精读6第四课Nettles讲解
Unit Four Nettles
1. Notes on Guide to Reading
1) prolific (1.1) 多产的
prolific writer 多产作家
synonyms: fecund, fertile, fruitful, productive.
2）prestigious (1.3) esteemed 有名望的，著名的
Prestigious university 名牌大学；名校Synonyms: celebrated, distinguished, eminent, illustrious, noted, preeminent, prominent, renowned
3）dilemma （2.2）进退两难；困境
To be, or not to be: that is the question (Shakespeare)
Synonyms: deep water, hot water, predicament,
4）be confronted with (2.3) face; meet with;
encounter 面对；遭遇
5）regardless of (2.3) irrespective of 不论；不管
6）Love that was not usable, that knew its place. Not risking a thing yet staying alive as a sweet trickle, and underground resource. (Last line but one, Para. 2)
空灵的爱，自知的爱；不危及任何东西，却像涓涓细流，地下源泉，永不枯竭。
精神之爱，知其进退；无损无害，如源头活水，滋润于心。
7）retrospection （3.2）回顾，回忆
8）protagonist (3.2) The main performer in a theatrical production; : lead 主角
9）effortlessly (3.4)
Effortless: easy
Easy as ABC, easy as falling off a log, easy as one-two-three, easy as pie, like taking candy from a baby, nothing to it. 10）bridge the gap: 搭配
11）Thus the reader is apt to identify with the protagonist, feeling what she feels and worrying what worries her. (last line but one, Para. 3)
Identify with ?
12) address several essential problems (4.1) 搭配
13）Once again “Nettles”displays Munro’s lasting strength …and subtle meanings of life.
Lasting strength？
在“荨麻”中，Munro再次展示了其
，驭繁于简，情节虽然简单，却探索了复杂的人物感情和微妙的人生况味。
2．Text Analysis
From paragraph 1 to paragraph 49
A．必备语汇（preparatory words and expressions）见词汇测试表
B. 逐段讲解
1．引子：回忆起1979年时见到的一个男人。
不交代是谁，留下悬念(suspense)
词汇：
1）ketchup sandwich （1.2）
夹番茄酱的三明治
2. 数年之后，重寻故地，已物易人非。
去年元夜时,花市灯如昼。
月上柳梢头,人约黄昏后。
今年元夜时,月与灯依旧。
不见去年人,泪湿春衫袖。
---生查子去年元夜时欧阳修
去年今日此门中，
人面桃花相映红。
人面只今何处去？
桃花依旧笑春风
题都城南庄崔护
3．回忆儿时情景，请人打井，由此开始一场早恋（puppy love）。
词汇：
1）Well (line 1)：水井
2）Penned （line 3）：圈养的
Pig sty 猪圈
3）Mug (line 7) : 杯
其他词义：
（1）I got mugged/jumped on my way
home.
（2）The suspect is not among the mug
shots.
月上柳梢头 人约黄昏后(3) Look at her ugly mug.
4．Mike McCallum 出场。交代打井人居无定所的生活，为之后和童年伴侣小Mike McCallum的分离埋下伏笔。
5．小Mike McCallum出场。交代两人都是8岁。
词汇:
1）boarding house （5.1）提供膳宿的地方
2）at hand （5.2）nearby 附近，手边6. 回忆和小Mike两小无猜的情景之一：在Mike父亲的车里玩耍；给被臭鼬所伤的狗抹番茄汁治伤。
词汇：
1）Cab (6.1)：出租车；此处：驾驶室
2）Mucky (6.4): dirty
3）Sour-cheese boots (6.4): 袜子发此臭奶
酪的气味
4) Skunk (6.6): 臭鼬
5) Spray (6.6): 喷射
句子：
1) It looked as if we were washing him in
blood. (last line) 好像用血给它洗澡一样。
7. 回忆农场的树木。
句子:
1)Each of the trees …crabby. (7.2-4)
译：
这里每颗树都神气活现的。比如，榆树宁静安详，橡树则杀气腾腾，枫树慈祥可亲，而山楂树则老态龙钟、火气十足。
8．回忆一起过河情景。
词汇:
1) Scummy (8.3): 长满浮渣的
2) Scum：人渣scum of the earth
scum of the nation?
句子:
1) The river in August was almost as much
a stony road as it was a watercourse. (8.1) 译：8月的河是条水道，几乎也是一条石头路。
2)…plowing through mats of flat-leafed water lilies, trapping our legs in their snaky roots. (
8.3-4)
译：…吃力地在一团团长着扁平叶子的睡莲中蹚行，两腿被弯曲的睡莲根缠绕。
9-11 讲述小孩们玩打仗游戏，我和Mike互生情愫。
词汇：
1) Harassment （9.4）: 骚扰
Sex harassment
2) Dress (10.3)：包扎
Administer：to give someone a medicine or
medical treatment Painkillers were administered to the boy.
句子：
1) There was a keen alarm when the cry came,
a wire zinging through your whole body, a fanatic feeling of devotion. (10.4-6)
Keen: keen interest/desire
The need for enlarging our vocabulary is not keenly felt yet.
Zing: to move quickly
Wire:电线
Business wire？
Fanatic:狂热的
译：当他喊我的名字时，我会紧张万分，全身如触电一般，一种狂热的忠诚感油然而生。
2) The game disintegrated, after a long while, in arguments and mass resurrection. (11.1-2) Disintegrate: to break up 散
译：许久之后，大家吵个不休，装死的也活了过来，游戏就这样散了。
12-14 水井打好，Mike离去
句子：
1) One morning, of course, the job was all finished, the well capped, the pump reinstated, the fresh water marveled at. (12.1-2)
Cap: (vt) 加盖子
Marvel at：惊叹
译：不用说，一天早上，工作全部完成。井口上了盖子，水泵重新装好了，清新的井水引来一片赞叹。
2) The laugh had a lonely boom in it, as if he were still down the well. (Last line, Para. 12) Boom：低沉而有回响的声音
译：他的笑声深沉孤独，带着回音，似乎他还在井底一般。
3) He had other jobs lined up elsewhere…
(13.2)
Line up: 排队
Line up please！
Line the kids up！
译：其他地方还有很多活等着他。
4) Future absence I accepted—it was just that I had no idea, until Mike disappeared, of what absence could be like. How my own territory would be altered, as if a landslide had gone through it and skimmed off all meaning except loss of Mike. （13. 5-8）
译：我知道会分开的，也认了，但是到Mike 不见了，才知道那是一种什么样的分离。生活面目全非，好像一场山崩抹去了一切，除了失去Mike，其他都无意义了。