醉翁之重
He compelled my interest as he stepped from the ferry at Desbrosses Street. He had the air of being familiar with hemisphereshemisphere n.半球 and worlds， and of entering New York as the lord of a demesnedemesne n.土地之所有， 领地， 私有地 who revisited it in after years of absence. But I thought that， with all his air， he had never before set foot on the slippery cobblestonescobblestone n.圆石， 鹅卵石 of the City of Too Many Caliphs.
他从德斯布罗萨斯街的渡口出来时，我不由得对他产生了兴趣。看他那神气，是个见多识广，四海为家的人。来到纽约的样子，又像是一个久违多年，重新回到自己领地来的领主。尽管他露出这种神情，我却断定他以前从未踩上过这个满是哈里发的城市的光滑的圆石铺的街道。
He wore loose clothes of a strange bluishbluish adj.带蓝色的 drab colour， and a conservativeconservative adj.保守的， 守旧的 n.保守派， round Panama hat without the cockaloop indentations and cants with which Northern fanciers disfigure the tropic headgear. Moreover， he was the homeliest man I have ever seen. His ugliness was less repellent than startling—arising from a sort of Lincolnian ruggednessruggedness n.险峻， 粗野 and irregularityirregularity n.不规则， 无规律 of feature that spellbound you with wonder and dismay. So may have looked afrites or the shapes metamorphosed from the vapour of the fishermans vase. As he afterward told me， his name was Judson Tate， and he may as well be called so at once. He wore his green silk tie through a topaztopaz n.［矿］黄晶， 黄玉， ［鸟］南美蜂鸟， 透明的浅黄褐色 ring， and he carried a cane made of the vertebraevertebrae n.［解］椎骨 of a shark.
他穿着一套宽大的，蓝中带褐，颜色古怪的衣服，戴着一顶老式的，圆圆的巴拿马草帽，不像北方的时髦人物那样在帽帮上捏出花哨的凹纹，斜戴成一个角度。此外，他那出奇的丑陋不但使人厌恶，而且使人吃惊——他那副林肯式的愁眉蹙额的模样和不端正的五官，简直会使你吃惊和害怕得目瞪口呆。渔夫捞到的瓶子里蹿出的那股妖气变的怪物，恐怕也不过如此。后来他告诉我，他名叫贾德森·塔特。为了方便起见，我们从现在起就用这个名字来称呼他。他的绿色绸领带用黄玉环扣住，手里握着一支鲨鱼脊骨做的手杖。
Judson Tate accosted me with some large and casual inquiries about the citys streets and hotels， in the manner of one who had but for the moment forgotten the trifling details. I could think of no reason for disparagingdisparage vt.蔑视， 贬损， 使失去信誉 my own quiet hotel in the downtown district， so the mid morning of the night found us already victualedvictual n.食物 vt.给……供应储备食物 vi.吃， 贮藏 and drinked (at my expense)， and ready to be chaired and tobaccoed in a quiet corner of the lobby.
贾德森·塔特招呼了我，仿佛旧地重游记不清一些无关紧要的细节似的，大大咧咧地向我打听本市街道和旅馆的一般情况。我觉得没有理由来贬低我自己下榻的商业区那家清静的旅馆。于是，到了下半夜，我们已经吃了饭，喝了酒（是我付的账）。就打算在那家旅馆的休息室里找一个清静的角落坐下来抽烟了。
There was something on Judson Tates mind， and， such as it was， he tried to convey it to me. Already he had accepted me as his friend， and when I looked at his great， snuffbrown firstmates hand， with which he brought emphasis to his periods， within six inches of my nose， I wondered if， by any chance， he was as sudden in conceiving enmityenmity n.敌意， 憎恨 against strangers.
贾德森·塔特仿佛有什么话要讲给我听。他已经把我当作朋友了，他每说完一句话，便把那只给鼻烟染黄的，像轮船大副的手一般粗大的手在我鼻子前面不到六英寸的地方晃着。我不由得想起，他把陌生人当作敌人时是不是也这么突兀。
When this man began to talk I perceived in him a certain power. His voice was a persuasivepersuasive n.说服者， 劝诱 adj.善说服的 instrument， upon which he played with a somewhat specious but effective art. He did not try to make you forget his ugliness， he flaunted it in your face and made it part of the charm of his speech. Shutting your eyes， you would have trailed after this ratcatchers pipes at least to the walls of Hamelin. Beyond that you would have had to be more childish to follow. But let him play his own tune to the words set down， so that if all is too dull， the art of music may bear the blame.
我发觉这个人说话时身上散发出一种力量。他的声音像是动人的乐器，被他用华彩般出色的手法弹奏着。他并不想让你忘却他的丑陋，反而在你面前炫耀，并且使之成为他言语能力的一部分。如果你闭上眼睛，至少会跟着这个捕鼠人的笛声走到哈默尔恩的城墙边。你不至于稚气得再往前走。不过让他替他的言词谱上音乐吧！如果不够味儿，那该由音乐负责。
“Women，” said Judson Tate， “are mysterious creatures.”
“女人，”贾德森·塔特说，“是神秘的。”
My spirits sank. I was not there to listen to such a world—old hypothesis—to such a timeworn， longagorefuted， bald， feeble， illogical， vicious， patent sophistrysophistry n.诡辩—to an ancient， baseless， wearisome， ragged， unfounded， insidious， falsehood originated by women themselves， and by them insinuatedinsinuate vt.使逐步而巧妙地取得， 使迂回地潜入(或挤入)， 使慢慢滋长， 含沙射影地说， foisted， thrust， spread， and ingeniously promulgated into the ears of mankind by underhanded， secret and deceptive methods， for the purpose of augmenting， furthering， and reinforcingreinforce vt.加强， 增援， 补充， 增加……的数量， 修补，加固 vi.求援， 得到增援 n.加固物 their own charms and designs.
我的心一沉。我可不愿意听这种老生常谈——不愿意听这种陈腐浅薄，枯燥乏味，不合逻辑，不能自圆其说，早就给驳倒的诡辩——这是女人自己创造出来的古老、无聊、毫无根据、不着边际、残缺而狡猾的谎言；这是她们为了证明、促进和加强她们自己的魅力和谋算而采取的卑劣、秘密和欺诈的方法，从而暗示，蒙混，灌输，传播和聪明地散布给人们听的。
“Oh， I dont know！” said I， vernacularly.
“哦，原来如此！”我说的是大白话。
“Have you ever heard of Oratama？” he asked.
“你有没有听说过奥拉塔马？”他问道。
“Possibly，” I answered， “I seem to recall a toe dancer—or a suburban addition—or was it a perfume？—Of some such name.”
“可能听说过。”我回答说，“我印象中仿佛记得那是一个芭蕾舞演员——或者是一个郊区——或者是一种香水的名字。”
“It is a town，” said Judson Tate， “on the coast of a foreign country of which you know nothing and could understand less. It is a country governed by a dictatordictator n.独裁者， 独裁政权执政者， 口授令他人笔录者 and controlled by revolutions and insubordinationinsubordination n.不服从，反抗. It was there that a great lifedrama was played， with Judson Tate， the homeliest man in America， and Fergus McMahan， the handsomest adventurer in history or fiction， and Senorita Anabela Zamora， the beautiful daughter of the alcaldealcalde n.市长， 镇长 of Oratama， as chief actors. And， another thing—nowhere else on the globe except in the department of Trienta y tres in Uruguay does the ‘chuchula’ plant grow. The products of the country I speak of are valuable woods， dyestuffsdyestuff n.染料， gold， rubber， ivory， and cocoa.”
“那是外国海岸上的一个小镇，”贾德森·塔特说，“那个国家的情况，你一点儿不知道，也不可能了解。它由一个独裁者统治着，经常发生革命和叛乱。一出伟大的生活戏剧就是在那里上演的，主角是美国最丑的人贾德森·塔特，还有无论在历史或小说中都算是最英俊的冒险家弗格斯·麦克马汉，以及奥拉塔马镇镇长的美貌女儿安娜贝拉·萨莫拉。还有一件事应该提一提——除了乌拉圭三十三人省以外，世界上任何别的地方都没有一种叫楚楚拉的植物。我刚才提到的那个国家的产品有贵重木料、染料、黄金、橡胶、象牙和可可。”
“I was not awareaware adj.知道的， 明白的， 意识到的，” said I， “that South America produced any ivory.”
“我一向以为南美洲是不生产象牙的。”我说。
