1、精選優(yōu)質(zhì)文檔-傾情為你奉上午餐閱讀賞析及評(píng)論“The Luncheon”一文是英語(yǔ)著名小說(shuō)家及戲劇家W. Somerset Maugham （威廉.薩特.毛姆）一部有名的短篇小說(shuō)。毛姆可以說(shuō)是英語(yǔ)最受歡迎的作家之一.他出生在巴黎,先后在坎特伯雷的國(guó)王學(xué)院與的海得堡大學(xué)受過(guò)教育。他本來(lái)專攻卻把大半生獻(xiàn)給了文學(xué)。他的小說(shuō)人性的枷鎖月亮和六便土蛋糕與淡色啤酒力鋒確立了他小說(shuō)家的聲譽(yù)，而他的劇本圈子更顯他機(jī)智諷刺時(shí)的文風(fēng)，但他最成功之作卻是短篇小說(shuō)。在這篇膾炙人口的短篇小說(shuō)午餐中，他充分展示了他那流暢精妙的文筆，他冷嘲熱諷，卻不露聲色，無(wú)需更多筆墨，一個(gè)虛偽貪婪的中年女人，一個(gè)口笨臉嫩的青年作家，一個(gè)

2、唯利是圖的老練侍者三個(gè)市井人物的形象躍然紙上，令人久久難忘。來(lái)看看小說(shuō)的第一段，“I caught sight of her at the play, and in answer to her beckoning I went over during the interval and sat down beside her. It was long since I had last seen her, and if someone had not mentioned her name I hardly think I would have recognized her. She address

3、ed me brightly: ”We're none of us getting any younger. Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon.“ Did I remember?從此段描述中可以看到，“她”很高興地與“我”打招呼，似乎他們之間不曾發(fā)生過(guò)任何不愉快的事情。而“我”，對(duì)她這個(gè)人已經(jīng)快要不認(rèn)識(shí)了，只因?yàn)榕赃呌腥颂崞鹚拿郑琶銖?qiáng)記起，但是對(duì)于那件事，“我”是無(wú)論如何也忘不了的。一句反問(wèn)句，短短三個(gè)單詞“Did I remember？”，起到了非常重要的作用，一方面承上啟下，引

4、出對(duì)當(dāng)年那件事的回憶，更重要的，這是一個(gè)修辭反問(wèn)句，它不需要他人做出回答，在這里它強(qiáng)調(diào)，“我”無(wú)論如何都會(huì)記得這次遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)了“我”一個(gè)收入勉強(qiáng)能夠糊口的窮作家的經(jīng)濟(jì)能力、花光了我一個(gè)月生活費(fèi)、使我生活難以為繼的奢侈“午餐”。當(dāng)年“我”住在拉丁區(qū)一個(gè)俯視公墓的房間里（in the Latin Quarter overlooking a cemetery）可見(jiàn)當(dāng)年作家經(jīng)濟(jì)窘迫（barely enough to keep body and soul together）。可是這位素未謀面，只給我寫(xiě)過(guò)一封信，說(shuō)她曾讀過(guò)我寫(xiě)的一篇文章的女人，不久之后又給我來(lái)了一封信，說(shuō)她要路過(guò)巴黎，問(wèn)我能不能請(qǐng)她在Foy

5、ot's小吃一頓（give her a little luncheon）。要知道Foyot's可是法國(guó)參議員進(jìn)餐的地方，作為窮作家，我可從來(lái)沒(méi)有想過(guò)要到那兒去?？墒亲髡呓又_(kāi)始運(yùn)用他精妙的文筆，冷嘲熱諷，達(dá)到很好的幽默效果，“But I was flattered, and I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman.（Few man , I may add, learn this until they are too old to make it of any consequence to a woman what

6、 they say.）”（但是有人拍我馬屁，并且我還太年青了，還不知道如何拒絕女人的要求，另外，我要補(bǔ)充一點(diǎn)，很少有男人懂得如何拒絕女人，直到他們已經(jīng)太老了，說(shuō)什么對(duì)女人都已無(wú)足輕重了。） 于是“我”咬咬牙，決定砍掉接下來(lái)半個(gè)月喝咖啡的開(kāi)支，請(qǐng)她在Foyot's適度地、不太奢侈地吃一餐（a modest luncheon）。然而事與愿違，雖然這個(gè)女人滿口談的是藝術(shù)、文學(xué)與音樂(lè)，甚至多年以后我們?cè)俅蜗嘁?jiàn)也是在一個(gè)戲院里欣賞戲劇的時(shí)候（I caught sight of her at the play）, 但是在她熱愛(ài)文學(xué)、藝術(shù)的恍子下卻是貪婪虛偽的本性。先來(lái)看看“我們”當(dāng)年共進(jìn)午餐時(shí)作者

7、對(duì)她外表的第一印象?！癝he is imposing rather than attractive. She is , in fact, a woman of forty （a charming age, but not one that excites a sudden and devastating passion at first sight）, and she gave me the impression of having more teeth, white and large and even, than were necessary for any practical purpo

8、se, and she is talkative. （從外表來(lái)看，與其說(shuō)她美麗動(dòng)人，不如說(shuō)她豐腴健碩。事實(shí)上，她已經(jīng)四十歲了，仍然是吸引人的年紀(jì)，但已經(jīng)不是那種讓人能一見(jiàn)鐘情的歲數(shù)了，她給我留下的最深印象是口里牙齒太多，又太大，很整齊的排列著，并且她很健談。） 這段描述一方面給人以幽默感，另一方面，她那又多又大又整齊的牙齒，為下面她利用她的厚言、能言狠宰我這個(gè)窮作家埋下了伏筆。侍者拿來(lái)了賬單，開(kāi)始點(diǎn)菜了，價(jià)錢之高超出了我的想象（the price were a great deal higher than I had anticipated），但是“她”的話讓我寬了心，她說(shuō)“I never e

9、at anything for luncheon, I never eat more than one thing. I think people eat far too much nowadays. A little fish, perhaps. I wonder if they have any salmon. （鮭魚(yú)）” 鮭魚(yú)剛剛上市，并且侍者說(shuō)這是他們這家最高檔的餐館剛進(jìn)的第一條鮭魚(yú)，價(jià)錢不菲。然而這女人接著又說(shuō): “ I never eat more than one thing. Unless you have a little caviare （魚(yú)子醬）”。 有一個(gè)習(xí)語(yǔ)'

10、Caviare to the general'，意思相當(dāng)于漢語(yǔ)的“曲高和寡”，可見(jiàn)它不是一般收入的人消費(fèi)得起的。此時(shí)“我”的心開(kāi)始下沉了“My heart sank a little”，只給自己點(diǎn)了一份最便宜的羊肉塊?？蛇@個(gè)女人卻批評(píng)我吃這種東西太油膩了，于是她又給自己點(diǎn)了一份香檳：“I never drink anything for luncheon. Except white wine, these French white wines are so light. They're wonderful for the digestion.”點(diǎn)香檳的同時(shí)“She gave m

11、e a bright and amicable flash of her white teeth，這里采用了移覺(jué)的修辭法，意思相當(dāng)于”She gave me a friendly smile and showed her bright teeth.“，在作者看來(lái)她虛偽的笑容下白晃晃的牙齒簡(jiǎn)直是要把自己給”吃“掉。囊中羞澀，我只能給自己點(diǎn)了白水一杯”Just water.“。但是還沒(méi)完，女人又發(fā)話了”I couldn't possibly eat anything more unless they had some of those giant asparagus（萵苣）.“ 雖然我百分

12、之百地希望侍者說(shuō)：”不，還沒(méi)上市。“ 但是，”A happy smile spread over his broad , priest-like face, and he assured that they had some so large, so splendid, so tender, that it was a marvel.“表面上看，這個(gè)侍者服務(wù)周到，笑容可掬，甚至笑得嘴角都扯到耳朵那去了，并且面容和藹，長(zhǎng)著一張牧師般和善的臉，事實(shí)上卻是唯利是圖，他一切的周到都是為了讓這個(gè)女人多點(diǎn)菜，越貴越好。然而，此時(shí)，我已經(jīng)感到驚恐（”P(pán)anic seized me.“），很可能我的錢已付不起

13、這頓午餐了。一會(huì)兒萵苣端上來(lái)了”They were enormous, juicy, and appetizing. “真是誘人啊！可憐的作者，此時(shí)只吃了一點(diǎn)羊肉塊，喝了一杯水！但是，女人又點(diǎn)了咖啡，這時(shí)，我已是死豬不怕開(kāi)水燙了”I was past caring now.“。接著又是桃子：”They had the blush of an innocent girl; they had the tone of an Italian landscape.“（這些桃子紅紅的，就像天真的少女紅紅的臉蛋，色彩艷麗如同風(fēng)景畫(huà)。）女人繼續(xù)著她的談話，漫不經(jīng)心的塞了一個(gè)桃子到嘴里。可憐的窮作家在一旁只有流

14、口水的份了。結(jié)賬的時(shí)候到了，我掏出了所有的紙幣和硬幣，發(fā)現(xiàn)剛剛夠付款，給侍者的小費(fèi)就只有一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)了，女人心里又有想法了“Her eyes rested for an instant on the three francs I left for the waiter, and I knew that she thought she thought me mean（吝嗇的）.”臨別的時(shí)候，她讓我向她學(xué)習(xí)，多吃清淡的食物，接著跳上出租車，走了。多年以后，再見(jiàn)的時(shí)候，雖然我不是一個(gè)幸災(zāi)樂(lè)禍的人，但是我發(fā)現(xiàn)，如今，她至少已體重294磅！短篇小說(shuō)可以說(shuō)是濃縮的精華，這篇小說(shuō)描寫(xiě)了一個(gè)窘迫的青年作家受到一個(gè)所

15、謂的忠實(shí)女讀者的奉承，在她的要求下，不得不請(qǐng)她去福伊約餐館用餐，這遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)了他的經(jīng)濟(jì)承受能力。吃飯時(shí)那位女士一邊一遍又一遍地說(shuō)她從來(lái)只吃一道菜，卻一邊裝作很隨便的樣子點(diǎn)了一道又道最昂貴最稀缺的菜?？蓱z的青年作家從硬充好漢熱情好客到惴惴不安以致最后對(duì)賬單已漠不關(guān)心，一頓飯的工夫就深深領(lǐng)教了虛偽外表下的貪婪與狡詐。方寸之間見(jiàn)世界，作者功底深厚，同時(shí)一些修辭手法的運(yùn)用也功不可莫。說(shuō)到這篇小說(shuō)的寫(xiě)作風(fēng)格，以下四點(diǎn)不得不提：1.使用修辭反問(wèn)句（rhetorical question）“Did I remember?” 它的作用在上文已提到，在此不再贅述。2.對(duì)照法的使用（contrast）如文中描寫(xiě)女客

16、人大啖美食，高談闊論，男主人滿腹苦水的一段“She ate the caviare and she ate the salmon. She talked gaily of art and literature and music. But I wondered how much the bill would come to.”3.使用排比句（parallelism）文中排比句很多，主要用來(lái)描寫(xiě)這個(gè)女人的大吃大喝，貪得無(wú)厭，還有對(duì)那些美食的描述也用了排比句。如：_she ate the caviare and she ate the salmon. _she talked gaily of ar

17、t and literature and music. _he assured that they had some so large, so splendid, so tender, that it was a marvel. _they were enormous, juicy, and appetizing.4.運(yùn)用含蓄陳述（understatement）含蓄陳述是一種諷刺或幽默的表達(dá)方式，也就是有意把一件事說(shuō)得沒(méi)有事實(shí)上那么嚴(yán)重的一種修辭法。如小說(shuō)開(kāi)頭那個(gè)女人向我打招呼說(shuō)“We're none of us getting any younger.”其實(shí)是說(shuō)我們都已不年青了，但西

18、方人忌諱old（老），就用“not any younger”作委婉陳述。再如女客人一再說(shuō)“I never eat anything for luncheon”; “I never eat more than one thing”; “I never mind caviare”; “I never drink anything for luncheon except white wine”都是用否定句式含蓄陳述的手法烘托這個(gè)貪婪的女人假意推辭實(shí)則獅子大開(kāi)口的可笑嘴臉。另外小說(shuō)中還運(yùn)用了personification（擬人）（如: The peaches had the blush of an innocent girl.）；hyperbole（夸張）（如: she gave me the impression of having more teeth, white and large and even, than were necessary for any practical purpose.）等多種寫(xiě)作風(fēng)格與手法，加上文中簡(jiǎn)單生動(dòng)的對(duì)話