《廊桥遗梦》｜单词注释｜Chapter 2
Robert Kincaid
1
On the morning of August 8, 1965, Robert Kincaid locked the door to his small two-room apartment on the third floor of a
rambling
house in Bellingham, Washington.
rambling /ˈræmblɪŋ/ adj. 规划凌乱的
2
He carried a
knapsack
full of photography equipment and a
suitcase
down wooden stairs and through a
hallway
to the back,
knapsack /'næpsæk/ n. 背包
suitcase /ˈsuːtkeɪs/ n. 手提箱
hallway /'hɔlwe/ n. 门厅
3
where his old
Chevrolet
pickup truck
was parked in a space
reserved
for
residents
of the building.
Chevrolet /'ʃevrəulei/ n. (美国)雪佛兰牌汽车
pickup truck 敞篷小型载货卡车
reserve /rɪˈzɜːrv/ v. 保留
resident /ˈrezɪdənt/ n. 居民
4
Another knapsack, a medium-size
ice chest
, two
tripods
, cartons of Camel cigarettes, a
Thermos
, and a bag of fruit were already inside.
ice chest 冰箱
tripod /'traɪpɑd/ n. (照相机等的)三脚架
thermos /'θɝməs/ n. 热水瓶
5
In the
truck box
was a guitar
case
.
truck box 载重车箱
case /keɪs/ n. 箱
6
Kincaid arranged the knapsacks on the seat and put the
cooler
and tripods on the floor.
cooler /'kulɚ/ n. 电冰箱
7
He climbed into the truck box and wedged the guitar case and suitcase into a corner of the box,
bracing
them with a
spare tire
lying on its side
brace /breɪs/ v. 抵住
spare tire 备用轮胎
8
and
securing
both cases to the tire with
a length of
clothesline
rope.
secure /sɪˈkjʊr/ v. 捆牢
a length of 一根
clothesline /'kloz,laɪn/ n. 晒衣绳
9
Under the
worn
spare he shoved a black
tarpaulin
.
worn /wɔrn/ adj. 用旧的
tarpaulin /tɑrˈpɔlɪn/ n. 防水帆布
10
He stepped in behind the wheel, lit a Camel, and
went through
his
mental
checklist
:
go through 仔细检查
mental /ˈmentl/ adj. 心理的
checklist /'tʃɛk'lɪst/ 清单
11
two hundred
rolls
of
assorted
film, mostly slow-speed
Kodachrome
; tripods; cooler;
roll /rol/ n. 捆
assorted /əˈsɔːrtɪd/ adj. 各种各样的
kodachrome /'kəudəkrəum/ n. 柯达彩色胶片
12
three cameras and five lenses; jeans and
khaki
slacks
; shirts; wearing photo
vest
.
khaki /'kɑki/ n. 黄卡其布的
slack /slæk/ n. 宽松裤
vest /vest/ n. 〈美〉背心
13
Okay. Anything else he could buy on the road if he had forgotten it.
14
Kincaid wore faded Levi’s,
well-used
Red Wing
field boots
, a khaki shirt, and orange
suspenders
.
well-used 经常使用的
field boots n. 长统靴
suspender /sə'spɛndɚ/ n. 吊裤带
15
On his wide
leather belt
was fastened a
Swiss Army knife
in its own case.
leather belt 皮带
Swiss Army knife 瑞士军刀
16
He looked at his watch: eight-seventeen. The truck started on the second try, and he backed out,
shifted gears
, and moved slowly down the
alley
under
hazy
sun.
shifted gears <美>换挡
alley /ˈæli/ n. 小路
hazy /ˈheɪzi/ adj. 朦胧的
17
Through the streets of Bellingham he went,
heading
south on Washington 11, running along the
coast
of
Puget Sound
for a few miles,
head /hed/ v. 朝......行进
coast /kəʊst/ n. 海岸
Puget Sound 普吉特海湾
18
then following the highway as it
swung
east a little before meeting U.S. Route 20.
swing /swɪŋ/ vi. 转向
19
Turning into the sun, he began the long,
winding
drive through
the Cascades
.
winding /'waɪndɪŋ/ adj. 蜿蜒的
the Cascades 喀斯喀特山脉
20
He liked this country and felt unpressed, stopping
now and then
to make notes about interesting possibilities for future
expeditions
or to shoot what he called “memory snapshots.”
now and then 不时
expedition /ˌekspəˈdɪʃn/ n. 探险
21
The purpose of these
cursory
photographs was to remind him of places he might want to visit again and approach more seriously.
cursory /ˈkɜːrsəri/ adj. 粗略的
22
In late afternoon he turned north at
Spokane
, picking up U.S. Route 2, which would take him halfway across the northern United States to
Duluth
,
Minnesota
.
Spokane /spəu'kæn/ n. 斯波坎市(美国华盛顿州)
Duluth /də'lu:θ/ 德卢斯(在苏必利尔湖畔)
Minnesota /ˌmɪnɪˈsotə/ n. 明尼苏达州(美国州名)
23
He wished for the
thousandth
time in his life that he had a dog, a golden
retriever
, maybe, for travels like this and to
keep him company
at home.
thousandth /'θaʊznθ/ num. 第一千
retriever /rɪ'trivɚ/ n. 寻猎物犬
keep company 陪伴(某人)
24
But he was frequently away,
overseas
much of the time, and it would not be fair to the animal. Still, he thought about it anyway.
overseas /ˌoʊvərˈsiːz/ adv. 在海外
25
In a few years he would be getting too old for the hard
fieldwork
. “I might get a dog then,” he said to the
coniferous
green
rolling by
his truck window.
fieldwork /'fild'wɝk/ n. 野外工作
coniferous /ko'nɪfərəs/ adj. 针叶植物
roll by 驶过
26
Drives like this always put him into a
taking-stock
mood. The dog was part of it.
take stock 回想生活
27
Robert Kincaid was as alone as it’s possible to be — an
only child
, parents both dead, distant relatives who had
lost truck of
him and he of them, no close friends.
only child 独生子女
lost track of 失去与......的联系
28
He knew the names of the man who owned the corner market in Bellingham and the
proprietor
of the photographic store where he bought his supplies.
proprietor /prə'praɪətɚ/ n. 业主
29
He also had
formal
, professional relationships with several magazine editors.
formal /ˈfɔːrml/ adj. 正式的
30
Other than that, he knew
scarcely
anyone well, nor they him. Gypsies
make difficult friends
for ordinary people, and he was
something of
a gypsy.
scarcely /ˈskersli/ adv. 简直没有
make friends 交朋友
something of 有点儿
31
He thought about Marian. She had left him nine years ago after five years of marriage. He was fifty-two now; that would make her just under forty.
32
Marian had dreams of becoming a musician, a
folksinger
. She knew all of the Weavers’ songs and sang them pretty well in the coffeehouses of Seattle.
folk-singer /ˈfokˌsɪŋɚ/ n. 民歌歌手
33
When he was home in the old days, he drove her to gigs and sat in the
audience
while she sang.
audience /ˈɔːdiəns/ n. 听众
34
His long absences — two or three months sometimes — were hard on the marriage. He knew that.
35
She was aware of what he did when they decided to get married, and each of them had a
vague
sense that it could all be handled somehow. It couldn’t.
vague /veɪɡ/ adj. 含糊的
36
When he came home from photographing a story in Iceland, she was gone. The note read: “Robert, it didn’t
work out
. I left you the
Harmony
guitar.
Stay in touch
.”
work out 解决
harmony /ˈhɑːrməni/ n. 和声
stay in touch 保持联系
37
He didn’t stay in touch. Neither did she.
38
He signed the divorce papers when they arrived a year later and caught a plane for Australia the next day. She had asked for nothing except her freedom.
39
At Kalispell,
Montana
, he stopped
for the night
, late.
Montana /mɔn'tænə/ n. 蒙大纳(美国州名)
for the night 过夜
40
The Cozy
Inn
looked inexpensive, and was. He carried his gear into a room containing two table lamps, one of which had a
burned-out
bulb.
inn /ɪn/ n. 小旅馆
burned-out /ˈbɚndˈaʊt/ adj. 烧坏的
41
Lying in bed, reading The Green Hills of Africa and drinking a beer, he could smell
the paper mills
of Kalispell.
the paper mills 造纸厂
42
In the morning he
jogged
for forty minutes, did fifty
push-ups
, and used his cameras as small hand
weights
to complete the routine.
jog /dʒɑːɡ/ vt. & vi. 慢跑
push-up n. 俯卧撑
weight /weɪt/ n. 砝码
43
Across the top of Montana he drove, into North
Dakota
and the
spare
, flat country he found as
fascinating
as the mountains or the sea.
Dakota /də'kəutə/ n. 达科他(美国过去一地区名)
spare /spɛr/ adj. 简朴的
fascinating /ˈfæsɪneɪtɪŋ/ adj. 有极大吸引力的
44
There was a kind of
austere
beauty to this place, and he stopped several times, set up a tripod, and shot some black-and-whites of old farm buildings.
austere /ɔːˈstɪr/ adj. 朴素的
45
This
landscape
appealed to his
minimalist
leanings
.
landscape /ˈlændskeɪp/ n. 风景
minimalist /'mɪnɪmlɪst/ adj. 极简抽象艺术的
leaning /'linɪŋ/ n. 偏爱
46
The Indian
reservations
were depressing, for all of the reasons everybody knows and ignores.
reservation /ˌrezərˈveɪʃn/ n. 居留地
47
Those kinds of
settlements
were no better in northwestern Washington, though, or anywhere else he had seen them.
settlement /ˈsetlmənt/ n. 移居地
48
On the morning of August 14, two hours out of
Duluth
, he sliced northeast and took a
back road
up to
Hibbing
and the iron
mines
.
Duluth /də'lu:θ/ 德卢斯(在苏必利尔湖畔)
back road 僻径
Hibbing n. 希宾
mine /maɪn/ n. 矿山
49
Red dust floated in the air, and there were big machines and trains specially designed to
haul
the
ore
to
freighters
at Two Harbors on
Lake Superior
.
haul /hɔːl/ vt. 拖运
ore /ɔːr/ n. 矿石
freight /freɪt/ n. <美国>货运列车
Lake Superior 苏必略湖
50
He spent an afternoon looking around Hibbing and found it not to his liking, even if Bob Zimmer-man-Dylan was from there
originally
.
originally /ə'rɪdʒənəli/ adv. 原来
51
The only song of Dylan’s he had ever really cared for was “Girl from the North Country.”
52
He could play and sing that one, and he hummed the words to himself as he left behind the place with giant red holes in the earth.
53
Marian had shown him some
chords
and how to handle basic
arpeggios
to
accompany
himself.
chord /kɔːrd/ n. 和弦
arpeggio /ɑr'pɛdʒɪo/ n. 琶音
accompany /əˈkʌmpəni/ vt. 伴奏
54
“She left me with more than I left her,” he said once to a
boozy
riverboat
pilot
in a place called McElroy’s Bar, somewhere in the Amazon
basin
. And it was true.
boozy /'bʊzi/ adj. 酩酊的
riverboat /'rɪvɚ,bot/ n. 内河船
pilot /ˈpaɪlət/ n. 领航员
basin /ˈbeɪsn/ n. 盆地
55
The Superior National Forest was nice, real nice.
Voyageur
country.
voyageur /ˌvɔɪəˈʒɚ/ n. 旅客
56
When he was young, he’d wished the old voyageur days were not over so he could become one.
57
He drove by
meadows
, saw three
moose
, a red fox, and lots of
deer
.
meadow /'medəu/ n. 草地
moose /mus/ n. [动]驼鹿
deer /dɪr/ n. 鹿
58
At a
pond
he stopped and
shot
some reflections on the water made by an odd-shaped tree branch.
pond /pɑːnd/ n. 池塘
shoot /ʃuːt/ vt. 拍摄
59
When he finished he sat on the
running board
of his truck, drinking coffee, smoking a Camel, and listening to the wind in the
birch
trees.
running board 踏脚板
birch /bɝtʃ/ n. 桦树
60
“It would be good to have someone, a woman,” he thought, watching the smoke from his cigarette blow out over the pond.
61
“Getting older puts you in that
frame of mind
.”
frame of mind n. 心态
62
But with him gone so much, it would be tough on the one left at home. He’d already learned that.
63
When he was home in Bellingham, he
occasionally
dated the creative director for a Seattle
advertising agency
.
occasionally /əˈkeɪʒnəli/ adv. 间或
advertising agency 广告公司
64
He had met her while doing a
corporate
job. She was forty-two, bright, and a nice person, but he didn’t love her, would never love her.
corporate /ˈkɔːrpərət/ adj. 共同的
65
Sometimes they both got a little lonely, though, and would spend an evening together, going to a movie, having a few beers, and making pretty decent love
later on
.
later on 过些时候
66
She’d been around — two marriages, worked as a waitress in several bars while
attending
college.
attend /əˈtend/ vt. 上（大学等）
67
Invariably
, after they’d completed their lovemaking and were lying together, she’d tell him, “You’re the best, Robert, no competition, nobody even close.”
invariably /ɪnˈveriəbli/ adv. 始终不变地
68
He supposed that was a good thing for a man to hear, but he was not all that experienced and had no way of knowing whether or not she was telling the truth anyway.
69
But she did say something one time that
haunted
him:
haunt /hɔːnt/ vt. 萦绕
70
“Robert, there’s a creature inside of you that I’m not good enough to bring out, not strong enough to reach.
71
I sometimes have the feeling you’ve been here a long time, more than one lifetime, and that you’ve
dwelt
in
private
places none of the rest of us has even dreamed about.
dwell /dwel/ vi. 居住
private /ˈpraɪvət/ adj. 秘密的
72
You
frighten
me, even though you’re gentle with me. If I didn’t
fight
to control myself with you, I feel like I might lose my center and never get back.”
frighten /ˈfraɪtn/ vt. & vi. (使)惊恐
fight /faɪt/ vt. & vi. 努力争取
73
He knew in an
obscure
way what she was talking about. But he couldn’t
get his hands on
it himself.
obscure /əbˈskjʊr/ adj. 模糊的
get one's hands on 找到
74
He’d had these
drifting
kinds of thoughts, a
wistful
sense of the
tragic
combined with
intense
physical and intellectual power,
drifting /'driftiŋ/ adj. 漂泊不定的
wistful /ˈwɪstfl/ adj. 渴望的
tragic /ˈtrædʒɪk/ adj. 悲剧因素
intense /ɪnˈtens/ adj. 强烈的
75
even as
a young boy growing up in a small
Ohio
town.
even as 正当
Ohio /oˈhaɪo/ n. 俄亥俄州（美国一个州）
76
When other kids were singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” he was learning the
melody
and English words to a French
cabaret
song.
melody /ˈmelədi/ n. 歌曲
cabaret /ˌkæbə're/ n. 歌舞表演
77
He liked words and images. “Blue” was one of his favorite words. He liked the feeling it made on his lips and tongue when he said it.
78
Words have physical feeling, not just meaning, he remembered thinking when he was young.
79
He liked other words, such as “distant,” “
woodsmoke
,” “highway,” “
ancient
,” “
passage
,” “voyageur,” and “India” for how they sounded, how they tasted, and what they
conjured
up in his mind.
woodsmoke n. 木烟
ancient /'enʃənt/ adj. 古老的
passage /ˈpæsɪdʒ/ n. 通路
conjure /ˈkʌndʒər/ vi. 使…呈现于脑际
80
He kept lists of words he liked
posted
in his room. Then he
joined
the words into
phrases
and posted those as well:
post /poʊst/ vt. 贴在...上
join /dʒɔɪn/ vt. 连接
phrase /freɪz/ n. 〈语〉短语
81
Too close to the fire. I came from the East with a small band of travelers.
82
The constant
chirping
of those who would save me and those who would sell me.
chirping /tʃɝp/ n. 鸣叫
83
Talisman
, Talisman, show me your secrets.
Helmsman
, Helmsman, turn me for home.
talisman /'tælɪsmən/ n. 法宝
helmsman /'hɛlmzmən/ n. 舵手
84
Lying
naked
where blue
whales
swim.
naked /ˈneɪkɪd/ adj. 裸体的
whale /weɪl/ n. 鲸
85
She wished him
steaming
trains that left from winter stations.
steaming /'stimɪŋ/ adj. 冒热气的
86
Before I became a man, I was an
arrow
— long time ago.
arrow /ˈæroʊ/ n. 箭
87
Then there were the places whose names he liked:
the Somali Current
,
the Big Hatchet Mountains
,
the Malacca Strait
, and a long list of others.
the Somali Current 索马里洋流
the Big Hatchet Mountains 大哈切特山脉
the Malacca Strait 马六甲海峡
88
The
sheets
of paper with words and phrases and
places
eventually covered the walls of his room.
sheet /ʃiːt/ n. 一片
place /ples/ n. 地点
89
Even his mother noticed something different about him.
90
He never spoke a word until he was three, then began talking in complete sentences, and he could read
extremely
well by five.
extremely /ɪkˈstriːmli/ adv. 非常
91
In school he was an
indifferent
student,
frustrating
the teachers.
indifferent adj. 漠不关心的
frustrate /ˈfrʌstreɪt/ vt. 使受挫折
92
They looked at his IQ scores and talked to him about
achievement
, about doing what he was
capable
of doing, that he could become anything he wanted to become.
achievement /əˈtʃiːvmənt/ n. 成就
capable /ˈkeɪpəbl/ adj. 有能力的
93
One of his high school teachers wrote the following in an
evaluation
of him:
evaluation /ɪˌvæljuˈeɪʃn/ n. 评价
94
“He believes that
95
IQ tests are a poor way to judge people’s abilities, failing as they do to
account for
magic, which has its own importance, both by itself and as a complement to logic.’
account for 对…做出解释
96
I suggest a
conference
with his parents.”
conference /ˈkɑːnfərəns/ n. 讨论
97
His mother met with several teachers. When the teachers talked about Robert’s quietly
recalcitrant
behavior
in light of
his abilities, she said,
recalcitrant /rɪˈkælsɪtrənt/ adj. 拒不服从的
in light of 鉴于
98
“Robert lives in a world of his own making. I know he’s my son, but I sometimes have the feeling that he came not from my husband and me, but from another place to which he’s trying to return.
99
I appreciate your interest in him, and I’ll try once more to encourage him to do better in school.”
100
But he had been content to read all the adventure and travel books in the local library and
kept to himself
otherwise, spending days along the river that ran through the edge of town,
keep to oneself 不交际
101
ignoring
proms
and football games and other things that bored him.
prom /prɑm/ n. 正式舞会
102
He fished and swam and walked and lay in long grass listening to distant voices he
fancied
only he could hear.
fancied /ˈfænsɪd/ adj. 空想的
103
“There are wizards out there,” he used to say to himself. “If you’re quiet and open enough to hear them, they’re
out there
.”
out there 在那里
104
And he wished he had a dog to share these moments.
105
There was no money for college. And no desire for it, either.
106
His father worked hard and was good to his mother and him, but the job in a
valve
factory didn’t leave much for other things, including the
care
of a dog.
valve /vælv/ n. [机]阀
care /kɛr/ n. 收养
107
He was eighteen when his father died, so with the
Great Depression
bearing down
hard, he
enlisted
in the army as a way of supporting his mother and himself.
Great Depression 〈美〉大萧条
bear down 压倒
enlist /ɪnˈlɪst/ vi. 从军
108
He stayed there four years, but those four years changed his life.
109
In the mysterious way that
military
minds work, he was
assigned
to a job as photographer’s
assistant
, though he had no idea of even how to
load
a camera.
military /ˈmɪləteri/ adj. 军队的
assign /əˈsaɪn/ vt. 分配
assistant /əˈsɪstənt/ n. 助手
load /loʊd/ v. 装上(底片)
110
But in that work, he discovered his
profession
. The
technical
details were easy for him.
profession /prəˈfeʃn/ n. 职业
technical /ˈteknɪkl/ adj. 技术的
111
Within a month he was not only doing the
darkroom
work for two of the staff photographers, but also was allowed to shoot simple projects himself.
darkroom /'dɑrkrum/ n. [摄]暗房
112
One of the photographers, Jim Peterson, liked him and spent extra time showing him the
subtleties
of photography.
subtlety /'sʌtlti/ n. 细小但重要的地方
113
Robert Kincaid checked out photo books and art books from the Fort Monmouth town library and studied them.
114
Early on
, he particularly liked the French
impressionists
and
Rembrandt’s
use of light.
early on 在早起
impressionist /ɪm'prɛʃənɪst/ n. 印象派画家
Rembrandt /'rembrɑ:nt/ 伦布兰特
115
Eventually he began to see that light was what he photographed, not objects.
116
The objects merely were the
vehicles
for reflecting the light. If the light was good, you could always find something to photograph.
vehicle /ˈviːəkl/ n. 手段
117
The 35-millimeter camera was beginning to
emerge
then, and he
purchased
a used Leica at a local camera store.
emerge /iˈmɜːrdʒ/ vi. 出现
purchase /ˈpɜːrtʃəs/ vt. 购买
118
He took it down to Cape May,
New Jersey
, and spent a week of his
leave
there photographing life along the shore.
New Jersey 美国新泽西州
leave /liv/ n. 休假
119
Another time he rode a bus to Maine and
hitch-hiked
up the
coast
, caught the dawn
mail boat
out to
Isle
Au Haut from Stonington, and camped,
hitch-hiked vi. 免费搭便车
coast /kəʊst/ n. 海岸
mail boat n. (装运邮件的)邮船
isle /aɪl/ n. 岛
120
then took a
ferry
across the Bay of Fundy to
Nova Scotia
.
ferry /ˈferi/ n. 渡船
Nova Scotia /ˈnovə ˈskoʃə/ 新斯科舍
121
He began keeping notes of his camera settings and places he wanted to visit again.
122
When he came out of the army at twenty-two, he was a pretty decent shooter and found work in New York
assisting
a well-known
fashion
photographer.
assist /əˈsɪst/ vt. & vi. 帮助
fashion /ˈfæʃn/ n. 时装
123
The female models were beautiful; he dated a few and fell partially in love with one before she moved to Paris and they
drifted apart
.
drift apart 各奔东西
124
She had said to him: “Robert, I don’t know who or what you are for sure, but please come visit me in Paris.”
125
He told her he would,
meant
it when he said it, but never got there.
mean /miːn/ vt. 打算
126
Years later when he was doing a
story
on the beaches of Normandy, he found her name in the Paris book, called, and they had coffee at an outdoor cafe.
story /'stɔri/ n. 新闻报道
127
She was married to a cinema director and had three children.
128
He couldn’t get very
keen
on the idea of fashion.
keen /kiːn/ adj. 喜爱的
129
People threw away perfectly good clothes or
hastily
had them
made over
according to the
instructions
of European fashion
dictators
.
hastily /ˈhestɪlɪ/ adv. 匆忙地
make over 修改
instructions n. 操作指南
dictator /ˈdɪkteɪtər/ n. 独裁者
130
It seemed dumb to him, and he felt
lessened
doing the photography.
lessen /'lɛsn/ vt. 使…变小
131
“You are what you produce,” he said as he left this work.
132
His mother died during his second year in New York. He went back to Ohio, buried her, and sat before a
lawyer
, listening to the reading of the
will
.
lawyer /ˈlɔːjər/ n. 律师
will /wɪl/ n. 遗嘱
133
There wasn’t much. He didn’t expect there would be anything.
134
But he was surprised to find his parents had
accumulated
a little
equity
in the tiny house on Franklin Street where they had lived all their married lives.
accumulate /əˈkjuːmjəleɪt/ vt. & vi. 积累
equity /ˈekwəti/ n. 抵押资产的净值
135
He sold the house and bought
first-class
equipment with the money.
first-class /ˈfɚstˈklæs/ adj. 最好的
136
As he paid the camera
salesman
, he thought of the years his father had worked for those dollars and the
plain
life his parents had
led
.
salesman /ˈseɪlzmən/ n. 售货员
plain /pleɪn/ adj. 朴素的
lead /liːd/ v. 过(某种生活)
137
Some of his work began to appear in small magazines. Then
National Geographic
called. They had seen a
calendar
shot he had taken out on
Cape May
.
National Geographic 国家地理
calendar /ˈkælɪndər/ n. 日历
138
He talked with them, got a minor
assignment
,
executed
it professionally, and was on his way.
assignment /əˈsaɪnmənt/ n. 任务
execute /ˈeksɪkjuːt/ vt. 执行
139
The military asked him back in 1943.
140
He went with
the Marines
and
slogged
his way up South Pacific beaches, cameras swinging from his shoulders,
the Marines 海军陆战队
slog /slɑːɡ/ v. 步履艰难地行进
141
lying on his back, photographing the men coming off
amphibious
landing craft
.
amphibious /æm'fɪbɪəs/ adj. 两栖的
landing craft 登陆艇
142
He saw the terror on their faces, felt it himself. Saw them cut in two by
machine-gun
fire, saw them
plead
to God and their mothers for help.
machine-gun /məˈʃinˌɡ ʌn/ n. 机关枪
plead /pliːd/ vi. 请求
143
He got it all, survived, and never became
hooked on
the
so-called
glory
and romance of war photography.
hook on 着迷
so-called /ˌsoʊ ˈkɔːld/ adj. 所谓的
glory /ˈɡlɔːri/ n. 荣誉
144
Coming out of the service in 1945, he called National Geographic. They were ready for him, anytime.
145
He bought a motorcycle in San Francisco, ran it south to Big Sur, made love on a beach with a
cellist
from Carmel, and turned north to explore Washington.
cellist /'tʃɛlɪst/ n. 大提琴手
146
He liked it there and decided to make it his base.
147
Now, at fifty-two, he was still watching the light.
148
He had been to most of the places posted on his boyhood walls and
marveled
he actually was there when he visited them,
marvel /ˈmɑːrvl/ vt. 大为赞叹
149
sitting in the Raffles Bar, riding up the Amazon on a
chugging
riverboat, and
rocking
on a camel through the Rajasthani
desert
.
chug /tʃʌg/ n. (发动机缓慢运转时发出的)突突声
rock /rɑːk/ vt. & vi. (使)来回摆动
desert /ˈdezərt/ n. 沙漠
150
The Lake Superior shore was as nice as he’d heard it was.
151
He marked down several locations for future
reference
, took some shots to
jog his memory
later on, and headed south along the
Mississippi River
toward Iowa.
reference /ˈrefrəns/ n. 参考
jog memory 唤起记忆
Mississippi River 密西西比河
152
He’d never been to Iowa but was taken with the
hills
of the northeast part along the big river.
hill /hɪl/ n. 丘陵
153
Stopping in the little town of Clayton, he stayed at a fisherman’s motel and spent two mornings shooting the
towboats
and an afternoon on a
tug
at the invitation of a pilot he met in a local bar.
towboat /ˈtoˌbot/ n. 拖船
tug /tʌɡ/ n. 拖船
154
Cutting over to U.S. Route 65, he went through Des Moines early on a Monday morning, August 16, 1965,
155
swung west at Iowa 92, and headed for Madison County and the
covered bridges
that were supposed to be there, according to National Geographic.
covered bridge 棚桥
156
They were there all right; the man in the Texaco station said so and gave him directions, just
fairish
directions, to all seven.
fairish /ˈfɛrɪʃ/ adj. 还可以的
157
The first six were easy to find as he
mapped
out his
strategy
for photographing them. The seventh, a place called Roseman Bridge,
eluded
him.
map /mæp/ vt. 绘制地图
strategy /ˈstrætədʒi/ n. 行动计划
elude /iˈluːd/ vt. 使达不到
158
It was hot, he was hot, Harry — his truck — was hot,
159
and he was wandering around on
gravel
roads that seemed to lead nowhere except to the next gravel road.
gravel /ˈɡrævl/ n. 碎石
160
In foreign countries, his
rule of thumb
was, “Ask three times.”
rule of thumb 经验法则
161
He had discovered that three
responses
, even if they all were wrong, gradually
vectored
you in to where you wanted to go.
response /rɪˈspɑːns/ n.回答
vector /'vɛktɚ/ vt. 用无线电导航
162
Maybe twice would be enough here.
163
A mailbox was coming up, sitting at the end of a
lane
about one hundred yards long. The name on the box read “Richard Johnson, RR 2.”
lane /leɪn/ n. 小巷
164
He slowed down and turned up the lane, looking for guidance.
165
When he pulled into the yard, a woman was sitting on the front porch. It looked cool there, and she was drinking something that looked even cooler.
166
She came off the porch toward him. He stepped from the truck and looked at her, looked closer, and then closer still.
167
She was lovely, or had been at one time, or could be again.
168
And immediately he began to feel the old
clumsiness
he always suffered around women to whom he was even faintly attracted.
clumsiness /'klʌmzinis/ n. 笨拙
169
