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The Story of an Hour
一个钟头的故事
They knew that Louise
Mallard had a weak heart. So they broke the bad
news gently. Her husband,
Brently,
was
dead.“There
was
a
train
accident,
Louise,”
s
aid
her
sister
Josephine,
quietly.
Her
husband’s friend, Richards, brought the
news, but Josephine told the story. She spoke in
broken
sentences.“Richards…was at the
newspaper office. News of the accident came.
Louise…Louise,
Brently’s name was on
the list. Brently…was killed, Louise.”
他们知道路易丝·
马拉德的心脏不太
好，所以把坏消息告诉她时非常小心。她的丈夫布伦
特里死了。
“出了一次火车事故，
路易丝。
”
姐姐
约瑟芬轻声说道。带来消息的是她丈夫的朋
友理查兹，但告诉她的是约瑟芬。约瑟芬在讲
述时语不成句。
“理查兹当时正在报社，消息
传了过来。
路易丝??路易丝，
死者的名单上有布伦特里的名字。
布伦特里??遇难了，路
易丝。
”
Louise did not hear the
story calmly, like some women would. She could not
close her mind or her
heart
to
the
news.
Like
a
sudden
storm,
her
tears
broke
out.
She
cried,
at
once,
loudly
in
her
sister’s arms. Then, just as suddenly,
the tears stopped. She went to her room alone. She
would not
let anyone follow her. In
front of the window stood a large, comfortable
armchair. Into this her
sank and looked
out of the window. She was physically exhausted
after her tears. Her body felt
cold;
her mind and heart were empty. Outside her window
she could see the trees. The air amelled
like spring rain. She could hear
someone singing far away. Birds sang near the
house. Blue sky
showed between the
clouds. She rested.
路易丝听到这个噩耗，
没有像有些妇女所可能表现的那样平静。
她不可能做到无动于衷。
< br>泪
水像突如其来的暴雨，夺眶而出。她立时呼号起来，在姐姐的怀里放声大哭。随
后她的泪水
就像它们突然来时的那样又突然止住了。
她独自走进
自己的房间，
不让任何人跟着进去。
窗
前放着一把又大又舒适的扶手椅。她疲惫地坐到椅子上，
向窗外望去。
< br>哭过之后，
她筋疲力
尽。她浑身冰凉，脑子里和心里一片
空白。窗外，她能看到一片树木，空气闻起来就像春雨
过后。
她
还能听到远处有人在唱歌，
房子附近也有鸟儿在歌唱，白云间露出一片片蓝天。她
平静了下来。
She sat quietly, but a few weak tears
still fell. She was young with a fair, calm face
that showed
certain strength. But now
there was a dull stare in her eyes. She looked out
of the window at the
blue sky. She was
not thinking, or seeing. She was waiting. There
was something coming to her
and she was
waiting for it with fear. What was it? She did not
know. It was too subtle to name. But
she felt it creeping out of the sky. It
was reaching her through the sound, the smell, the
color that
filled
the
air.
Slowly
she
became
excited,
her
breath
came
fast;
her
heart
beat
faster.
She
was
beginning to recognize
the thing that was approaching to take her. She
tried to beat it back with
her
will,
but
failed.
Her
mind
was
as
weak
as
her
two
small
white
hands.
When
she
stopped
fighting against it, a little word
broke from her lips.
她静静地坐着，
又有几滴泪水掉落下来。
她很年轻，白皙安详的脸上显露出一种毅力。
< br>但此
时此刻，她的眼神中没有一丝生气。她望着窗外的蓝天。她不是在想，也不是
在看，而是在
等待。什么东西正向她靠近，她恐惧地等待着。是什么呢？她不知道。那东
西太微妙，说不
清楚。但是她感到它正从天边而来，透过空气中的声音、气息和颜色正在
逼近她。慢慢地，
她变得兴奋起来，呼吸急促，心跳加快。她开始意识到正向她逼近要控
制她的是什么东西。
她试图用自己的意志力把这种朦胧的意识打回去，
< br>但毫无用处。
她的意志就像她那纤细白皙
的双手，脆弱无
力，不能将其推开。当她干脆任其自由发展时，从她的双唇间蹦出一个词。
“
free,” she
whispered. “free, free, free!” the dull stare
a
nd look of fear went from her eyes.
They
stayed keen and bright. Her heart
beat fast, and the blood warmed and relaxed every
inch of her
body. A sudden feeling of
joy held her. She did not ask if her joy was
wrong. She saw her freedom
clearly and
could not stop to think of smaller things. She
knew that she would weep again when
she
saw her husband’s body. The kind hands, now dead
and still. The loving face, now fixed and
gray. But she looked into the future
and saw many long years to come that would belong
to her
alone. And now she opened and
spread her arms out to those years in welcome.
“自由了，
”她低语道，
“自由了，自由了，
自由了！
”茫然的目光和恐惧的神色一扫而光。
她的目光又敏锐
、闪亮起来。她的心跳加快，血液沸腾，全身轻松了下来。她感到一种突如
其来的欢悦。
她想都没想这种欢悦的心情是否正当。
今后的自由清清楚楚地展
现在她的面前，
别的都是小事，
无暇顾及。
她知道她看到丈夫的遗体时还会哭。
那亲切的双手再也不能挥动，
< br>那可爱的脸庞变得呆滞而又苍白。
但她看到了未来，
看到
了将来长远的岁月，
那只属于她的
岁月。她张开双臂，欢迎那美
好的岁月。
There
would be no one else to live for during those
years. She would live for herself alone. There
would be no powerful will bending hers.
Men and women always believe they can tell others
what
to do and how to think. Suddenly
Louise understood that this was wrong and that she
could break
away and be free of it. Amd
yet, she had loved him----sometimes. Often she had
not. What did
love
mean
now?
now
she
understood
that
freedom
is
stronger
than
love.“Free!
Bo
dy
and
soul
free!”
she
kept
whispering.
Her
sister
Josephine
was
waiting
outside
the
door.“Please
open
the
door,” Josephine cried.
“You will make yourself sick. What are you doing
in there, Louise? Please,
please, let
me in!”“Go away. I am not making myself sick.” No,
she was drinking in life through
that
open window.
在那些岁月里，
她将不再为其他任
何人而活着，
只为她自己。
那时再也没有人使自己屈从于
他的意志。
人们总是认为他们可以叫其他人做什么，
< br>叫其他人如何思考。
路易丝突然明白这
是错误的，
她完全可以从中摆脱出来。
然而她曾经爱过他——有的时候。
更多的时候她又不
爱他。爱到底意味着什么？现在她知道自由比爱情更加
强烈，更加重要。
“自由了！彻底自
由了！
”她不停地低声说道。姐姐约瑟芬在门外等着。
“请开门，
”约瑟芬大声喊道。
“你会把
自己弄病的。你到底在里面干什么
，路易丝？请，请让我进去！
”
“走开。我不会把自己弄病
的。
”是的，她不会。透过敞开的窗户，她正在领略着窗外生命的气
息，体验着生命的美好。
She
thought joyfully of all those days before her.
Spring days, summer days. All kinds of days that
would be her own. She began to hope
life would be long. It was only yesterday that
life seemed so
long! After a while she
got up and opened the door. Her eyes were bright;
her cheeks were red.
She didn’t know
how strong and well she looked
---so
full of joy. They went downstairs, where
Richards
was
waiting.
Someone
was
opening
the
door.
It
was
Brently
Mallard,
who
entered,
looking dirty and tired, carrying a
suitcase and an umbrella. He was not killed in the
accident. He
didn’t
even
know
there
had
been
one.
He
stood
surprised
at
Josephine’s
sudden
cry.
He
didn’t
understand why
Richards moved suddenly between them, to hide
Louise from her husband. But
Richards
was too late. When the doctors came, they said she
had died of heart disease ----of joy
that kills.
她高兴地想着以后的日子。春天，夏
天，所有属于她自己的日子。她开始渴望长寿，而就在
昨天她还嫌生命漫长，看不到尽头
！过了一会，她起身把门打开。她的眼睛炯炯有神，她的
脸颊很红润。
< br>她不知道她的身体看起来是多么地健康——充满了喜悦。
她们下了楼，
理查兹
在楼下等着。有人在开门。进来的是布伦特里·
马拉德，他满面风尘，手提着一只旅行箱
并拿着把雨伞。
他没有在事故中遇难，他甚至不知道发生了车祸。
他愣在那里，
对约瑟芬的
惊叫感到诧异。
他不理解理查兹为什么突然站到他们
中间，
把路易丝挡起来。
但是理查兹太
晚了。当医生赶到时，他们说她死于心脏病——死于心脏承受不了的喜悦。
注释
A.
词汇（
Vocabulary<
/p>
）
1.
break: vt, vi
1
）
（
cause
to
）
separate into parts with
suddenness or violence, but not by cutting or
tearing
打破；
击破；
（使）
破裂；
（使）破碎；断
He
broke a window.
他打破了一扇窗。
The rope broke when they were climbing.
他们向上爬时，绳索断了。
The
glass broke into pieces.
玻璃破成碎片。
A large
piece of ice broke away from the main mass.
一大块冰从冰堆上断裂开来。
2
）
（
cause
to
）
become unusable by damage
to one or more parts
（弄）坏；损坏；
（使）破
损
He broke his wristwatch by dropping it.
他把手表掉在地上，摔坏了。
This machine is broken and must be
repaired.
这台机器坏了，得修理一下。
3
）
（
cause
to
）
become suddenly or
violently
（使）突然变为
The prisoner broke loose.
犯人突然挣脱逃跑了。
The
box broke open when it fell.
盒子掉下来时，盖子一下子
摔开了。
4
）
not to keep (a
law, etc.); go actively against
违反；违背（法律等）
If you
do this , you will be breaking the law.
如果你这样做，就会违反法律。
He
broke the speed limit by driving his car at 80
mph.
他以八十英里的时速开车，违反了车速
限制的规定。
5) tell, make known, reveal
告诉；使知道
Someone
must break the bad news to her.
一定得有人将坏消息告诉她。
ted
和
exhaustive
的区别
exhausted
的意思是“筋疲力尽”
；
exhaustiv
e
看起来与
exhausted
很
相近，但意思完全不一
样，它是“全面而彻底的；详尽无遗的”的意思。例如：
The exhausted men fell on the
road and slept where they lay.
那些筋疲力尽的人躺倒
在路上，
就地睡着了。
This is an exhaustive study of the
subject.
这是有关该题目的一个详尽的研究。
: adj.
1) delicate, hardly
noticeable, and esp. pleasant
难以捉摸的；微妙的
There
are subtle differences between the two things.
这两者之间有着微妙的关系。
It
’
s a subtle
taste.
那是一种无法形容的味道。
2) clever in arrangement
精巧的；巧妙的
That
’
s a subtle
plan.
那是一个巧妙的计划。
: vi. (pt, pp crept)
1) move slowly, quietly or secretly
with the body to the ground
（身体贴近地面而且
悄悄地）
爬行；匍匐前进
The cat crept silently towards the
mouse.
猫悄悄地向老鼠爬过去。
2) (of time , age, etc.)come on
gradually
（指时间，年龄等）不知不觉地而来
Old age creeps upon one unawares.
不知不觉地老年就来临了。
3)
(of plants, etc) grow along the ground over the
surface of a wall, etc.
（指
植
物等）沿地面、
< br>墙壁的表面等而蔓延；攀爬
Ivy had
crept over the ruined castle walls.
常春藤已爬满了那荒堡残垣。
4)
(of the flesh)have the feeling that things are
creeping over it (as the result of fear,
repugnance,
etc.)
（指肌肤）有虫爬的感
觉（如由于恐惧、嫌恶等之结果）
；起鸡皮疙瘩
The sight of the cold, damp prison
cell, with rats running about, made her flesh cree
p.
看见那冰冷
阴湿的牢房，还有老鼠在里面跑来跑去，
她浑身起鸡皮疙瘩。
5. will : n.
1)
mental
power
by
which
a
person
can direct
his
thoughts
and
actions,
and
influence
those
of
others
意志
He has the will to live;
he
‘
ll recover.
他有活下去的决心；他会康复的。
2
）
control
exercised over oneself,
one
’
s
impulses
意志力，自制力
He showed a strength of will that
overcame all obstacles.
他表现出坚强的意志力，克服了所
有
的障碍。
3
）
determination;
desire or purpose
决心；意向；欲望；目的
Where there is a will, there is a way.
有志者，事竟成。
6. weep: vi. vt
1) esp. formal & literary to cry
流泪；哭泣
He lost
control of his feelings and began to weep.
他控制不住自己的感情，流起眼泪来。
She wept bitter tears.
她流下了伤心的眼泪。
2
）
to put
(oneself) into a certain state by weeping
哭得使（处于某种状态）
She
wept herself silly.
她哭得死去活来。
: vt. vi
1) stretch or extend in space or time
（空间上）扩展；伸开；分散（在一段时间里）
In the last hundred years, the city has
spread a lot.
在近一百年里，这个城市扩
展了许多。
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