HowIDiscoveredWords

How I Discovered Words

Anger and bitterness had preyed upon me continually for weeks and a deep languor had succeeded

this passionate struggle.

几个星期来，愤怒和怨恨一直折磨着我。这种激烈的感情争斗之后则是一种极度的疲惫。

Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you

in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and

sounding-line , and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? I was like that ship

before my education began, only I was without compass or sounding-line, and had no way of

knowing how near the harbour was. "Light! Give me light!" was the wordless cry of my soul, and

the light of love shone on me in that very hour.

你可曾在航海时遇上过浓雾？那时，你仿佛被困在了触手可及的一片白茫茫中，不见天日。你乘坐的巨轮，靠测深锤和测深线的指引，举步维艰地靠向海岸，既紧张又焦急不安；而你则心里怦怦直跳，等着什么事情发生。我在接受教育之前正像那艘巨轮，所不同的是我连指南针或测深线都没有，更无从知晓离港湾还有多远。我的心灵在无声地疾呼：“光明！给我光明吧!”而就在那个时刻，爱的光芒洒在了我的身上。

I was keenly delighted when I felt the fragments of the broken doll at my feet. Neither sorrow

nor regret followed my passionate outburst. I had not loved the doll. In the still, dark world in

which I lived there was no strong sentiment or tenderness.

当我感觉到脚边摔碎的玩具娃娃时，产生了一种强烈的快感。在我所生活的那个无声、黑暗的世界里是没有柔情或情感的。

I tried vainly to put them together. Then my eyes filled with tears; for I realized what I had done,

and for the first time I felt repentance and sorrow.

我摸索着来到了炉床边，捡起那些碎片，试着把它们拼接在一起，但却徒劳无益。这时我的眼里满是泪水，因为我意识到了自己先前干了些什么，而且有生以来第一次感到了悔恨和难过。

Those College Finals

The most miserable moments of a college student's life come during final exam week during the

winter. It is a horror that stays with a person for the rest of his life: thedesperation, the frustration,

the realization that one has tocough up mounds of knowledge that one does not even possess. And

that one's future career may depend on how well one does the coughing.

这种恐惧刻骨铭心，一生都忘不了——是一种绝望、沮丧，是意识到自己不得不勉强应答一大堆并未掌握的知识，

There probably is no feeling in this world more exhilarating than being on a college campus

during final exams, and knowing that you don't have to take them.

也许，在这世上，期末考试时，置身大学校园而知道你不必参加考试，可能是世界上最令人兴奋的事了。

If the real world were as bizarre and rotten as final exams, you'd see everyone on the street

walking around in the same demented, pathetic state as college students during exam week.

如果现实世界确如期末考试那样荒诞可笑、令人厌烦，你就会看到街上的每位行人都如同在考试那周里的学生一样焦躁不安、可怜之极。

Fall From University Place

Daydreams of sleeping on a patch of cool grass on abreezy summer day intruded upon my

concentration,chasing away calculus and physics theories.

心里想着微风拂面的夏日，躺在一片阴凉的绿草地上，这些幻想分散了我的注意力，赶跑了微积分和物理学理论。

At the time, my independence was exhilarating; freedom, denied me for eighteen years, was

mine to experience and abuse.

当时，这种独立使我心旷神怡，已经被剥夺了18年的自由，现在任由我来体验、任由我来滥用。

The Lady or the Tiger?

The institution was a very popular element of uncertainty lent an interest to the

occasion which it could not otherwise have attained .

这种制度非常受欢迎。其中的不确定因素给这种场合增添了趣味性。

Now, the point of the story is this: Did the tiger come out of the door, or did the lady?The more

we think about this question, the harder it is to answer. It involves a study of the human heart

which leads us through devious mazes of passion out of which it is difficult to find our way. 它涉及到对人们内心世界的研究，这种研究必然要经历一个个迂回曲折的激情迷宫，从中我们很难到出路。

The soul of the princess beat with a white heat beneath the combined fires of despair and

jealousy . 绝望和嫉妒交织在一起，像火一样煎熬着公主的心。

Her soul had burned with agony as she imagined him rushing to meet that woman with her

sparkling eyes of triumph. 每当她想象到他冲向那位眼睛里充满胜利喜悦的小时，她的心

就像被灼烧一样。

Would it not be better for him to die at once? And yet, that awful tiger, those shrieks, that

blood! Her decision had been indicated in an instant, but it had been made after days and nights

of anguished thought.

她的决定早就在刹那间已经表明，但这是经过无数个日日夜夜痛苦思索的结果。

The Tell-Tale Heart

It is impossible to say how the idea first entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day

and night.

我无法说清楚最初我脑子里是怎么产生这个念头的，但这念头一旦产生，就日夜缠扰着我。

Presently I heard a slightgroan and I knew it was the groan of terror. It was not a groan of pain or

grief—oh no!—it was the low sound that arose from the bottom of the soul.

不久，我听到了一声轻轻的呻吟，我知道这是因恐惧而呻吟。它不是痛苦或忧伤的呻吟——不是的！——这低沉的声音发自心灵的深处。

It was open, wide open , and I grew furious as I gazed upon it.

那只眼睛正睁着，睁得大大的。当我看着它时，我感到怒不可遏。

I saw it perfectly, a dull blue with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow of my

bones. 我看得很清楚，浅蓝的眼睛，上面蒙着一层薄翳，令人毛骨悚然。

[11] Now I heard a low, dull sound, much like that of a watch wrapped in cotton. I gasped

for breath, but the officers didn't hear it. I talked more quickly. I arose and argued about

unimportant things, in a high key and using many gestures. But the noise steadily increased.

Why would they not go? I paced the floor , but the noise steadily increased. I swung the chair

upon which I had been sitting and scraped it on the boards, but the noise arose over all. It grew

louder, louder, LOUDER! And still the men chatted pleasantly and smiled. They heard! They

suspected! They KNEW! They were really laughing at my horror. This I thought and this I think . But anything was better than this agony. I felt I must scream or die.

此时我听到了一种低沉的声音，就像一只裹在棉花里的手表的滴答声。我大口喘着粗气，但是这几位警察却没有听见。我话说得更快了。

我站了起来，和他们争论着一些无关紧要的事情，扯着嗓门，还不时地打着手势，

但那声音却变得越来越大。

他们为什么还不走呢？

我在地板上来回地走动，但那声音却越来越大。

我摇晃着我刚才坐过的椅子，让它与地板发出摩擦声，但是那声音却超过了所有这些声音，

而且变得越来越响，越来越响，越来越响！

可是那几位男士依旧在谈笑风生。

他们听见了！

他们在怀疑！

他们知道了真相！

他们其实是在嘲笑我的恐惧。

我当时是这样认为的，现在也是这样想的。

但是，什么都比受这样的煎熬好。

我觉得我非得喊叫不可或者干脆死掉。

Cleaning Up

Now, once a week while Matt cleaned and tended the pool, he had to endure the

heavy-set man's nonstop bragging about his past successes in the business world. 现在，马特每周一次来清理维护游泳池，同时还得忍受这位身体壮实的家伙一刻不停地吹嘘自己原先在生意场上的辉煌。

Since Matt himself was deeply in debt, he found this very irritating.

马特自己债台高筑，所以这让他感到恼火。

. In fact, Matt was amazed at how rapidly the balance on his unpaid credit cards was rising.

事实上，马特对信用卡上欠款总额增加得如此迅速感到很吃惊。

Matt felt a rush of panic. 马特感到一阵恐慌

He would have gotten away with it too, if I weren't so terrified of water that I had the

pool drained the day after Howard passed away." 要不是我因为怕水在霍华德过世后的第二天就叫人把游泳池的水排光的话，他一定已经把册子给偷走了。”