国外一位著名的语言学家曾经说过“A word has no meaning unless it is used in a text.”(“一个词本身是毫无意义的，除非把它运用到一个文本中”)。文学名著无疑是最理想的文本。在名著中常常会有涉及到考研英语中的长难句，同学们也可以在繁重的复习之余，从名著中培养一下自己的语感。在欣赏名著的同时，培养英语阅读技巧与运用能力同时也可以在中文的对照中学习翻译的技巧。

　　今天万学海文给大家带来的是《长腿叔叔》片段，它的作者简·韦伯斯特(1876—1916)是美国著名作家马克·吐温的孙侄女，也是美国著名的小说家，因为有过在孤儿院生活的经历，故其著作多以孤儿作为主人公，其中《长腿叔叔》是最脍炙人口的作品，长期以来畅销不衰，被媒体评价为“一本百年难得一见的好书，内容胜过路易莎·奥尔科特的《小妇人》”。

　　请同学们阅读时准确理解概念或结构较复杂的句子。

　　《长腿叔叔》第一章片段

　　一、

　　原文：For Jerusha and the ninety-odd other children in the orphanage, the first Wednesday of every month was quite a torturous day. On this day, each child had to be clean and well-groomed, every corner in every room had to be neat and tidy, every floor had to sparkle, and every bed had to be made perfectly flat so that the tiniest wrinkle would not show. All of this preparation was to get ready for the visit of the Trustees' of the orphanage which always fell on this day. Each child had been told time and again that if a Trustee were to ask him or her a question, he or she was to answer in a clever and respectful way.

　　译文：对洁茹以及孤儿院里其他九十几个院童来说，每个月的第一个礼拜三是一个十分难熬的日子。在这一天，每一个院童都必须梳洗得乾乾净净，房间各个角落都打扫得整整齐齐，连每一块地板都擦得光洁无比，每一张床铺都平整得连一小条绉褶都没有；如此严阵以待，是因为孤儿院的董事大人们在这一天会大驾光临。每一个孩子并且也都被再三交代，如果有董事大人问他们什麽话，必须非常乖巧、恭敬地回答。

　　二、

　　原文：Jerusha was the oldest child in the orphanageshe was already 18 years old. According to the rules, the orphanage only had to keep children up until the age of 16, but Jerusha was an exception. Because her grades were quite good, the orphanage decided to let her continue her studies and allowed her to go to the high school in town. At this point, Jerusha had just graduated from high school and was just staying to help out around the orphanage.

　　译文：洁茹是孤儿院里年纪最大的孩子，她今年已经十八岁了。本来按照规定，孤儿院只养育院童到十六岁，洁茹却是一个例外；因为她的成绩相当优异，院方才决定让她继续升学，到村子里去念高中。洁茹最近高中刚毕业，都在院里帮忙。

　　三、

　　原文：Just as in today's case, in order to prepare a most perfect Wednesday visit for the Trustees, Jerusha had worked the entire day. Luckily, everything had gone as she had planned, and now the Trustees had heard the orphanage's reports, were sipping tea, and some were even beginning to leave one by one, off to their various other appointments. Watching the Trustees' shadows as they left, Jerusha's heart once again became filled with visions. Despite the fact that Mrs. Lippett had repeatedly warned her that such fantasies would only torture and upset her, and that having these fantasies would not change realityMrs. Lippett said Jerusha was doomed to never set foot outside the orphanageshe could not help but have them all the same. If only one day, she could be just like the Trustees and, carrying her bags, step into a big car and tell the driver to take her homewhat kind of a feeling would that be?

　　译文：像今天，为了准备一个圆满的礼拜三，洁茹已经忙了一整天。幸好一切都如她所预料的非常顺利，现在董事大人们听完报告，享用完茶点，已经纷纷离去，准备去赴其他的约会了。望着他们离去的背影，洁茹的心里再一次涌起了幻想。尽管李派特太太不断告诫她，这样的幻想只会折磨她自己，使她更苦恼，并且也不可能改变事实她很难离开孤儿院一步的；可是洁茹仍然忍不住会想，如果有一天，她也能拎着行李，像这些董事大人们一样，跨进轿车，吩咐司机回家，那会是一种什麽样的感觉？

　　四、

　　原文：For 18 years Jerusha had been living in an orphanage. She was simply unable to imagine what "home" would be like.

　　译文：十八年来，洁茹一直生活在孤儿院里，“家”到底是什麽样子，她根本无从想像！

　　五、

　　原文：Just as Jerusha became lost in her thoughts, a little boy ran over looking for her and said that Mrs. Lippett wanted to see her immediately. A little upset, Jerusha headed towards the office, all the time in her heart thinking, "What did I do wrong? Were the sandwiches not thin enough? Did the cherry cakes not taste right? Or did one of the Trustees notice the hole in little Susie's stockings?"

　　译文：当洁茹正在发呆的时候，有一个小男孩跑来找洁茹，说李派特太太叫她赶快去。洁茹有些不安地朝办公室走去，心里一直在想：“我做错了什麽吗？是三明治切得不够薄？核桃糕的味道不够好？还是有董事大人看到了小苏西袜子上的破洞？”

　　六、

　　原文：When Jerusha went downstairs, the light in the big empty hall was not yet on, but she caught a glimpse of the last Trustee getting into his car to leave the orphanage. It was too dark, however, to see the Trustee very clearlyshe could only get a good impression of him from the back. He was quite tall, and had long legs. He looked just like a big, dancing Daddy Longlegs that was calling for his ride home!

　　译文：洁茹下楼时，空荡荡大厅中的灯还未点亮，她刚好看见最後一位董事大人正准备坐进车子离去，但因光线太暗，她并没有看清楚他的样子，只是从他的背影中得到一个强烈的印象他很高，腿很长，简直就像一只舞动着长腿正在叫车的大蜘蛛！

　　【单字解释】

　　1.orphanage [n.孤儿院]

　　2.torturous [a.折磨人的]

　　3.preparation [n.准备]

　　4.respectful [a.恭敬的]

　　5.fantasies [n.幻想]

　　6.doom l [vt.注定]

　　7.unable [a.不能的]

　　8.immediately [ad.接近地]

　　【佳句欣赏】

　　He was quite tall, and had long legs. He looked just like a big, dancing Daddy Longlegs that was calling for his ride home!

　　他很高，腿很长，简直就像一只舞动着长腿正在叫车的大蜘蛛！