Words and Expressions

glow-worm and firefly

我第一次知道这不是一种虫。

glow-worm

glow worm.jpg

fireflies

Fine feathers do not make fine birds, sometimes they can add a certain spice to a recipe.

Tristran Thorn in crimson and canary was not the same man that Tristran Thorn in his overcoat and Sunday suit had been. There was a swagger to his steps, a jauntiness to his movements, that had not been there before. His chin went up insterad of down, and there was glint in his eye that he had not possessed when he had worn a bowler hat.

看这段话感受颇为强烈。1.前面的类比此处得到了仔细的说明，虽然一身好羽毛不能造就fine birds，但是它可以是点睛之笔，就像姑娘们一身装束可能都中规中矩，但一些单品，比如一条丝巾或者一枚戒指就negative让人眼前一亮。Tristran换了身衣服，就像变了一个人。2.作者两次用了Tristran的全名，Tristran Thorn，“搞事情”的前奏响起，后面会有大动作，果然他就点燃蜡烛见到了star。3. Tristran的变化到底体现在哪里呢？走路带风（swagger: a way of walking, talking, or behaving that shows you are very confident,之前都是说there was a spring in his steps），jauntiness也是类似的含义。4. Tristran在赤裸着身体被嘲笑时，愤怒地把自己仅剩的帽子丢了出去，这段话的以帽子结束，前后呼应。很多时候，我只能感叹作者写的好，这次至少能分析出来，为什么此处好了。

wax and wane

...while the moon waxed and waned above him a half a doxen times, crossing treacherous mountains and burning desserts, before he reached the place where the star has fallen.
moon wax月圆； moon wane 月缺。wax 本身是increase的意思，wane是指decrease。 wax and wane: to grow stronger and then weaker again.

duck out of

This time, as another clod of earth came hurtling toward him, he ducked out of the way, and it smashed into an elm tree behind him.

duck out of: to avoid doing something that you have to do or have promised to do.

e.g. I used to duck out of Talia's lessons last term for it was really boring.

... comprehension dawning.

If a feeling or idea dawns, you have it for the first time. 这里Tristran终于意识到受伤倒地的姑娘就是他心心念念寻找的fallen star，有了醍醐灌顶的感受，所以是comprehension dawning，现在分词做前面said Tristran的伴随状语。还有一个常见的词组是dawn on somebody，也是类似的意思。这句话可以改写为comprehension dawning on him.

Summary

Brevis's mother asked him to bring the billy goat to the market and sell it, and then get some necessities back. On his way to the market, Brevis met an odd tall woman who was in fact the witch. The witch-woman turned Brevis into a goat and made both Brevis and the billy goat drag her cart to go after the fallen star.

Tristran wore the new fine clothes that the little hairy man gave him and completely changed from inside. He become more flexible, more energetic, and more self-confident. The little figure also handed him a candle-stub and told him that he could get "there" by candlelight, there and back again. Tristran bade him farewell and lit the candle-stub, and then he found the fallen star who was wounded girl and broke her leg.

The silver chain which the little man gave Tristran chained both of them tightly. At night, human Tristran went to sleep while the fallen star was supposed to shine.

My Words

直至今天，少年和星星这两个真正的主角才相遇。但有的并不是“金风玉露一相逢，便胜却人间无数”，只有不和谐没有CP感。少年的心里仍然是Victoria，而星星在不停地咒骂这个要绑走他的陌生人，连他们的作息时间都是不一样的，找到星星的Tristran又困又累，只想倒头大睡。但夜间的星星，shines。烛台用光了，六个月的路程两个人要怎样“携手”走过呢？silver chain (月老)似乎已经把他们拴在了一起，但我们还要等Tristran醒悟，他们还要一路打怪升级，战胜坏女巫，坏王子，才能收获真正的幸福。

看这种“纯爱”的故事，我会觉得好与坏都很纯粹。最喜欢写论文写累了的时候听一听audiobook，看一看美好的故事。虽然知道最后一定是happy ending，但还是充满期待的一点点看下去。