他整天地抓住了他底母亲，虽则秀才是比她还爱他，但不喜欢父亲；秀才的大妻呢，表面也爱他，似爱她自己亲生的儿子一样，但在婴儿底大眼睛里，却看她似陌生人，也用奇怪的不倦的视法。He always clung to her. Although the scholar loved him even more than his mother did, Qiu Bao did not take to him. As to the scholar’s wife, although outwardly she showed as much affection for Qiu Bao as if he were her own baby, he would stare at her with the same indefatigable curiosity as he did at strangers.🎈take to除了有「开始……」之意外，还可指「喜欢上，喜爱」🎈as much affection for Qiu Bao as if he…中as much指同样地，是独立的结构，和后面的as if没有语法上的联系。可是他的执住他底母亲愈紧，而他底母亲的离开这家的日子也愈近了。春天底口子咬住了冬天底尾巴；而夏天底脚又常是紧随在春天底身后的；这样，谁都将孩子底母亲底三年快到的问题横放在心头上。But the more the child grew attached to his mother, the closer drew the time for their separation. Once more it was summer. To everybody in the house, the advent of this season was a reminder of the coming end of the young woman’s three-year stay. 🎈the more the child …… the closer……是the more…the more结构。虽然，其中draw closer/nearer表示「（事件或事件）接近，临近」，但是把drew改为was比较符合the more…the more结构中的语序。🎈再一次 Once more秀才呢，因为爱子的关系，首先向他的大妻提出来了：他愿意再拿出一百元钱，将她永远买下来。The scholar, out of his love for Qiu Bao, suggested to his wife one day that he was willing to offer another hundred dollars to buy the young women so that she could stay with them permanently.🎈 此处suggested意同said。可是他的大妻底回答是：“你要买她，那先给我药死罢！”秀才听到这句话，气的只向鼻孔放出气，许久没有说；以后，他反而做着笑脸地：“你想想孩子没有娘……”老妇人也尖利地冷笑地说：“我不好算是他底娘么？” The wife, however, replied curtly, “No, you’ll have to poison me before you do that!” This made the scholar angry. He remained silent for quite a while. Then, forcing himself to smile, he said, “It’s a pity that our child will be motherless…” His wife smiled wryly and said in an icy and cutting tone, “Don’t you think that I might be a mother to him?” 🎈半晌for quite a while🎈forcing himself to smile作伴随状语。在孩子底母亲的心呢，却正矛盾着这两种的冲突了：一边，她底脑里老是有“三年”这两个字，三年是容易过去的，于是她底生活便变做在秀才底家里底佣人似的了。As to the young woman, there were two conflicting ideas in her mind. On the one hand, she always remembered that she would have to leave after the three years were up. Three years seemed a short time and she had become more of a servant than a temporary wife.🎈after the three years were up：此处up表示时间结束。比如口语中常见的：Time’s up！（时间到！）而且想象中的春宝，也同眼前的秋宝一样活泼可爱，她既舍不得秋宝，怎么就能舍得掉春宝呢？Besides, in her mind her elder son Chun Bao had become as sweet and lovely a child as Qiu Bao. She could not bear to remain away from either Qiu Bao or Chun Bao.🎈as sweet and lovely a child as Qiu Bao: as……as结构，只要记住第一个as一定接的是形容词或是副词。可是另一边，她实在愿意永远在这新的家里住下去，她想，春宝的爸爸不是一个长寿的人，他底病一定是在三五年之内要将他带走到不可知的异国里去的，于是，她便要求她底第二个丈夫，将春宝也领过来，这样，春宝也在她底眼前。 On the other hand, she was willing to stay on permanently in the scholar’s house because she thought her own husband would not live long and might even die in four or five years. So she longed to have the scholar bring Chun Bao into his home so that she could also live with her elder son.🎈继续留下 stay on （somewhere）🎈让某人做某事have sb. do sth.🎈「将他带走到不可知的异国里去的」：死亡的委婉语层出不穷有时，她倦坐在房外的沿廊下，初夏的阳光，异常地能令人昏朦地起幻想，秋宝睡在她底怀里，含着她底乳，可是她觉得仿佛春宝同时也站在她底旁边，她伸出手去也想将春宝抱近来，她还要对他们兄弟两人说几句话，可是身边是空空的。 One day, as she was sitting wearily on the veranda with Qiu Bao sleeping at her breast, the hypnotic rays of the early summer sun sent her into a daydream and she thought she saw Chun Bao standing beside her; but when she stretched out her hand to him and was about to speak to her two sons, she saw that her elder boy was not there. 🎈with Qiu Bao sleeping at her breast是with复合结构。🎈初夏的阳光，异常地能令人昏朦地起幻想→（令人）昏朦的初夏的阳光，异常地能令人起幻想。其中，「昏朦」由副词转变为形容词，「异常」作「非常」解，故译作the hypnotic rays of the early summer sun sent her into a daydream。在身边的较远的门口，却站着这位脸孔慈善而眼睛凶毒的老妇人，目光注视着她。这样，她也恍恍惚惚地悔悟：“还是早些脱离罢，她简直探子一样地监视着我了。” At the door at the other end of the veranda the scholar’s wife, with her seemingly kind face but fierce eyes, stood staring at the young woman. The latter came to and said to herself, “I’d better leave here as soon as I can. She’s always spying on me!” 🎈如果和原文字对字比较，那么seemingly为增译成分。但事实上，这位老妇人只是伪善罢了。🎈监视spy on sb./sth.以后，秀才又将计划修改了一些，他想叫沈家婆来，叫她向秋宝底母亲底前夫去说，他愿否再拿进三十元——最多是五十元，将妻续典三年给秀才。Later, the scholar changed his plan a little; he decided he would send Mrs. Shen on another mission: to find out whether the young woman’s husband was willing to take another thirty dollars—or fifty dollars at most—to let him keep the young woman for another three years.🎈破折号用以表示对上文的解释说明或补充。如果解释或补充的话是在句中，往往前后两处都用破折号。括号也表示解释说明，但是破折号引出的解释说明是正文的一部分，是较重要的信息，要读出来的。而括号里的解释说明不是正文，只是注释，没有它不影响句子的完整性，读时也不必连着正文念出来。秀才对他底大妻说：“要是秋宝到五岁，是可以离开娘了。”他底大妻正是手里捻着念佛珠，一边在念着“南无阿弥陀佛”，一边答：“她家里也还有前儿在，你也应放她和她底结发夫妇团聚一下罢。”He said to his wife, “I suppose Qiu Bao’s mother could stay on until he is five.” Chanting “Buddha preserve me” with a rosary in her hand, the scholar’s wife replied, “She has got her elder son at home. Besides, you ought to let her go back to her lawful husband.” 🎈「南无阿弥陀佛」译作Namo Amitabha也不算错。按理说，应用preserves，也许是印刷错误，但也能算另一种巧合：通过「祈祷词的犯错」更能衬托大妻的伪善。
帕布莉卡