A Tale of Two Cities — Page 3
It is likely enough that in the rough outhouses of some tillers of the heavy lands adjacent to Paris, there were sheltered from the weather that very day, rude carts, bespattered with rustic mire, snuffed about by pigs, and roosted in by poultry, which the Farmer, Death, had already set apart to be his tumbrils of the Revolution.
极有可能就在那一天，在巴黎附近那些耕种着沉重土地的农夫们的简陋外屋里，避风躲雨地停放着一些粗陋的大车，车身溅满了乡野的泥污，猪在旁边拱嗅，禽鸟在上面栖息，而那位农夫——死神——早已将这些大车预留下来，作为革命的囚车。
But that Woodman and that Farmer, though they work unceasingly, work silently, and no one heard them as they went about with muffled tread: the rather, forasmuch as to entertain any suspicion that they were awake, was to be atheistical and traitorous.
然而那位樵夫和那位农夫，尽管他们不停地劳作，却悄无声息，当他们迈着沉默的脚步四处行走时，无人听见他们的动静：更何况，若有人心生疑虑，以为他们已然醒来，便是不信神明、居心叛逆之举。
In England, there was scarcely an amount of order and protection to justify much national boasting.
在英格兰，社会秩序与安全保障几乎不足以令人对国家大加夸耀。
Vocabulary
- 极
- jí — Extremely; to the utmost degree
- 有
- yǒu — To have; there is/are
- 可能
- kě néng — Possible; possibly; maybe
- 就
- jiù — Just; then; precisely; right away
- 在
- zài — At; in; on; to be located at
- 那
- nà — That; those (demonstrative)
- 一天
- yī tiān — One day; a certain day
- 巴黎
- Bā lí — Paris, the capital city of France
- 附近
- fù jìn — Nearby; in the vicinity of
- 那些
- nà xiē — Those (plural demonstrative pronoun)
- 耕种
- gēng zhòng — To till and cultivate the land
- 着
- zhe — Aspect particle indicating ongoing action or state
- 沉重
- chén zhòng — Heavy; weighty; burdensome
- 土地
- tǔ dì — Land; soil; territory
- 的
- de — Structural particle indicating possession or modification
- 农夫
- nóng fū — Farmer; peasant; agricultural laborer
- 们
- men — Plural suffix for pronouns and people nouns
- 简陋
- jiǎn lòu — Simple and crude; shabby; rudimentary
- 外屋
- wài wū — Outer room; outbuilding; shed
- 里
- lǐ — Inside; within; interior
- 避风
- bì fēng — To shelter from wind; take cover
- 躲雨
- duǒ yǔ — To take shelter from the rain
- 地
- de — Adverbial particle modifying verbs or adjectives
- 停放
- tíng fàng — To park; to place and leave something
- 一些
- yī xiē — Some; a few; a certain number of
- 粗陋
- cū lòu — Rough and crude; coarse and primitive
- 大车
- dà chē — Large cart; wagon; heavy vehicle
- 车身
- chē shēn — Body of a vehicle; carriage body
- 溅满
- jiàn mǎn — Splattered all over; covered with splashes
- 了
- le — Particle indicating completed action or change
- 乡野
- xiāng yě — Countryside; rural fields and open land
- 泥污
- ní wū — Mud and dirt; muddy filth
- 猪
- zhū — Pig; swine
- 旁边
- páng biān — Beside; next to; on the side
- 禽鸟
- qín niǎo — Birds and poultry; fowl
- 上面
- shàng miàn — On top; above; on the surface
- 栖息
- qī xī — To roost; to perch; to rest (animals)
- 而
- ér — And; but; yet (conjunction linking clauses)
- 那位
- nà wèi — That (person); that one (polite reference)
- 死神
- sǐ shén — Death; the Grim Reaper; personified death
- 早已
- zǎo yǐ — Already long ago; long since
- 将
- jiāng — About to; will; going to (future marker)
- 这些
- zhè xiē — These (plural demonstrative pronoun)
- 预留
- yù liú — To reserve in advance; set aside beforehand
- 下来
- xià lái — To come down; resultative complement of completion
- 作为
- zuò wéi — As; to serve as; in the capacity of
- 革命
- gé mìng — Revolution; revolutionary movement or uprising
- 囚车
- qiú chē — Prison cart; vehicle for transporting prisoners
- 然而
- rán ér — However; yet; nevertheless (formal conjunction)
- 樵夫
- qiáo fū — Woodcutter; lumberjack; one who chops wood
- 和
- hé — And; with; together with
- 尽管
- jǐn guǎn — Although; even though; despite
- 他们
- tā men — They; them (third person plural)
- 不停
- bù tíng — Incessantly; without stopping; continuously
- 劳作
- láo zuò — To labor; to toil; hard physical work
- 却
- què — But; yet; however (mild adversative)
- 悄无声息
- qiāo wú shēng xī — Completely silent; without the slightest sound
- 当
- dāng — When; while; at the time of
- 迈着
- mài zhe — Striding with; stepping along (ongoing action)
- 沉默
- chén mò — Silent; quiet; not speaking
- 脚步
- jiǎo bù — Footstep; pace; step
- 四处
- sì chù — Everywhere; all around; in all directions
- 行走
- xíng zǒu — To walk; to travel on foot
- 时
- shí — When; at the time; during (temporal marker)
- 无人
- wú rén — No one; nobody; not a single person
- 听见
- tīng jiàn — To hear; to catch the sound of
- 动静
- dòng jìng — Sound of movement; activity; signs of life
- 更何况
- gèng hé kuàng — Let alone; much less; all the more so
- 若
- ruò — If; supposing; in the event that
- 有人
- yǒu rén — Someone; there is a person; somebody
- 心生疑虑
- xīn shēng yí lǜ — To feel doubt arise in one's heart
- 以为
- yǐ wéi — To think; to mistakenly believe; to assume
- 已然
- yǐ rán — Already; has already become so (literary)
- 醒来
- xǐng lái — To wake up; to regain consciousness
- 便是
- biàn shì — That is; then it amounts to; namely
- 居心
- jū xīn — To harbor intentions; to have ulterior motives
- 叛逆
- pàn nì — Rebellious; treasonous; to revolt against authority
- 之举
- zhī jǔ — Such an act; an action of this kind (literary)
- 英格兰
- Yīng gé lán — England; the country in the British Isles
- 社会
- shè huì — Society; social community
- 秩序
- zhì xù — Order; discipline; proper arrangement
- 与
- yǔ — And; with; together with (formal)
- 安全
- ān quán — Safe; safety; security
- 保障
- bǎo zhàng — Guarantee; safeguard; to ensure protection
- 几乎
- jī hū — Almost; nearly; practically
- 不足以
- bù zú yǐ — Insufficient to; not enough to; cannot
- 令人
- lìng rén — To make people; causing one to feel
- 对
- duì — Toward; regarding; with respect to
- 国家
- guó jiā — Country; nation; state
- 大加
- dà jiā — To do something greatly; lavishly; extensively
- 夸耀
- kuā yào — To boast; to show off; to flaunt proudly
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