The Old Man and the Sea
Vocabulary
gaunt adj. 憔悴的,荒凉的,枯瘦的
The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck.
haul up 把...拖上来,迎风行驶
“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up. “I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.”
butcher v. 屠杀,屠宰(n. 屠夫)
The successful fishermen of that day were already in and had butchered their marlin out and carried them laid full length across two planks, with two men staggering at the end of each plank, to the fish house where they waited for the ice truck to carry them to the market in Havana.
hoist v. 使升起,吊起
Those who had caught sharks had taken them to the shark factory on the other side of the cove where they were hoisted on a block and tackle, their livers removed, their fins cut off and their hides skinned out and their flesh cut into strips for salting.
subdue v. 征服,抑制,减轻
The box with the baits was under the stern of the skiff along with the club that was used to subdue the big fish when they were brought alongside.
crease n. 皱纹,褶痕 v. 使起褶痕,擦伤,变皱
The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords.
slant v. 倾斜,有倾向
He made a quick drop, slanting down on his back-swept wings, and then circled again.
n. 歪着的,倾斜的
He held the line against his back and watched its slant in the water and the skiff moving steadily to the north-west.
churn v. 搅拌,搅动
The tuna shone silver in the sun and after he had dropped back into the water another and another rose and they were jumping in all directions, churning the water and leaping in long jumps after the bait. They were circling it and driving it.
近形异义词
skiff n. 小船,小艇
stiff adj. 呆板的,坚硬的,严厉的,拘谨的
背景知识
Sacred Heart of Jesus 耶稣圣心像(耶稣的心放出光芒,表示耶稣对世人的大爱。)
Virgin of Cobre 科伯圣母像(圣母玛利亚)
Expression
The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.
furled 插入语
the flag of permanent defeat 比喻-贴切
The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks.
外貌描写,物做主语,最后才写到on his cheeks,生动!
“I can remember the tail slapping and banging and the thwart breaking and the noise of the clubbing. I can remember you throwing me into the bow where the wet coiled lines were and feeling the whole boat shiver and the noise of you clubbing him like chopping a tree down and the sweet blood smell all over me.”
这几个doing用法不同意思也有差别但是非常统一,这一段读上去非常有气势,有味道。
“Thank you,” the old man said. He was too simple to wonder when he had attained humility. But he knew he had attained it and he knew it was not disgraceful and it carried no loss of true pride.
too...to和过去完成时都是非常简单又常见的语法,看看作者是怎么用“活”的。
小词大用。
On the brown walls of the flattened, overlapping leaves of the sturdy fibered guano there was a picture in color of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and another of the Virgin of Cobre.
一句话简洁地描述出了老人房间内的摆设与状态。
Summary
老渔夫是一个消瘦憔悴,颈脖皱纹很深,脸上长满褐斑的老人。他已入垂暮之年,十分孤独,只有一个小男孩愿意陪伴在他身边。但是他的眼睛像海水一样蓝,闪烁着欢乐的光芒,他对真诚的有意和美好事物有着单纯的向往。即便是连续84天没有捕到鱼,他依然没有放弃希望。老人珍视两样东西,一个是愿意照顾、关爱他的伙伴——小男孩,一个是赖以生存的大海。在海上,他可以找到自己纯真的向往。
Thought
老人:外表粗狂,内心善良,关心小男孩。老当益壮,自尊极高,非常乐观。
小男孩:老人的“合作伙伴”。善良,懂得照顾人,对老人非常好。