DAY 21

2017-11-22 周三

They appeared to me treasures known to few besides myself
是珍宝，除了我，极少有其他人知晓他们的价值

欧洲著名的炼金术师
炼金术12世纪传入欧洲，阿拉伯文翻译为拉丁文风潮盛行

—[爱心]句子解析[爱心]—

1. ☀ My feelings were sometimes violent, and my passions intense. But by some law in my nature they were turned not toward childish activities but to an eager desire to learn, and to learn certain particular things.
   👉「violent」：violent feelings are strong and very difficult to control（情绪）极端的，暴躁的，不是说主人公很暴力哈~ 第一句再次出现了省略的情况，因为前后句法结构类似，所以为了避免重复，后句的动词直接省略了，还原回来是“and my passions (were) intense”。
   👉「not…but…」：不是…而是…，在句中表示“我”的热情没有投向幼稚的玩乐，而是转化成了学习的动力。「to learn certain particular things」进一步补充说明前面的「desire to learn」，意思是不仅想要学习，而且想学习特定的某些知识。
   👉整句大意：我的脾气有时急躁，容易冲动。但是由于我性格中某些特征的引导，我的热情和狂热没有向追求幼稚的东西发展，而是转化成了一股学习动力，但我并不是对所有的知识都一视同仁的。

3.☀ In drawing the picture of my early days, I also record those events / which led, by gradual steps, to my tale of misery. When I try to explain the birth of that passion /which afterward ruled my fate, I find that it arose, like a mountain river, from small and almost forgotten sources. But, swelling as it proceeded, it became the flood /which has swept away all my hopes and joys.
👉「by gradual steps」是插入在「which lead to my tale of misery」中的成分，如此安排是为了强调这些事情是温水煮青蛙似的将主人公一步步地推向了痛苦的深渊，以至于主人公在多年以来回头再看的时候才知道这些事情对他的影响之大。
👉「swelling as it proceeded」：“adj. + as+ 主语+谓语”的用法，当as引导的从句表示原因或者让步时，常会把形容词提到句首，还原回来便是“as it proceeded swelling, it became the flood…”, 这里我们可以看出前面的部分是在补充说明为何后来“我”的激情会变为洪水猛兽。
👉那再来举个例子，表“让步”：
Clever as he is, he is still inexperienced. 这里就可以看出来是表示“尽管”的意思。
👉段末部分主人公非常形象地将自己的心路历程类比于河流的发展历程，而且用词也非常地具体，精准。「forgotten sources」呼应了主人公没有意识到厄运的源头正在一步步壮大，而后当这涓涓细流变为汹涌澎湃的洪水时，它已经势如破竹，难以抵挡，只能冲走（swept away）他所有的快乐和希望，将他推入痛苦的深渊。

5. ☀ The raising of ghosts or evil spirits was a promise freely made by my favorite authors, that I most eagerly sought after. And if my spells were always unsuccessful, I put the failure down to my own inexperience and mistakes rather than a lack of skill or honesty in my instructors.
   👉「raise」：cause to appear 使…出现，唤起，所以「the raising of ghosts or evil spirits」可以意为“召唤鬼魂”；
   👉「put the failure down to」：归咎于，类似的表达还有「attribute…to…」
   👉整句大意：我最喜爱的那些作者还大胆宣称，他们还可以召唤鬼魂，这是我最迫切寻求的能力。而且，哪怕我的咒语（spell）始终未能成功，我也总是归咎于自己能力不够，或者因为别的错误，而不是怀疑我的导师的能力或者真实度。

6.☀And thus for a time I studied outdated systems, mixing a thousand contradictory theories, stumbling desperately in a swamp of knowledge.

👉此处又是一个把抽象名词具象化的用法，将「knowledge」比作泥潭（swamp），而自己在其中无望地挣扎（stumbling）。
👉整句大意：就这样，在一段时间里，我全身心地钻在这些陈旧的（outdated）理论里，硬是把上千种互相矛盾的理论掺在一起，然后在一堆七拼八凑起来的知识的泥潭里无望地挣扎。

7.☀ And after the light went out, the oak had disappeared, and nothing remained but a blasted stump. When we visited it the next morning, we found the tree shattered in a strange manner. It was not broken apart by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribbons of wood. I never saw anything so utterly destroyed.
👉「nothing…but…」：只有
举例：There is nothing remained but an empty house.
👉「shock」：the sensation and muscular spasm caused by an electric current passing through the body or a body part. 电击
👉「reduce sth. to sth.」：to cause something, especially a large structure, to be destroyed and broken into pieces 将（尤指大型建筑物）彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地;「in ribbons」: torn into narrow strips 粉碎
👉整句大意：当电光熄灭后，橡树已经消失了（had disappeared），原地只剩下被劈得四分五裂的树桩（a blasted stump）。第二天早晨，我们出去看那棵橡树，发现橡树被劈开的样子（shattered）非常特别。它不是被雷劈成碎片，而是完全被炸得粉碎。我还从来没有见过有什么东西被摧毁得这样彻底。

8.☀ Excited by this catastrophe, he explained a theory / which he had formed on the subject of electricity and its effect on bodies. This new and astonishing theory supplanted my previous admiration for Cornelius Agrippa, Albertus Magnus, and Paracelsus, who had held such a hold over my imagination.
👉「supplant」：to take the place of a person or thing so that they are no longer used, no longer in a position of power etc. 取代
👉「hold such a hold over sth.」：这个固定搭配源于「have a hold over sth.」表示：“能左右...”，文中的搭配表示：掌控，主宰，注意在此「hold」用的是过去完成时「held」，也就是在说明他们这些炼金术士是在过去（即回忆中这个雷劈橡树事件发生的时间）的过去，反过来说也就是目睹这一事件后，主人公便不再崇拜这些炼金术士的知识了。
👉整句大意：这场灾难令他兴奋不已，他向我解释了他形成的一套电学的理论, 以及其对于肌肉的刺激效果。他的这套新理论对我来说如醍醐灌顶，使得科纳柳斯·阿格里帕、帕拉赛尔瑟斯和阿尔贝斯特·玛格努斯这些我想象中的主宰顿时黯然失色。

2.「pupil」在文中表示：
someone who is being taught a skill, especially such as painting or music, by an expert 学徒，弟子
注意「pupil」并不是只能表示“小学生”哦~
原句：…and I became their pupil.
例句：The painting is by a pupil of Rembrandt（伦勃朗）.

3.「vision」在文中表示：
an idea or mental image of something 幻景，幻像
常用意思是“视力”。
原句：Nor were these my only visions.
例句：I had visions of all sorts of disasters.

4.「current」在文中表示：
A steady, smooth onward movement 流
常用意思是“现在的”。
原句：But an accident again changed the current of my ideas.
例句：A current of air from a fan chills me.

—[爱心]今日短语[爱心]—

dawn upon 某人突然意识到
be acquainted with 熟悉，了解
with regard to 关于
the elixir of life 长生不老药
put the failure down to 归咎于
hold such a hold over sth. 掌控，主宰

eli