名著阅读

He was sixty years old and his crisp curly hair was silver-white, but his shrewd face was unlined and his hard little blue eyes were young with the unworried youthfulness of one who has never taxed his brain with problems more abstract than how many cards to draw in a poker game. His was as Irish a face as could be found in the length and breadth of the homeland he had left so long ago—round, high colored, short nosed, wide mouthed and belligerent.

他６０岁了，一头波浪式的鬈发已经白如银丝，但是他那精明的脸上还没有一丝皱纹，两只蓝眼睛也焕发着青年人无忧无虑的神采，这说明他从来不为什么抽象的问题伤脑筋，只想些简单实际的事，如打扑克时要抓几张牌，等等。他那张纯粹爱尔兰型的脸，同他已离别多年的故乡的那些脸一模一样，是圆圆的、深色的、短鼻子，宽嘴巴，满脸好战的神情。

　
Beneath his choleric exterior Gerald O’Hara had the tenderest of hearts. He could not bear to see a slave pouting under a reprimand, ho matter how well deserved, or hear a kitten mewing or a child crying; but he had a horror of having this weakness discovered. That everyone who met him did discover his kindly heart within five minutes was unknown to him; and his vanity would have suffered tremendously if he had found it out, for he liked to think that when he bawled orders at the top of his voice everyone trembled and obeyed. It had never occurred to him that only one voice was obeyed on the plantation—the soft voice of his wife Ellen. It was a secret he would never learn, for everyone from Ellen down to the stupidest field hand was in a tacit and kindly conspiracy to keep him believing that his word was law.

虽然杰拉尔德·奥哈拉外表粗暴，但心地却十分善良。他不忍心看到奴隶们受惩罚时的可怜相，即使是应该的也罢；也不喜欢听到猫叫或小孩蹄哭。不过他很害怕别人发现他的这个弱点。他还不知道人家遇到他不过五分钟就明白他是好心肠的人了。可是如果他觉察到这一点，他的虚荣心就要大受伤害，因为他喜欢设想，只要自己大喊大叫地发号施令，谁都会战战兢兢地服从呢。他从来不曾想到过，在这个农场里人人都服从的只有一个声音，那就是太太爱伦的柔和的声音。他永远也不会知道这个秘密，因为自爱伦以下直到最粗笨的大田劳工，都在暗中串通一起，让他始终相信自己的话便是圣旨。
　
Scarlett was impressed less than anyone else by his tempers and his roarings. She was his oldest child and, now that Gerald knew there would be no more sons to follow the three who lay in the family burying ground, he had drifted into a habit of treating her in a man-to-man manner which she found most pleasant. She was more like her father than her younger sisters, for Carreen, who had been born Caroline Irene, was delicate and dreamy, and Suellen, christened Susan Elinor, prided herself on her elegance and ladylike deportment.
　
思嘉比谁都更不在乎他的嬷嬷和吼叫。她是他的头生孩子，而且杰拉尔德也清楚，在三个儿子相继向进了家庭墓地之后，他不会再有儿子了，因此他已逐渐养成习惯，以男人对男人的态度来对待她，而这是她最乐意接受的。她比几个妹妹更像父亲，因为卡琳生来体格纤弱，多愁善感，而苏伦又自命不凡，总觉得自己文雅，有贵妇人派头。

词汇释义

1.crisp[krisp] adj. 脆的，易碎的，卷曲的，爽快的，明快的，(天气)干冷的 n. 薯片，松脆物 v. (使)发脆，(使)卷曲

It tastes sweet and crisp.
吃起来又甜又脆。

2.shrewd adj. 精明的

His skill in negotiating earned him a reputation as a shrewd tactician.
他的谈判技巧使他赢得了精明战略家的名声。

3.tax[tæks] n. 税，重负 vt. 课以税，使 ... 负重荷，斥责

His constant requests for help taxed our goodwill.
他不断要求我们帮助他，过分利用了我们对他的好意。

4.belligerent adj. 好战的，交战的，交战国的 n. 交战者

The boys found it hard to get along with Tom, because he always said some very belligerent things.
孩子们觉得汤姆很难相处，因他老是说些十分挑衅性的话。

5.choleric adj. 易怒的

6.reprimand['repri.mænd] v. & n. 训诫，谴责 vt. 责难 n. 申诉

The principal reprimand the student for his chronic lateness.
校长斥责那个学生不该接二连三地迟到。

7.kitten['kitn] n. 小猫 vi. 生育小猫

The cat picked up the kitten by the scruff of its neck.
大猫叼著小猫的颈背。

8.bawl v. 大叫，大哭 n. 叫骂声，放声痛哭

He bawls at me across the street.
他在街道的另一边冲我大声喊。

9.christen['krisn] vt. 为 ... 施洗礼 vt. 为 ... 命名

The child was christened Mary.
这孩子洗礼时被命名为玛丽。

10.deportment n. 风度，举止

Young ladies used to have lessons in deportment.
少女以前要上仪态课。