主持：京晶 外籍嘉宾：Judy

美文朗读

(Nick | Canada)

Witches' Loaves

欧·亨利经典短篇

《多情的面包》

Introduction

欧·亨利（O.Henry）美国短篇小说家、美国现代短篇小说创始人，主要作品有《麦琪的礼物》、《警察与赞美诗》、《最后一片叶子》、《二十年后》等。欧·亨利与契诃夫和莫泊桑并列世界三大短篇小说巨匠，被誉为美国现代短篇小说之父，作品有“美国生活的百科全书”之誉。

Sometimes you want to do something nice for others, but then suddenly your intention to do so, was a lot better than the result. Of course, nine out of ten times someone will appreciate just that extra little gesture of kindness he or she did not expect. Especially when someone is having a bad day, you can really change that person’s life by just showing some kindness to him or her. But sometimes, kindness backfires. Such as in this story, where the sweetest baker in town unknowingly makes a terrible mistake, out of love…

Miss Martha Meacham kept the little bakery on the corner (the one where you go up three steps, and the bell tinkleswhen you open the door). Miss Martha was forty, she had twofalse teethand a sympatheticheart. Two or three times a week an interesting customer came in. He was a middle-aged man, wearing spectaclesand a brown beardtrimmedcarefully. He spoke English with a strong German accent. His clothes were wornand darnedin places, and wrinkled andbaggyin others. But he looked neat, and had very good manners.

玛莎·米查姆女士在街角开着一家小面包店（就是那家门口有三阶台阶，客户进门会有铃铛响起的小店）。玛莎女士刚好四十岁，嘴里镶着两颗假牙，拥有一颗同情心。有一位非常有趣的顾客每周都会光顾玛莎的小店三两次。他是一位中年男子，戴着眼镜，留着精心修剪过的棕色胡须，讲着带有很重德国口音的英语。他穿的衣服很旧，有几处补丁，没补丁的部位也是皱巴巴而且松松垮垮的。但他显得很整洁，人也很有风度。

He always bought twoloaves of stalebread. Fresh bread was five cents a loaf. Stale ones were two for five. Never did he want anything else but stale bread. Once Miss Martha saw red and brown paint stains on his fingers. She was sure therefore that he was an artist and very poor. No doubt he lived in a garret, where he painted pictures and ate stale bread and dreamed of the good things to eat in her bakery.

他每次来店里都会买两个陈面包。新鲜面包是5美分一个，陈面包则是5美分两个。除了陈面包以外，他什么也没在店里买过。一次，玛莎看到他手指上有红褐色的漆渍。于是，她确信他是一位穷困潦倒的画家。他一定是住在一个阁楼里，在那里一边画画，一边啃着陈面包，梦想着能够在她的面包店里吃顿好的。

Tinkles (verb, from: to tinkle)

英 /'tɪŋk(ə)l/ 美 /'tɪŋkl/

使发出清脆的声响

False teeth (noun)

假牙

Sympathetic(adj.)

英 /sɪmpə'θetɪk/ 美 /,sɪmpə'θɛtɪk/

有同情心的

Spectacles(noun)

英 /'spektək(ə)lz/ 美 /'spɛktəklz/

[轻] 眼镜

Trimmed

(verb, from: to trim) 英 /trimd/

修整过的

Worn(adj.)

英 /wɔːn/ 美 /wɔrn/

用旧的

Darned

(verb, from: to darn) /dɑrnd/

织补

Baggy(adj.)

英 /'bægɪ/ 美 /'bæɡi/

袋状的，膨胀的；宽松而下垂的

Loaves(noun)

英 /ləʊvz/ 美 /lovz/

大块面包

Stale (adj.)

英 /steɪl/ 美 /stel/

陈腐的；不新鲜的

Garret(noun)

英 /'gærət; -ɪt/ 美 /'ɡærət/

阁楼；顶楼

Often when Miss Martha sat down to her chops and light rolls and jam and tea she would sigh, and wish that the gentle-mannered artist would share her tasty meal instead of eating his dry crustin that draughtyattic.

当玛莎坐下来喝着茶，吃着排骨、果酱卷时，经常会发出叹息声，心里希望这位温文尔雅的画家能跟她共享美味佳肴，而不是回到那个四面漏风的阁楼里吃难以下咽的干面包皮。