背誦名篇~~~通向「流暢英語寫作」的不二法門 [捷徑篇]

About Reading Books
by Virginia Woolf

           It is simple enough to say that since books have classes- fiction, biography, poetry---we should separate them and take from each what is right that each should give us. Yet few people ask from books what books can give us. Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, of poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning. Do not dictate to your author; try to become him.  Be his fellow-worker and accomplice. If you hang back, and reserve, and criticize at first, you are preventing yourself from getting the fullest possible value from what you read. But if you open your mind as widely as possible, then signs and hints of almost imperceptible fineness, from the twist, and turn of the first sentences, will bring you into the presence of a human being unlike any other. Steep yourself in this, acquaint yourself with this, and soon you will find that your author is giving you, or attempting to give you, something far more definite. The thirty-two chapters of a novel---if we consider how to read a novel first---are an attempt to make something as formed and controlled as a building: but words are more impalpable than bricks, reading is a longer and more complicated process than seeing. Perhaps the quickest way to understand the elements of what a novelist is doing is not to read, but to write, to make your own experiment with the dangers and difficulties of words. Recall, then, some event that has left a distinct impression on you---how at the corner of the street, perhaps, you passed two people talking, A tree shook, an electric light danced, the tone of the talk was comic, but also tragic, a whole vision, an entire conception, seemed contained in that moment.
【註釋】
blur模糊;使模糊不清
banish 流放,放逐  
preconception偏見
try  to  become him：應努力站在作者的立場上。become在這裡用作及物動伺、解作「配合」、「適應」。
steep陡峭的
acquaint  yourself  with…，使（你）自己認識（了解）…
impalpable無形的  
contained從容的

談 讀 書
         既然書籍有不同的門類，如小說、傳記、詩歌等，我們就應該把它們區分開來，並從每種中汲取它應當給我們提供的正確的東西;這話說起來固然容易，然而，很少有人要求從書籍中得到它們所能提供的東西，通常我們總是三心二意地帶著模糊的觀念去看書：要求小說情節真實，要求詩歌內容虛構，要求傳記阿諛奉承，要求歷史能加深我們自己的偏見。如果我們讀書時能拋棄所有這些成見，那將是一個極可貴的開端。我們對作者不要指手劃腳，而應努力站在作者的立場上，設想自己在與作者共同創作。假如你退縮不前，有所保留並且一開始就批評指責，你就在妨礙自己從你所讀的書中得到最大的益處, 然而，如果你能盡量敞開思想，那麼，書中開頭幾句迂迴曲折的話里所包含的幾乎難以覺察的細微的跡象和暗示，就會把你引到一個與眾不同的人物的面前去。如果你深入下去，如果你去認識這個人物，你很快就會領悟作者正在給你或試圖給你某些明確得多的東西。倘若我們首先考慮怎樣讀小說，那麼，一部小說中的三十二章就是企圖創造出象一座建築物那樣既有一定的形式而各部分又受到控制的東西，不過詞句要比磚塊難以捉摸，閱讀的過程要比看一看更費時、更複雜。理解小說家創作工作的各項要素的捷徑也許並不是閱讀，而是寫作，而是親自試一試遣詞造句中的艱難險阻。那麼，回想一下給你留下鮮明印象的某些事――比如，你怎樣在大街的拐角處從兩個正在交談著的人身邊走過，樹在搖曳、燈光在晃動，談話的語氣既喜又悲；這一瞬間似乎包含了一個完整的想象，一個整體的構思。
【作者簡介】
維吉尼亞•吳爾夫（1882-1941），英國小說家，在她的小說里，縮小作者作為敘述者或評論者的作用。她同時也是一位公認的評論家。

A Little Girl
From Alyson  by Theodore Watts-Duncan

           Sitting on a grassy, beneath one of the windows of the church, was a little girl. With her head bent back,  she was gazing up at the sky and singing, while one of her little hands was pointing to a tiny cloud that hovered like a golden feather above her head. The sun, which had suddenly become very bright, shining on her glossy hair, gave it a metallic luster, and it was difficult to say what was the color, dark bronze or black. So completely absorbed was she in watching the cloud to which her strange song or incantation seemed addressed, that she did not observe me when I rose and went towards her. Over her head, high up in the blue, a lark that was soaring towards the same gauzy cloud was singing, as if in rivalry. As I slowly approached the child, I could see by her forehead, which in the sunshine seemed like a globe of pearl, and especially by her complexion, that she was uncommonly lovely. Her eyes, which at one moment seemed blue-gray, at another violet, were shaded by long black lashes, curving backward in a most peculiar way, and these matched in hue her eyebrows, and the tresses that were tossed about her tender throat and were quivering in the sunlight. All this I did not take in at once; for at first I could see nothing but those quivering, glittering, changeful eyes turned up into my face. Gradually the other features, especially the sensitive full-lipped mouth, grew upon me as I stood silently gazing. Here seemed to me a more perfect beauty than had ever come to me in my  overset dreams of beauty. Yet it was not her beauty so much as the look she gave me that fascinated me, melted me.
【註釋】
with her head bent back: with +名詞或代詞賓格+分詞(或形容詞、介詞短語等)作狀語，表示伴隨情況。
So completely absorbed was she...that...：這是一個so...that...結構的主從複合句，其中主句採用全倒裝語序。address...to：對......說話。這裡是指對著雲彩歌唱或念念不休。that引導的是一個本身帶有時間狀語從句的結果狀語從句。
in rivalry(with)：與......比高低、爭雄、鬥豔、等等。
at another violet: = at another moment (seemed) violet: 一會兒又象是紫羅蘭色的。
Yet it was not her beauty so much as the look...that fascinated me, melted me：not so much...as 作"與其說......不如說......"解釋。It was...that...用作強調結構。melted me：融化了我，即：使我陶醉。

小女孩
     在教堂的一扇窗下,長滿綠草的墳堆上，坐著個小女孩。她仰著頭，望著天空，唱著歌兒。她的小手指點著一朵飄浮在她頭頂的金色羽毛般的小彩雲。突然間，陽光顯得格外燦爛，照在她光澤的頭髮上，給她塗上一層金屬似的光彩；很難說出它究竟是什麼顏色，是深褐色，還是黑色。她是那麼全神貫注地望著彩雲，她那奇妙的歌聲，或可說是喃喃自語，似乎是對著那彩雲而發的。因而她沒有注意到我站起身來朝她走去。在她上空高高的藍天里，一隻展翅飛向那朵輕盈透明的彩雲的雲雀也在歌唱，似乎在與她賽歌。我慢步向小女孩走去，她那在陽光下如同珍珠一樣圓潤的前額，特別是她那膚色，使我感到她真是異常可愛。她那黑黑的長睫毛非常別緻地朝後彎曲著，掩映著一雙一會兒象是藍灰色的、一會兒又象是紫羅蘭色的眼睛。她的長睫毛同她的眉毛和頭髮色澤調和，披拂在她嬌嫩的脖子上的發綹，在陽光里輕輕飄動。我並沒有馬上領略到這一切，因為我一開始只注意了那雙閃閃發光、富於表情、盯著我看的眼睛。我佇立在一邊默默地注視著她，才漸漸地看清了她容貌的其他部分，特別是那張靈敏而又豐滿的小嘴。呈現在我眼前的這一美的形象似乎比我在最美好的夢境中所見過的更美。然而，與其說是她的美麗，不如說是她朝我看的那種眼神，更使我著迷，更使我陶醉。
【作者簡介】
西奧多•瓦茨•鄧頓(1832-1917):英國評論家和詩人。

A Curious Decision
Anonymous

             A poor chimney-sweeper, who had not enough money to buy a meal, stopped one hot summer day at noon before an eating-house, and remained regaling his nose with the smell of the victuals. The master of the shop told him several times to go away, but the sweep could not leave the savory smell, though unable to purchase the taste of the food. At last the cook came out of the shop, and taking hold of the sweep, declared that, as he had been feeding upon  the smell of his victuals, he should not go away without paying half the price of a dinner. The poor fellow said that he neither could nor would pay, and that he would ask the first person who should pass, whether it was not an unreasonable and unjust demand.
        The case was referred to a policeman, who happened to pass at that moment. He said to the sweep: "As you have been feasting one of your senses with the odor of this man's meat, it is but just you should make him some recompense; therefore you shall, in your turn, regale one of his senses, which seems to be more insatiable than your appetite. How much money have you?"
        "I have but two pence in all the world, sir, and I must buy me some bread."
        "Never mind," answered the officer, "take your two pence between your hands; now rattle them loudly."
         The sweep did so, and the officer, turning to the cook, said, 「Now, sir, I think he has paid you: the smell of your victuals regaled his nostrils; the sound of his money has tickled your ears."
         This decision gave more satisfaction to the bystanders than to the cook, but it was the only payment he could obtain.
【註釋】
the sweep: 掃煙囪的工人。
feed upon(on)...：以......為食物。
The case was referred to a policeman: 此事提交警察處理。to refer... to：把... 提交。
meat: 這裡作"食物"解。
you shall: shall 用於陳述句的第二、第三人稱時，表示說話者的意向、命令、允諾、警告等。這裡作"應該"解。在現代英語中，表示這種意思時，一般都用should代替shall。

奇妙的裁決
佚名
有一個貧窮的掃煙囪工人，窮得連一頓飯也買不起。一個炎熱的夏天中午，他在一家餐館前停了下來，站在那兒用鼻子貪婪地嗅著食物的香味。餐館老闆幾次叫他走開，但他雖然沒有能力買食物來嘗嘗，卻又捨不得離開這令人饞涎欲滴的香味。最後，廚師從店堂內走了出來，一把抓住那個掃煙囪工人，說他聞飽了菜肴的香味，硬要他付一半飯錢，不然，就不放他走。那個窮漢子說他既付不起，也不願意付!並且提出要請第一個過路人來評一評這樣的要求是否公道合理。
        這時候，一個警察碰巧從旁邊經過，這事就告到了他那裡。警察對掃煙囪工人說："既然你的一個感官享受了這人烹調的食物的香味，你就應該給他一定的報酬，這是公平合理的 ；所以現在該輪到你使他的一個感官得到享受，他的這一感官看來比你的胃口更難以滿足。你身上有多少錢?"
       "總共只有兩個便士，我還要買麵包吃呢，先生。"
        "不要緊，"警察回答道，"把你的兩個便士用雙手捂著；現在使勁把它們咔嗒咔嗒地搖出聲音來。"
        掃煙囪的工人這樣做了。於是警察轉身對廚師說："先生，我想現在他給了你報酬了；你那食物的香味給了他鼻子以享受；他那錢幣的響聲也飽了你的耳福."   
         這一裁決使旁觀者大為滿意，廚師雖然不滿意，但他也只能得到這樣的報酬了。

Oliver Goldsmith
By Washington Irving

     There are few writers for whom the reader feels such personal kindness as for Oliver Goldsmith, for few have so eminently possessed the magic gift of identifying themselves with their writings. We read his character in every page and grow into familiar intimacy with him as we read. The artless benevolence that beams throughout his works; the whimsical, yet amiable views of human life and human nature; the unforced humor, blending so happily with good feeling and good sense, and singularly dashed at times with a pleasing melancholy; even the very nature of his mellow, and flowing and softly tinted , ---all seem to bespeak his moral as well as his intellectual qualities, and make us love the man at the same time that we admire the author. While the productions of writers of loftier pretension and more resounding names are suffered to molder on our shelves, those of Goldsmith are cherished and laid in our bosoms. We do not quote them with ostentation, but they mingle with our minds, sweeten our tempers, and harmonize our thoughts; they put us in good humor with ourselves and with the world, and in so doing they make us happier and better men.
          An acquaintance with the private biography of Goldsmith lets us into the secret of his gifted pages. We there discover them to little more than transcripts of his own heart and picturing of his fortunes. There he shows himself the same kind, artless, good-humored, excursive, sensible, whimsical, intelligent being that he appears in his writings.
         Scarcely an adventure or character is given in his works, that may not be traced to his own party-colored story. Many of his most ludicrous scenes and ridiculous incidents have been drawn from his own blunders and mischances, and he seems really to have been buffeted into almost every maxim imparted by him for the instruction of his reader.

奧利弗•哥爾德斯密斯
華盛頓•歐文
              象奧利弗•哥爾德斯密斯那樣，使讀者傾心愛慕其人品的作家，實屬屈指可數，因為極少作家具有他那種把自己融化在作品之中的奇才。在他的每一頁作品中，我們都可看到他的性格，因此在閱讀的過程中對他越來越了解，越來越感親切。他的全部作品中閃爍著赤誠的慈悲之心；他對人生和人性的看法雖離奇卻不乏溫情；他的幽默毫不勉強，揉入了美好的感情與良知理性，是那麼恰如其分，有時夾雜一絲宜人的憂鬱感，更是獨具一格；還有，他的風格醇厚、流暢、色彩柔和――這一切似乎都表明了他的道德品質與智慧，使我們不僅因他是作家而欽佩他，同時還對他本人產生愛慕之情。在我們聽任自命不凡和名聲更大的作家的作品躺在書架上發霉的同時，哥爾德斯密斯的作品卻被我們棒在懷中，視若至寶。這不是因為我們想引用他的作品以示賣弄，而是它們已融入了我們的心靈，陶冶了我們的性情，融洽了我們的思想；它們使我們對己、對人都胸懷開朗，並因而使我們更幸福，更完美。
      熟悉哥爾德斯密斯的個人身世使我們得以了解他那些一頁又一頁的天才作品的秘密。我們發現他的作品不過是他內心的表白，是他個人命運的寫照。他自己就是他作品中所描寫的那個仁慈、樸實、快活、散漫、明智、充滿奇想和聰明的人。
      他的作品中幾乎沒有一樁事件或一個人物不是取材於他本身豐富多彩的生活經歷。他的許多最滑稽的情節和最可笑的插曲都是來自他自己做過的蠢事和不幸遭遇，看來他傳授給讀者並藉以教育讀者的每一句箴言，都是他在生活中磨練出來的。
Oliver Goldsmith: 奧利弗•哥爾德斯密斯（1730？－1774）英國詩人、劇作家、散文家及小說家，主要作品有小說《韋克菲爾德牧師傳》（Vicar of Wakefield）.
personal kindness: 這裡解為"對作家本人及其人格品性的愛慕"。
put us in a good humor with...: 使我們心緒開朗，不會對......輕易生氣。
lets us into the secret: 使我們分享秘密。      
party-coloured = parti-coloured: 變化多的；雜色的。
【作者簡介】
華盛頓•歐文（1783-1859）：美國文學史上最早的著名作家。他的散文和故事以親切的幽默感和優美的文筆著稱。

A Summer Day
By Charles Dickens

             One day thirty years ago Marseilles lay in the burning sun. A blazing sun upon a fierce August day was no greater rarity in southern France than at any other time before or since. Everything in Marseilles and about Marseilles had stared at the fervid sun, and been stared at in return, until a staring habit had become universal there. Strangers were stared out of countenance by staring white houses, staring white streets, staring tracts of arid road, staring hills from which verdure was burnt away. The only things to be seen not fixedly staring and glaring were the vines drooping under their loads of grapes. These did occasionally wind a little, as the hot air barely moved their faint leaves.
        The universal stare made the eyes ache. Towards the distant blue of the Italian coast, indeed, it was a little relieved by light clouds of mist slowly rising from the evaporation of the sea, but it softened nowhere else. Far away the dusty vines overhanging wayside cottages, and the monotonous wayside avenues of parched treks without shade, dropped beneath the stare of earth and sky. So did the horses with drowsy bells, in long files of carts, creeping slowly towards the interior; so did their recumbent drivers, when they were awake, which rarely happened; so did the exhausted laborers in the fields. Everything that lived or grew was oppressed by the glare; except the lizard, passing swiftly over rough stone walls, and cicada, chirping its dry hot chirp, like a rattle. The very dust was scorched brown, and something quivered in the atmosphere as if the air itself were panting.
        Blinds, shutters, curtains, awnings, were all closed and drawn to deep out the stare. Grant it but a chink or a keyhole, and it shot in like a white-hot arrow.
out of countenance: 感到難堪或局促不安。
the blue: 天空，有時也指海洋。
So did...;so did...;so did...: 這裡so did 代替dropped beneath the stare of earth and sky.
Grant it but a chink or a keyhole, and it...: 那怕只給它一條小縫或者一個鑰匙孔，它就會......。Grant 解作"給予"，it 指 the stares 。此句結構為"祈使句+ and +陳述句"，含義上相當於"條件從句+主句"。

夏 日
查爾斯•狄更斯
            三十年前的一天，馬賽躺在烈日之下。  在法國南部，八月炎熱的日子裡赤日當空，在那時以前或以後都不是什麼罕見的事。馬賽範圍內以及馬賽周圍的一切都凝視著灼熱的太陽，而太陽反過來也凝視著這一切；久而久之，在馬賽普遍形成一種耀眼的色彩。白色的房屋，白色的街道，一段段乾旱的大路，草木曬得枯死的小山都十分耀眼象在瞪著眼瞧人似的，使初到此地的人們手足無措。能看到的唯一不是老瞪著眼使人眼花繚亂的，只有墜著串串葡萄的葡萄藤；熱空氣微微吹動著萎縮的藤葉時，葡萄確實也偶而眨眨眼。
       這種普遍的耀眼的色彩令人眼睛發痛。說實在的，要遠到義大利沿海蔚藍的天空，由於海水蒸發冉冉升起的縷縷薄霧，這耀眼的色彩才不致那麼強烈，但是除此之外別的地方，它一點也不曾柔和下來。遠處，耀眼的大路，上面積著很厚的塵土，沿著山坡盯著人看，穿過山谷盯著人看，橫過一望無際的平原盯著人看。遠處，懸掛在路旁小屋上蒙著塵土的葡萄藤，還有路旁單調的成行的曬焦了不能遮蔭的樹木，都在大地和天空的凝視下耷拉著腦袋。長長的大車隊中，發出催人慾睡的鈴鐺聲的馬匹也耷拉著腦袋，慢慢地向內地爬行著；斜靠在車上的車夫們醒來時，也耷拉著腦袋，不過他們也難得醒；田野里筋疲力盡的農夫們耷拉著腦袋。一切動物和植物都受到這耀眼光芒的壓抑；例外的只是在那凹凸不平的石牆上敏捷爬行的蜥蜴和拔浪鼓似地發出強烈鳴聲的蟬兒。連那塵土都被炙烤成褐色了，大氣中似乎也有什麼東西在顫抖，彷彿空氣本身也在氣喘吁吁。
        竹帘子、百葉窗、窗帘、遮篷全都拉攏了，把這耀眼的光芒擋在外面。那怕只露出一條小縫或者一個鑰匙孔，它就會象一支白熱的箭直射進來。
【作者簡介】
查爾斯•狄更斯（1812-1870），英國小說家，以《匹克威克外傳》（1837）一舉成名。

Hints for Those That Would Be Rich
by Benjamin Franklin  

            The Use of Money is all the Advantage there is in having Money. For ￡6 a Year you may have the Use of ￡100 if you are a Man of known Prudence and Honesty.
        He that spends a Grout a day idly, spends idly above ￡6 a year, which is the Price of using ￡100.
        He that wastes idly a Grout's worth of his Time per Day, one Day with another, wastes the Privilege of using ￡100 each day.
        He that idly loses 5 Grouts』worth of time, loses 5 Grouts. and might as prudently throw 5 Grouts. in the River.
        He that loses 5 Grouts. not only loses that Sum, but all the Advantage that might be made by turning it in Dealing, which, by the time that a young Man becomes old, amounts to a comfortable Bag of Money.
        Again, He that sells upon Credit, asks a Price for what he sells equivalent to the Principal and Interest of his Money for the Time he is likely to be kept out of it: therefore He that buys upon Credit, pays Interest for what he buys. And he that pays Ready Money, might let that Money out to Use; so that He that possesses any Thing he has bought, pays Interest the Use of it.
        Consider then when you are tempted to buy any unnecessary Household stuff, or any superfluous thing, Whether you will be willing to pay Interest, and interest upon Interest for it as long as you live; and more if it grows worse by using.
        Yet, in buying goods, it is best to pay Ready Money, because, He that sells upon Credit, expects to lose 5 per Cent by Bad Debts; therefore he charges, on all he sells upon Credit, an Advance that shall make up that deficiency.
        Those who pay for what they buy upon Credit, pay their Share of this Advance.
        He that pays Ready Money, escapes or may escape that Charge.
        A Penny saved is Twopence clear,
        A Pin a Day is a Grout a Year.
【註釋】
might as prudently: 結構與一般常用的 might as well 相同。might as well 含有"反正一樣"、"倒不如"的意思。
to be kept out of it: it代表money, to be kept out of...解作"受到阻礙不能享有......"
advance:通常解作"預付款"，這裡作"漲價"或"加碼"解。其涵義是，商人賒賣后很可能有一部分賬款不能收回，因此對每個顧客多開價百分之五，以彌補將來必然會發生的倒賬損失。
clear: 十足的，整整的；相當於without any deduction。
在商業上訂立的契約和其他重要法律文件中常把要緊的術語以大寫字母開始，或整個詞中的字母都大寫。這篇文章也仿照這個習慣做法，主要名詞或片語都用大寫，含有幽默之意。

致富之道
本傑明•富蘭克林
            有錢的唯一好處就在於用錢。 如果你是一個節儉而誠實的人，一年六英鎊就可以當一百英鎊的錢使用。
        一天消費四便士的人，一年就消費六個多英鎊，而六英鎊相當於一百英鎊的使用價值。
        每天虛度值一便士的時間的人，日復一日，等於消費了每天使用一百英鎊的權利。
        一個遊手好閒而損失了價值五先令時間的人，就是失去了五個先令，他還不如把五先令扔進河裡的好。
        一個失去五先令的人，不僅失去了那筆錢，還失去了把錢用於經商可能帶來的好處，而一個年輕人到年老的時候這筆錢就會等於一筆可觀的財產。
        還有，一個賒帳出售物品的人，對他所售貨物要求的價格相當於貨物的本錢加上他暫時不能利用的那筆錢的利息。因此，一個賒帳購買的人，要為他所買的貨物支付利息。而一個用現金購買的人，如果不買的話，是可以把那筆錢借給別人使用的。所以，一個擁有任何買來的東西的人，都要為使用這東西而支付利息。
        當你感到一種引誘，想要買任何並不急需的家用品，或任何不必要的東西的時候，你就要好好考慮一下，你是否願意為它支付利息，並且終身為它利上加利；如果這東西是會用壞的，那末還要付得更多。
        然而，在買東西時，最好還是付現金，因為賒帳售物的人，估計由於吃倒帳會損失百分之五，所以把賒售的所有貨物都要加碼，以彌補這筆損失。
        那些賒帳購物的人，得支付他們所應分擔的這筆加碼的價款。
        而用現金購物的人，則不需或可能不需支付這筆錢。
        省下的一便士是不折不扣的兩便士，
         每天節約一丁點兒一年就是一大筆。                        
【作者簡介】
本傑明•富蘭克林（1706-1790）：美國政治家和科學家。

A Wet Sunday in A Country Inn
by Washington Irving  

           A wet Sunday in a country inn! Whoever has had the luckto  experience one can alone judge of my situation. The rain pat tered against the casements; the bells tolled for church with a melancholy sound. I went to the windows in quest of something to amuse the eye; but it seemed as if I had been placed completely out of the reach of all amusement. The windows of my bed-room looked out among tiled roofs and stacks of chimneys, while those of my sitting-room commanded a full view of the stable yard. I know of nothing more calculated to make a man sick of this world than a stable yard on a rainy day. The place was littered with wet straw that had been kicked about by travelers and stable-boys. In one corner was a stagnant pool of water, surrounding an island of muck; there were several half-drowned fowls crowded together under a cart, among which was a miserable, crest-fallen cock, drenched out of all life and spirit; his drooping tail matted, as it were, into a single feather, along which the water trickled from his back; near the cart was a halfdozing cow, chewing her cud, and standing patiently be rained on, with wreaths of vapor rising from her reeking hide; a wall-eyed horse, tired of the loneliness of the stable, was poking his spectral headset of a window, with the rain dripping on it from the eaves; an unhappy cur, chained to a dog-house hard by, uttered something every now and then between a bark and a yelp; a drab of a kitchen wench tramped backwards and forwards through the yard in patens, looking as sulky as the weather itself; everything, in short, was comfortless and forlorn, excepting a crew of hardened ducks, assembled like boon companions round a puddle and making a riotous noise over their liquor.
【註釋】
judge of: 對......作出評價。
looked out: (房間等)面朝。
commanded a full view of... 俯瞰......的全景；居高臨下，可以全部看見...。
wreaths of vapor: wreath 是煙、雲作螺旋狀的渦圈，這裡的 wreath of vapor 指繚繞升起的水氣渦圈。
wall-eyed: 眼白特別大的；兩眼珠向外斜視的。
a drab of a kitchen wench: 一個邋遢廚娘。drab:不整潔的女人，邋遢女人。英語中常用a...of a...這種名詞結構來描寫人或物，如a fool of a man (一個獃子般的男人)，a beast of a place (一個很髒的地方)等等。
                  
鄉村客棧一個陰雨的星期天
華盛頓•歐文

        鄉村客棧一個陰雨的星期天!凡有幸度過這樣一天的人，都能體會我現在的處境。雨點子噼噼啪啪地打在窗子上；教堂里傳來沉重的鐘聲，召喚人們去做禮拜。我走到窗前，想找一些賞心悅目的東西；但看來我已完全被摒於一切歡樂之外。從卧室的窗口望出去，是一片磚瓦的屋頂和林立的煙囪；而從起居室的窗口往下看，則能望見整個馬廄院子。我覺得再也沒有比雨天的馬廄院子更令人厭煩的了。遍地是淋濕了的稻草，被旅客和小馬倌們踢得凌亂不堪。在院子的一角，一潭污水圍著孤島似的糞堆 ；幾隻幾乎被雨水淋透的雞簇擁在一輛馬車底下，其中一隻可憐的公雞，倒垂著雞冠，被淋得沒精打彩，毫無生氣 ；它那聳拉著的尾巴粘結在一起，彷彿只成了一根羽毛，雨水順著它從背脊往下直淌，離馬車不遠處，有一頭睡眼惺松的奶牛，嘴裡嚼著反芻的食物，默默地站在那裡，任憑雨水打在身上，濕淋淋的背上冒出繚繞的水氣 ；一匹眼珠小而眼白特大的馬厭倦了馬廄里的寂寞，把它那幽靈似的腦袋從窗口探了出來，屋檐上的雨水滴瀝滴瀝地落在它頭上 ；一隻不幸的雜種狗被鏈條拴在近旁的狗窩裡，時時發出似吠似嗥的聲音 ；一個邋遢廚娘拖著木屐，邁著沉重的步子在院子里進進出出，她那鬱鬱不樂的神色，就象陰沉的天氣一樣 ；總之，除了一群飽經風雨的鴨子，象飲酒作樂的朋友那樣聚集在污水潭的四周呷呷嬉水而外，這兒的一切都令人感到凄涼和沮喪。
【作者簡介】
    華盛頓•歐文（1783-1859）：美國文學史上最早的著名作家。他的散文和故事以親切的幽默感和優美的文筆著稱。

Crossing The Rubicon

           The march to Italy was begun. The soldiers were even more enthusiastic than  Caesar himself. They climbed mountains, waded rivers, endured fatigue, faced all kinds of danger for the sake of their great leader.
      At last they came to a little river called the Rubicon. It was the boundary line of Caesar's Province of Gaul; on the other side of it was Italy. Caesar paused a moment on the bank. He knew that to cross it would be to declare war against Pompey and the Roman Senate; it would involve all Rome in a fearful strife, the end of which no man could foresee.  
      But he did not hesitate long. He gave the word, and rode boldly across the shallow stream.
      "We have crossed the Rubicon," he cried as he reached the farther shore. "There is now no turning back."  Soon the news was carried to Rome: "Caesar has crossed the Rubicon;" and there was great dismay among those who had plotted to destroy him. Pompey's soldiers deserted him and hastened to join themselves to Caesar's army.The Rome senators and their friends made ready to flee from the city.
       "Caesar has crossed the Rubicon !" was shouted along the roads and byways leading to Rome; and the country people turned out to meet and hail with joy the conquering hero.
      The word was carried a second time to the city: "Caesar has crossed the Rubicon," and the wild flight began. Senators and public officers left everything behind and hurried away to seek safety with Pompey. On foot, on horseback, in litters, in carriages, they fled for their lives ―all because Caesar had crossed the Rubicon. Pompey was unable to protect them. He hurried to the seacoast, and, with all who were able to accompany him, sailed away to Greece.
      Gasser was the master of Rome.
[RIGHT]From [I]Thirty More Famous Stories Retold [/I] by James Baldwin[/RIGHT]
【註釋】
the Rubicon: 盧比孔河，在義大利北部。 Cross the Rubicon有「破釜沉舟」之意。
Caesar:愷撒（公元前100一44年），古羅馬統帥和政治家，與龐培、克拉蘇結成前三頭政治聯盟，率軍侵略海外，屢建奇功。公元前49年初，元老院與龐培聯合，解除其軍權並召之回國，同年愷撒率軍越過盧比孔河，進佔羅馬。龐培偕大批元老院議員出奔希臘。公元前46年，愷撒在征服了海外很多國家后，返回羅馬建立獨裁政權，公元前44年3月15日遇刺身亡。
made  ready：解作「準備好」，後面常接動詞不定式短語或介詞for所引導的短語。
turn out:出動。
  
越過盧比孔河
詹姆斯•鮑德溫

       向義大利的進軍開始了。士兵們甚至比愷撒本人還要熱情旺盛。
       為了他們的偉大領袖，他們跋山涉水，不顧疲勞，面臨各種艱難險阻而毫無懼色。
       最後，他們來到了一條叫做盧比孔的小河邊。這條小河是愷撒管轄的高盧省的邊界線，河那邊就是義大利。愷撒在岸邊停留了片刻。他知道超過這條河就是對龐培和羅馬元老院宣戰，就會使整個羅馬捲入一場可怕的戰爭，其結局是沒有人能夠預料的。                  
      但是，他沒有猶豫多久。他下了命令，並且無畏地策馬渡過了這條淺流。
     「我們已經越過盧比孔河了，」他到達河的對岸時喊道，「現在只有前進，決不後退。」
      「愷撒越過盧比孔了，」這一消息很快就傳到了羅馬，在那些曾經密謀消滅他的人中間引起了極大的驚慌。龐培的部下紛紛叛離，急忙投奔愷撒的部隊。羅馬元老院的議員們和他們的朋友都準備逃離羅馬了。
      「愷撒越過盧比孔河了！」在通往羅馬的大道和小路上到處都呼喊著。鄉村裡的人們都奔走歡呼，準備迎接這位勝利的英雄。                                
       消息第二次傳到羅馬：「愷撒越過盧比孔河了。」於是大家倉惶出逃，一片慌亂。元老和政府官員們扔下了一切，急急忙忙逃到龐培那裡去避難。他們或徒步，或騎馬，或坐轎子，或乘馬車，紛紛逃命――只因為愷撒越過了盧比孔河。龐培無力保護他們。他匆匆趕到海邊，帶著所有能夠伴隨他的人，坐船逃往希臘去了。
       愷撒成了羅馬的主宰。

感謝

too terrific to understand well.

What Is  Immortal
            To see the golden sun and the azure sky, the outstretched ocean, to walk upon the green earth, and to be lord of a thousand creatures, to look down giddy precipices or over distant flowery vales, to see the world spread out under one's finger in a map, to bring the stars near, to view the smallest insects in a microscope, to read history, and witness the revolutions of empires and the succession of generations, to hear of the glory of Simon and Tire, of Babylon and Susan,  as of a faded pageant, and to say all these were, and are now nothing, to think that we exist in such a point of time ,and in such a corner of space, to be at once spectators and a part of the moving scene, to watch the return of the seasons, of spring and autumn, to hear---

[c]The stock dove plain amid the forest deep,
That drowsy rustles to the sighing gale.[/c]
---to traverse desert wilderness, to listen to the dungeon's gloom, or sit in crowded theatres and see life itself mocked,  to feel heat and cold, pleasure and pain, right and wrong, truth and falsehood, to study the works of art and refine the sense of beauty to agony, to worship fame and to dream of immortality, to have read Shakespeare and Beloit to the same species as Sir Isaac Newton;  to be and to do all this, and then in a moment to be nothing, to have it all snatched from one like a juggler's ball or a phantasmagoria……
【註釋】
1. to bring the stars near:指使用望遠鏡觀測星辰。
2. Sidon, Tyre, Babylon, Susa: 四個古代國名和地名。
3.引自十八世紀英國詩人湯姆遜的詩《懶散的城堡》"The Castle of indolence"
4. see life itself mocked: mock 一詞兼有「模仿」和「嘲笑」二意。這句話可比較我國過去的諺語，「戲台小天地，天地大戲台」。
5. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)， 英國大科學家。作者如此說，是因為在十八世紀牛頓由於並非顯貴出身而曾受到貴族人士輕視。

何為不朽
威廉•赫茲里特
             我們看到金色的太陽，蔚藍的天空，廣闊的海洋；我們漫步在綠油油的大地之上，做萬物的主人；我們俯視令人目炫心悸的懸崖峭壁，遠眺鮮花盛開的山谷 ；我們把地圖攤開，任意指點全球；我們把星辰移到眼前觀看，還在顯微鏡下觀察極其微小的生物；我們學歷史，親自目睹帝國的興亡、時代的交替；我們聽人談論西頓、推羅、巴比倫和蘇撒的勛業，如同聽一番往昔的盛會，聽了以後，我們說：這些事確實發生過，但現在卻是過眼雲煙了；我們思考著自己生活的時代、生活的地區；我們在人生的活動舞台上既當觀眾、又當演員；我們觀察四季更迭、春秋代序 ；我們聽見了――

野鴿在濃密的樹林中哀訴，
樹林隨微風的嘆息而低語；
        我們橫絕大漠；我們傾聽子夜的歌聲 ；我們光顧燈火輝煌的廳堂，走下陰森森的地牢，或者坐在萬頭攢動的劇院里觀看生活本身受到的摹擬  ；我們親身感受炎熱和寒冷，快樂和痛苦，正義和邪惡，真理和謬誤 ；我們鑽研藝術作品，把自己的美感提高到極其敏銳的程度 ；我們崇拜榮譽，夢想不朽 ；我們閱讀莎士比亞，或者把自己和牛頓爵士視為同一族類 ；――正當我們面臨這一切、從事這一切的時候，自己卻在一剎那之間化為虛無，眼前的一切，象是魔術師手中的圓球，象是一場幻影，一下子全都消失得無影無蹤.....
【作者簡介】
威廉•赫茲里特(1778―1830)：十九世紀初英國浪漫主義散文家。本文節選自其名篇《論青年的不朽》。

Way to Read
             Milton almost requires a solemn service of music to be played before you enter upon him. But he brings his music, to which, who listens, had need bring docile thoughts, and purged ears.
        Winter evenings---the world shut out---with less of ceremony， the gentle Shakespeare enters. At such a season, the Tempest, or his own Winter's Tale.
        These two poets you cannot avoid reading aloud---to yourself, or (as it chances) to some single person listening. More than one, and it degenerates into an audience.
        Books of quick interest, that hurry on for incident, are for the eye to glide over only. It will not do to read them out. I could never listen to even the better kind of modern novels without extreme irksomeness.
        A newspaper, read out , is intolerable. In some of the Bank offices it is the custom (to save so much individual time ) for one of the clerks, who is the best scholar, to commence upon the Times, or the Chronicle, and recite its entire contents aloud pro bone publics. With every advantage of lungs and elocution, the effect is singularly vapid. In barbers' shops and public houses a fellow will get up, and spell out a paragraph which he communicates as some discovery. Another follows with his selection. So the entire journal transpires at length by piece-meal. Seldom-readers are slow readers, and without this expedient, no one in the company would probably ever travel through the contents of a whole paper.
【註釋】
solemn嚴肅的;莊重的
degenerate衰退;墮落
irksomeness厭煩
intolerable不能忍受的
pro bone publics(拉丁文):for the public good.
elocution演說術                  
vapid無味的;走了味的
expedient方便的;權宜之計                  

讀書之道
查爾斯•蘭姆
            開卷讀彌爾頓的詩歌之前，最好能有人為你演奏一曲莊嚴的宗教樂章。不過彌爾頓自會帶來他自己的音樂。對此，你要摒除雜念，洗耳恭聽。
        嚴冬之夜，萬籟俱寂，溫文爾雅的莎士比亞不拘形跡地走進來了。在這種季節，自然要讀《暴風雨》或者他自己講的《冬天的故事》。
        對這兩位詩人的作品，當然忍不住要朗讀――獨自吟哦或者(湊巧的話)讀給某一知己均可。聽者超過二人――就成了開朗誦會了。
        為了一時一事而趕寫出來、只能使人維持短暫興趣的書，很快瀏覽一下即可，不宜朗讀。時新小說，即便是佳作，每聽有人朗讀，我總覺討厭之極。
        朗讀報紙尤其要命。在某些銀行的寫字間里，有這麼一種規矩：為了節省每個人的時間，常由某位職員(同事當中最有學問的人)給大家念《泰晤士報》或者《紀事報》，將報紙內容全部高聲宣讀出來，「以利公眾」。然而，吊著嗓子、抑揚頓挫地朗誦的結果，卻是聽者興味索然。理髮店或酒肆之中，每有一位先生站起身來，一字一句拼讀一段新聞――此系重大發現，理應告知諸君。另外一位接踵而上，也念一番他的「選段」――整個報紙的內容，便如此這般零敲碎打地透露給聽眾。不常讀書的人讀起東西速度就慢。如果不是靠著那種辦法，他們當中恐怕難得有人能夠讀完一整張報紙。
【作者簡介】
查爾斯•蘭姆(1775―1834)，英國著名的文學家，其代表作有《伊利亞隨筆》(1823)。本文節選自其文章《讀書漫談》。

Andrew's Rulds to Be Rich
       The person of next consideration is Sir Andrew Freeport, a merchant  of great eminence in the city of London, a person of indefatigable industry, strong reason, and great experience. His notions of trade are noble and generous, and (as every rich man has usually some sly way of jesting, which would make on great figure were he not a rich man) he calls the sea the British Common. He is acquainted with commerce in all its parts, and will tell you that it is a stupid and barbarous way to extend dominion by arms; for true power is to be got by arts and industry. He will often argue, that if this part of our trade were well cultivated, we should gain from one nation; and of another, from another. I have heard him prove that diligence made more lasting acquisitions than Valero, and that sloth has ruined more nations than the sowed. He abounds in several frugal maxims, among which the greatest favorite is, "A penny saved is a penny got." A general trader of good sense is pleasanter company than a general scholar; and Sir Andrew having a natural unaffected eloquence, the perspicuity of his discourse gives the same pleasure that wit would in another man. He has made his fortunes himself, and says that England may be richer than other kingdoms by as plain methods as he himself is richer than other men ; though at the same time I can say this of him, that there is not a pointing the compass but blows home a ship in which he is an owner.
【註釋】
indefatigable不倦的;不屈不撓的
jest笑話,俏皮話
sloth懶散,怠惰
abound in:大量存在
frugal節約的,儉樸的
perspicuity明晰;簡明

安德魯的致富之道
理查德•斯梯爾
      下一個要說的重要人物是倫敦市有名的富商安德魯•弗利波特爵士――這是一位具有堅強理智、豐富經驗、而又孜孜不倦的事業家。他對於貿易頗有一些恢宏大度的看法，而且，有錢人都愛說句俏皮話(他們若不是富翁，別人恐怕也就看不出那俏皮話到底有何出色之處)，他把海洋叫做英國的公共領地。有關商業的種種事務他都精通，常常說 ：武力不過是主權擴張的一種愚蠢而野蠻的方式，真正的權力是靠著工業、技術而贏得的。他常發議論說 ：只要我國在某一方面的貿易充分發展起來，就會從甲國那裡賺錢，在另一方面發展，又會從乙國獲利。他親口對我說：作戰勇敢，不如勤奮獲利長遠  ；又說 ：懶惰足以亡國，其害甚於刀劍。他肚子里裝了許許多多關於節儉的格言，最愛說的一句是 ：「一便士不花，等於一便士掙下。」跟一個普通的聰明商人打交道，比跟一個普通學者打交道要愉快得多。別人說話機智俏皮，叫人高興 ；安德魯爵士說話直來直去，發表什麼意見明明白白，同樣叫人覺得愉快。他的家私是靠自己掙來的。他說 ：英國只要採用他自己那一套簡簡單單的致富辦法，便可以比其他國家富裕。關於安德魯爵士，我不妨再說一句 ：不管羅盤針指著哪一個方向，都會有屬於他的船隻給英國運來財富。
【作者簡介】
    理查德•斯梯爾(1672―1729)是十八世紀初具代表性的英國隨筆作家，與阿狄生合辦刊物《旁觀者》。本文便節選自該刊物。

A Little Boy
             How I never could be tired with roaming about that huge mansion, with its vast empty rooms, with their worn-out hangings, fluttering tapestry, and carved oaken panels, with the gilding almost rubbed out---sometimes in the spacious old-fashioned gardens, which I had almost to myself, unless when now and then a solitary gardening man would cross me---and how the nectarines and peaches hung upon the walls, without my ever offering to pluck them, because they were forbidden fruit, unless now and then, ---and because I had more pleasure in strolling about among the old melancholy-looking yew-trees, or the firs, and picking up the red berries, and the fir-apples, which were good for nothing but to look at ---or in lying about upon the fresh grass, with all the fine garden smells around me---or basking in the orangery, till I could almost fancy myself ripening too along with the oranges and the limes in that grateful warmth-or in watching the dace that darted to and Fro in the fish-pond, at the bottom of the garden, with here and there a great sulky pike hanging midway down the water in silent state, as if it mocked at their impertinent friskiness, ---I had more pleasure in these busy-idle diversions than in all the sweet flavors of peaches, nectarines, oranges, and such like common baits of children.
【註釋】
tapestry綉帷;掛毯
nectarine油桃(水果名)
gilding鍍金
pluck 采,摘,拔
fir-apples:樅樹的一種圓錐形果實
dace鰷魚     
dart猛衝,飛奔
impertinent不切題的


一個小男孩
查爾斯•蘭姆

           我在那所很大很大的宅院里滿世界地跑，從來不知什麼是疲倦：那裡有許許多多又大又空的房間和破破爛爛的帷帳，牆上的幔子還隨風飄動，橡木雕花嵌板上的金粉卻已剝落了――我常常到那座古老的大花園裡去玩，那花園簡直叫我一個人獨佔了，偶爾才碰上一個孤零零的老園丁――那園子里，油桃和桃子垂在牆頭上，我根本不去碰它，因為那是禁果，除非偶然一回兩回――因為，我更高興在那些帶著憂鬱神情的老水松樹或者樅樹之間跑來跑去，從地上撿那麼幾顆紅漿果，幾隻樅果，而那些樅果只能看，不能吃――有時候，我隨便躺在嫩草地上，讓自己完全沉浸在滿園子的芳香之中――要不然，我就在桔子園裡曬太陽，曬得暖洋洋的，一邊想象自己跟那些桔子、好些菩提樹一同成熟起來――再不然，我就到花園深處，看那些鰷魚在魚池裡穿梭般游來游去，不定在哪裡還會發現一條很大的梭子魚冷冷落落地停在深水之間，一動不動，好象對於那些小魚們的輕狂樣兒暗中表示鄙夷，――我喜歡的是諸如此類無事忙的消遣，而對於象桃子呀，油桃呀，桔子呀等等這些普通的小孩子們的誘餌，碰也不去碰它。
【作者簡介】
查爾斯•蘭姆（1775-1834），英國著名文學家。本文節選自其散文《夢幻中的小孩子（一段奇想）》。

The Man in Black
            Though fond of many acquaintances, I desire an intimacy only with a few. The Man in black, whom I have often mentioned, is one whose friendship I could wish to acquire, because he possesses my esteem. His manners, it is true, are tinctured with some strange inconsistencies; and he may be justly termed a humorist in a nation of humorists. Though he is generous even to profusion, he affects to be thought a prodigy of parsimony and prudence; though his conversation be replete with the most sordid and selfish maxims, his heart is deleted with the most unbounded love. I have known him profess himself a man-hater, while his cheek was glowing with compassion; and ,while his looks were softened into pity, I have heard him use the languages; of the most unbounded ill-nature. Some affect humanity and tenderness, others boast of having such dispositions from Nature; but he is the only man I ever know who seemed ashamed of his natural benevolence. He takes as much pains to hide his feelings, as any hypocrite would to conceal his indifference; but on every unguarded moment the mask drops off , and reveals him to the most superficial observer.
【註釋】
The Man in Black:這篇文章是《世界公民》 "Letters from a Citizen of the World"中的第二十六封信，原有標題：  The Character of the Man in Black; With Some Instances of His Inconsistent Conduct(黑衣人的性格；他言行矛盾的若干事例)。                                                                                                           
esteem尊重,尊敬
tinctured著色於,染   
humorist:滑稽者;滑稽演員
profusion慷慨
prodigy:奇迹,奇事;奇觀
parsimony吝嗇;過於儉省
replete充滿的,裝滿的
sordid骯髒的,污穢的
benevolence仁慈,善心
hypocrite偽善者,偽君子

黑 衣 人
奧里弗•哥爾斯密斯
       我雖然廣愛交友，卻只願跟少數知己親密來往。我常常提起的那位黑衣人，就是因為我敬重他的為人，這才願意同他做朋友的。自然，他做起事情來顧前不顧後，有些古怪，在一個專出滑稽人物的民族當中算得一個地地道道的滑稽人物。他的脾氣本來是慷慨大方到了揮金如土的地步，卻愛在人前裝出一副特別吝嗇小氣的樣子；他心裡對人們充滿著無限的熱愛，滿嘴裡說的卻是卑鄙自私的口頭禪。我曾經見他嘴裡一邊說自己那麼厭惡人類，臉上卻因為同情別人而漲得通紅，而當他的面容現出一派溫柔悲憫的表情的時候，嘴裡說的卻是性情惡毒的人才能說出的話。有的人假裝仁慈厚道，還有的人生怕暴露自己天生的仁愛心腸。偽君子掩飾自己的冷漠無情不遺餘力，他卻竭力掩飾自己的真情實意；不過，不定什麼時候他一不小心，假面具掉下來，再粗心大意的人也能看出他的本來面目。
【作者簡介】
奧里弗•哥爾斯密斯（1728-1774），十八世紀中葉的著名英國作家。本文節選自其短文《黑衣人》。

these are most brilliant essays that I have ever seen.
thanks for Adelyn and look forward to more.

[:439:]

thank you, z.ww!
and hope you come to visit us and share with us more.

This is terrific!

But the downloads are not readable for the Chinsese text. I have to copy paste from web, but worth the effort.

Where do you get them? More please!

methods to display the characters of downloaded .TXT file:
download, save as a .RAR file.
use WinRAR to decompress.
open Word, open .TXT file from within the Word software, let Word choose the right encoding for you.
when seeing a readable text, click OK to load text into Word.
Save as a .DOC file or as a .TXT with "Encoding:unicode".

Thanks Adelyn, I got it already. Let others try.