The Moon and Sixpence Chapter 5 前1/2部分。
 维多利亚时代典型的客厅装饰风格

在维多利亚时代，英国经济腾飞，中产阶级剧增，随着财富积累与身份的提升，居住环境和室内装饰样式发生了变化，人们用住宅的装潢来标榜自己的成就。家居以曲线线条为主，凸显装饰和雕饰，图案和色彩以艳丽风格为主，既舒适又显华丽。
Chapter V
During the summer I met Mrs. Strickland not infrequently. I went now and then to pleasant little luncheons（午餐宴会） at her flat（公寓）, and to rather more formidable（强大的，难应付的） tea-parties. We took a fancy to one another. I was very young, and perhaps she liked the idea of guiding my virgin（新手，无经验的） steps on the hard road of letters; while for me it was pleasant to have someone I could go to with my small troubles, certain of an attentive（体贴的） ear and reasonable counsel（建议）. Mrs. Strickland had the gift of sympathy（同情心）. It is a charming faculty（能力）, but one often abused by those who are conscious of its possession: for there is something ghoulish（令人毛骨悚然的）in the avidity（活动性，热切） with which they will pounce（猛抓） upon the misfortune of their friends so that they may exercise their dexterity（机敏）. It gushes（涌出） forth like an oil-well（油井）, and the sympathetic pour out their sympathy with an abandon（放任） that is sometimes embarrassing to their victims. There are bosoms（胸，胸怀）on which so many tears have been shed（shed过去分词，shed，流出） that I cannot bedew（沾湿） them with mine. Mrs. Strickland used her advantage with tact（机智）. You felt that you obliged（帮忙，施恩） her by accepting her sympathy. When, in the enthusiasm of my youth, I remarked on this to Rose Waterford, she said:
“Milk is very nice, especially with a drop of brandy（白兰地酒） in it, but the domestic cow is only too glad to be rid of it. A swollen（肿胀的） udder（乳房） is very uncomfortable.”
夏天我经常见斯特里克兰太太，我时不时去她的公寓参加令人愉快的午餐会，也会去那个让人难以应付的茶点派对，我们彼此欣赏。我那时很年轻，或许她想要在成为作家艰难征途的初期对我进行一番指导；对我而言，我很乐意找个倾述遇到的小麻烦，确信她会留心听，并且给一些合理的建议。斯特里克兰太太在同情人方面很有天赋。这是一种迷人的能力，但是一些知道自己拥有这种能力的人又时常同情心泛滥：他们在自己的朋友遭遇厄运时，抓住机会同情别人，施展自己的才能，这样的热情让人毛骨悚然。同情心（应该）像油井一样涌出，习惯于同情别人的人使同情心泛滥，这对于受害者也是很窘迫的。有的胸膛已经沾上如此多的泪水了，以至于我不能再洒上我的泪了。斯特里克兰太太很好地运用了她的长处，你感觉接受她的同情像有恩惠于她一样。那时，我年轻，热情洋溢，我同罗斯﹒沃特福德小姐提过此事，她说：
“牛奶很棒，尤其是在里面加上一滴白兰地酒，但是本地的奶牛却迫不及待地要把它排出去。肿胀的乳房真的很不舒服。”  [佩服作者这想象力!!!能把如此抽象的道理叙述得如此生动且幽默]

拉格比公学（Rugby School）
拉格比公学位于英格兰中部沃里克郡（Warwickshire）拉格比镇上的一间男女兼收寄宿学校，也是英格兰最古老的公学之一，成立于1567年（明隆庆元年）。拉格比公学以其为橄榄球运动发源地而闻名于世，橄榄球（Rugby football）一词正是取自于拉格比。
Rose Waterford had a blistering tongue（blistering，使…暴晒，blistering tongue形容毒舌）. No one could say such bitter things; on the other hand, no one could do more charming ones.
There was another thing I liked in Mrs. Strickland. She managed her surroundings（环境，周围，此处指家里） with elegance（优雅）. Her flat was always neat and cheerful, gay（此处指‘明亮，艳丽’） with flowers, and the chintzes（原型chintz，印花棉布） in the drawing- room（客厅）, notwithstanding（虽然） their severe（严峻，古板）design, were bright and pretty. The meals in the artistic little dining-room were pleasant; the table looked nice, the two maids（原型maid，女仆） were trim（身材苗条） and comely（长相清秀）; the food was well cooked. It was impossible not to see that Mrs. Strickland was an excellent housekeeper（家庭主妇）. And you felt sure that she was an admirable（令人钦佩的） mother. There were photographs in the drawing-room of her son and daughter. The son — his name was Robert — was a boy of sixteen at Rugby; and you saw him in flannels（法兰绒） and a cricket（板球） cap, and again in a tail-coat（燕尾服） and a stand-up collar（衣领）. He had his mother’s candid（率真，坦诚） brow and fine, reflective（沉思的） eyes. He looked clean, healthy, and normal.
罗斯·沃特福德口轻舌薄，没有人能说出比她更尖酸刻薄的话了；但是另一方面，也没人做事比她更漂亮。
还有另外一件事使我喜欢思特里克兰德太太。她总是把家里收拾得很优雅。她的公寓总是干净整洁，用花装饰得很明艳，让人感到舒服，客厅的印花棉布窗帘虽然设计古板，可是色彩明亮，很吸引人。在雅致的小餐厅里吃饭使人愉悦；餐桌看起来很美，两个侍女身材苗条，长相清秀；菜肴烹调得非常精致。很难不去相信思特里克兰德太太是一个能干的家庭主妇。此外，让你很确信她是一位贤妻良母。客厅里摆着她儿子女儿的照片。她儿子，罗伯特，今年十六岁，在拉格比学校读书；照片上他穿着法兰绒衣服，戴着板球帽，另外一张照片穿着燕尾服，系着直立的领子。他同他母亲一样，有着看起来让人觉得率真的前额、漂亮并且显出沉思的眼睛。他看起来干净利落，健健康康，很显正派。

2019年橄榄球世界杯(Rugby World Cup，简称RWC)在日本举行
Rubgy已经成了橄榄球的代名词。榄球运动（Rugby Football）可包含以下几种运动：橄榄球（Rugby Union）、7人制橄榄球（Rugby Sevens）、联盟式橄榄球（Rugby League）。
~~to be continued~~
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