名著精讀《飄》第三章 第5節

He left home with his mother's hasty kiss on his cheek and her fervent Catholic blessing in his ears, and his father's parting admonition, “Remember who ye are and don’t be taking nothing off no man.” His five tall brothers gave him good-by with admiring but slightly patronizing smiles, for Gerald was the baby and the little one of a brawny family.

離家出走時，母親在他臉上匆匆吻了一下，並貼着耳朵說了一聲天主教的祝福，父親則給了臨別贈言，"要記住自己是誰，不要學別人的樣。"他的五位高個子兄弟羨慕而略帶關注地微笑着向他道了聲再見，因爲傑拉爾德在強壯的一家人中是最小和最矮的一個。

His five brothers and their father stood six feet and over and broad in proportion, but little Gerald, at twenty-one, knew that five feet four and a half inches was as much as the Lord in His wisdom was going to allow him. It was like Gerald that he never wasted regrets on his lack of height and never found it an obstacle to his acquisition of anything he wanted. Rather, it was Gerald’s compact smallness that made him what he was, for he had learned early that little people must be hardy to survive among large ones. And Gerald was hardy.

他父親和五個哥哥都身六英尺以上，其粗壯的程度也很相稱，可是２１歲的小個子傑拉爾德懂得，五英尺四英寸半便是上帝所能賜給他的最大高度了。對傑拉爾德來說，他從不以自己身材矮小而自怨自艾，也從不認爲這會阻礙他去獲得自己所需要的一切。更確切些不如說，正是傑拉爾德的矮小精幹使他成爲現在這樣，因爲他早就明白矮小的人必須在高大者中間頑強地活下去。而傑拉爾德是頑強的。

His tall brothers were a grim, quiet lot, in whom the family tradition of past glories, lost forever, rankled in unspoken hate and crackled out in bitter humor. Had Gerald been brawny, he would have gone the way of the other O’Haras and moved quietly and darkly among the rebels against the government But Gerald was “loud-mouthed and bullheaded,” as his mother fondly phrased it, hair trigger of temper, quick with his fists and possessed of a chip on his shoulder so large as to be almost visible to the naked eye. He swaggered among the tall O’Haras like a strutting bantam in a barnyard of giant Cochin roosters, and they loved him, baited him affectionately to hear him roar and hammered on him with their large fists no more than was necessary to keep a baby brother in his proper place.

他那些高個兒哥哥是些冷酷寡言的人，在他們身上，歷史光榮的傳統已經永遠消失，淪落爲默默的仇恨，爆裂出痛苦的幽默來了。要是傑拉爾德也生來強壯，他就會走上向奧哈拉家族中其他人的道路，在反政府的行列中悄悄地、神祕地幹起來。可傑拉爾德像他母親鍾愛地形容的那樣，是個"高嗓門，笨腦袋"，嬤嬤暴躁，動輒使拳頭，並且盛氣凌人，叫人見人怕。他在那些高大的奧哈拉家族的人中間，就像一隻神氣十足的矮腳雞在滿院子大個兒雄雞中間那樣，故意昂首闊步，而他們都愛護他，親切地慫恿地高聲喊叫，必要時也只伸出他們的大拳頭敲他幾下，讓這位小弟弟不要太得意忘形了。

y['heisti] adj. 匆匆的，輕率的，急忙的

She made a hasty lunch.
她匆匆吃了午飯。

nition n. 警告，勸告

The students take the admonition from their teacher.
學生們接受老師的勸告。

onizing adj. 以恩人自居的，要人領情的 動詞patronize的現在分詞形式

ny adj. (人)強壯的

isition n. 獲得，所獲之物

Next to acquiring good friends, the best acquisition is that of good books.
除了獲得得好友之外，最有意義的獲得就是獲得好書。

act n. 合約條約，梳妝粉盒 adj. 緊湊的，緊密的，簡潔的 vt. 使裝滿，使簡潔，壓實

He received a compact package.
他收到一個扎得很緊的包裹。

y['hɑ:di] adj. 強壯的，堅強的，能吃苦耐勞的，艱苦的

Strawberry is hardy and easy to grow in all soil.
草莓耐寒，各種土壤裏都容易生長。

le v. 化膿，發炎，惹怒，激怒

The insult still rankles in his mind.
他對那次受辱仍然耿耿於懷。

headed['bul'hedid] adj. 頑固的，剛愎自用的

ger v. 大搖大擺地走，吹噓 n. 大搖大擺，吹牛 adj. 漂亮的，時髦的

Don't swagger (around) just because you got the job.
別因爲得到了這份工作就得意忘形。

ter n. 公雞

He gets up at the crow of the rooster every day.
他每天雞鳴即起。

ctionately adv. 熱情地，體貼地

He behaved very affectionately towards her children.
他非常疼愛她的孩子。

er n. 錘，榔頭 vi. 錘擊，反覆敲打 vt. 錘打，嚴厲批評

He hit the nail into the wall with a hammer.
他用一把錘子把釘子打進牆裏去。

five brothers and their father stood six feet and over and broad in proportion, but little Gerald, at twenty-one, knew that five feet four and a half inches was as much as the Lord in His wisdom was going to allow him.

【難句解析】in proportion “按比例，相應地”；as much as “多達，和...差不多”；

【句子翻譯】他父親和五個哥哥都身六英尺以上，其粗壯的程度也很相稱，可是２１歲的小個子傑拉爾德懂得，五英尺四英寸半便是上帝所能賜給他的最大高度了。