第三级-《三个陌生人》-第1课

背景知识 

关于《三个陌生人》

人有相似，无论他们生活在城镇还是乡村，在当代还是一百年前。

一个牧羊少年惊恐地睁大了双眼，从他的小棚屋中往外窥视一个女人和一个并非她丈夫的男人秘密约会。

一个年轻女教师原本要回家嫁给一个比自己大得多的男人，却因做了一时冲动的事而改变了自己的生活。

不过，还是让我们从一座孤零零的村舍的敲门声说起吧。屋内灯光明亮、气氛欢快，人们伴随着音乐翩翩起舞，玩得很开心。屋外大雨滂沱，顺着山间小路走来的陌生人凝视着灯火通明的窗户。他是该继续赶路，还是停下来歇歇、坐在温暖的炉火边吃点东西呢？

作者简介

托马斯·哈代（1840-1928），英国诗人、小说家，其最著名的小说莫过于《德伯家的苔丝》，但他也创作了大量的短篇故事，哈代一生共发表了近20部长篇小说，其中大多数取材于哈代在英格兰南部居住时，周围村庄的人们给他讲述的故事。

哈代于1840年生于农村没落贵族家庭，1861年去伦敦学建筑工程，从事文学、哲学和神学的研究。他当过几年建筑师，后致力于文学创作。他的文章具有着地方色彩、悲剧色彩与宗教反叛色彩。他是横跨两个世纪的作家，早期和中期的创作以小说为主，继承和发扬了维多利亚时代的文学传统；晚年以其出色的诗歌开拓了英国20世纪的文学。

我国作家徐志摩曾评价他：“哈代绝非一个武断的悲观论者，虽然他有时在表现上不能制止他的愤慨与抑郁……哈代在他最烦闷最黑暗的时刻他也不放弃为他的思想寻求一条出路的决心，为人类前途寻求一条出路的决心。他的写实，他的所谓悲观，正是他在思想上的忠实与勇敢。”

风雨交加的夜晚，一个荒凉的小屋之中迎来了三个陌生人，杯觥交错之下隐藏的是逃逸与杀戮……

故事原文

The Three Strangers and Other Stories 1

三个陌生人 1 

1  The first stranger

1 第一个陌生人

In the south-west of England there are many long, low, grassy hills, which have not changed their appearance(1) for centuries. Farmers still keep their sheep on them, and the only buildings are lonely cottages, where shepherds live.

英格兰西南部绵亘着许多低矮而葱郁的山丘，它们的面貌千百年来未曾改变。农夫们依旧在山上放羊，山上唯一的一种建筑就是牧羊人居住的那些孤零零的小屋。

Fifty years ago there was a shepherd's cottage on one of these hills. It was only three miles from the market town of Casterbridge, but it was unusual for travellers to pass this way. There was no road, just two footpaths which crossed in front of the cottage door. During the long winters, snow and rain fell heavily here, which made travelling difficult.

50年前，其中一座山上有一间牧羊人的小屋。尽管它距离卡斯特桥的集镇仅有3英里，却很少有行人从此经过。这里没有大路，仅有两条小径在小屋门前交会。在漫长的冬季里，这里雨雪很大，行走很困难。

The night of March 28th, 1825, was one of the coldest and wettest that winter, but inside the cottage all was warm and cheerful. Shepherd Fennel had invited family and friends to drink to the health of his youngest child, a recent arrival in the family. Nineteen people were at the party: married women and single girls, shepherds and farm workers, young people talking of love, and old friends talking of the past.

1825年3月28日那晚是那年冬天最湿冷的一夜，不过小屋里却十分温暖，气氛欢快。牧羊人芬内尔邀请了亲朋好友来家里喝酒，祝福他最小的孩子——一个刚出生不久的家庭成员——身体健康。19个人参加了这次聚会：有已婚的妇人和单身的女孩，也有牧羊人和农场工人。年轻人谈论着爱情，老朋友们则追忆起往昔时光。

Shepherd Fennel had chosen(2) his wife well. She was a farmer's daughter from one of the valleys, and when she married, she brought fifty pounds with her in her pocket — and kept it there, for the needs(3) of a coming family. She did not like to spend money unnecessarily, and had worried about the kind of party to give that evening. 'At a sit-still party,' she thought, 'the men'll get too comfortable and drink the house dry(4). But at a dancing-party people get hungry and then they'll eat all our food! We'll have both sitting and dancing — that's the best way.' And secretly she told the fiddler to play for no more than(5) fifteen minutes at a time.

牧羊人芬内尔找了个好妻子。她是山谷里一个农夫的女儿，结婚的时候口袋里揣来了50英镑——并且一直没花，准备贡献给即将组成的家庭。她不喜欢乱花钱，还一直为那晚该举行哪种聚会而忧心忡忡。“在坐着不动的聚会中，”她盘算着，“男人们通常会舒服得过了头，把家里的酒喝个底朝天。可是在舞会中，人们又容易饥饿，会吃掉我们所有的食物！所以我们既要坐着又要跳舞——这是最好的办法。”她还偷偷告诉拉小提琴的人，一次最多只拉15分钟琴。

But when the dancing began, nobody wanted to stop. The fiddler refused to catch Mrs Fennel's eye, and played on. The music got louder and louder, and the excited dancers stepped faster and faster. Mrs Fennel could do nothing about it, so she sat helplessly in a corner, as the minutes became an hour.

可是舞会开始后，就没有人想停下来了。拉小提琴的人不肯看芬内尔太太的眼色，只管继续拉琴。音乐声越来越大，而兴奋的人们也越跳越快。芬内尔太太对此束手无策，只能无助地坐在角落里；而原本打算举行十来分钟的舞会竟延长到了一个小时。

While this was happening indoors, outside in the heavy rain and darkness a figure was climbing up the hill from Casterbridge. It was a tall, thin man, about forty years old, dressed all in black and wearing thick, heavy boots.

屋内的人们正兴高采烈地跳着舞；屋外暴雨滂沱，漆黑一片，一个身影正从卡斯特桥向山上艰难地攀爬着。这是一名四十岁左右的瘦高男人，一身黑衣，脚穿厚重的靴子。

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点

1. appearance 外貌

例句：

We are often attracted to somebody first by their physical appearance.

我们最初通常都是被外表所吸引。

Don't judge a person by his appearance.

不要以貌取人。

2. choose 选择

例句：

He chose his words carefully as he spoke.

他说话非常谨慎。

Top schools only pick and choose the best students.

顶尖学校会筛选出最好的学生。

3. needs 需求

meet the needs of... 满足……需求

例句：

Housing and education are basic needs.

住房和教育都是基本需求。

Schools must meet the needs of their students.

学校应该满足学生的需求。

4. v. (drink/wipe/bleed...) sb./sth. dry 把某人/某物弄干

例句：

He wiped his hands dry with a handkerchief.

他拿手帕把手擦干了。

He married her for her money and then bled her dry.

他为了她的钱娶了她， 然后榨干了她的钱。

5. no more than 不多于， 最多

例句：

Choose no more than three options.

最多选三个选项。

The room can only have no more than thirty students.

这个屋子最多容纳 30 个学生。