名著阅读

Then the hand of Fate and a hand of poker combined to give him the plantation which he afterwards called Tara, and at the same time moved him out of the Coast into the upland country of north Georgia.

过了一些时候，命运之手和一手扑克牌两相结合，给了他一个他后来取名为塔拉的农场，同时让他从海滨适移到北佐治亚的丘陵地区来了。
　
It was in a saloon in Savannah, on a hot night in spring, when the chance conversation of a stranger sitting near by made Gerald prick up his ears. The stranger, a native of Savannah, had just returned after twelve years in the inland country. He had been one of the winners in the land lottery conducted by the State to divide up the vast area in middle Georgia, ceded by the Indians the year before Gerald came to America. He had gone up there and established a plantation; but, now the house had burned down, he was tired of the “accursed place” and would be most happy to get it off his hands.

那是一个很暖的春天夜晚，在萨凡纳的一家酒店，邻座的一位生客的偶尔谈话引起灰拉尔德的侧耳细听。那位生客是萨凡纳本地人，在内地居住了十二年之后刚刚回来。他是从一位圣·在州里举办的抽彩分配土地时的一个获奖者。原来杰拉尔德来到美洲前一年，印第安人放弃了佐治亚中部广大的一起土地，佐治亚州当局便以这种方式进行分配。他迁徙到了那里，并建立了一个农场，但是现在他的房子因失火被烧掉了，他对那个可诅咒的"地方"，已感到厌烦，因此很乐意将它脱手。

Gerald, his mind never free of the thought of owning a plantation of his own, arranged an introduction, and his interest grew as the stranger told how the northern section of the state was filling up with newcomers from the Carolinas and Virginia. Gerald had lived in Savannah long enough to acquire a viewpoint of the Coast—that all of the rest of the state was backwoods, with an Indian lurking in every thicket.

杰拉尔德心里一直没有放弃那个念头，想拥有一个自己的农场，于是经过介绍，他同那个陌生人谈起来，而当对方告诉他，那个州的北部已经从卡罗来纳的弗吉尼亚涌进了大批大批的新人时，他的兴趣就更大了。杰拉尔德在萨凡纳已住了很久，了解了海滨人的观点，即认为这个州的其余部分都是嬷嬷的森林地带，每个灌木丛中都潜伏着印第安人。

词汇释义

1.combine[kəm'bain] v. 结合，联合，使结合

We can't always combine work with pleasure.
我们并不总是能在工作中享受到乐趣。

2.plantation[plæn'teiʃən] n. 种植园，大农场，殖民地

The plantation owners would rather plough their cotton in than sell it at a lower price.
种植园主宁可把棉花犁入土中，也不愿以低价出售。

3.upland['ʌplənd] n. 高地，山地 adj. 高地的，山地的

He has arrived in the barren upland of central Spain.
他已经到了西班牙中部的贫瘠高地。

4.saloon[sə'lu:n] n. 大厅，展览场，酒吧，大轿车

I leave the gay saloon of New York for the green glade of the country.
我离开了纽约欢乐的酒店，来到乡村绿色的林间空地。

5.prick up 竖起（耳朵）

He pricked up his ears when they mentioned the salary.
当他们提到工资时，他立刻注意起来。

6.inland['inlənd] adj. 内陆的，国内的 adv. 内陆地 n. 内陆

Beijing is an inland city.
北京是一个内陆城市。

7.lottery['lɔtəri] n. 彩票

She had the prize-winning lottery ticket.
她抽到了得奖的彩票。

8.burn down 烧成平地，烧毁，烧光

The house burnt down in half an hour.
那所房子在半小时之内就被焚为平地。

9.accursed[ə'kɜ:sid] adj. 可憎的，被诅咒的=accurst

an accursed system
可恶的制度

10.arrange[ə'reindʒ] vt. 安排，整理，计划，改编(乐曲) vi. 协商，计划

I arranged the flowers in the vase as soon as I came back home.
一回到家里，我就把花在花瓶里插好。

11.viewpoint['vju:pɔint] n. 观点，看法

If sees this problem by this kind of viewpoint, just you can feel it very important.
如果以这种观点看这个问题，你就会觉得它很重要。

12.backwoods['bækwudz] n. 未开垦地，边远地区 adj. 边远地区的，蛮荒的

This was, after all, a man who went to Yale and Oxford but who grew up the child of a widow in the backwoods of Arkansas.
毕竟，他在哈佛和牛津求过学，但却生长在堪萨斯州偏远落后地区的一个寡妇家庭里。

13.lurk[lə:k] n. 潜伏，潜行 v. 潜藏，潜伏，埋伏

Pride may lurk under a threadbare cloak.
骄傲可能会潜藏在穿旧的斗篷下。

难句解析

1.Then the hand of Fate and a hand of poker combined to give him the plantation which he afterwards called Tara, and at the same time moved him out of the Coast into the upland country of north Georgia.

【句子翻译】过了一些时候，命运之手和一手扑克牌两相结合，给了他一个他后来取名为塔拉的农场，同时让他从海滨适移到北佐治亚的丘陵地区来了。

【难句解析】combined to vt. 化合成(合并成);

The two parties have combined to form a government.
两党已经联合起来组成政府。

Circumstances have combined to ruin our plans for a holiday.
各种情况凑在一起破坏了我们的假日计划。

2.It was in a saloon in Savannah, on a hot night in spring, when the chance conversation of a stranger sitting near by made Gerald prick up his ears. The stranger, a native of Savannah, had just returned after twelve years in the inland country. He had been one of the winners in the land lottery conducted by the State to divide up the vast area in middle Georgia, ceded by the Indians the year before Gerald came to America. He had gone up there and established a plantation; but, now the house had burned down, he was tired of the “accursed place” and would be most happy to get it off his hands.

【句子翻译】那是一个很暖的春天夜晚，在萨凡纳的一家酒店，邻座的一位生客的偶尔谈话引起灰拉尔德的侧耳细听。那位生客是萨凡纳本地人，在内地居住了十二年之后刚刚回来。他是从一位圣·在

州里举办的抽彩分配土地时的一个获奖者。原来杰拉尔德来到美洲前一年，印第安人放弃了佐治亚中部广大的一起土地，佐治亚州当局便以这种方式进行分配。他迁徙到了那里，并建立了一个农场，但是现在他的房子因失火被烧掉了，他对那个可诅咒的"地方"，已感到厌烦，因此很乐意将它脱手。

【难句解析】

chance conversation"偶尔的谈话"，这里的chance是形容词，意思是“意外的；偶然的；碰巧的”；

第一句中when引导的从句的主干是the chance conversation pricked up his ears，其中的sitting near by made Gerald是现在分词做定语修饰a stranger；

cede是“割让（领土、土地），放弃”的意思；例：The Qing Dynasty ceded Hong Kong to Britain. 清王朝把香港割让给了英国。

be tired of“对...感到厌倦”；例：I'm tired of his dreary speech. 我厌倦了他的枯燥无味的演说。

get sth. off one's hands“将某物摆脱掉”；例：I shall be very glad to get this business off my hands. 我将乐于摆脱这件事。

3.Gerald, his mind never free of the thought of owning a plantation of his own, arranged an introduction, and his interest grew as the stranger told how the northern section of the state was filling up with newcomers from the Carolinas and Virginia.

【难句解析】杰拉尔德心里一直没有放弃那个念头，想拥有一个自己的农场，于是经过介绍，他同那个陌生人谈起来，而当对方告诉他，那个州的北部已经从卡罗来纳的弗吉尼亚涌进了大批大批的新人时，他的兴趣就更大了。

【句子翻译】free of“免于，没有”；

Don't interrupt him; he's been writing away all morning and likes to have a long period free of other considerations.
别打搅他，他已不停地写了一上午了。他喜欢有个较长的时间不受其它事情的干扰。

Free of foreign elements.
没有外来因素的