The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself — Page 7
The first division contains the married men, who in their dances frequently exhibit feats of arms, and the representation of a battle.
第一组由已婚男子组成，他们在舞蹈中经常展示武艺，以及战斗的场景。
To these succeed the married women, who dance in the second division.
接下来是已婚女子，她们在第二组中起舞。
The young men occupy the third; and the maidens the fourth.
年轻男子占据第三组，少女们则在第四组。
Each represents some interesting scene of real life, such as a great achievement, domestic employment, a pathetic story, or some rural sport; and as the subject is generally founded on some recent event, it is therefore ever new.
每组都呈现一些生活中有趣的场景，例如伟大的成就、家务劳作、动人的故事，或某种乡村运动；由于主题通常以近期发生的事件为基础，因此常演常新。
This gives our dances a spirit and variety which I have scarcely seen elsewhere[B].
这赋予了我们的舞蹈一种我在其他地方几乎从未见过的活力与多样性。
We have many musical instruments, particularly drums of different kinds, a piece of music which resembles a guitar, and another much like a stickado.
我们拥有许多乐器，尤其是各种各样的鼓，一种类似吉他的乐器，以及另一种很像木琴的乐器。
These last are chiefly used by betrothed virgins, who play on them on all grand festivals.
后者主要由已订婚的少女使用，她们在所有盛大节日上演奏这些乐器。
As our manners are simple, our luxuries are few.
由于我们的风俗简朴，奢侈品也寥寥无几。
The dress of both sexes is nearly the same.
男女两性的服饰几乎相同。
It generally consists of a long piece of callico, or muslin, wrapped loosely round the body, somewhat in the form of a highland plaid.
通常由一长块白棉布或细棉布构成，松散地裹在身上，有几分像苏格兰高地格子呢的样式。
This is usually dyed blue, which is our favourite colour.
这种布料通常被染成蓝色，那是我们最喜爱的颜色。
It is extracted from a berry, and is brighter and richer than any I have seen in Europe.
这种蓝色提取自一种浆果，比我在欧洲见过的任何蓝色都更加明亮鲜艳。
Besides this, our women of distinction wear golden ornaments; which they dispose with some profusion on their arms and legs.
除此之外，我们的贵族女性还佩戴黄金饰品，她们将这些饰品大量地装饰在手臂和腿上。
Vocabulary
- 第一
- dì yī — First; number one in a sequence
- 组
- zǔ — Group; team; set of people or things
- 由
- yóu — By; from; composed of; due to
- 已婚
- yǐ hūn — Married; in a state of marriage
- 男子
- nán zǐ — Man; male person; adult male
- 组成
- zǔ chéng — To form; to make up; to constitute
- 他们
- tā men — They; them (male or mixed group)
- 在
- zài — At; in; on; existing at a location
- 舞蹈
- wǔ dǎo — Dance; the art of dancing
- 中
- zhōng — In; within; middle; among
- 经常
- jīng cháng — Often; frequently; regularly
- 展示
- zhǎn shì — To display; to demonstrate; to show off
- 武艺
- wǔ yì — Martial arts skills; combat techniques
- 以及
- yǐ jí — As well as; and also; together with
- 战斗
- zhàn dòu — Battle; combat; to fight
- 的
- de — Structural particle indicating possession or modification
- 场景
- chǎng jǐng — Scene; setting; scenario depiction
- 接下来
- jiē xià lái — Next; following; coming after this
- 是
- shì — To be; is; am; are
- 女子
- nǚ zǐ — Woman; female person; adult female
- 她们
- tā men — They; them (female group)
- 第二
- dì èr — Second; number two in a sequence
- 起舞
- qǐ wǔ — To begin dancing; to start to dance
- 年轻
- nián qīng — Young; youthful in age
- 占据
- zhàn jù — To occupy; to take up; to dominate
- 第三
- dì sān — Third; number three in a sequence
- 少女
- shào nǚ — Young girl; maiden; teenage female
- 们
- men — Plural suffix for pronouns and nouns
- 则
- zé — Then; but; whereas; on the other hand
- 第四
- dì sì — Fourth; number four in a sequence
- 每
- měi — Every; each; per
- 都
- dōu — All; both; every; each
- 呈现
- chéng xiàn — To present; to display; to show clearly
- 一些
- yī xiē — Some; a few; a number of
- 生活
- shēng huó — Life; daily living; lifestyle
- 有趣
- yǒu qù — Interesting; amusing; fun; entertaining
- 例如
- lì rú — For example; for instance; such as
- 伟大
- wěi dà — Great; magnificent; grand; impressive
- 成就
- chéng jiù — Achievement; accomplishment; success attained
- 家务
- jiā wù — Household chores; domestic work
- 劳作
- láo zuò — Labor; toil; manual work; to work hard
- 动人
- dòng rén — Moving; touching; emotionally stirring
- 故事
- gù shi — Story; tale; narrative account
- 或
- huò — Or; either; alternatively
- 某种
- mǒu zhǒng — A certain kind; some type of
- 乡村
- xiāng cūn — Rural area; village; countryside
- 运动
- yùn dòng — Sport; exercise; movement; campaign
- 由于
- yóu yú — Due to; because of; owing to
- 主题
- zhǔ tí — Theme; subject; main topic
- 通常
- tōng cháng — Usually; normally; generally; typically
- 以
- yǐ — With; by means of; based on
- 近期
- jìn qī — Recent period; in the near past
- 发生
- fā shēng — To happen; to occur; to take place
- 事件
- shì jiàn — Event; incident; occurrence
- 为
- wéi — As; to be; serve as; for
- 基础
- jī chǔ — Foundation; basis; base; groundwork
- 因此
- yīn cǐ — Therefore; thus; as a result
- 这
- zhè — This; these; referring to something nearby
- 赋予
- fù yǔ — To endow with; to bestow; to grant
- 了
- le — Particle indicating completion or change of state
- 我们
- wǒ men — We; us; our group
- 一种
- yī zhǒng — A kind of; a type of; one sort
- 我
- wǒ — I; me; myself
- 其他
- qí tā — Other; else; the rest
- 地方
- dì fang — Place; location; area; region
- 几乎
- jī hū — Almost; nearly; practically; hardly
- 从未
- cóng wèi — Never; not ever; at no time before
- 见过
- jiàn guò — Have seen; have encountered before
- 活力
- huó lì — Vitality; energy; vigor; liveliness
- 与
- yǔ — And; with; together with
- 多样性
- duō yàng xìng — Diversity; variety; range of differences
- 拥有
- yōng yǒu — To have; to possess; to own
- 许多
- xǔ duō — Many; much; a lot of; numerous
- 乐器
- yuè qì — Musical instrument; device for making music
- 尤其
- yóu qí — Especially; particularly; in particular
- 各种各样
- gè zhǒng gè yàng — All kinds of; various types; diverse varieties
- 鼓
- gǔ — Drum; percussion instrument; to beat
- 类似
- lèi sì — Similar to; resembling; alike
- 吉他
- jí tā — Guitar; stringed musical instrument
- 另一种
- lìng yī zhǒng — Another kind; a different type
- 很像
- hěn xiàng — Very similar to; closely resembles
- 木琴
- mù qín — Xylophone; wooden percussion instrument
- 后者
- hòu zhě — The latter; the second of two mentioned
- 主要
- zhǔ yào — Main; primary; mainly; chiefly
- 已订婚
- yǐ dìng hūn — Already engaged; having a betrothal agreement
- 使用
- shǐ yòng — To use; to employ; to make use of
- 所有
- suǒ yǒu — All; every; all of; entire
- 盛大
- shèng dà — Grand; magnificent; large-scale; elaborate
- 节日
- jié rì — Festival; holiday; celebration day
- 上
- shàng — On; above; at; during (an event)
- 演奏
- yǎn zòu — To perform music; to play an instrument
- 这些
- zhè xiē — These; referring to nearby plural things
- 风俗
- fēng sú — Custom; tradition; social practice
- 简朴
- jiǎn pǔ — Simple and plain; frugal; unadorned
- 奢侈品
- shē chǐ pǐn — Luxury goods; extravagant items
- 也
- yě — Also; too; as well; either
- 寥寥无几
- liáo liáo wú jǐ — Very few; only a handful; scarcely any
- 男女
- nán nǚ — Men and women; both sexes; male and female
- 两性
- liǎng xìng — Both sexes; the two genders
- 服饰
- fú shì — Clothing and accessories; attire; dress
- 相同
- xiāng tóng — The same; identical; alike in nature
- 一
- yī — One; a single; the number one
- 构成
- gòu chéng — To constitute; to form; to make up
- 松散
- sōng sǎn — Loose; slack; not tight; loosely arranged
- 地
- de — Adverbial particle linking adverb to verb
- 裹
- guǒ — To wrap; to bind; to drape around body
- 身上
- shēn shàng — On one's body; on the person
- 有
- yǒu — To have; there is; to exist
- 几分
- jǐ fēn — Somewhat; a bit; to some extent
- 像
- xiàng — To resemble; to be like; similar to
- 苏格兰
- Sū gé lán — Scotland; country in northern United Kingdom
- 高地
- gāo dì — Highlands; elevated land; high-altitude terrain
- 样式
- yàng shì — Style; pattern; design; form
- 这种
- zhè zhǒng — This kind of; this type of
- 布料
- bù liào — Fabric; cloth; textile material
- 被
- bèi — Passive marker; by (indicates passive voice)
- 染成
- rǎn chéng — To dye into; to color to become
- 蓝色
- lán sè — Blue; the color blue
- 那
- nà — That; those; referring to distant thing
- 最
- zuì — Most; -est; superlative degree marker
- 喜爱
- xǐ ài — To love; to favor; to be fond of
- 颜色
- yán sè — Color; hue; shade
- 提取
- tí qǔ — To extract; to derive; to draw out
- 自
- zì — From; since; self; originating from
- 浆果
- jiāng guǒ — Berry; small fleshy fruit
- 比
- bǐ — Than; compared to; to compare
- 欧洲
- Ōu zhōu — Europe; the European continent
- 任何
- rèn hé — Any; whatever; whichever; no matter what
- 更加
- gèng jiā — Even more; still more; increasingly
- 明亮
- míng liàng — Bright; brilliant; luminous; vivid
- 鲜艳
- xiān yàn — Bright-colored; vivid; brilliantly colorful
- 除此之外
- chú cǐ zhī wài — Besides this; in addition to this; furthermore
- 贵族
- guì zú — Nobility; aristocrat; upper-class person
- 女性
- nǚ xìng — Female; woman; feminine gender
- 还
- hái — Also; still; in addition; furthermore
- 佩戴
- pèi dài — To wear; to put on accessories or ornaments
- 黄金
- huáng jīn — Gold; precious yellow metal
- 饰品
- shì pǐn — Ornament; jewelry; decorative accessory
- 将
- jiāng — Will; with; to take; used before object
- 大量
- dà liàng — Large quantity; great amount; abundant
- 装饰
- zhuāng shì — To decorate; to adorn; decoration; ornament
- 手臂
- shǒu bì — Arm; the upper limb of the body
- 和
- hé — And; with; together with
- 腿
- tuǐ — Leg; lower limb of the body
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