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Atonement 赎罪

课文朗读

课文讲解

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The year is 1935 in England. At the wealthy Tallis estate, the housekeeper’s son Robbie is in love with the oldest Tallis daughter, Cecilia. He writes a letter to her to express his feelings and asks Cecilia’s 13-year-old sister Briony to deliver it. Briony, who has an active imagination and plans to become a writer, reads the passionate letter and begins to suspect that Robbie is mentally disturbed. However, when Cecilia reads it, her love for Robbie becomes clear.

时间是1935年的英格兰。在富裕的塔利斯庄园里，管家的儿子罗比爱上塔利斯家的长女西希莉雅，他写了一封信表达对她的爱慕，并请西希莉雅13岁的妹妹白昂妮替他送信。白昂妮的想象力丰富，打算成为作家，她读了这一封激情的信后，开始怀疑罗比精神不正常；然而西希莉雅看过信后，她对罗比的爱却变得明朗。

That afternoon, Cecilia and Robbie meet in the mansion’s library to declare their love for each other. Swept away by their emotions, they embrace and kiss. Briony witnesses the scene when she walks in, and in her innocence believes that Robbie is sexually assaulting Cecilia.

当天下午，西希莉雅和罗比在豪宅内的图书室会面，互诉情衷，意乱情迷之下，两人拥吻。白昂妮走进图书室时正好目睹这个画面，并天真地以为罗比在侵犯西希莉雅。

Several guests attend a dinner party that evening. A businessman named Paul Marshall has come, as have some young cousins. After the dinner, the two youngest cousins run away and hide in the darkness. Everyone goes to search for them. Briony comes across her cousin Lola being raped by an unknown man, who immediately runs away. Affected by what she saw earlier in the library, Briony tells everyone that the attacker was Robbie, and Lola confirms her accusation. When Robbie returns with the two young cousins, the police arrest him. Only Cecilia believes that Robbie is innocent.

当天傍晚有几名宾客来参加一场晚宴，包括一个名为保罗．马歇尔的生意人，还有塔利斯家的一些年轻表亲。餐后年纪最小的两位表弟跑出去，躲藏在暗夜中。所有人都去找他们。白昂妮正好撞见表姊劳拉被不知名男子强暴，该男子随即逃跑。由于受到稍早在图书室所见的影响，白昂妮告诉大家说攻击者就是罗比，而劳拉也证实她的指控。当罗比带回两个小表弟时，警方便将他逮捕。只有西希莉雅相信罗比是无辜的。

Vocabulary

单词发音

disturbed [dɪˋstɝbd] adj. 心乱的；心理不正常的

embrace [ɪmˋbres] v. 拥抱

innocence [ˋɪnəsns] n. 天真无邪，纯真

confirm [kənˋfɝm] v. 证实

accusation [͵ækjəˋzeʃən] n. 指控，控告

arrest [əˋrɛst] n. 逮捕

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单词发音

atonement [əˋtonmənt] n. 补偿；赎罪

estate [ɪsˋtet] n. 庄园

mansion [ˋmænʃən] n. 宅第，官邸

sweep away 深受…感染﹐被…打动  overwhelm emotionally

assault [əˋsɔlt] v. 攻击；袭击

come across 偶然碰见 to meet or find by chance

课文朗读

课文讲解

Robbie is thrown in prison. Still in love with him, Cecilia says that she will wait for him to get out. They remain in contact through letters, but Cecilia only manages to visit him once. In 1939, World War II breaks out and the government offers to let Robbie go if he agrees to fight in the war. Robbie accepts the offer in the hope that he can survive and go back to the woman he loves.

罗比被关入狱中。西希莉雅依然爱着他，并表示愿意等他出狱。他们透过书信保持联络，但西希莉雅只有一次得以去探视他。1939年，第二次世界大战爆发。政府开出条件，只要罗比愿意从军便放他出狱。罗比接受条件，希望可以活着回到心爱女子的身边。

Meanwhile, Briony has given up on her dream of studying literature in college and is working as a nurse at a military hospital. She now realizes that she was wrong to accuse Robbie, and that the attacker was actually the businessman Paul Marshall. She is filled with guilt because the lie that she told ruined her sister’s and Robbie’s lives. Now she is doing her best to care for injured soldiers, hoping that these good deeds will act as atonement for her guilt.

同时，白昂妮已放弃上大学研读文学的梦想，到一处军医院担任护士。此时她已明白自己诬告了罗比，攻击者其实是那名生意人保罗．马歇尔。她满心愧疚，因为她的谎言毁了姊姊和罗比的一生。如今她只能尽力照顾伤兵，希望这些善行可为她赎罪。

However, Briony soon learns of some upsetting news. She is shocked to hear that her cousin Lola has agreed to marry Paul Marshall. She attends the wedding, intending to reveal that the bridegroom committed the crime several years earlier. But she fails to do it. Her fear and shame hold her back, and she says nothing.

然而，白昂妮不久便得知令她难过的消息。表姊劳拉答应嫁给保罗．马歇尔一事，让她震惊不已。她参加了婚礼，打算披露新郎几年前犯罪的事实。但她办不到，她的恐惧和羞愧制止了她，而她终究什么也没说。

Vocabulary

单词发音

manage [ˋmænɪdʒ] v. 设法做到；勉力完成[+to-v] be successful; achieve a goal

literature [ˋlɪtərətʃɚ] n. 文学

guilt [gɪlt] n. 内疚，有罪感

deed [did] n. 行为

commit [kəˋmɪt] .v. 犯（罪），做（错事等）

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单词发音

in the hope 期望 expecting and wishing for

bridegroom [ˋbraɪd͵grʊm] n. 新郎

课文朗读

课文讲解

After fighting in the war, Robbie is reunited with Cecilia. Briony gathers her courage and seeks them out. She tells them the truth and then together they apply to have Robbie’s name cleared. In doing so, Briony atones for what she did.

战后，罗比和西希莉雅重聚。白昂妮鼓起勇气找到他们，说明事实，然后他们一起申请为罗比洗刷罪名，如此白昂妮总算弥补自己的罪过。

Unfortunately, this was only a story. In reality, the year is 1999. Briony is in her 70s and has become a very successful writer. She reveals that this story is her latest novel. In truth, Robbie Turner died of blood poisoning in 1940 after being wounded in a battle in Northern France. Cecilia was killed that same year in a London subway station during a bomb attack. They were never reunited. Furthermore, Briony never managed to build up the courage to go see Cecilia, so she never had a chance to confess.

遗憾的是，以上只是故事而已。现实的时间是1999年，70岁的白昂妮已是非常成功的作家，她透露这故事只是她新小说的情节。事实上，罗比．透纳在法国北部一场战役中受伤，并于1940年死于败血症；同年，西希莉雅也死于伦敦地铁站的空袭中。两人未曾重逢。而且，白昂妮一直无法积聚足够的勇气去找西希莉雅，因此也没机会认罪忏悔。

She has lived her whole life weighed down by her guilt. Wishing to find atonement, she first spent several years working as a nurse, helping the sick. Later she turned to writing novels. She found that even though her writing could not help her find atonement, she could at least create a fantasy world where Robbie and Cecilia could find happiness. She sees this as “…… a final act of kindness, a stand against oblivion and despair, to let my lovers live and to unite them at the end.”

她一辈子都受罪恶感所苦。为求赎罪，她先是当了几年护士，照顾病患。后来她转而写小说。白昂妮发现，尽管写作无法让她得到救赎，至少她可以创造一个想象的世界，让罗比和西希莉雅能得到幸福，她将此视为「……最终的善行，以抗拒遗忘与绝望，让这对爱侣能够活下去，且最后能够团圆。」

−by Michael Evans

Vocabulary

单词发音

clear [klɪr] v. 洗刷（某人）的嫌疑

wound [wund] v. 使受伤

confess [kənˋfɛs] v. 承认〔使自己尴尬的事情〕

fantasy [ˋfæntəsɪ] n. 空想；幻想

despair [dɪˋspɛr] n. 绝望

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单词发音

reunite [͵rijuˋnaɪt] v. 使重聚[（+with）]

atone [əˋton] v. 补偿，弥补[（+for）]

blood poisoning 血中毒﹐败血症

weigh down  使〔某人〕感到沉重  to burden or oppress

stand [stænd] n. 立场；态度

oblivion [əˋblɪvɪən] n. 遗忘，失去感觉

赎罪 Atonement  预告片