①(In all this great serenity（宁静的，安详的） of ocean it is seldom that we espy so much as another ship; the jolly dolphins and the scratchy(大群) little flying-fish have the vast circle all to themselves, 'the Flying Fish, who has a part with the birds, ' and doubtless are glad to see the last of the monster which bears（承载） us into and out of sight). Our wake（船驶过的痕迹） closes up and we might never have been. ②(But it does happen from time to time that an island appears on the horizon, nameless to us and full of mystery, the peak of a submarine mountain range, lonely, unblemished（清白的）remote). ③(Does one like islands because one unconsciously appropriates（占有） them, a small manageable domain in a large unmanageable world?) I cannot tell why it should give me such a queer sensation（感觉）to reflect that that island has always been there (unless indeed it be no more than the work of the patient coral) and will be there still, should I return to find it waiting for me. It is the same sensation as I have experienced in looking at a photograph of, say, some river valley of innermost China, and seen a boulder, and thought that if I could find myself transported to that spot I could touch the reality of that particular piece of rock ... It is there. For me, I could sit on that very boulder. ④(I explain myself badly（不善言辞）, and it is not a sensation I could expect anyone save（除了）Laura to understand, but of such incommunicable（无以言表的） quirks（怪癖） is the private mind made up).

 

一、生词：

【serenity】: serene, means tranquil, calm, undistributed/unclouded

1.    a serene smile/look 安详的微笑/眼神

2.    serene sky 晴朗的天空

 

【scratchy】:big in number

 

【wake】:the trace or track of the ship

In the wake of… 紧跟其后

The policeman is in wake of the robber.

The war brought many social changes in its wake. 战争过后带来的是巨变

 

【unblemished】:lacking blemishes or flaws

After a long journey, the whole bags of apple are still unblemished.

 

【appropriates】:taking without permission

Any appropriation of government fund deserves severe punishment.

 

 

【sensation】:a feeling in one’s body resulting from sth. happening

A sensation of warmth/dizziness 热感/眩晕感

 

Senses：five powers or an appreciation understanding

A sense of the absurd/ridiculous

 

【incommunicable】:can’t be expressed by words

I feel appreciated with an incommunicable happy feeling.

 

【quirk】:

1. Habit or action peculiar to sb. 怪癖/独有习惯

Everyone has his or her quirks and twists(怪癖).

 

3.   accident/correspondence 巧合

By a quirk of fact they had booked in the same hotel.他们尽订了同一间房

 

二、Paraphrase：

 

1. In all this great serenity of ocean it is seldom that we espy so much as another ship; the

二、Paraphrase：

 jolly dolphins and the scratchy little flying-fish have the vast circle all to themselves.

 

P:There are few ships past by here, the master of this field were dolphins and flying-fish. They enjoy their lives very much. 对于船只周边的景色以及海豚和飞鱼等等所有景物的描写都突出了作者当时愉悦的心情。

 

2. But it does happen from time to time that an island on the horizon, nameless to us and full of mystery, the peak of a submarine mountain range, lonely, unblemished, remote.

 

P: But it is true that every now and then we would see an island in the distance, we don't know their names and it gives us a strange feeling. The island just looks like the mountain rage. It sunk below the surface water, with no habitation, unspoiled, and far away from civilization. 句子中的名词短语the peak of a mountain range和从句主语island是同位语关系，中间被谓语分隔。形容词lonely，unblemished，和remote是做后置定语，都是用来修饰前面的the peak，属于三项并列结构。（Parallelism也称排比）是在英语修辞学（Rhetoric）中很常见的一种修辞方式，几项相同结构的连用（比如动词，动词词组，形容词或者分词等的连用）能够大大增强修辞的效果。比如：Our English teacher is a typical Englishman, silent, modest and a sense of humor.我们的英语老师是个典型的英国人，沉默寡言，谦虚而富有幽默感。

 

3. ...a small manageable domain in a large unmanageable world?

 

P:...a small area ruled by one master which is settled in a large world which is impossible to master. 这里文章运用的对偶（antithesis）的修辞格，使词于词于词之间的相对性更加明显，如small和large，manageable和unmanageable，增强表现力。

 

4. ...but of such incommunicable quirks is the private mind made up.

 

P:...but the private mind is made up of the feeling that can not be easily expressed well.这是一个部分倒装句。为了进一步强调，将of短语提前，正常语句应是：the private mind is made up of such incommunicable quirks.

 

三、长难句参考翻译：

 

①    在这一片无比宁静的大海上，我们就连一艘其他的船只也难得见到。欢乐的海豚和那些吱吱叫的小飞鱼是这片广阔天地的主人。当它们再也看不到那载着我们驶入它们的视线又很快消失的怪物时，“这些与鸟儿有点相似的小飞鱼”肯定高兴得很。

 

②    但是，偶尔也会有一座岛屿出现在远处地平线上，我们不知其名，令人充满着神秘之感，它是海底山脉之顶峰，显得孤独、无暇、遥远。

 

 

③    人们喜爱岛屿，是不是因为在难以驾驭的广袤的世界之中有这么些易于治理的小块领地，就不知不觉地要占为己有呢？

 

④    我不善于表达自己的感受，我所要说明的这种感觉我也不敢指望除劳拉外的任何人能理解。但人的心灵深处本来就充满着这样一些不可言传的隐秘古怪的念头。