如果说她早已失掉了那蔚蓝色眼睛的、花儿般的魅力, 也失掉了她脸儿和身段的那种玉洁冰清、苗条多姿的 气质和那苹果花似的颜色——二十六年前这种花容月 貌曾那样迅速而奇妙地影响过艾舍斯特——那么在四 十三岁的今天,她依旧是个好看而忠实的伴侣,不过 两颊淡淡地有点儿斑驳,而灰蓝色的眼睛也有了岁月 的沉淀。
17
English: right-extending heavy-tailed like a peacock
This is the cat. This is the cat that killed the rat. This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt(麦芽). This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house. This is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that was built by Jack. …
英语国家沿袭了古代希腊人非常严格和规 范的语词系统。古代希腊人认为,语词系统 与思维系统是相一致的,要表达一个清晰合 理的思想就离不开清晰合理的词形和句法。 而在一个毫无条理的陈述结构中,思想肯定 也是杂乱无章的,而杂乱无章的思想是没有 意义的。英语形合的特征正是在这样一种 背景之下形成的。
与之相反,中国人重直觉,强调意念流, 只要能够达意,词的形式是无关紧要的, 词语之间的关系常在不言中,语法意义 和逻辑关系常隐藏在字里行间。正所 谓‚子曰:辞,达而已矣‛(《论语.卫灵 公》)。(The master said, in official speeches, all that matters is to get one’s meaning through.)