《艾伦图灵传》第1章7:寄养

 Mr Turing had farmed out his sons with a retired¹ Army couple, Colonel and Mrs Ward². They lived at St Leonards-on-Sea, the seaside town adjoining Hastings, in a large house called Baston Lodge³ just above the sea front. Across the road was the house of Sir Rider Haggard, the author of King Solomon's Mines, and once, when Alan was older and dawdling⁴ along the gutter⁵ in his usual way, he found a diamond and sapphire⁶ ring belonging to Lady Haggard, who rewarded him with two shillings.

朱利叶斯把他的两个儿子寄养在一对军人夫妇家里，沃德上校和沃德夫人。他们住在黑斯廷一个名叫圣伦纳兹的海滨小镇，拥有一所海边的大房子。房子的对面，是赖德·哈葛德的家，他是《所罗门王的宝藏》的作者。有一天，渐渐长大的艾伦在路上闲逛，捡到了哈葛德夫人的一枚蓝宝石钻戒，夫人奖励他两先令。

The Wards⁷ were not the sort of people who dropped diamond rings in the street. Colonel Ward, ultimately kindly⁸, was remote and gruff as God the Father. Mrs Ward believed in bringing up boys to be real men. Yet there was a twinkle in her eye and both boys became fond of 'Grannie'. In between lay Nanny Thompson, who ruled the nursery which was the boys' proper place, and the governess of the schoolroom. There were other children in the house, for the Wards had no fewer than four daughters of their own, as well as another boy boarder. Later they also took in the Turing boys' cousins, the three children of Major Kirwan. Alan was very fond of the Wards' second daughter Hazel, but hated the youngest Joan, who was intermediate in age between him and John.

沃德一家，可不是那种会把钻戒丢在路上的人。沃德上校，说得好听点儿，他冷酷就跟耶和华一样。沃德夫人则认为，抚养男孩，就要让他们长成真正的男人。她的眼睛里总是闪烁着愉快的光芒，两个孩子都很喜欢这位奶奶。他们真正的成长乐园，是南尼·汤姆森开办的幼儿园，那里还有别的孩子。沃德夫妇有至少四个女儿，还有其他寄养的孩子，不久后，他们还把艾伦的表弟表妹，也就是柯万上校的三个孩子也一起接过来寄养。艾伦非常喜欢沃德夫妇的二女儿海兹尔，但是讨厌最小的琼，琼比艾伦大，但是比约翰小。

Both Turing boys disappointed Mrs Ward, for they scorned fighting and toy weapons, even model Dreadnoughts. Indeed, Mrs Ward wrote to Mrs Turing complaining that John was a bookworm, and Mrs Turing loyally wrote to John chiding⁹ him. Walks on the windswept promenade¹⁰, picnics on the stony¹¹ beach, games at children's parties, and tea before a roaring fire in the nursery were the most that the Ward environment had to offer in the way of stimulation¹².

令沃德夫妇失望的是，图灵兄弟不屑于打架和玩具枪，甚至对无畏级战舰模型也不感兴趣。沃德夫人给图灵夫人写信，抱怨说约翰就是个书呆子，图灵夫人随后写信给约翰，把他责备了一番。沃德夫妇想了很多办法，希望激起他俩的玩兴，比如迎着微风散步，在海滩上野餐，办聚会做游戏，还有围着门前的篝火吃东西。

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

3 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

4 dawdling   

adj.闲逛的，懒散的v.混（时间）( dawdle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stop dawdling! We're going to be late! 别磨蹭了，咱们快迟到了！
• It was all because of your dawdling that we were late. 都是你老磨蹭，害得我们迟到了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

6 sapphire   

n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的

参考例句：

• Now let us consider crystals such as diamond or sapphire.现在让我们考虑象钻石和蓝宝石这样的晶体。
• He left a sapphire ring to her.他留给她一枚蓝宝石戒指。

7 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 chiding   

v.责骂，责备( chide的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was chiding her son for not being more dutiful to her. 她在责骂她儿子对她不够孝尽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She called back her scattered maidens, chiding their alarm. 她把受惊的少女们召唤回来，对她们的惊惶之状加以指责。 来自辞典例句

10 promenade   

n./v.散步

参考例句：

• People came out in smarter clothes to promenade along the front.人们穿上更加时髦漂亮的衣服，沿着海滨散步。
• We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。

11 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

12 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。