BBC英国史

In the 1730s, satires and essays and poems and pictures

18世纪30年代 讽刺性文章诗集绘画

documented a rising wave of revulsion at the world Walpole had brought into being.

记录了人民对 沃波尔所建立的秩序日益不满

A sense that beneath all the platitudes about peace and stability lay squalor and corruption.

在和平稳定的陈词滥调之下 掩藏的尽是堕落与不堪

A walk through London, for example,was a walk over prostrate bodies, big and little.

穿行伦敦大街小巷 遍地都是大大小小的行尸走肉

Infants, whose mothers were unable,or sometimes unwilling, to raise them,were abandoned on the streets.

有的婴儿因为母亲无力抚养 甚至不愿抚养 而被遗弃街头

But there came a point when someone was tired enough of stepping over half-dead babies found in the gutter to do something about it.

但终于有人 开始同情贫民窟的弃婴 因而决定改变现状

That someone was a 53-year-old retired merchant sea captain called Thomas Coram.

他就是五十三岁退休商船船长 托马斯·考勒姆

Coram had made his fortune in Massachusetts from the Transatlantic timber trade.

考勒姆靠运送木材横渡大西洋 贩卖至马萨诸塞起家

All he wanted was to have a quiet life in Rotherhithe where he could smell the Thames and the sea.

他只希望享受罗瑟希德的恬静生活 享受泰晤士及海洋的包围

But the sight of all those tiny abandoned corpses wouldn't leave him in peace.

但满目可怜的弃婴 让他无法平静

Worse, he knew that the mortality rate for infants born in the workhouse

更糟糕的是 他了解到出生于济贫院

and sent out to wet nurse was close to 100%.

以及寄送至奶妈的婴儿几乎必死无疑

词汇解析

1、abandon

离弃；遗弃；抛弃

He claimed that his parents had abandoned him.

他声称父母遗弃了他。

The road is strewn with abandoned vehicles.

道路上满是弃置的车辆。

中途放弃，中止（活动、工作等）

The authorities have abandoned any attempt to distribute food.

当局中止了分发食物的尝试。

The scheme's investors, fearful of bankruptcy, decided to abandon the project.

因为担心破产，该计划的投资者决定放弃这个项目。

放弃（想法或思路）

Logic had prevailed and he had abandoned the idea.

最终理智占了上风，他打消了那个念头。

2、beneath

在…之下；在…下面

She could see the muscles of his shoulders beneath his T-shirt.

她可以看到他T恤衫下的肩部肌肉。

She found pleasure in sitting beneath the trees.

她喜欢坐在树下。

在…表面之下；在…的背后

emotional strains beneath the surface.

表面之下的情感纠结

Somewhere deep beneath the surface lay a caring character.

在内心深处的某个角落里埋藏着一颗爱心。