床头灯英语5000词纯英文:飘(txt+pdf+epub+mobi电子书下载)


发布时间:2020-06-22 21:26:48

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作者:(美)玛格丽特·米切尔

出版社:航空工业出版社

格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT

床头灯英语5000词纯英文:飘

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人物关系表

Scarlett O'Hara斯佳丽·奥哈拉:故事的女主人公,美国南部琼斯波罗附近塔拉庄园奥哈拉家族的长女,和查尔斯·汉密尔顿育有一子韦德·汉密尔顿;后与妹妹苏埃伦的情人弗兰克育有一女,最后和来自查尔斯顿的商人瑞特·巴特勒育有一女邦妮·布卢·巴特勒。

Rhett Butler瑞特·巴特勒:来自查尔斯顿的商人,精明真诚,但是外表不羁。爱上斯佳丽后,一直等到最后,直到女儿邦妮夭折。

Ashley Wilkes阿什礼·维尔克斯:斯佳丽的邻居,一个南方绅士,不谙世事,但是英俊潇洒,征服了固执斯佳丽的心。懦弱的他始终不敢接受斯佳丽的勇敢,而是逃避在妻子梅拉妮·汉密尔顿的庇护下。他们育有一子,取名小博。

Melanie Hamilton梅拉妮·汉密尔顿:故事的另外一个很重要的女主人公,阿什礼的妻子,宽容大度,深得众人的喜欢。为了维护斯佳丽,不惜和朋友们翻脸。不管斯佳丽做了什么,都在背后默默支持。

Charles Hamilton查尔斯·汉密尔顿:内向的他爱上了斯佳丽,不想对方和他赌气结婚。内战爆发后,入伍不久得病而死。

Ellen埃伦:斯佳丽的母亲,无私地把所有的爱都奉献给了丈夫和家庭。

Gerald O'Hara奥哈拉先生:斯佳丽的父亲,爱尔兰人,白手起家,建造了塔拉庄园。后来埃伦去世后,精神不济,之后在一次意外中丧生。

Pittypat Hamilton皮特帕特姑妈:梅拉妮和查尔斯的老姑妈,胆小怕事,喜欢受人照顾,自始至终和梅拉妮住在一起。

Frank Kennedy弗兰克·肯尼迪:斯佳丽的第二任丈夫,本和斯佳丽的大妹妹私下有婚约,后来却稀里糊涂被斯佳丽利用,并结婚,但始终无法管住不安分的斯佳丽。后来,在暗杀袭击斯佳丽的黑奴的过程中,不幸遇难。

Carreen卡琳:斯佳丽的小妹妹,后来做了修女。

Suellen苏埃伦:斯佳丽的大妹妹,情人被姐姐抢走后,和退伍士兵威尔结婚成家。

Pork波克:斯佳丽家里的黑奴,忠心耿耿,和斯佳丽一家患难与共。

故事梗概

《飘》所讲述的是一个以美国南北战争为背景的爱情故事。描述了19世纪60年代初,位于美国南部琼斯波罗附近塔拉庄园奥哈拉家族的长女斯佳丽·奥哈拉和来自查尔斯顿的商人瑞特·巴特勒之间错综复杂的爱情故事。斯佳丽·奥哈拉十六岁时,周围一带无数个小伙子就被她的美貌所征服,但在她年少倔强的心里,只有十二橡树村的阿什礼·维尔克斯——一个喜欢读书和音乐的年轻帅气的小伙子,可是后者却要和表妹梅拉妮·汉密尔顿在十二橡树村的野餐会上订婚。在野餐会上,斯佳丽悄悄找到阿什礼,大胆地向他吐露心迹,请他带她私奔,遭到阿什礼的拒绝。这一幕被瑞特·巴特勒看在眼里,从这时起,瑞特就爱上了斯佳丽。受到打击的斯佳丽,为了报复阿什礼和梅拉妮,嫁给了梅拉妮的哥哥查尔斯·汉密尔顿,婚后不久查尔斯入伍,但很快就因病死在了医院。

成为寡妇的斯佳丽产下一个遗腹子,取名韦德·汉密尔顿。生活无味、郁郁寡欢的斯佳丽被母亲送到了亚特兰大,和梅拉妮以及梅拉妮的姑妈皮特帕特住在一起。亚特兰大多彩的生活让守寡已满的斯佳丽感到心满意足,可以参加无数个晚会和舞会,尽管还得参加医院的护理工作。瑞特再次出现,并且找到适当的理由经常拜访皮特帕特姑妈,给斯佳丽带来了许多快乐。但是不久,亚特兰大失陷,斯佳丽带着刚刚难产生下男婴的梅拉妮和自己的孩子,还有一个女佣,艰难地返回塔拉。本来护送他们回去的瑞特,在快到的时候丢下她们,而去打一场已经失败的战争。斯佳丽怀恨在心,一个人带着其他人回到塔拉。家里已经不同往日,黑奴几乎全部跑掉,母亲病逝,父亲精神失常,妹妹们病得奄奄一息。受尽万般宠爱的斯佳丽这时变得坚强起来,独立挑起重担,她亲自下地摘棉花,干活。在这期间,为了保卫塔拉,她曾经开枪杀死过一个北方士兵。她发现,梅拉妮理解她,尽管她还是不喜欢梅拉妮,但梅拉妮的存在给了斯佳丽莫大的鼓舞。

战后塔拉的生活异常艰辛,斯佳丽收留了一个士兵,往日的小农场主威尔作为帮手,阿什礼也服役回来了,有一大家子人要养的斯佳丽发现塔拉面临被坏人收购的危险,她带着嬷嬷只身前往亚特兰大找人借钱交税。瑞特此时已身陷囹圄,斯佳丽前去探望,本想骗瑞特和她结婚,拿到急需的钱,被瑞特揭穿。走投无路的斯佳丽在路上碰到了妹妹苏埃伦的情人弗兰克,发现他现在开了个小店,手里有些积蓄。斯佳丽设计骗取弗兰克和她结婚,拿到了钱交税。由于弗兰克不太精明,斯佳丽开始筹划自己开锯木厂,这时,瑞特已经出狱,提出借钱给她。尽管弗兰克万般反对,斯佳丽还是开办了锯木厂,并雇佣犯人干活,四处揽活,令弗兰克无地自容。时局越来越差,一天下午,外出的斯佳丽受到一个黑人和白人的袭击。晚上,弗兰克、阿什礼和他们的旨在保护南方妇女的三K党出面杀死了两个歹徒,可是他们也面临着北方政府的缉捕。在这紧急关头,瑞特出面,设计帮助大家逃过一劫,可是,弗兰克在枪战中被杀了。

再次成为寡妇的斯佳丽,本无意再嫁,可是瑞特的吻令她无法拒绝他的求婚,两人的结合受到大家的非议,一个反对南方主义的家伙和一个害死自己丈夫、和北方佬做生意的女人,但是由于受人尊敬的梅拉妮的介入,大家也只能礼节性地拜访他们。婚后的两星期,斯佳丽和瑞特在新奥尔良度过,很是快乐,斯佳丽第一次享受到婚姻的乐趣。可是,他们回到亚特兰大后,却争吵不断。不想再生孩子的斯佳丽生下一个女孩——邦妮·布卢·巴特勒,这是一个迷人的小姑娘。瑞特对斯佳丽仍然对阿什礼念念不忘倍感失望,他把精力倾注在了女儿身上,他为了让亚特兰大的人都接受他的女儿,不惜做了许多事情,终于他赢得了大家的心。可就在这时,邦妮在一次跳马中夭折了,受到如此打击的瑞特从此消沉下去。不久,梅拉妮也因为怀孕死去。这时,斯佳丽发现梅拉妮是自己一直以来的精神支柱,是母亲以外自己的唯一一个女友,多年的嫉妒也烟消云散了。梅拉妮临死前告诉斯佳丽,瑞特爱着斯佳丽,还请斯佳丽照顾阿什礼和他的孩子。此时此刻,斯佳丽发现阿什礼真正爱的是梅拉妮,她怀着一颗负疚的心去找瑞特,吐露自己对他的爱。可是此时的瑞特,已经倍感疲倦,准备放手。斯佳丽满怀信心,对自己说,明天又是新的一天,她要重新征服瑞特。

PART 1

CHAPTER 1

〔1〕

This story of love and loss begins during the early 1860's during the American Civil War. The novel follows two characters as it 〔2〕〔3〕illustrates the historic changes enduredby a nation radically divided. Scarlett O'Hara is a beautiful, but terribly selfish young woman, who eventually falls in love with the handsome merchant soldier, Rhett Butler.

Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the local boys were. Her eyes were pale 〔4〕〔5〕green, starred with thick black lashes and slightly tilted at the 〔6〕ends. At sixteen, thanks to her mother, Ellen, and nurse, 〔7〕Mammy, she looked sweet and charming, but she was, in reality, 〔8〕〔9〕overconfident and stubborn. She had the easily stirred 〔10〕passions of her Irish father and nothing of her mother's unselfish nature.

At sixteen years old, Scarlett had decided that she had found the man she wished to marry. Scarlett intended to marry — and marry 〔11〕Ashley Wilkes — and she was willing to appear modest and 〔12〕foolish if those were qualities that attracted men. She had recently heard, however, that Ashley Wilkes was soon to marry his 〔13〕cousin, Melanie Hamilton, a shy and obedient girl, certain qualities that Scarlett lacked. Their engagement was to be announced at a barbecue held at the Wilkes' home. Scarlett was not frightened about this news, though, as she knew Ashley was deeply in love with her, and needed only for Scarlett to return his love, or so she thought.〔14〕

She had never had a girl friend, and she never felt any lack on that account. To her, all women, including her two sisters, were 〔15〕natural enemies in pursuit of the same object — men. All women with the one exception of her mother. She knew that her mother was the image of justice, truth, loving tenderness and wisdom — a great 〔16〕lady. Someday, Scarlett planned to be like her mother, but the 〔17〕only difficulty was being unselfish and truthful, for which she would miss most of the joys in life, and certainly many boys. Someday when she was married to Ashley and old, she would be like Ellen, her mother, but until then...

注释

〔1〕love and loss即alliteration,一种常见的修辞,头韵:在一组词的开头或重读音节中对相同辅音或不同元音的重复。

〔2〕illustrate [ˌiləsˈtreit] vt. 说明

〔3〕endure [inˈdjuə] vt. 忍受

〔4〕lashes 睫毛

〔5〕tilted 使倾斜;使翘起

〔6〕Her eyes were pale green, starred with thick black lashes and slightly tilted at the ends. 这句话形容斯佳丽的美貌,用了star和tilt这样的词,更形象地向读者展现了她的眼睛的美丽。

〔7〕Mammy [ˈmӕmi] n. 嬷嬷;保姆

〔8〕overconfident [ˈəuvəˈkɔnfidənt] adj. 过度自信的,这个词在这里隐含斯佳丽的性格,过于相信自己的魅力。

〔9〕stubborn [ˈstvbən] adj. 顽固的

〔10〕unselfish [ˈvnˈselfiʃ] adj. 无私的,不自私的,这里这个词的出现和斯佳丽的性格形成强烈的对比。

〔11〕modest [ˈmɔdist] adj. 谦虚的

〔12〕attract [əˈtrӕkt] vt. 吸引

〔13〕obedient [əˈbiːdjənt,-diənt] adj. 服从的;孝顺的;守纪律的

〔14〕lack [lӕk] n. 缺少

〔15〕in pursuit of(后加名词),追求某种东西

〔16〕someday [ˈsvmdei] adv. 有一天,注意和 some day(某个日子;某个时候);sometime(某个时候)的区别。

〔17〕truthful [ˈtruːθful] adj. 诚实的,说实话的

CHAPTER 2

As she arrived for the barbecue, Scarlett's eyes searched the crowd for Ashley, even while she spoke pleasantly with the other neighbors, but she could not find him. Where was Ashley? And Melanie Hamilton, along with her foolish brother, Charles?

As she looked around for her beloved Ashley, she observed a stranger standing alone. He looked quite old, at least thirty-five. He was a tall man and powerfully built. Scarlett thought she had never seen a man with such wide shoulders. When her eye caught his, he 〔1〕smiled, showing white teeth below a short black mustache. He 〔2〕〔3〕had a dark face, with bold, black eyes. There was a reckless confidence in his face as he smiled at her. She felt that she should be 〔4〕insulted by such a look and was annoyed that she did not feel insulted. She looked away without smiling back, and he turned as someone called: "Rhett! Rhett Butler!"

Later that morning, she found Cathleen Calvert, looking in the mirror and biting her lips to make them look redder.

"Cathleen," said Scarlett, "who is that nasty man downstairs named Butler?"〔5〕

"My dear, don't you know?" whispered Cathleen excitedly. "I can't imagine how Mr. Wilkes must feel having him here, but he was visiting nearby, and of course he was invited to the dinner. Oh, 〔6〕Scarlett, he has the most terrible reputation. His name is Rhett Butler and he's from Charleston and his parents are some of the nicest people there, but they won't even speak to him. Well, this Mr. Butler took a girl out riding. And, my dear, they stayed out nearly all night and walked home finally, saying the horse had run away and they had gotten lost in the woods. And guess what—"〔7〕

"I can't guess. Tell me," said Scarlett enthusiastically, hoping for the worst.

"He refused to marry her the next day!"

"Oh," said Scarlett, her hopes ruined.

"He said he hadn't...done anything to her and he didn't see why he should marry her. And, of course, her brother called him out, and Mr. Butler said he'd rather be shot than marry a stupid fool. And so they fought and Mr. Butler shot the girl's brother and he died, and Mr. Butler had to leave Charleston and now nobody welcomes him into their homes," finished Cathleen with great excitement.〔8〕

"Did she have a baby?" whispered Scarlett in Cathleen's ear.

"No, but she was ruined just the same," she whispered back.

"I wish I had gotten Ashley to compromise me," thought Scarlett suddenly. "He'd be too much of a gentleman not to marry me." But she had a secret feeling of respect for Rhett Butler for refusing to marry a girl who was a fool.

注释

〔1〕mustache [məsˈtɑːʃ] n. 髭,胡子

〔2〕bold [bəuld] adj. 大胆的

〔3〕reckless [ˈreklis] adj. 不计后果的

〔4〕insult [ˈinsʌlt] vt. 侮辱;凌辱

〔5〕excitedly [ikˈsaitidli] adv. 兴奋地

〔6〕reputation [ˌrepju(ː)ˈteiʃən] n. 名誉;名声

〔7〕enthusiastically [inˌθjuːziˈӕstikəli] adv. 热心地;狂热地

〔8〕whisper [ˈ(h)wispə] vt. & vi. 耳语;低语

CHAPTER 3

During the dinner, most of the young ladies were seated with partners at the table. Scarlett, however, realizing that a girl has only two sides and only one man can sit on each of these sides, one on each side, had decided to sit apart so she could gather about her as many men as possible.

Ashley had made no attempt to join the circle about her, in fact she had not spoken a word alone with him since arriving, as Melanie 〔1〕accompanied him anywhere he went that day.

She was a tiny girl, looking quite plain and simple. She had smiled with quiet friendliness when she greeted Scarlett, and Scarlett had found it difficult to reply politely. Since then, Ashley had sat on the ground near Melanie's feet, apart from the other guests, and talked quietly with her. Scarlett had to admit that she looked almost pretty, looking at Ashley with such love. And Ashley only looked up at Melanie and talked on, and Melanie looked down at him with a look that she belonged to him.〔2〕

So, Scarlett was miserable.

"If I can just live through this barbecue till this afternoon," she thought, "all the girls will go upstairs to rest for the dance tonight and I'll 〔3〕stay downstairs and talk to Ashley. Surely he must have noticed how popular I am."〔4〕

Scarlett stood in the upstairs hallway, looking carefully into the hall below. She began walking quickly down the stairs toward the library as she heard Ashley's sweet voice.

She walked in, closing the door except for a crack, trying to calm herself to remember what she had planned to say to Ashley, but she couldn't remember anything.

"Why, Scarlett!" said Ashley's voice, as he looked through the partly opened door with a smile on his face. "Are you hiding from all those boys following you around."

So he had noticed men around her at the barbecue! She then, with a hand gesture, called him into the room.

"What is it?" he asked in a whisper. "A secret to tell me?"

"Yes — a secret. I love you."

For an instance there was silence.

"Isn't it enough that every other man here today has fallen in love 〔5〕with you?" he said jokingly. "Well, you've always had my heart, you know."〔6〕

"Ashley — tell me — you must — oh, don't tease me now! Have I your heart? Oh, my dear — "

"Scarlett! You must not say these things! You mustn't. Scarlett, I'm going to marry Melanie. I should have told you, but I thought you knew. 〔7〕My father will announce the engagement tonight at the dance. We are to be married soon. I never thought that you — You have so many men in love with you —"

"But you said once that I have your heart."

"Love isn't enough to make a happy married couple when two people are as different as we are."

"Do you love her?"

"She is like me, and we understand each other."

She suddenly thought of Melanie and her gentle silences, and then Scarlett grew angry.〔8〕

"Why don't you say it, you coward! You're afraid to marry me! You'd rather live with that stupid little fool —"〔9〕

"Be fair," his voice pleaded. "Did I ever —"

She did not want to be fair, although she knew what he said was true. He had never once crossed the borders of friendliness with her.

"I shall hate you till I die!" she screamed as she jumped to her feet.〔10〕

"Scarlett! Please —" he said, just as she slapped him across the face with all the strength she had. Then he was gone before she could speak again, closing the door softly behind him.

She had lost him forever. Now he would hate her and every time he looked at her he would remember how she threw herself at him when he had given her no encouragement at all.

She then picked up a bowl and threw it across the room toward the fireplace.

"This," said a voice near the sofa, "is too much."

Nothing had ever frightened her so much. She then turned around to see Rhett Butler stand up from the sofa, where he had been lying.

"Sir, you should have made known your presence."〔11〕

"But I was in this room before you arrived. I was thoughtful 〔12〕enough to remove my unwelcome presence here where I thought 〔13〕I would be undisturbed," he said as he laughed softly.

"Sir," she said, "you are no gentleman!"

"And, you, Miss, are no lady." He seemed to find her very amusing, for he laughed softly again. "However, I have seldom found ladies charming. I know what they are thinking, but they never have the courage to say what they think. But you, my dear Miss O'Hara, are a girl of rare spirit. I fail to understand what attracts you to Mr. Wilkes—"〔14〕

"You aren't worthy enough to wipe his boots!" she shouted in rage.

"And you were going to hate him all your life!"

If she could have killed him, she would have done it. Instead, she walked out of the room, closing the door loudly as she went.

As she walked out of the library, she saw Charles coming into the house, hurrying toward her.

"Have you heard the news? President Lincoln has called for men, soldiers — I mean volunteers — seventy-five thousand of them! Looks like there's going to be war for sure!"

He paused, breathless, as he came up and said this to her. She said nothing and only stared at him.

"Shall we go sit down together?" he asked nervously.

She agreed, and he carefully led her across the grass to a bench outside.

He tried to speak three times, but failed each time.

"He has a lot of money," she was thinking and planning to herself. "And he hasn't any parents to bother me and he lives in Atlanta. If I married him right away, it would show Ashley that I didn't care about him. And they'd all be sorry when I came back here to visit in a fine carriage with lots of pretty clothes and a house of my own. And they would never, never laugh at me."

"Of course, it will mean fighting," said Charles, after several more 〔15〕embarrassed attempts. "But don't you worry, Miss Scarlett, the war will be over in a month. Would you wait for me, Miss Scarlett?"

"I wouldn't want to wait," she said.

"Will you marry me soon, Miss Scarlett?" he asked with a foolish smile on his face.

"Well," she said, looking down at her dress.〔16〕〔17〕

"Shall we make it a double weddingwith Melanie?"

"No," she said quickly.

"When may I speak to your father?"

"The sooner the better," she said, hoping that perhaps he would release her hand from the tight grasp soon with which he held it.

注释

〔1〕accompany [əˈkʌmpəni] vt. 陪伴

〔2〕miserable [ˈmizərəbl] adj. 痛苦的

〔3〕surely [ˈʃuəli] adv. 的确地,安全地,这里surely的使用再次引证了上文斯佳丽的性格。

〔4〕hallway [ˈhɔːlwei] n. 走廊

〔5〕jokingly [ˈdʒəukiŋli] adv. 开玩笑地,打趣地

〔6〕tease [tiːz] n. 揶揄,戏弄,逗惹 vt. 取笑,逗恼,奚落,欺负,嘲弄,取笑,强求,梳理

〔7〕announce [əˈnauns] vt. 宣布

〔8〕coward [ˈkauəd] n. 胆小的人

〔9〕plead [pliːd] vi. 辩护,恳求 vt. 为…辩护,借口,托称

〔10〕slap [slӕp] vt. 掌击;拍击

〔11〕thoughtful [ˈθɔːtful] adj. 深思熟虑的;体贴的

〔12〕unwelcome [ʌnˈwelkəm] adj. 不受欢迎的,讨厌的

〔13〕undisturbed [ˈʌndisˈtəːbd] adj. 没受到干扰的,安静的,镇定的;注意这里两个词都出现了共有的否定前缀un-,类似的可以放在形容词前面的否定前缀有dis-/ in-/ il-。

〔14〕wipe [waip] v. 擦;揩

〔15〕embarrass [imˈbӕrəs] vt. 使…困窘;尴尬

〔16〕double [ˈdʌbl] adj. 两倍的;双重的

〔17〕double wedding形容两对新人一起举办婚礼,这里是典型的美语表达方式,同理类似的词汇有double date:[美口]两对男女同时参加的社交约会

CHAPTER 4

Within two weeks Scarlett had become a wife, and within two 〔1〕months more she was a widow. She was never again to experience the careless freedom of her unmarried days.

Two weeks! So short an engagement would have been impossible in times of peace. Discovering that Ashley's wedding had been moved up from the autumn to the first of May, so he could leave with the other soldiers as soon as possible, Scarlett set the date of her wedding for the day before his.

When the dancing was finally ended and the dawn was coming, Scarlett's dreams were destroyed when Charles came into her room for the night. Of course, she knew that married people occupied the same bed, but now this strange boy whom she hadn't really wanted to marry was getting into bed with her.

"I'll scream out loud if you come near me. I will! I will! Get away from me! Don't you dare touch me!"

So Charles Hamilton spent his wedding night in a chair near the bed.

As horrible as her own wedding had been, Ashley's wedding was even worse for her. Now, Ashley was gone forever. Her Ashley. No, not her Ashley now. Now he was gone and she was married to a man she felt she could never love.

A week after the wedding, Charles left to join the other soldiers, and two weeks later Ashley left, as well. In those two weeks, Scarlett never saw Ashley alone, never had a private word with him.

Five weeks passed during which letters, shy and loving, came from Charles, telling of his love and plans for the future when the war was over. In the seventh week, there came another letter. Charles was dead. The unfortunate boy had not only been cheated of the love he thought he had won, but also of his high hopes of honor as a fighting soldier. He had died quietly in a hospital, after developing an 〔2〕illness.

In due time, Charles' son was born. He was called Wade Hampton Hamilton, named after his father's commanding officer. Scarlett had wept with sadness at the knowledge that she was 〔3〕pregnant and wished that she were dead. When the child was born, she felt little affection for him.

Her family soon sent Scarlett to visit nearby relatives with her new child. So, Scarlett, unenthusiastically, went off with her child, first to visit her relatives in Savannah, Georgia, then to Charleston, South Carolina, where two of her mother's sisters were living. Soon enough, however, Scarlett returned to her parents' home, being terribly bored 〔4〕with her old relatives.

While she was away, Charles' aunt, Miss Pittypat Hamilton, had written her mother several times, asking her to permit Scarlett to come to Atlanta for a long visit, and now for the first time Ellen considered it seriously.

She and Melanie were alone in a big house, "and without male protection," wrote Miss Pittypat, "now that dear Charlie is gone. Melly and I would feel so much safer if Scarlett were with us. Three lonely women are better than two, and, of course, Melly and I are longing to see the dear baby..."〔5〕

So Scarlett departed for Atlanta with Wade Hampton and his nurse, Prissy, one of the family's black slaves. Scarlett did not especially want to go to Atlanta, as she thought Aunt Pittypat the most foolish of old ladies and the living in the same home with Ashley's wife was terrible for Scarlett to imagine, but she did welcome any change in her life.

注释

〔1〕widow [ˈwidəu] n. 寡妇,注意和window(窗户)的区别

〔2〕illness [ˈilnis] n. 疾病,生病

〔3〕pregnant [ˈpreɡnənt] adj. 怀孕的

〔4〕be bored with 因为…感到无聊

〔5〕depart for 向…出发

PART 2

CHAPTER 5

Scarlett looked around in surprise as she was taken in the carriage to Miss Pittypat's house on Peachtree Street. The tiny town 〔1〕had changed dramatically since she had last been there. Now, this once quiet place became vital to the South during the war with the North, as many railroads met in here. Every hotel and house was filled with visitors who had come to be near wounded relatives in the big Atlanta. There were parties and dances every week, as well as 〔2〕numerous war weddings.

"Oh," thought Scarlett, with the first feeling of real pleasure she had experienced since the day of the barbecue, "I'm going to like it here! It's so alive and exciting!"

Scarlett became quite content in Atlanta. She was only seventeen, she had excellent health and energy, and Charles' relatives did their best to make her happy. Little Wade was no longer an 〔3〕annoyance, for the family wanted nothing more than to care for 〔4〕〔5〕him. Even in his worst screaming fits, Melanie thought him 〔6〕adorable and said so, adding, "Oh, you precious darling! I just wish you were mine!"

She had immediately hated nursing but she could not escape this duty because all the women in town were expected to work at the hospital nursing the injured soldiers. Four mornings a week, Scarlett 〔7〕was forced to enter the hot, stinking hospital, filled with dirty, wounded men.

Melanie, however, did not seem to mind the smells, the wounds or the nakedness. Once, however, after assisting the doctor in an 〔8〕operation, Scarlett found Melanie hiding in a closet vomiting quietly into a towel. But as long as she was where the wounded could see her, she was gentle, sympathetic and cheerful, and the men in the 〔9〕hospitals called her an angel.

Perhaps Scarlett might have enjoyed nursing if she had been permitted to charm the recovering men, as many of them were attractive and from high-class families, but this she could not do after 〔10〕her husband's death. Though she now had these discomforts, Scarlett came to enjoy Atlanta a great deal. And her visit lengthened as the weeks went by.

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