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She had never seen her mother stirred from her austere placidity, nor her personal appointments anything but perfect, no matter what the hour of day or night. When Ellen was dressing for a ball or for guests or even to go to Jonesboro for Court Day, it frequently required two hours, two maids and Mammy to turn her out to her own satisfaction; but her swift toilets in times of emergency were amazing.

思嘉从未见过母亲庄重安谦的神态被打扰的时候，她个人的衣着也总是那么整整嬷嬷，无论白天黑夜都毫无二致。每当爱伦为了参加舞会，接待客人或者到琼斯博罗去旁听法庭审判而梳妆时，那就得花上两个钟头的时间，让两位女仆和嬷嬷帮着打扮，直到自己满意为止；不过到了紧急时刻，她的梳妆功夫便惊人地加快了。

　
Scarlett, whose room lay across the hall from her mother’s, knew from babyhood the soft sound of scurrying bare black feet on the hardwood floor in the hours of dawn, the urgent tappings on her mother’s door, and the muffled, frightened negro voices that whispered of sickness and birth and death in the long row of whitewashed cabins in the quarters. As a child, she often had crept to the door and, peeping through the tiniest crack, had seen Ellen emerge from the dark room, where Gerald’s snores were rhythmic and untroubled, into the flickering light of an upheld candle, her medicine case under her arm, her hair smoothed neatly place, and no button on her basque unlooped.
　　
思嘉的房间在她母亲房间的对面，中间隔着个穿堂。她从小就熟悉了：在天亮前什么时候一个光着脚的黑人急促脚步在硬木地板上轻轻走过，接着是母亲房门上匆忙的叩击声，然后是黑人那低沉而带惊慌的耳语，报告本地区那长排白棚屋里有人生病了，死了，或者养了孩子。那时她还很小，常常爬到门口去，从狭窄的门缝里窥望，看到爱伦从黑暗的房间里出来，同时听到里面杰拉尔德平静而有节奏的鼾声；母亲让黑人手中的蜡烛照着，臂下挟着药品箱，头发已梳得熨熨贴贴，紧身上衣的钮扣也会扣好了。

　
It had always been so soothing to Scarlett to hear her mother whisper, firmly but compassionately, as she tiptoed down the hall: “Hush, not so loudly. You will wake Mr. O’Hara. They are not sick enough to die.”

思嘉听到母亲踮着脚尖轻轻走过厅堂，并坚定而怜悯地低声说：“嘘，别这么大声说话。会吵醒奥哈拉先生的。他们还不至于病得要死吧。"此时，她总有一种安慰的感觉。
　
Yes, it was good to creep back into bed and know that Ellen was abroad in the night and everything was right.

是的，她知道爱伦已经摸黑外出，一切正常，便爬回去重新躺到床上睡了。

In the mornings, after all-night sessions at births and deaths, when old Dr. Fontaine and young Dr. Fontaine were both out on calls and could not be found to help her, Ellen presided at the breakfast table as usual, her dark eyes circled with weariness but her voice and manner revealing none of the strain. There was a steely quality under her stately gentleness that awed the whole household, Gerald as well as the girls, though he would have died rather than admit it.
　　
早晨，经过抢救产妇和婴儿的通宵忙乱----那时老方丹大夫和年轻的方丹大夫都已外出应诊，没法来帮她的忙----然后，爱伦又像通常那样作为主妇在餐桌旁出现了，她那黝黑的眼圆略有倦色，可是声音和神态都没有流露丝毫的紧张感。她那庄重的温柔下面有一种钢铁般的品性，它使包托杰拉尔德和姑娘们在内的全家无不感到敬畏，虽然杰拉尔德宁死也不愿承认这一点。

词汇释义

1.stir n. 感动(激动，愤怒或震动), 搅拌，骚乱 vt. 激起，惹起，搅和 vi. 挪动，活动，离开，搅拌，激动

Old memories stirred as she looked at the photographs.
她看到这些照片，唤起了对往事的回忆。

2.austere adj. 严峻的，严格的，简朴的，禁欲的，苦行的

The room was furnished in austere style.
这间屋子陈设得简单朴素。

3.placidity n. 平静，安静，温和

4.maid[meid] n. 女仆，侍女，未婚女子

Her maid helped her to dress up for the party.
她的女仆帮助她穿上参加晚会的礼服。

5.toilet n. 厕所，盥洗室 n. 梳洗打扮，礼服，创口洗涤 v. 打扮，使用厕所

She spent an hour on her toilets.
她花了一小时梳妆打扮。

6.scurry vi. 疾走 n. 快跑

The rain sent everyone scurrying for shelter.
这阵雨把大家浇得纷纷找地方躲避。

7.muffled adj. (指声音)听不清的，（声音）被隔的 动词muffle的过去式和过去分词形式

A muffled sound resembling that of soft footsteps.
低沉声音象柔柔的脚步声的低沉的声音

8.whitewash n. 白色涂料，粉饰 vt. 用白色涂料粉刷，掩盖或粉饰

I'll have my little house whitewashed tomorrow.
明天我找人用石灰水粉刷一下小屋。

9.snore n. 鼾声 v. 打鼾

Her husband snores loudly.
她丈夫睡觉时打鼾很响。

10.untroubled adj. 未被扰乱的，平静的，无忧虑的

11.flickering adj. 闪烁的(摇曳的，忽隐忽现的，扑动的)

A faint smile flickered across her face.
她脸上闪过一丝微笑。

12.upheld adj. 被支持的 动词uphold的过去式和过去分词形式

13.basque[bæsk] n. 紧身女上衣

14.Hush n. 肃静，安静，沉默 vi. 安静下来，掩饰 vt. 肃静，安静，缄默

She hushed the baby to sleep.
她使婴儿安静入睡。

15.weariness n. 疲倦，厌倦，疲劳

He soon fell asleep with weariness.
他疲倦地很快就睡着了。

16.stately['steitli] adj. 庄严的，堂皇的，高贵的 adv. 庄严地; 堂皇地

She is stately in personage.
她仪容端庄。

难句解析

1.She had never seen her mother stirred from her austere placidity, nor her personal appointments anything but perfect, no matter what the hour of day or night.

【难句解析】anything but “根本不”，句子是双重否定，表肯定；

【句子翻译】思嘉从未见过母亲庄重安谦的神态被打扰的时候，她个人的衣着也总是那么整整嬷嬷，无论白天黑夜都毫无二致。

2.It had always been so soothing to Scarlett to hear her mother whisper, firmly but compassionately, as she tiptoed down the hall: “Hush, not so loudly. You will wake Mr. O’Hara. They are not sick enough to die.”

【难句解析】smoothing形容词，意思是“安慰人的”；tiptoe down “踮着脚尖走下...”; not…enough to…，在此结构里，enough前可以是形容词或副词，to…是动词不定式，注意与too...to...的区别，后者中，too是副词，修饰形容词，to…是动词不定式；

【句子翻译】思嘉听到母亲踮着脚尖轻轻走过厅堂，并坚定而怜悯地低声说：“嘘，别这么大声说话。会吵醒奥哈拉先生的。他们还不至于病得要死吧。"此时，她总有一种安慰的感觉。