, child: no bugles and banners. Just pain andfilth, futility and death. To Bettie Van Metre this man was not an enemy but rather a suffering human being. She gave him water and tried to clean his terrible wounds. Then

31、 she went out into the cool air and leaned against the house, trying not to be sick as she thought of what she had seen-that smashed right hand, that missing left leg. The mans papers Bettie found in the attic established his identity: Lt. Henry Bedell, Company D, North Vermont Volunteers, 30 years

32、old. She knew that she should report the, presence of this Union officer to the Con-federate army. But she also knew that she would not do it. This is how sheexplained it to me: I kept wondering if he had a wife somewhere, wait-ing, and hoping, and not knowing- just as I was. It seemed to me that the only thing that mattered was to get her h