十七岁――痛苦涅.doc

十七岁――痛苦涅 　　布斯?塔金顿(Booth Tarkington,1869~1946年),美国小说家及剧作家。他一生著作颇丰,创作了50余部小说和25部剧本(其中与人合著11部),风格多以讽刺和幽默见长。塔金顿是20世纪初美国最受欢迎的小说家之一,其小说《了不起的安伯森家族》(The Magnificent Ambersons)和《艾丽丝?亚当斯》(Alice Adams)曾获得普利策小说奖。此外,塔金顿还是一位卓有成就的儿童文学作家。1914年,他出版了脍炙人口的儿童小说《男孩彭罗德的烦恼》(Penrod),轰动一时。随后,他又出版了续篇《彭罗德和萨姆》(Penrod and Sam)。这两部作品与其后来创作的《十七岁》(Seventeen)都备受青少年读者的青睐,成为20世纪初美国儿童文学的经典著作。以下节选自《十七岁》的第三章。 　　 　　精彩片段 　　 　　OH WILL-EE! 　　Thus a shrill voice, to his ears hideously1) different from that other, interrupted and dispersed2) his visions. Little Jane, his ten-year-old sister, stood upon the front porch, the door open behind her, and in her hand she held a large slab3) of bread and butter covered with apple sauce and powdered sugar. Evidence that she had sampled this compound was upon her cheeks, and to her brother she was a repulsive4) sight. 　　Will-ee! she shrilled. Look! GOOD! And to emphasize the adjective she indelicately5) patted the region of her body in which she believed her stomach to be located. Theres a slice for you on the dining-room table, she informed him, joyously. 　　Outraged, he entered the house without a word to her, and, proceeding to the dining-room, laid hands upon the slice she had mentioned, but declined to eat it in Janes company. He was in an exalted6) mood, and though in no condition of mind or body would he refuse food of almost any kind, Jane was an intrusion7) he could not suffer at this time. 　　He carried the refection8) to his own room and, locking the door, sat down to eat, while, even as he ate, the spell9) that was upon him deepened in intensity. 　　Oh, eyes! he whispered, softly, in that cool privacy and shelter from the world. Oh, eyes of blue! 　　The mirror of a dressing-table sent him the reflection of his own eyes, which also were blue; and he gazed upon them and upon the rest of his image the while he ate his bread and butter and apple sauce and sugar. Thus, watching himself eat, he continued to stare dreamily at the mirror until the bread and