3级-《三个陌生人》-第18课

前情提要 

巴普蒂丝塔一直在托阿庞西小镇上教书，这几天她为将要与赫德根先生结婚的事踌躇不决。房东韦斯太太与她交谈了几次，巴普蒂丝塔表示喜欢他胜过教书，但是并不想和他结婚。在回家休整后，巴普蒂丝塔告诉了韦斯太太他们已经订婚了的消息……

故事原文 

The Three Strangers and Other Stories 18

三个陌生人 18

2  A chance(1) meeting

2  偶遇

When the end of July arrived, Baptista was in no hurry to return home to the island. She was not planning to buy any special clothes for the wedding, and her parents were making all the other arrangements(2). So she did not leave Tor-upon-Sea until the Saturday before her wedding. She travelled by train to the town of Pen-zephyr, but when she arrived, she found that the boat to St Maria's had left early, and there was no other boat until Tuesday. 'I'll have to stay here until then,' she thought. 'It's too far to go back to Mrs Wace's.' She did not seem to mind this — in fact, she was almost happy to wait another three nights before seeing her future husband.

7月底到来的时候，巴普蒂丝塔并不着急回岛上的家里去。她不打算特地为婚礼买什么衣服，而其他一切则由她的父母来安排。所以，她直到婚礼前的那个星期六才离开托阿庞西。她乘火车前往彭泽弗小镇，到达之后却发现到圣玛丽亚岛的船已经提前开走了，而且直到下星期二才会有别的船。“我只能在这儿等下一班船了，”她想，“回韦斯太太那里太远了。”她看样子并不介意——事实上，她甚至很高兴要再多等三个晚上才见到自己未来的丈夫。

She found a room in a small hotel, took her luggage there, then went out for a walk round the town.

她在一家小旅馆找了个房间，把行李放好，然后到小镇上去逛逛。

'Baptista? Yes, Baptista it is!'

“巴普蒂丝塔？没错，是巴普蒂丝塔！”

The words came from behind her. Turning round, she gave a jump, and stared. 'Oh, is it really you, Charles?' she said.

这话从她背后传来。她吓了一跳，转过身盯着对方。“哦，真的是你吗，查尔斯？”她说。

With a half-smile the newcomer looked her up and down. He appeared almost angry with her, but he said nothing.

来者似笑非笑地上下打量了她一番。他好像对她有些气恼，但却一言不发。

'I'm going home,' she continued, 'but I've missed the boat.'

“我正准备回家，”她接着说，“但却没赶上船。”

He did not seem interested in this news. 'Still teaching?' he said. 'What a fine teacher you make(3), Baptista, I'm sure!'

他似乎对此不感兴趣。“还在教书吗？”他说道，“你一定是个好老师吧，巴普蒂丝塔，我敢肯定！”

She knew that was not his real meaning. 'I know I'm not very good at teaching, 'she replied.' That's why I've stopped.'

她知道这并非他的本意。“我知道我并不擅长教书，”她答道，“所以我辞职了。”

'Oh, you've stopped? You surprise me.'

“哦，你辞职了？这太让人吃惊了。”

'I hate teaching.'

“我讨厌教书。”

'Perhaps that's because I'm a teacher.'

“也许那是因为我是个老师。”

'Oh no, it isn't. It's because I'm starting a new life. Next week I'm going to marry Mr David Heddegan.'

“哦，不，当然不是。因为我要开始新的生活。下周我就要嫁给戴维·赫德根先生了。”

At this unexpected(4) reply, the young man took a step back. 'Who is Mr David Heddegan?' he said, trying to sound bored.

听到这个出乎意料的回答，小伙子往后退了一步。“戴维·赫德根先生是谁？”他说着，试图让语气显得有些厌烦。

'He owns a number of shops on St Maria's, and he's my father's neighbour and oldest friend.'

“他在圣玛丽亚岛拥有很多商店，而且是我父亲的邻居和老朋友。”

'So, no longer a schoolteacher, just a shopkeeper's wife. I knew you would never succeed as a teacher. You're like a woman who thinks she can be a great actress just because she has a beautiful face, and forgets she has to be able to act. But you found out your mistake early, didn't you?'

“也就是说，你不再是学校的老师，而只是一个店主的妻子了。我就知道你永远不会胜任教师这项工作的。你就像一个自以为有了漂亮脸蛋就能成为优秀演员的女人，却忘了自己还必须懂得如何表演。不过，你及时发现了自己的错误，不是吗？”

'Don't be unpleasant to me, Charles,' Baptista said sadly.

“别扫我的兴，查尔斯。”巴普蒂丝塔忧伤地说。

'I'm not being unpleasant — I'm just saying what is true, in a friendly way — although I do have good reason(5) to be unpleasant to you. What a hurry you've been in, Baptista! I do hate a woman in a hurry!'

“我不是扫你的兴——我只是在用一种友好的方式说出真话——尽管我有足够的理由来扫你的兴。你太草率了，巴普蒂丝塔！我讨厌草率的女人！”

（原文中出现高光标示内容请见核心语言点）

核心语言点 

1. chance 偶然的

例句：

a chance meeting in a restaurant

在餐馆的不期而遇

a chance meeting in the school

学校里的偶遇

2. arrangement 安排，准备

例句：

All of the arrangements have been made in advance.

所有的准备都提前安排好了。

We provide breakfast and dinner, but you make your own arrangements for lunch.

我们提供早晚餐，午餐需要您自己准备。

3. make 成为

例句：

She and her boyfriend make a lovely couple.

她和她男朋友能成为好伴侣。

You've a very good idea there. It will make a good book.

你的想法非常好。 这可以成为一本好书。

4. unexpected 出乎意料的

例句：

The story is full of unexpected twists.

故事充满了出乎意料的反转。

I'm sad that she's leaving, but it was not unexpected.

她要离开了我很难过，但这并不是没有预料。

5. reason 原因，理由

    good reason 好理由

    for some reason 出于某种原因

例句：

He is always late, for some reason.

出于某种原因，他经常迟到。