Chapter 1
Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book,called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest.? It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal.? Here is a copy of the drawing.
In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it.? After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle.? And after some work with a coloured pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing.? My Drawing Numbe One.? It looked like this:
I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
But they answered: "Frighten?? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"
My drawing was not a picture of a hat.?It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant.? But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing:? I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly.? They always need to have things explained.? My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
The grown-ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar.? That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter.? I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two.? Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes.? I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me.? At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona.? If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence.? I have lived a great deal among grown-ups.? I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.
Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept.? I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding.? But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say: "That is a hat."
Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars.? I would bring myself down to his level.? I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties.? And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
一、可能的生詞
primeval 太古的；原始的；遠古的
swallow 吞咽
boa constrictor 大蟒蛇
chew 咀嚼；嚼(碎)
digestion 消化
ponder 思索；考慮
jungle 熱帶叢林；密林
devote 投入(時間、精力等)
dishearten 使泄氣；使灰心
tiresome 討厭的；煩人的；令人厭倦的
distinguish 區分；辨別；分清
encounter 偶遇；邂逅；(重要的)相逢
consequence 重要的；有價值的
intimately 親密地；密切地
close at hand 非常接近
clear-sighted 有見識的；有決斷力的
experiment 實驗
necktie 領帶
sensible 明智的，理智的，通情達理的
二、可能的難句
I have flown a little over all parts of the world
加上這個 a little 在中間是為何呢？你會怎么翻譯？
In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence.
matters of consequence 也是本書的主題之一，你覺得是什么？
I have seen them intimately, close at hand.
intimately有很多義項，除了“親密地；密切地”之外，還有“個人地；私下地；隱私地”之義。我也不確定第一部分我給的義項是否準確，你能告訴我么？
