时间:2019-02-24 作者:英语课 分类:有声英语文学名著


英语课
The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
XXIV
 
My sense of how he received this suffered for a minute from something that I can describe only as a fierce split of my attention — a stroke that at first, as I sprang straight up, reduced me to the mere 1 blind movement of getting hold of him, drawing him close, and, while I just fell for support against the nearest piece of furniture, instinctively 2 keeping him with his back to the window. The appearance was full upon us that I had already had to deal with here: Peter Quint had come into view like a sentinel before a prison. The next thing I saw was that, from outside, he had reached the window, and then I knew that, close to the glass and glaring in through it, he offered once more to the room his white face of damnation. It represents but grossly what took place within me at the sight to say that on the second my decision was made; yet I believe that no woman so overwhelmed ever in so short a time recovered her grasp of the ACT. It came to me in the very horror of the immediate 3 presence that the act would be, seeing and facing what I saw and faced, to keep the boy himself unaware 4. The inspiration — I can call it by no other name — was that I felt how voluntarily, how transcendently, I MIGHT. It was like fighting with a demon 5 for a human soul, and when I had fairly so appraised 6 it I saw how the human soul — held out, in the tremor 7 of my hands, at arm’s length — had a perfect dew of sweat on a lovely childish forehead. The face that was close to mine was as white as the face against the glass, and out of it presently came a sound, not low nor weak, but as if from much further away, that I drank like a waft 8 of fragrance 9.
“Yes — I took it.”
At this, with a moan of joy, I enfolded, I drew him close; and while I held him to my breast, where I could feel in the sudden fever of his little body the tremendous pulse of his little heart, I kept my eyes on the thing at the window and saw it move and shift its posture 10. I have likened it to a sentinel, but its slow wheel, for a moment, was rather the prowl of a baffled beast. My present quickened courage, however, was such that, not too much to let it through, I had to shade, as it were, my flame. Meanwhile the glare of the face was again at the window, the scoundrel fixed 11 as if to watch and wait. It was the very confidence that I might now defy him, as well as the positive certitude, by this time, of the child’s unconsciousness, that made me go on. “What did you take it for?”
“To see what you said about me.”
“You opened the letter?”
“I opened it.”
My eyes were now, as I held him off a little again, on Miles’s own face, in which the collapse 12 of mockery showed me how complete was the ravage 13 of uneasiness. What was prodigious 14 was that at last, by my success, his sense was sealed and his communication stopped: he knew that he was in presence, but knew not of what, and knew still less that I also was and that I did know. And what did this strain of trouble matter when my eyes went back to the window only to see that the air was clear again and — by my personal triumph — the influence quenched 15? There was nothing there. I felt that the cause was mine and that I should surely get ALL. “And you found nothing!” — I let my elation 16 out.
He gave the most mournful, thoughtful little headshake. “Nothing.”
“Nothing, nothing!” I almost shouted in my joy.
“Nothing, nothing,” he sadly repeated.
I kissed his forehead; it was drenched 17. “So what have you done with it?”
“I’ve burned it.”
“Burned it?” It was now or never. “Is that what you did at school?”
Oh, what this brought up! “At school?”
“Did you take letters? — or other things?”
“Other things?” He appeared now to be thinking of something far off and that reached him only through the pressure of his anxiety. Yet it did reach him. “Did I STEAL?”
I felt myself redden to the roots of my hair as well as wonder if it were more strange to put to a gentleman such a question or to see him take it with allowances that gave the very distance of his fall in the world. “Was it for that you mightn’t go back?”
The only thing he felt was rather a dreary 18 little surprise. “Did you know I mightn’t go back?”
“I know everything.”
He gave me at this the longest and strangest look. “Everything?”
“Everything. Therefore DID you —?” But I couldn’t say it again.
Miles could, very simply. “No. I didn’t steal.”
My face must have shown him I believed him utterly 19; yet my hands — but it was for pure tenderness — shook him as if to ask him why, if it was all for nothing, he had condemned 20 me to months of torment 21. “What then did you do?”
He looked in vague pain all round the top of the room and drew his breath, two or three times over, as if with difficulty. He might have been standing 22 at the bottom of the sea and raising his eyes to some faint green twilight 23. “Well — I said things.”
“Only that?”
“They thought it was enough!”
“To turn you out for?”
Never, truly, had a person “turned out” shown so little to explain it as this little person! He appeared to weigh my question, but in a manner quite detached and almost helpless. “Well, I suppose I oughtn’t.”
“But to whom did you say them?”
He evidently tried to remember, but it dropped — he had lost it. “I don’t know!”
He almost smiled at me in the desolation of his surrender, which was indeed practically, by this time, so complete that I ought to have left it there. But I was infatuated — I was blind with victory, though even then the very effect that was to have brought him so much nearer was already that of added separation. “Was it to everyone?” I asked.
“No; it was only to — ” But he gave a sick little headshake. “I don’t remember their names.”
“Were they then so many?”
“No — only a few. Those I liked.”
Those he liked? I seemed to float not into clearness, but into a darker obscure, and within a minute there had come to me out of my very pity the appalling 24 alarm of his being perhaps innocent. It was for the instant confounding and bottomless, for if he WERE innocent, what then on earth was I? Paralyzed, while it lasted, by the mere brush of the question, I let him go a little, so that, with a deep-drawn sigh, he turned away from me again; which, as he faced toward the clear window, I suffered, feeling that I had nothing now there to keep him from. “And did they repeat what you said?” I went on after a moment.
He was soon at some distance from me, still breathing hard and again with the air, though now without anger for it, of being confined against his will. Once more, as he had done before, he looked up at the dim day as if, of what had hitherto sustained him, nothing was left but an unspeakable anxiety. “Oh, yes,” he nevertheless replied — “they must have repeated them. To those THEY liked,” he added.
There was, somehow, less of it than I had expected; but I turned it over. “And these things came round —?”
“To the masters? Oh, yes!” he answered very simply. “But I didn’t know they’d tell.”
“The masters? They didn’t — they’ve never told. That’s why I ask you.”
He turned to me again his little beautiful fevered face. “Yes, it was too bad.”
“Too bad?”
“What I suppose I sometimes said. To write home.”
I can’t name the exquisite 25 pathos 26 of the contradiction given to such a speech by such a speaker; I only know that the next instant I heard myself throw off with homely 27 force: “Stuff and nonsense!” But the next after that I must have sounded stern enough. “What WERE these things?”
My sternness was all for his judge, his executioner; yet it made him avert 28 himself again, and that movement made ME, with a single bound and an irrepressible cry, spring straight upon him. For there again, against the glass, as if to blight 29 his confession 30 and stay his answer, was the hideous 31 author of our woe 32 — the white face of damnation. I felt a sick swim at the drop of my victory and all the return of my battle, so that the wildness of my veritable leap only served as a great betrayal. I saw him, from the midst of my act, meet it with a divination 33, and on the perception that even now he only guessed, and that the window was still to his own eyes free, I let the impulse flame up to convert the climax 34 of his dismay into the very proof of his liberation. “No more, no more, no more!” I shrieked 35, as I tried to press him against me, to my visitant.
“Is she HERE?” Miles panted as he caught with his sealed eyes the direction of my words. Then as his strange “she” staggered me and, with a gasp 36, I echoed it, “Miss Jessel, Miss Jessel!” he with a sudden fury gave me back.
I seized, stupefied, his supposition — some sequel to what we had done to Flora 37, but this made me only want to show him that it was better still than that. “It’s not Miss Jessel! But it’s at the window — straight before us. It’s THERE— the coward horror, there for the last time!”
At this, after a second in which his head made the movement of a baffled dog’s on a scent 38 and then gave a frantic 39 little shake for air and light, he was at me in a white rage, bewildered, glaring vainly over the place and missing wholly, though it now, to my sense, filled the room like the taste of poison, the wide, overwhelming presence. “It’s HE?”
I was so determined 40 to have all my proof that I flashed into ice to challenge him. “Whom do you mean by ‘he’?”
“Peter Quint — you devil!” His face gave again, round the room, its convulsed supplication 41. “WHERE?”
They are in my ears still, his supreme 42 surrender of the name and his tribute to my devotion. “What does he matter now, my own? — what will he EVER matter? I have you,” I launched at the beast, “but he has lost you forever!” Then, for the demonstration 43 of my work, “There, THERE!” I said to Miles.
But he had already jerked straight round, stared, glared again, and seen but the quiet day. With the stroke of the loss I was so proud of he uttered the cry of a creature hurled 44 over an abyss, and the grasp with which I recovered him might have been that of catching 45 him in his fall. I caught him, yes, I held him — it may be imagined with what a passion; but at the end of a minute I began to feel what it truly was that I held. We were alone with the quiet day, and his little heart, dispossessed, had stopped.
 
The End

adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
adv.本能地
  • As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近,她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
a.不知道的,未意识到的
  • They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
  • I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。
n.魔鬼,恶魔
  • The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
  • He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。
v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 );估计;估量;评价
  • The teacher appraised the pupil's drawing. 老师评价了那个学生的画。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He appraised the necklace at £1000. 据他估计,项链价值1000英镑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.震动,颤动,战栗,兴奋,地震
  • There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
  • A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。
v.飘浮,飘荡;n.一股;一阵微风;飘荡
  • The bubble maker is like a sword that you waft in the air.吹出泡泡的东西就像你在空中挥舞的一把剑。
  • When she just about fall over,a waft of fragrance makes her stop.在她差点跌倒时,一股幽香让她停下脚步。
n.芬芳,香味,香气
  • The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
  • The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势
  • The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
  • He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣,摆出一副打架的架势。
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷
  • The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
  • The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。
vt.使...荒废,破坏...;n.破坏,掠夺,荒废
  • Just in time to watch a plague ravage his village.恰好目睹了瘟疫毁灭了他的村庄。
  • For two decades the country has been ravaged by civil war and foreign intervention.20年来,这个国家一直被内战外侵所蹂躏。
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的
  • This business generates cash in prodigious amounts.这种业务收益丰厚。
  • He impressed all who met him with his prodigious memory.他惊人的记忆力让所有见过他的人都印象深刻。
解(渴)( quench的过去式和过去分词 ); 终止(某事物); (用水)扑灭(火焰等); 将(热物体)放入水中急速冷却
  • He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
  • I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。
n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意
  • She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition.最终实现了抱负,她显得十分高兴。
  • His supporters have reacted to the news with elation.他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。
adj.湿透的;充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 );在某人(某物)上大量使用(某液体)
  • We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨,淋得浑身透湿。
  • The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的
  • They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
  • She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。
adv.完全地,绝对地
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
n.折磨;令人痛苦的东西(人);vt.折磨;纠缠
  • He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
  • Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期
  • Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
  • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的
  • The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
  • Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的
  • I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
  • I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。
n.哀婉,悲怆
  • The pathos of the situation brought tears to our eyes.情况令人怜悯,看得我们不禁流泪。
  • There is abundant pathos in her words.她的话里富有动人哀怜的力量。
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的
  • We had a homely meal of bread and cheese.我们吃了一顿面包加乳酪的家常便餐。
  • Come and have a homely meal with us,will you?来和我们一起吃顿家常便饭,好吗?
v.防止,避免;转移(目光、注意力等)
  • He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
  • I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。
n.枯萎病;造成破坏的因素;vt.破坏,摧残
  • The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
  • There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。
n.自白,供认,承认
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的
  • The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
  • They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗,是丑陋的畜牲。
n.悲哀,苦痛,不幸,困难;int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌
  • Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
  • A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸,自认福是福。
n.占卜,预测
  • Divination is made up of a little error and superstition,plus a lot of fraud.占卜是由一些谬误和迷信构成,再加上大量的欺骗。
  • Katherine McCormack goes beyond horoscopes and provides a quick guide to other forms of divination.凯瑟琳·麦考马克超越了占星并给其它形式的预言提供了快速的指导。
n.顶点;高潮;v.(使)达到顶点
  • The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
  • His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。
v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )
  • She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
  • Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫,陆子潇尖声叫:“告诉什么? 来自汉英文学 - 围城
n.喘息,气喘;v.喘息;气吁吁他说
  • She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
  • The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。
n.(某一地区的)植物群
  • The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
  • All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉
  • The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
  • The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。
adj.狂乱的,错乱的,激昂的
  • I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
  • He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。
adj.坚定的;有决心的
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
n.恳求,祈愿,哀求
  • She knelt in supplication. 她跪地祷求。
  • The supplication touched him home. 这个请求深深地打动了他。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的
  • It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
  • He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
n.表明,示范,论证,示威
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂
  • He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
  • The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住
  • There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
  • Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。
学英语单词
-hemia
a basket
apophylactic phase
Arts and Crafts Movement
auricular gangrene
banker's draught
Beeroth of the children of Jaakan
beish
Bereznik
bubble proof
cabtire cord
centerboards
chorales
classicals
closes out
cochloitis
comparative income statement
contractibleness
cottonmouth moccasins
crebs
cubicula
cut the grass under someone's feet
Denmark Str.
disdainingly
due west
earth pressure
eccentric error
echo flutter
employee withholding payable
family dactylopteridaes
five-layer
Foucault rotating-mirror method
gas-phase chemiluminescence
grazing facilitation
hangtime
heat of mixture
horsewhips
hypertonia hypertropy
I spy
ILS terrian clearence
inharmonious fold
integrity vs. despair
interest upon loans
intraosteal
key-sequenced data set
Maradah
medical supplies
melchisedec
message separation function
micronizers
microphytophagous mites
monestrous
moving spirit
multi- resistance
multi-shuttle ribbon loom
mus tenellus
neutron leakage spectrum
old women's fable story
on-let
out-length
output formatter
Pan'kova Zemlya, Poluostrov
partial differential equation
pentamerus
phenolphthalein test
pitch accents
Pleasant Dale
potein-free solution
protein-free filtrate
prototyping technique
re-record
reticular part
revolving line of credit
Rooker
row-bowls
separating sieve
simulately
Singapore Shipping Association
smoothline
straight debt value
stress fracture of fibula
stretto by diminution
suspended camera
system tester
tere
tetraiodotetrachlorofluorescein
Thomas' pessary
to consist of
town-centre
TPT (time priority table)
training board
trevalion
triple deck screen
unbung
vertebrochondral
vestibule train
vibration isolating material
victomycin
West New Britain Prov.
whamo
yuglon
Zirobwe