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英文原著學(xué)習(xí)打卡—History of the English-Speaking Peoples

2023-03-31 17:20 作者:Prannt 0人讀過 | 我要投稿

注：本文僅選取原著的重要段落進(jìn)行講解和整理，全文將在文末以圖片方形式。需要《History of the English-Speaking Peoples》或者《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》英文版的請一鍵三連哦，后臺踢一下私發(fā)~

英語民族史 I Preface

原文

①If there was need for it before, that has certainly not passed away.For the second time in the present century the British Empire and the United States have?stood together facing the perils of war on the largest scale known among men, and since ②the cannons ceased to fire and the bombs to burst we have become more conscious of our common duty to the human race. Language, law, and the ③processes by which we have come into being already afforded a unique foundation for drawing together and portraying a concerted task. I thought when I began that such a unity might well notably influence the destiny of the world. Certainly I do not feel that the need for this has diminished in any way in the twenty years that have passed.

解讀

①本句是萬能模板，譯為“如果說 ... （在當(dāng)時）是應(yīng)運(yùn)而生的話，當(dāng)然現(xiàn)在也并不過時?！?/p>

②本句直譯為：大炮停止射擊，炸彈停止爆炸?？梢庾g為：戰(zhàn)火硝煙平息。

③本句直譯為：我們成為人的過程?？梢庾g為：民族歷程（因為本書針對英語民族，而非全體人類）。

重點(diǎn)單詞及詞組

peril?/'per?l/：n.巨大的危險，危難；危險，問題? v.使有危險，使臨險境，危及

be conscious of ...：意識到……

portray?/p???tre?/：v.描繪，描寫；描述，刻畫；（在電影、戲劇等中）扮演

concerted /k?n?s??t?d/：adj.共同籌劃的，一致的；盡力的，竭力的；

notably：adv.明顯地，顯著地；尤其，特別

diminish /d??m?n??/：v.減弱，降低，減少；貶低，輕視

原文

①On the contrary, the theme of the work has grown in strength and reality and human thought is broadened. Vast numbers of people on both sides of the Atlantic and throughout the British Commonwealth of Nations have felt a sense of brotherhood. ②A new generation is? at hand. Many practical steps have been taken which carry us far. Thinking primarily of the English-speaking peoples in no way implies any sense of restriction. It does not mean canalising the development of world affairs, nor does it prevent the erection of structures like United Europe or other similar groupings which may all find their place in the world organisation we have set on foot. It rather helps to invest them with life and truth. ③There is a growing feeling that the English-speaking peoples might point a finger showing the way if things went right, and could of course defend themselves, so far as any of us have the power, if things went wrong.

解讀

①這個詞組本身很簡單，但如果出現(xiàn)在句首，就要注意了！On the contray和Instead的用法相似，出現(xiàn)在這兩個詞的前后文表相同的語義邏輯。我們可以翻譯一下這句話的前文：“雖然二十年時光一晃而過，我對此（團(tuán)結(jié)一致可能會極大影響整個世界的命運(yùn)）卻仍深信不疑”；后文：“團(tuán)結(jié)之詣變得更加現(xiàn)實和深入人心，人類的思維也開闊起來”。在大的感情色彩上。兩者是一致的。所以千萬別把On the contray、Instead和Instead of搞混了，多加一個of才是表相反的邏輯。

②翻譯為：一個嶄新的時代就在眼前。這樣比較好聽。

③長難句。that引導(dǎo)的定語從句（一直到結(jié)尾）修飾先行詞feeling，在定語從句中繼續(xù)使用分詞+并列+插入語，先將不必要的成分都去掉，就變成了：There is a growing feeling that the English-speaking peoples might point a finger?if things went right, and could defend themselves?if things went wrong.?這樣是不是就清晰多了呢？最后在加上修飾，翻譯為：人們也許能夠越來越深地感受到，英語民族能夠引導(dǎo)真理之路，即便身處逆境，只要一息尚在，便定要捍衛(wèi)自己不受侵害。

重點(diǎn)單詞及詞組

human thought：人類思維??

vast numbers of：可代替many等低端詞匯，再積累一個表示“許多”的高端詞匯：sheer volumes of。

commonwealth：n.國家，獨(dú)立的政治共同體（尤指民主共和國）原文中出現(xiàn)的the British?Commonwealth?of Nations = the?Commonwealth，特指“英聯(lián)邦”。

in?no way：決不。置于句首時注意部分倒裝。

canalise：v.主導(dǎo)；引導(dǎo)?

world affairs：世界潮流

the erection of structures：組建。?

set on foot：著手。

原文

Our story centres in an island, not widely sundered from the Continent, and so tilted that its mountains lie all to the west and north, while south and east is a gently undulating landscape of wooded valleys, open downs, and slow rivers. It is very accessible to the invader, whether he comes in peace or war, as pirate or merchant, conqueror or missionary. Those who dwelt there are not insensitive to any shift of power, any change of faith, or even fashion, on the mainland, but they? give to every practice, every doctrine that comes to it from abroad, its own peculiar turn and imprint. A province of the Roman Empire, cut off and left to sink or swim in the great convulsion of the Dark Ages; reunited to Christendom, and almost torn away from it once more by the heathen Dane; victorious, united, but exhausted, yielding, almost without resistance, to the Norman Conqueror; submerged, it might seem, within the august framework of Catholic feudalism, was yet capable of reappearing with an individuality of its own. Neither its civilisation nor speech is quite Latin nor quite Germanic. It possesses a body of custom which, whatever its ultimate sources may be—folkright brought from beyond the seas by Danes, and by Saxons before them, maxims of civil jurisprudence culled from Roman codes—is being welded into one Common Law. This is England in the thirteenth century, the century of Magna Carta, and of the first Parliament.

重點(diǎn)單詞及詞組

sunder?from：與 ... 分離；與 ... 切斷?

undulating?/??ndjule?t??/ ：adj.波狀的；波浪起伏的

merchant：n.商人

missionary：n.傳教士

積累宗教相關(guān)的單詞：missionary（n.傳教士）；heathen（n.異教徒）；pilgrim（n.朝圣者）；rite（n.宗教儀式）；primacy（n.大主教的職位）；minister（n.牧師）；pilgrimage（n.朝圣者的旅程）；bishop（n.主教）；primacy（n.大主教職位）；abbot（n.修道院院長）；rite（n.宗教儀式）

doctrine?/?d?ktr?n/：n.教義，主義，信條?

peculiar：adj.獨(dú)特的

imprint：n. 印記

sink or swim：沉浮?

feudalism：封建主義

body of custom：習(xí)俗框架?

folkright：民權(quán)

weld?into：融入?

Magna Carta：《大憲章》的官方表述

原文

Suddenly the mist clears. For a moment the Island stands in the full light of historic day. In itself the invasion of Britain by Julius C?sar was an episode that had no sequel; but it showed that the power of Rome and the civilisation of the Mediterranean world were not necessarily bounded by the Atlantic coast. C?sar’s landing at Deal bridged the chasm which nature had cloven. For a century, while the Roman world? was tearing itself to pieces in civil war, or slowly recovering under a new Imperial form, Britain remained uneasily poised between isolation and union with the Continent, but absorbing, by way of trade and peaceful intercourse, something of the common culture of the West. In the end Rome gave the word and the legions sailed. For nearly four hundred years Britain became a Roman province. This considerable period was characterised for a great part of the time by that profound tranquillity which leaves little for history to record. It stands forth sedate, luminous, and calm. And what remained? Noble roads, sometimes overgrown with woodland; the stupendous work of the Roman Wall, breached and crumbling; fortresses, market towns, country houses, whose very ruins the next comers contemplated with awe. But of Roman speech, Roman law, Roman institutions, hardly a vestige. Yet we should be mistaken if we therefore supposed that the Roman occupation could be dismissed as an incident without consequence. It had given time for the Christian faith to plant itself. ①Far in the West, though severed from the world by the broad flood of barbarism, there remained, sorely beset, but defended by its mountains, a tiny Christian realm.?

解讀

①本句的分句很多，去掉不重要的分句后，核心部分為：there?remained a tiny Christian realm.?翻譯：在遙遠(yuǎn)的西方，因野蠻人入侵而與世隔絕的土地，一個極小的基督教王國，雖然身單力薄，但得益于群山屏障，終究得以留存。far in the west還有一種更具逼格的表達(dá)：as far as west goes（參考權(quán)力的游戲）.

重點(diǎn)單詞及詞組

sequel /?si?kw?l/：n.續(xù)篇，續(xù)集；后果，結(jié)局??

Mediterranean?/?med?t??re?ni?n/：adj.地中海的；（膚色）淺黑的?n.地中海（the Mediterranean）

bridged the chasm：彌合了 ... 的鴻溝

cloven：cleave的過去分詞，劈開

tear?itself to pieces：把 ... 自己撕碎

Imperial form：帝國形態(tài)

give the word：保證。 = you have my word（電影里的臺詞）

be characterised for：以 ... 為特征

tranquillity：寧靜

總結(jié)有關(guān)“寧靜”的單詞：tranquility；sedate；calm

stupendous?/stju??pend?s/：adj.驚人的；巨大的

contemplate?with awe：敬畏地凝視

vestige：n.遺跡；殘余

dismiss：v.開除，解雇；不考慮，不理會；駁回，停止受理；讓……離開，解散

原文

Nor was this all, because the English people now have an institution which overrode all local distinctions of speech, or custom, or even sovereignty. Whatever dynastic quarrels might go on between the kingdoms, the Church was one and indivisible: its rites are everywhere the same, its ministers are sacred. The Kingdom of Kent may lose its ancient primacy, Northumbria make way for Mercia; but Canterbury and York remain. ①The contrast is startling between the secular annals of these generations, with their meagre and tedious records of forays and slaughter, and the brilliant achievements of the English Church. The greatest scholar in Christendom was a Northumbrian monk. The most popular stylist was a West Saxon abbot. The Apostle of Germany was Boniface from Devon. The revival of learning in the Empire of Charlemagne was directed by Alcuin of York.

解讀

①... 和 ... 形成了鮮明的對比

重點(diǎn)單詞及詞組

override：v. 超越；比 ... 重要

sovereignty /?s?vr?nti/：n.主權(quán)，最高統(tǒng)治權(quán)，最高權(quán)威；獨(dú)立自主；主權(quán)國家，自治州

總結(jié)有關(guān)“君主”的單詞：sovereign（n.君主）；sovereignty（n.國家的主權(quán)）；monarchy（君主統(tǒng)治；君主制度）；commonalty（平民；大眾）；magnate（富豪；權(quán)貴）；dynastic（adj.王朝的；朝代的）

secular annals：世俗的記錄

meagre and tedious：兩個單詞的意思相近，可以連一起組成這個詞組。表示“單調(diào)乏味的”

stylist：文體學(xué)家?

原文

In other words, personal government, with all its latent possibilities of oppression and caprice, is not to be endured. But it is not easy to prevent. The King is strong, far stronger than any great lord, and stronger than most combinations of great lords. ①If the Crown is to be kept within its due limits some broader basis of resistance must be found than the ancient privileges of the nobility. About this time, in the middle of the thirteenth century, we begin to have a new word, Parliament. It bears a very vague meaning, and some of those who first used it would have been startled if they could have foreseen what it would some day come to signify. But gradually the idea spreads that if it is not enough for the King to “talk things over” with his own Council; so, on the other hand, it is not enough for the barons to insist solely on their right to be considered the Council of the kingdom. Though they often claim to speak for the community of the realm, in fact they only represent themselves, and the King after all represents the whole people. Then why not call in the lesser gentry and the burgesses? They are always used in local matters. Why not use them in national concerns? Bring them up to Westminster, two gentlemen from every shire, two tradesmen from every borough. What exactly they are to do when they get there no one quite knows. Perhaps to listen while their? betters speak; to let them know what the grievances of the country are; to talk things over with one another behind the scenes; to learn what the king’s intentions are in Scotland and France, and to pay the more cheerfully for knowing. It is a very delicate plant, this Parliament. There is nothing inevitable about its growth, and it might have been dropped as an experiment not worth going on with. But it took root. In two or three generations a prudent statesman would no more think of governing England without a Parliament than without a king. What its actual powers are it would be very hard to say. Broadly, its consent is necessary to give legal sanction to any substantial act of authority: an important change of ancient custom can only be effected by Act of Parliament; a new tax can only be levied with the approval of the Commons. What more it can do the unfolding of time will show. But its authority is stabilised by a series of accidents. Edward III needed money for his French wars. Henry IV needed support for his seizure of the crown. And in the Wars of the Roses both the contending parties wanted some sort of public sanction for their actions, which only Parliament could provide.