Part 2 Chapter 3

    But what after all is one night? A short space, especially when the darknessdims so soon, and so soon a bird sings, a cock crows, or a faintgreen quickens, like a turning leaf, in the hollow of the wave. Night,however, succeeds to night. The winter holds a pack of them in store anddeals them equally, evenly, with indefatigable¹ fingers. They lengthen;they darken. Some of them hold aloft clear planets, plates of brightness.

　　The autumn trees, ravaged² as they are, take on the flash of tattered³ flagskindling in the gloom of cool cathedral caves where gold letters onmarble pages describe death in battle and how bones bleach⁴ and burn faraway in Indian sands. The autumn trees gleam in the yellow moonlight,in the light of harvest moons, the light which mellows⁵ the energy of labour,and smooths the stubble, and brings the wave lapping blue to theshore.

　　It seemed now as if, touched by human penitence⁶ and all its toil⁷, divinegoodness had parted the curtain and displayed behind it, single,distinct, the hare erect⁸; the wave falling; the boat rocking; which, did wedeserve them, should be ours always. But alas⁹, divine goodness, twitchingthe cord, draws the curtain; it does not please him; he covers histreasures in a drench¹⁰ of hail, and so breaks them, so confuses them that itseems impossible that their calm should ever return or that we shouldever compose from their fragments a perfect whole or read in the litteredpieces the clear words of truth. For our penitence deserves a glimpseonly; our toil respite¹¹ only.

　　The nights now are full of wind and destruction; the trees plunge¹² andbend and their leaves fly helter skelter until the lawn is plastered withthem and they lie packed in gutters¹³ and choke rain pipes and scatterdamp paths. Also the sea tosses itself and breaks itself, and should anysleeper fancying that he might find on the beach an answer to his doubts,a sharer of his solitude¹⁵, throw off his bedclothes and go down by himselfto walk on the sand, no image with semblance¹⁶ of serving and divinepromptitude comes readily to hand bringing the night to order andmaking the world reflect the compass of the soul. The hand dwindles¹⁷ inhis hand; the voice bellows¹⁸ in his ear. Almost it would appear that it isuseless in such confusion to ask the night those questions as to what, andwhy, and wherefore, which tempt¹⁹ the sleeper¹⁴ from his bed to seek ananswer.

　　[Mr Ramsay, stumbling along a passage one dark morning, stretchedhis arms out, but Mrs Ramsay having died rather suddenly the night before,his arms, though stretched out, remained empty.]]

1 indefatigable   

adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的

参考例句：

• His indefatigable spirit helped him to cope with his illness.他不屈不挠的精神帮助他对抗病魔。
• He was indefatigable in his lectures on the aesthetics of love.在讲授关于爱情的美学时，他是不知疲倦的。

2 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

3 tattered   

adj.破旧的，衣衫破的

参考例句：

• Her tattered clothes in no way detracted from her beauty.她的破衣烂衫丝毫没有影响她的美貌。
• Their tattered clothing and broken furniture indicated their poverty.他们褴褛的衣服和破烂的家具显出他们的贫穷。

4 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

5 mellows   

（使）成熟( mellow的第三人称单数 )； 使色彩更加柔和，使酒更加醇香

参考例句：

• A tart temper never mellows with age. 凶悍的性情，绝不会因为年龄增长而变得温和。
• Wine mellows with age. 酒陈则味醇。

6 penitence   

n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过

参考例句：

• The thief expressed penitence for all his past actions. 那盗贼对他犯过的一切罪恶表示忏悔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Of penitence, there has been none! 可是悔过呢，还一点没有！ 来自英汉文学 - 红字

7 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

8 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

9 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

10 drench   

v.使淋透，使湿透

参考例句：

• He met a drench of rain.他遇上一场倾盆大雨。
• They turned fire hoses on the people and drenched them.他们将消防水管对着人们，把他们浇了个透。

11 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。

12 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

13 gutters   

（路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地

参考例句：

• Gutters lead the water into the ditch. 排水沟把水排到这条水沟里。
• They were born, they grew up in the gutters. 他们生了下来，以后就在街头长大。

14 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

15 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

16 semblance   

n.外貌，外表

参考例句：

• Her semblance of anger frightened the children.她生气的样子使孩子们感到害怕。
• Those clouds have the semblance of a large head.那些云的形状像一个巨大的人头。

17 dwindles   

v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Her husband grows rich in crime, her significance dwindles. 她的丈夫罪恶累累，她的形象也受到损害。 来自辞典例句
• The voice died away and ceased, as an insect's tiny trumpet dwindles swiftly into silence. 这声音逐渐消失，就象昆虫的小喇叭嘎然而止。 来自辞典例句

18 bellows   

n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
• You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想，你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句

19 tempt   

vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣

参考例句：

• Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
• The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了，可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。