英语笔记

chinos

熊 by William Faulkner

福克纳（1897 - 1962）是一个难读的作家，《熊》又是一篇难读的中篇小说。福克纳的艰涩在于，用不平常的字，再用字和字之间的不平常的结构来表现一个对于作者有特殊意义的世界。福克纳所描写的范围很狭，通常只是美国南部密西西比州的一个角落，但是这也就是他所认识的整个的人生。

下面这篇选自《福克纳选集》（The Portable Faulkner）

He realized later that it had begun long before that. It had already begun on that day when he first wrote his age in two ciphers and his cousin McCaslin brought him for the first time to the camp, the big woods, to earn for himself from the wilderness the name and state of hunter provided he in his turn were humble and enduring enough.

He 是小说的主角Issac McCaslin。
it：猎熊这件事。
before that：that 指那天早晨。以下是倒叙。
on that day when he first wrote his age in two ciphers： 他刚满十岁的时候。two ciphers是“两位数字”，一百以上就是in three ciphers了。
his cousin：关系不详，反正英文里，凡是远亲都可以算是cousin。
woods是camp的同位语。
earn的宾语是name and state。“好让他”（infinitive phrase used as an adverb）替他自己从这原野里挣来一个猎人的名声（name）和地位（state）。
provided是连词，等于if。他假如是相当的“虚心”（humble）和肯吃苦（enduring），那么他也可以成为一个猎人。这本来是他cousin的打算。were表示subjunctive mood，他的cousin还不知道这个孩子是不是虚心，肯不肯吃苦。
in his turn：别的猎人。


我会坚持写。

amfk2004

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