索菲见识到可怕的巨人窝后,就很不开心。好心眼巨人为了让她开心就聊起了天,这一章揭露了好心眼巨人大耳朵的秘密。
7 The Marvellous Ears
这一章讲了好心眼巨人奇特的大耳朵,当然还有神秘的玻璃瓶。原来the BFG 是一个捕梦高手。这一章出现了很多关于声音的描写,蛮新鲜的。
‘I cannot help thinking,’ said the BFG,
can't help doing 情不自禁做某事,固定表达。(=in spite of oneself/despite oneself在爱德华奇妙旅行出现过)eg. Edward, in spite of himself, listened.
‘Don’t be sad,’ Sophie said. ‘No one is going to be worrying too much about me. That place you took me from was the village orphanage. We are all orphans in there.’
这一章还交代了索菲的身世,an orphan (+age~n.孤儿院)
在书虫大卫科波菲尔中有一句话
"Your mother is dead, "she said. I was already sobbing loudly and I felt I was an orphan, quite alone in the world.
‘The woman who ran it was called Mrs Clonkers and if she caught you breaking any of the rules, like getting out of bed at night or not folding up your clothes, you got punished.’
孤儿院真是一个可恶的地方。不听话,坏规矩,比如半夜离开小床,没有叠衣服都要被惩罚。
run除了跑以外,表示运行(计算机中常见),处理(≈deal with)。这里表示经营,直接+n. run a company/run a facebook page等等,比manage常用,manage比较有生硬感。
She locked us in the dark cellar for a day and a night without anything to eat or drink....It was horrid,We used to dread it.
犯了错关起来,不给吃的喝的,黑乎乎的小地窖和老鼠作伴常常让孩子们害怕。
表示地下室也可以用basement,但两者有区别。
Basement is connected to the house with no real purpose; while a cellar doesn't have to be connected. Cellars tends to refer to a place that has a purpose of keeping something at a cooler temperature such as wine.(出自hinative)
所以这里的cellar搞不好是孤儿院储存大白菜的地方。
used to do以前常常而现在不,出现过
All at once, a huge tear that would have filled a bucket rolled down one of the BFG’s cheeks and fell with a splash on the floor. It made quite a puddle.
哈哈,the BFG太可爱了。
all at once 突然
一颗水桶大的泪珠突然从好心眼巨人眼中就出,啪嗒砸在地上一个水坑。
Sophie watched with astonishment. What a strange and moody creature this is, she thought.
with astonishment=in astonishment
moody:mushy多愁善感的
Then Sophie said, ‘May I ask you a question?’
The BFG gave Sophie a long thoughtful stare. ‘Shoot away’ he said.
索菲发现the BFG是个心软的巨人,就开始讲条件想回家。可是the BFG就是没上当。
give sb. a long thoughtful stare/ meaning look若有所思盯着/意味深长看着
Shoot away 随便问
The BFG stared suspiciously at the small girl sitting cross-legged on the table.
‘I won’t tell a soul,’ Sophie said. ‘I swear it. How could I anyway? I am stuck here for the rest of my life.’
cross-legged 是腿翘起来盘起来,翻译根据具体情况。比如此处表示小索菲是盘腿而作,因为她在桌子上。后文出现了The BFG settled himself comfortably in his chair and crossed his legs.这里就是翘起二郎腿,因为他是坐在椅子上翘起腿。
‘I won’t tell a soul,’ Sophie said. ‘I swear it. 我发誓我谁都不说。在飞屋环游记中出现过一句台词“You will have to swear you will not tell anyone .Cross your heart .Do it!”至今难忘。
'This is a sizzling-hot muckfrumping country we is living in. Nothing grows in it except snozzcumbers. I would love to go somewhere else and pick peachy fruits in the early morning from the back of an elefunt.’
Sophie was quite moved by this curious statement.
the BFG告诉索菲他的愿望是骑在象背上在晨曦中采摘鲜美的水果。
索菲被这莫名又新奇的言论感动了。(be moved)
‘I is a dream-blowing giant,’ the BFG said. ‘When all the other giants is galloping off every what way and which to swollop human beans, I is scuddling away to other places to blow dreams into the bedrooms of sleeping children. Nice dreams. Lovely golden dreams. Dreams that is giving the dreamers a happy time.’
这一段没任何难点,贴出来只是说明为什么电影叫做吹梦巨人。(出处)
They is not to be coughed at.
这里译本翻译给的是不可小瞧,不可儿戏。没有查到相关表达,仅仅是咳嗽的词条。先放在这里吧。
When a ladybird is walking across a leaf, I is hearing her feet going clumpety-clumpety-clump like giants’ footsteps.
这一段写得好生动,好心眼巨人的大耳朵能听到各种细微的声音,所以他听到了当时索菲的心跳声,就把她逮起来了。真的想知道他能睡着觉吗?还是他不睡觉?
ladybird在美式中是ladybug 就是瓢虫
A queer little shiver passed through Sophie’s body. She sat very quiet, waiting for more.
shiver n.v.颤栗,发抖。这里指索菲莫名打了个冷战(打了个突),在纳尼亚中出现过的一句话
And Lucy felt running through her that deep shiver of gladness which you only get if you are being solemn and still.
Spiders is also talking a great deal. You might not be thinking it but spiders is the most tremendous natterboxes.
‘One of the biggest chatbags is the cattlepiddlers,’ the BFG said.
这几种方式都表示话多,还是闲话多。翻译说它们是叽里呱啦大王,真是相当贴切了。
这一章本身有点长,就单独罗列了。昨天莫名睡着了,剩点尾巴没有编辑。今天就不祝七夕快乐而是立秋开心~