the chrysanthemums 菊花(中英对照).docVIP

The high grey-flannel fog of winter closed off the Salinas Valley from the sky and from all the rest of the world. On every side it sat like a lid on the mountains and made of the great valley a closed pot. On the broad, level land floor the gang plows bit deep and left the black earth shining like metal where the shares had cut. On the foothill ranches across the Salinas River, the yellow stubble fields seemed to be bathed in pale cold sunshine, but there was no sunshine in the valley now in December. The thick willow scrub along the river flamed with sharp and positive yellow leaves. 飘荡在半空中的冬雾呈现出灰法兰绒色，将萨利纳斯山谷严实地罩了起来；同时也把它与外界分隔开。雾气锁着山头，四面象顶盖子，而山谷则成了一口盖得严严实实的深锅。农民在宽阔平坦的土地上深耕，犁铧过处，黑色的土地闪着金属的光泽。在横卧萨利纳斯河的丘陵地上，农场里的茬地泛着黄色，象是沐浴在冷冷的苍白日光下；不过，现在时至腊月，山谷里没什么阳光。河边上密密麻麻的柳丛上的黄叶颜色鲜浓，象着了火似的。 It was a time of quiet and of waiting. The air was cold and tender. A light wind blew up from the southwest so that the farmers were mildly hopeful of a good rain before long; but fog and rain do not go together. 这是一个安静，叫人等待的季节。空气凉凉的，柔柔的。从西南方向吹来一阵轻风，农民们隐隐地感到不久会有一场及时雨，但雨和雾是不 一起来的。 Across the river, on Henry Allens foothill ranch there was little work to be done, for the hay was cut and stored and the orchards were plowed up to receive the rain deeply when it should come. The cattle on the higher slopes were becoming shaggy and rough-coated. 河对岸亨利?埃伦家位于丘陵上的农场里已经没什么活计了：干草都收割过并存放了起来，果园业已深翻过，好等到有雨的时候浇个透底墒。高处山坡上的牛变得毛皮杂乱粗糙。 Elisa Allen, working in her flower garden, looked down across the yard and saw Henry, her husband, talking to two men in business suits. The three of them stood by the tractor shed, each man with one foot on the side of the little Fordson. They smoked cigarettes and studied the machine as they talked. 伊利莎?埃伦正在花园里干活儿，穿过院子朝远处望时，她看见丈夫亨利正在与两个身着工作服的人交谈。三个人都站在拖拉机棚边上，一只脚蹬在那辆小型福特牌拖拉机的一侧。说话的时候，他们边抽着烟，边打量拖拉机。 Elisa watched them for a moment and then went back to her work. She was thirty-five. Her face was lean and strong and her eyes were as clear as water. Her figure looked blocked and heav