02 托馬斯·格雷致母親 Thomas Gray to His Mother

托馬斯·格雷(Thomas Gray)

名人檔案

托馬斯·格雷(1716—1771)，英國著名詩人，受感傷主義和浪漫主義的影響，其詩歌作品以失落和死亡為通常主題。1750年，格雷發(fā)表長詩《墓畔哀歌》，聲名鵲起，成為“墓園派”的代表詩人。其作品還包括《詩的歷程》和《吟游詩人》等。

簡介與鑒賞

格雷盡管出生于一個(gè)相對(duì)富庶的家庭，但童年時(shí)代孱弱的體質(zhì)與父親的粗暴給他留下了陰影，使其一生都在憂郁中度過，其作品也難免沾染上傷感的色彩。幸運(yùn)的是，格雷有一位愛他、呵護(hù)他的母親。他與母親的關(guān)系很好，這封信就是他在意大利旅行期間寫給母親的。在信中他詳細(xì)、生動(dòng)地給母親介紹了意大利的風(fēng)土人情。

這封信近似于游記，以描寫為主，這也是作為墓畔詩人的格雷最擅長的。信中對(duì)意大利植被的準(zhǔn)確描述，對(duì)自然風(fēng)光和城市景象的生動(dòng)再現(xiàn)，都給人以身臨其境之感。

通過對(duì)這封信的學(xué)習(xí)，讀者可以初步體會(huì)到，在描寫性文章中，敏銳的洞察力、對(duì)形容詞和動(dòng)詞的大量掌握以及獨(dú)特的視角，都是必不可少的。

英文正文

Naples,

June 17, 1740.

Our journey hither was through the most beautiful part of the finest country in the world; and every spot of it on some account or other, famous for these three thousand years past. The season has hitherto1been just as warm as one would wish it; no unwholesome airs, or violent heats, yet heard of: The people call it a backward year, and are in pain about their corn, wine, and oil; but we, who are neither corn, wine, nor oil, find it very agreeable. Our road was through Velletri, Cisterna, Terracina, Capua, and Aversa, and so to Naples. The minute one leaves his Holiness’s dominions, the face of things begins to change from wide uncultivated2plains to olive groves and well tilled3fields of corn, intermixed4with ranks of elms, every one of which has its vine twining about it, and hanging in festoons5between the rows from one tree to another. The great old fig trees, the oranges in full bloom6, and myrtles in every hedge, make one of the delightfullest scenes you can conceive7; besides that, the roads are wide, well kept, and full of passengers, a sight I have not beheld8this long time. My wonder still increased upon entering the city, which I think for number of people, outdoes9both Paris and London. The streets are one continued market, and thronged with populace10so much that a coach can hardly pass. The common sort are a jolly lively kind of animals, more industrious11than Italians usually are; they work till evening; then take their lute12or guitar (for they all play) and walk about the city, or upon the sea shore with it, to enjoy the fresco13. One sees their little brown children jumping about stark naked, and the bigger ones dancing with castanets, while others play on the cymbal to them. Your maps will show you the situation of Naples; it is on the most lovely bay in the world, and one of the calmest seas: it has many other beauties besides those of nature. We have spent two days in visiting the remarkable places in the country round it, such as the bay of Baiae, and its remains of antiquity14; the lake Avernus, and the Solfatara, Charon’s grotto, etc. We have been in the Sybil’s cave and many other strange holes underground (I only name them because you may consult Sandy’s travels); but the strangest hole I ever was in, has been today at a place called Portici, where his Sicilian Majesty has a country seat. About a year ago, as they were digging, they discovered some parts of ancient buildings above thirty feet deep in the ground: curiosity led them on, and they have been digging ever since; the passage they have made, with all its turnings and windings15, is now more than a mile long. As you walk you see parts of an amphitheatre16, many houses adorned with marble17columns, and incrusted with the same, the front of a temple, several arched vaults of rooms painted in fresco. Some pieces of painting have been taken out from hence finer than anything of the kind before discovered, and with these the king has adorned his palace; also a number of statues, medals, and gems; and more are dug out every day. This is known to be a Roman town, that in the emperor Titus’s time was overwhelmed18by a furious19eruption20of Mount Vesuvius21, which is hard by. The wood and beams remain so perfect that you may see the grain; but burnt to a coal, and dropping into dust upon the least touch. We were today at the foot of that mountain, which at present smokes only a little, where we saw the materials that fed the stream of fire, which about four years since ran down its side. We have but a few days longer to stay here; too little in conscience for such a place.

單詞/詞組

1 hitherto⁶adv. 迄今；至今

2 uncultivated⁶adj. [農(nóng)] 未經(jīng)耕作的

3 till⁶vt. 耕種；犁

4 intermix⁶vt. 使混雜；使混合

5 festoon⁸n.花彩；[建]花彩裝飾物

6 in full bloom⁴phr. 盛開

7 conceive⁴vi. 設(shè)想；想象

8 behold⁴vt. 看；注視

9 outdo⁴vt. 超過；勝過

10 populace⁴n. 大眾；人口

11 industrious⁴adj. 勤勉的

12 lute⁴n.魯特琴

13 fresco⁸n. 壁畫

14 antiquity⁴n. 古物；古代的遺物

15 winding⁴n. 繞，纏；彎曲

16 amphitheatre⁸n. 圓形劇場；階梯教室(等于amphitheater)

17 marble⁴adj. 大理石的

18 overwhelm⁴vt. 壓倒；淹沒

19 furious⁴adj. 激烈的；狂怒的

20 eruption⁴n. 爆發(fā)，噴發(fā)

21 Mount Vesuvius⁴n.維蘇威火山

經(jīng)典語句

The great old fig trees, the oranges in full bloom, and myrtles in every hedge, make one of the delightfullest scenes you can conceive; besides that, the roads are wide, well kept, and full of passengers, a sight I have not beheld this long time.

中文譯文

我們抵達(dá)這里，欣賞了世界上最美麗國家的最迷人的風(fēng)景。在已逝的三千年里，它的每一個(gè)景點(diǎn)都舉世聞名。這個(gè)季節(jié)至今都像春天般溫暖，令人心曠神怡，不像傳聞?wù)f的那樣空氣污濁、熱浪滾滾。人們都說今年四季延遲，因此對(duì)莊稼、酒和油的生產(chǎn)很不利；但我們卻沒有這些憂慮，所以感到很愉快。我們途經(jīng)維勒特里、西斯特那、泰拉奇納、卡普阿、阿韋爾薩，然后來到那不勒斯。離開教皇圣地沒多久，地貌便從空曠荒蕪的平原變成郁郁蔥蔥的橄欖樹林和精耕細(xì)作的玉米地。其間穿插著幾排榆樹，一排排枝葉交錯(cuò)像懸掛在樹間的花彩。高大的老無花果樹、花朵綻放的橘子樹和籬笆叢中的桃金娘交相輝映，構(gòu)筑了一道你所能想象到的最賞心悅目的風(fēng)景。另外，道路寬闊通暢，行人絡(luò)繹不絕，我很久沒有見過這樣的景象了。城中景象更令人驚嘆：這座城里的人比巴黎和倫敦多多了；鄰街的街道相連，形成了一個(gè)大市場，摩肩接踵的人流讓車馬都難以行走。普通市民異?；钴S，比一般意大利人要勤勞得多。他們能披星戴月地工作，然后操起魯特琴或吉他(他們都善于奏樂)，或漫步在城中，或徜徉于海灘，并且陶醉在畫壁畫的快樂中。還會(huì)看見他們的小孩有著棕色的皮膚，赤裸身體跳來跳去，稍大點(diǎn)的孩子則擊板起舞，由別人為他們擊鈸伴奏。你手上的地圖會(huì)標(biāo)出那不勒斯的位置，它位于世界上最可愛的海灣，與最寧靜的海域之一毗鄰。除了自然美景，它還有許多其他美麗的地方。我們花了兩天時(shí)間參觀那不勒斯周邊的名勝，如貝亞灣、古城遺跡、埃弗諾斯湖、硫黃溫泉、卡隆的避暑洞穴等。我們?nèi)ミ^西比爾的巖洞和許多地下奇怪的洞穴(我只說出它們的名字，因?yàn)槟憧梢栽谏５系挠斡浿胁榈?。今天，我進(jìn)了最奇異的一個(gè)巖洞，也就是波爾蒂奇巖洞，這里有著西西里國王建造的鄉(xiāng)村別墅。一年前，人們?cè)谕诰驎r(shí)，發(fā)現(xiàn)了地底下三十多英尺深處的一些古老建筑。在好奇心的驅(qū)使下，他們繼續(xù)挖掘，自那時(shí)起他們就一直挖個(gè)不停。他們挖出的通道蜿蜒曲折，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)有一英里多長。你邊走邊看，可以見到一座圓形劇場的遺址，很多房子都裝飾著大理石圓柱，其裝潢都是一個(gè)模樣；在一座寺廟的正面，好幾個(gè)拱頂房間里都裝飾著壁畫。從這里拿走的一些畫是目前為止所發(fā)現(xiàn)的最好作品，國王用它們來裝飾他的宮殿。這里還有一定數(shù)量的雕像、勛章和珍寶；每天都能挖掘出好多。人們認(rèn)為這是座提圖斯皇帝統(tǒng)治時(shí)期的羅馬古城，附近的維蘇威火山爆發(fā)，淹沒了整座城市。屋木橫梁保存完好，能清晰地看見木紋，但它已完全炭化，輕輕一碰就化為粉末。今天，我們?nèi)チ四亲鹕侥_下，看到火山熔巖流的物質(zhì)，大概是四年前沖下山的；現(xiàn)在山口只冒一點(diǎn)兒煙。我們只能在這里逗留幾天，說實(shí)在的，目睹這樣勝地美景的時(shí)間真是太短了。

1740年6月17日于那不勒斯