評(píng)論
打印
Sole master and proprietor of one of these effigies - of that which might be called, familiar!y, the woodenest - of that which thrust itself out above the pavement, right leg foremost, with a suavity the least endurable, and had the shoe buckles and flapped waistcoat the least reconcileable to human reason, and bore at its right eye the most offensively disproportionate piece of machinery - sole master and proprietor of that Midshipman, and proud of him too, an elderly gentleman in a Welsh wig had paid house-rent, taxes, rates, and dues, for more years than many a full-grown midshipman of flesh and blood has numbered in his life; and midshipmen who have attained a pretty green old age, have not been wanting in the English Navy.
有些海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的模擬像我們可以不客氣地稱為最像木頭那樣死板的，它們以一種使人極難以忍受的謙恭有禮的神氣，伸出右腿，矗立在人行道上；它們的鞋扣和帶翻領(lǐng)的背心的式樣是人們的理智最難以接受的；它們還拿了一件儀器，放在右眼附近，那儀器的大小十分不合比例，使人看了極為不快。在這些模擬像當(dāng)中，有一個(gè)模擬像的唯一的主人與所有者，也就是說(shuō)那個(gè)海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的唯一的主人與所有者（他以他而感到自豪），是一位上了年紀(jì)、帶威爾士假發(fā)的、有身份的先生；他支付房租、稅金和應(yīng)付費(fèi)用的時(shí)間比許多有血有肉、完全長(zhǎng)大成人的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的年齡還長(zhǎng)；在英國(guó)海軍中，年富力強(qiáng)的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生是并不缺少的。
The stock-in-trade of this old gentleman comprised chronometers, barometers, telescopes, compasses, charts, maps, sextants, quadrants, and specimens of every kind of instrument used in the working of a ship's course, or the keeping of a ship's reckoning, or the prosecuting of a ship's discoveries. Objects in brass and glass were in his drawers and on his shelves, which none but the initiated could have found the top of, or guessed the use of, or having once examined, could have ever got back again into their mahogany nests without assistance. Everything was jammed into the tightest cases, fitted into the narrowest corners, fenced up behind the most impertinent cushions, and screwed into the acutest angles, to prevent its philosophical composure from being disturbed by the rolling of the sea. Such extraordinary precautions were taken in every instance to save room, and keep the thing compact; and so much practical navigation was fitted, and cushioned, and screwed into every box (whether the box was a mere slab, as some were, or something between a cocked hat and a star-fish, as others were, and those quite mild and modest boxes as compared with others); that the shop itself, partaking of the general infection, seemed almost to become a snug, sea-going, ship-shape concern, wanting only good sea-room, in the event of an unexpected launch, to work its way securely to any desert island in the world.
這位老先生的存貨包括精密計(jì)時(shí)表、晴雨表、望遠(yuǎn)鏡、羅盤、航海圖、地圖、六分儀、象限儀，以及用于確定船舶航線、進(jìn)行船舶計(jì)算、研究船舶所在地的各種儀器的樣品。在他的抽屜中和架子上存放著銅制的與玻璃制的物品；除了那些具有初步知識(shí)的人以外，誰(shuí)也不能找出它們的頂部，或猜出它們的使用方法，或在看過(guò)它們之后，在沒有幫助的情況下，能放回到它們桃花心木制的老窩里去。每一件東西都被塞進(jìn)最緊湊的箱子中，裝到最狹窄的角落里，后面用最不得當(dāng)?shù)能泬|防護(hù)著，并用螺絲擰緊到最尖銳的角中，以防止它那像哲學(xué)家般的沉著鎮(zhèn)靜被海洋的滾滾波濤所擾亂。在所有的情況下都采取了這種不同尋常的預(yù)防措施，以便節(jié)省地方，把東西擺得緊湊。一切都適合于實(shí)際航行的要求，都用軟墊防護(hù)，并都緊緊擰進(jìn)每個(gè)箱子中（不論它們像有些箱子那樣，是普通的四角形箱子，還是像另一些箱子那樣，有些像三角帽、有些像海星的東西，或者是那些與其他箱子比較起來(lái)比較溫柔和不大的箱子）；因此，在這種總的氣氛的影響下，這個(gè)店鋪本身似乎幾乎都要變成一個(gè)溫暖舒適、適于航海的、船舶形狀的商店了，在突然下水的情況下，所缺少的只是足夠行船的水面，能使它安全行駛到世界上任何一個(gè)荒島上去。
注釋：philosophical adj. 哲學(xué)的（等于philosophic）；冷靜的
例句：
1. Such philosophical subtleties are beyond my reach.
這種深?yuàn)W的哲理我可無(wú)法理解。
2. She seemed fairly philosophical about the loss.
她對(duì)所受損失似乎很看得開。
