疯狂英语

The Kiss 吻——中学版2011年10月号美文 2011-9-30

by Kate Chopin

翻译：蒺藜

It was still quite light out of doors, but inside with the curtains drawn and the 1)smouldering fire sending out a dim, uncertain glow, the room was full of deep shadows.

sat in one of these shadows; it had 2)overtaken him and he did not mind. The 3)obscurity lent him courage to keep his eyes fastened as 4)ardently as he liked upon the girl who sat in the firelight.

She was very handsome, with a certain fine, rich coloring that belongs to the healthy 注 type. She was quite 5)composed as she 6)idly stroked the 7)satiny coat of the cat that lay curled in her lap, and she occasionally sent a slow glance into the shadow where her companion sat. They were talking low of indifferent things which plainly were not the things that occupied their thoughts. She knew that he loved her—a frank, 8)blustering fellow without 9)guile enough to conceal his feelings, and no desire to do so. For two weeks past he had sought her society eagerly and persistently. She was confidently waiting for him to declare himself and she meant to accept him. The rather insignificant and unattractive Brantain was enormously rich, and she liked and required the 10)entourage which wealth could give her.

布兰登坐在其中一片阴影中，完全不介意被黑暗笼罩。因为有着这样的掩饰，他才有足够的勇气目不转睛又抱含热情地注视着那位坐在火光旁的姑娘。

她长得很秀美，肤色亮泽，属于健康的棕色。她神情自若地轻抚着蜷曲在她腿上的猫咪身上丝滑的绒毛，偶尔缓缓地对她那坐在暗处的同伴送上一个秋波。他们在低声地谈论着无关紧要的事，那些事与他们脑里所的相去甚远。她知道他爱上了自己——这位追求者如此直率而疯狂，完全施不出任何诡计来隐藏他的感觉，而且他也不愿多加掩饰。在过去的两周里，他急切而固执地在她身边打转。她充满自信地等待着他表白，并准备好接受他。布兰登长得并不起眼，毫无魅力，却极其富有，而她也正好喜欢并渴望那种有钱人才能享有的生活。

注：法语，意思同英语的“brown”（褐色）。