名著阅读

Few small farmers owned horses. They carried on their farm operations with mules and they had no surplus of these, seldom more than four. The mules could not be spared to go off to war, even if they had been acceptable for the Troop, which they emphatically were not. As for the poor whites, they considered themselves well off if they owned one mule. The backwoods folks and the swamp dwellers owned neither horses nor mules.

小农中很少有人是有马的。他们是使用骡子耕作，也没有富余的，最多不过四头骡子。这些骡子即使营里同意接受，也不能从田里拉到战场呀，何况营里还口口声声说不要呢。至于那些穷白人，他们只要有一头骡子便自以为满不错了。边远林区的人和沼泽地带的居民既无马也没有骡子。

They lived entirely off the produce of their lands and the game in the swamp, conducting their business generally by the barter system and seldom seeing five dollars in cash a year, and horses and uniforms were out of their reach. But they were as fiercely proud in their poverty as the planters were in their wealth, and they would accept nothing that smacked of charity from their rich neighbors.

他们完全靠林地里的出产和沼泽中的猎物过活，做生意也是以物换物，一年看不见五元现金，要自备马匹、制服是办不到的。可是这些人身处贫困仍非常骄傲，就像那些拥有财富的农场主一样；他们决不接受来自富裕邻居的任何带施舍意味的东西。

So, to save the feelings of all and to bring the Troop up to full strength, Scarlett’s father, John Wilkes, Buck Munroe, Jim Tarleton, Hugh Calvert, in fact every large planter in the County with the one exception of Angus Macintosh, had contributed money to completely outfit the Troop, horse and man. The upshot of the matter was that every planter agreed to pay for equipping his own sons and a certain number of the others, but the manner of handling the arrangements was such that the less wealthy members of the outfit could accept horses and uniforms without offense to their honor.

在这种局面下，为了保持大家的感情和把军营建成一个充实的组织，思嘉的父亲，约翰·威尔克斯，巴克·芒罗，吉姆·塔尔顿，休·卡尔弗特，实际除宁格斯·麦金托什以外，全县每个大农场主，都捐钱把军营全面装面起来，马匹和人员也一样。这件事是由每个农场主同意出钱装备自己的儿子和别的若干人开始的，但经过适当的安排以后，营里那些不怎么富裕的成员也就能够坦然接受他们的马匹和制服而不觉得有失体面了。

The Troop met twice a week in Jonesboro to drill and to pray for the war to begin. Arrangements had not yet been completed for obtaining the full quota of horses, but those who had horses performed what they imagined to be cavalry maneuvers in the field behind the courthouse, kicked up a great deal of dust, yelled themselves hoarse and waved the Revolutionary-war swords that had been taken down from parlor walls.

营队每周在琼斯博罗集合两次，进行操练和祈祷战争早日发生。马匹还没有备齐，但那些有马的人已经在县府背后的田野里搞起了他们想象中的骑兵演习，搅起满天灰尘土，扯着嘶的嗓子叫喊着，挥舞着从客厅墙上取下来的革命战争时代的军刀。

Those who, as yet, had no horses sat on the curb in front of Bullard’s store and watched their mounted comrades, chewed tobacco and told yarns. Or else engaged in shooting matches. There was no need to teach any of the men to shoot. Most Southerners were born with guns in their hands, and lives spent in hunting had made marksmen of them all.

那些还没有马匹的人只好坐布拉德仓库前面的镶边石上一面观看，一面嚼着烟草闲聊。要不他们就比赛打靶。谁也用不着你去教他打枪。因为大多数南方人生来就是玩枪的，他们终日消磨在打猎中的时间把他们全都练成了好射手。

词汇释义

1.emphatically [im'f?tikli] adv. 断然地, 强调地

2.dweller n. 居民

Dwellers here live a happy life now.
现在这里居民的生活很幸福。

3.barter n. 物物交换, 实物交易 v. 物物交换, 交换

On these islands a system of barter is used.
在这些岛上仍然实行着物物交换的制度。

4.smack [smæk] n滋味, 风味, 少量, 拍击 v. 带有...风味, 用掌击, 拍打

Put that down or else I'll smack you.
把它放下, 不然我就揍你。

5.upshot n. 结果, 结局, 结尾

The upshot of it all was that he resigned.
结果他辞职了.

6.cavalry n. 骑兵

The cavalry is extremely majestic-looking.
这支骑兵部队非常威风凛凛。

7.maneuver n. 演习,调遣,策略 vt. 调遣,演习,巧妙地操纵 vi. 调遣,演习,用计策

8.mounted ['mauntid] adj. 安装好的，已建立的, 骑马的装备好的

9.marksman n. 神枪手

I am a poor marksman.
我不善射击。

难句解析

1.As for the poor whites, they considered themselves well off if they owned one mule. The backwoods folks and the swamp dwellers owned neither horses nor mules.

【难句解析】As for意思是“至于”；well off意思是“富有的”；

【句子翻译】至于那些穷白人，他们只要有一头骡子便自以为满不错了。边远林区的人和沼泽地带的居民既无马也没有骡子。

2.They lived entirely off the produce of their lands and the game in the swamp, conducting their business generally by the barter system and seldom seeing five dollars in cash a year, and horses and uniforms were out of their reach.

【难句解析】live off意思是“依赖...生活”；句中的game意思是“猎物”；barter意思是“以物易物，物物交换”；

【句子翻译】他们完全靠林地里的出产和沼泽中的猎物过活，做生意也是以物换物，一年看不见五元现金，要自备马匹、制服是办不到的。