《艾伦图灵传》第1章12:小戏或辩论

 Hazelhurst was a small establishment of thirty-six boys of ages from nine to thirteen, run by the headmaster Mr Darlington, a Mr Blenkins who taught mathematics, Miss Gillett who taught drawing and music of a Moodey and Sankey variety, and the Matron. John had loved his time there, and now in his last term was head boy. His younger brother proved to be a thorn in the flesh, for Alan found the Hazelhurst regime a distraction¹. It 'deprived him of his usual occupations, ' as his mother saw it. Now that the whole day was organised into classes, games and meal-times, he had but odd minutes in which to indulge his interests. He arrived with a craze for paper-folding, and when he had shown the other boys what to do, John found himself confronted everywhere with paper frogs and paper boats. Another humiliation² followed when Alan's passion for maps was discovered by Mr Darlington. This inspired him to set a geography test to the whole school, in which Alan came sixth, beating his brother, who found geography very borin g. On another occasion Alan sat in the back row at a school concert, choking himself with laughter while John sang Land of Hope and Glory as a solo.

海兹赫斯特是个小学校，由达灵顿先生开办，布兰金先生教数学，姬丽特小姐教画画和各种类型的音乐。这里一共有36名男孩，都是9到13岁这个年龄段的，约翰很喜欢这里，他现在已经读到最后一学期了，是个好学生。然而，他的弟弟来到这里，却感觉如梗在喉，他觉得那些制度剥夺了他的悠闲生活，简直就要把人逼疯。他现在整天就是上课、参加活动和吃饭，没有时间做自己有兴趣的事了。后来有一阵子，他迷上了折纸，开始教其它男孩折纸，约翰回忆说，他当时看到了铺天盖地的纸青蛙和纸船。艾伦对地图的热爱，启发达灵顿先生举办了一场地理竞赛，艾伦得了第六名，约翰觉得地理很无聊，输给了艾伦。还有一回，学校举行音乐会，当约翰独唱《希望与荣耀的土地》时，艾伦在后排笑得差一点呛到。

John left Hazelhurst at Easter for Marlborough, his public school. In the summer, Mr Turing again took the family to Scotland, this time to Lochinver. Alan exercised his knowledge of maps on the mountain paths, and they fished in the loch, Alan now competing with John. The brothers had a good line in non-violent rivalry³, as for instance when they played a game to alleviate⁴ the awfulness of their grandfather Stoney's visits. This depended upon winning points by leading him on, or heading him away from one of his well-rehearsed club bore stories. And at Lochinver Alan defeated his family in what Mrs Turing considered the rather vulgar after-dinner sport of throwing discarded gooseberry skins as far as possible. Cleverly inflating⁵ them, he made them soar over the hedge.

复活节时，约翰离开了海兹赫斯特，去马尔伯勒上公学。夏天，朱利叶斯先生又带着全家去苏格兰，他们这次去洛金文。艾伦喜欢在山间的小路上实践他的地理知识，另外还跟约翰在湖边比赛钓鱼。这两个兄弟，很喜欢玩一些非暴力的比赛，比如说，为了对付无聊的斯托尼祖父，他们就会玩一个游戏：谁能想办法让他停止讲那些烦人的故事，谁就算获胜。在洛金文，他们进行了一场让图灵夫人觉得十分低俗的比赛，看谁把吃剩的猕猴桃皮扔得更远。艾伦打败了他们家所有的人，他聪明地让猕猴桃皮胀起来，然后把它们高高地抛过树篱。

Life when off duty, in this early afternoon of the Empire, could be very agreeable. But in September his parents saw Alan back to Hazelhurst, and as they drove away in their taxi, Alan rushed back along the school drive with arms flung wide in pursuit. They had to bite their lips and sail away to Madras. Alan continued to maintain is detached view of the Hazelhurst regime. He gained average marks in class, and in turn held an unflattering view of the instruction. Mr Blenkins initiated⁶ his class into elementary algebra⁷, and Alan reported to John, 'He gave a quite false impression of what is meant by x.'

艾伦暂时忘记了他的责任和义务，在这里享受着令人惬意的午后阳光。九月份，父母把他送回了海兹赫斯特，当他们乘坐的士离开时，艾伦从学校里冲出来，挥舞着手臂，疯狂地追赶。但是没办法，他们只能咬着嘴唇，搭船回到印度马德拉斯。艾伦对海兹赫斯特的体制，仍然抱有不同的看法，他的平均分慢慢提高了，并且开始对老师的教学提出一些让人尴尬的意见。比如说，当说到教初等数学的布兰金先生时，艾伦对约翰说：「他对未知量x的含义的理解是错的。」

Although he enjoyed the feeble little plays and debates, he hated and feared the gym class and the afternoon games. The boys played hockey in winter, and Alan later claimed that it was the necessity of avoiding the ball that had taught him to run fast. He did enjoy being linesman, judging precisely⁸ where the ball had crossed the line. In an end-of-term sing-song, the following couplet described him:

艾伦比较喜欢一些安静的小戏或辩论，他讨厌而且害怕体育课和课后的游戏，比如其它男孩冬天玩的冰球。艾伦后来说过，他为什么擅长奔跑，就是因为当年为了躲冰球而练成的。不过他很喜欢当边线裁判，他喜欢精确地判定球出线的位置。在一次期末活动中，大家评论道：

1 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

2 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

3 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

4 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

5 inflating   

v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的现在分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• I felt myself inflating slowly with rage, like a tyre. 我感到自己体内的怒气正慢慢膨胀，像一只轮胎那样。 来自互联网
• Many are already overheating, with prices rising and asset bubbles inflating. 随着物价日益上涨、资产泡沫膨胀，很多新兴国家经济已经过热。 来自互联网

6 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

7 algebra   

n.代数学

参考例句：

• He was not good at algebra in middle school.他中学时不擅长代数。
• The boy can't figure out the algebra problems.这个男孩做不出这道代数题。

8 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。