The Delicate Art of the Forest 讲解

Lesson One

The Delicate Art of the Forest

林中高招 Mark Twain

Text

1 Cooper's gift in the way of invention was not a rich endowment; but such as it was he liked to work it, he was pleased with the effects, and indeed he did some quite sweet things with it. In his little box of stage-properties he kept six or eight cunning devices, tricks, artifices for his savages and woodsmen to deceive and circumvent each other with, and he was never so happy as when he was working these innocent things and seeing them go. Cooper

COOPER

Grammar As it was = as it was not rich = though it was not rich

Vocabulary

delicate Marked by sensitivity of discrimination: a critic's delicate perception.

invention the act of producing something new for the first time endowment /en`daumEnt/ n. 1. The act of supplying with income, or a talent. 2.Funds or property donated to an institution, an individual, or a group as a source of income. 3. A natural gift, ability, or quality. stage-property things, objects used on stages except scenery, costumes cunning Marked by or given to artful subtlety and deceptiveness device A plan or scheme, especially a malign one. artifice skillful tricks savage Not civilized; barbaric

circumvent outwit; to defeat or outwit by cleverness or stratagem; to surround or encircle with enmity

moccasin A soft leather slipper traditionally worn by Native Americans twig Any small, leafless branch of a woody plant

handy Readily accessible

vessel A craft, especially one larger than a rowboat, designed to navigate on water

steer a. To direct the course of. b. To maneuver (a person) into a place or course of action.

skipper The master of a ship

undertow The seaward pull of receding waves after they break on a shore. sailorcraft

cannon A large, mounted weapon that fires heavy projectiles. Cannon include guns, howitzers, and mortars. promptly immediately

daisy Slang One that is deemed excellent or notable.

trail A mark or trace left by something that has moved or been dragged by.

stump To clear stumps from; To bring to a halt; baffle slush Soft mud; slop; mire.

vacate To cease to occupy or hold; give up 译文

库伯的发明天份并不怎么样，虽然如此，他却不厌其烦地运用它，而且还自鸣得意。他还真的用它干了几件十分惬意的事。在他的舞台道

具盒里，只有七八个高招、秘诀和妙计，能够让他的土人和林子中的人相互蒙来蒙去。他最大的快事就是摆弄这些天真的把戏，看（欣赏）它们起作用。

Key words

Cooper's gift (invention/ endowment) was not rich; but he liked to work it, and did some quite sweet things with it. His stage-properties (for his savages and woodsmen to deceive and circumvent each other with) are only six or eight cunning devices (tricks, artifices), and he was happy to work them and see them go. Text

A favorite one was to make a moccasined person tread in the tracks of the moccasined enemy, and thus hide his own trail. Cooper wore out barrels and barrels of moccasins in working that trick. 译文

其中一个他喜欢的，就是让一个穿鹿皮鞋的人踩着另一个也穿鹿皮鞋的敌人的脚印，借以掩盖自己的行踪。干这个让库伯不知磨烂了多少双鹿皮鞋（靴筒）。 Text

Another stage-property that he pulled out of his box pretty frequently was his broken twig. He prized his broken twig above all the rest of his effects, and worked it the hardest. It is a restful chapter in any book of his when somebody doesn't step on a dry twig and alarm all the reds and whites for two hundred yards around. Every time a Cooper person is in peril, and absolute silence is worth four dollars a minute, he is sure to step on a dry twig. 译文

另一个他常常从他的盒子里拿出来的道具就是他的断树枝。他比什么都喜欢干树枝，所以不遗余力地使用它。他的书要是有哪一章没有人踩上干树枝，惊动周围二百码内的印地安人和白人，那就谢天谢地了。每回库伯笔下的人碰到危险，而一分安静一分金的时候，他保准要踩上一根干树枝。 Text

There may be a hundred handier-things to step on, but that wouldn't satisfy Cooper. Cooper requires him to turn out and find a dry twig; and if he can't do it, go and borrow one. In fact, the Leatherstocking Series ought to have been called the Broken Twig Series. 译文

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