作品导读:《旅行的艺术》是英国作家阿兰·德波顿的作品。本书用一种质感、细腻、随意的语言,尽量把大感觉化解成小感觉,把理性的结论隐藏在几乎看不见的地方,让人觉得也可能根本没有这种结论。这样的文字,有着一种感性的征服力。作者借灵魂与自己所遇环境的种种对话,在各种冲撞中揭示了旅行的深层意义。那么,让我们跟随阿兰·德波顿开始一场充满鲜活色彩的完美的旅行吧~~

开篇:On Anticipation 对旅行的期待

It was hard to say when exactly winter arrived.The decline was gradual,like that of a person into old age,inconspicuous from day to day until the season became an established relentless reality.
时序之入冬,一如人之将老,徐缓渐近,每日变化细微,殊难确察,日日累叠,终成严冬,因此,要具体的说出冬天来临之日,并非易事。

注释:
day to day:天天,从一天到另一天(常表示逐渐转变、不固定)
inconspicuous:adj.不显著的;不显眼的,不引人注目的    在这里译为难以察觉
gradual:adj.逐渐的、渐进的、逐渐演变的、渐次的、逐渐的(很生动的描述出冬日的徐缓变化)
relentless:adj.残酷的,无情的(用来描述冬天的寒冷真滴是很贴切)

First came a dip in evening temperatures,then days of continuous rain,confused gusts of Atlantic wind,dampness,the fall of leaves and the changing of the clocks-though there were still occasional moments of reprieve,mornings when one could leave the house without a coat and the sky was cloudless and bright.But they were like false signs of recovery in a patient upon whom death has passed its sentence.
先是晚间温度微降,接着连日阴雨,伴随来自大西洋捉摸不定的阵风、潮湿的空气、纷落的树叶,白昼亦见短促。其间也许会有短暂的风雨间歇,天气晴好,万里无云,人们不穿大衣便可一早出门。但这些都只是一种假象,是病入膏肓者临终前的“回光返照”,于事无补。

注释:
a dip in:(很实用滴小短语)下降、下沉、倾斜、偏斜  eg:a dip in price:价格下降
gust:n.阵风 (雨、雹、烟、火、声音等)突然一阵、(还可形容感情的)迸发
sky was cloudless and bright:万里无云,天气晴朗(相信大家写作文时一定这样描述过天气,现在一起把英文的写法记住吧~~)
false signs :错误的征兆、迹象即假象

By December,the new season was entrenched and the city was covered almost every day by an ominous steely-grey sky,like one in a painting by Mantegna or Veronese, the perfect backdrop to the crucifixion of Christ or to a day beneath the bedclothes .
到了12月,冬日已森然盘踞,整座城市每天为铁灰色的天空所笼罩,给人以不祥之兆,极类曼特尼亚或韦罗内塞的绘画作品中晦暗的天空,是基督耶稣遇难图的绝佳背景,也是在家懒床的好天气。

注释:
steely-grey:铁灰色(这个颜色真滴很形象地描述了那种灰灰的略带黑的蒙蒙的天空)
Mantegna:意大利文艺复兴时期的艺术家
Veronese:16世纪威尼斯画派的主要画家和著名的色彩大师
beneath the bedclothes:赖床

不知道大家觉得怎么样呢?语言很平实吧?那些描述生活场景滴小词汇,童鞋们可要记住哦~~