Love is a Fallacy（一）

Cool was I and logical. Keen, calculating, perspicacious, acute and astute—I was all of these. My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, precise as a chemist’s scales, as penetrating as a scalpel. And—think of it!—I only eighteen.

It is not often that one so young has such a giant intellect. Take, for example, Petey Bellows, my roommate at the university. Same age, same background, but dumb as an ox. A nice enough fellow, you understand, but nothing upstairs. Emotional type. Unstable. Impressionable. Worst of all, a faddist. Fads, I submit, are the very negation of reason. To be swept up in every new craze that comes along, to surrender oneself to idiocy just because everybody else is doing it—this, to me, is the acme of mindlessness. Not, however, to Petey.

One afternoon I found Petey lying on his bed with an expression of such distress on his face that I immediately diagnosed appendicitis. “Don’t move,” I said, “Don’t take a laxative. I’ll get a doctor.”

“Raccoon,” he mumbled thickly.

“Raccoon?” I said, pausing in my flight.

“I want a raccoon coat,” he wailed.

I perceived that his trouble was not physical, but mental. “Why do you want a raccoon coat?”

“I should have known it,” he cried, pounding his temples. “I should have known they’d come back when the Charleston came back. Like a fool I spent all my money for textbooks, and now I can’t get a raccoon coat.”

“Can you mean,” I said incredulously, “that people are actually wearing raccoon coats again?”

“All the Big Men on Campus are wearing them. Where’ve you been?”

“In the library,” I said, naming a place not frequented by Big Men on Campus.

He leaped from the bed and paced the room. “I’ve got to have a raccoon coat,” he said passionately. “I’ve got to!”

如果你只对阅读英文原著感兴趣，那么请忽略本篇余下的内容，而转到下一篇Love is a Fallacy（二）。

Love is a Fallacy（一）浅析

Cool was I and logical『此处倒装句，为了强调被提前的表语』. Keen, calculating, perspicacious, acute and astute—I was all of these. My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, precise as a chemist’s scales, as penetrating as a scalpel. And—think of it!—I only eighteen.

『cool，logical，keen, calculating, perspicacious, acute 和 astute 都是形容一个人聪明，perspicacious更文学一点，acute由医学的“急性的，剧烈的”引申而来，意指“敏锐的，（头脑）反应快的”，cool我们都知道在口语中已经泛滥了……所以以后再想形容某人聪明，就别总是用clever、smart，也可以尝试换个新词，拽拽文。』

『as powerful as a dynamo【像发电机一样动力十足、精力充沛】, as precise as a chemist’s scales【像化学家的天平一样精准】, as penetrating as a scalpel【像（医生的）手术刀一样敏锐灵活、穿透力强】。』

『And—think of it!—I only eighteen，这一句仿佛在和读者对话，“而且——想想看，我才只有18岁（就这么聪明绝顶）！”，一下子拉近了与读者的距离，给人可爱、有趣的感觉。』

『以上第一段简短的几个词、几句话，就把一个青年自负至极、不可一世的形象生动地刻画了出来。让我们不禁对关于他的接下来将要发生的故事产生了兴趣。』

It is not often that one so young has such a giant intellect『智力，相近词语如gift，相当于intellectual ability.』 Take, for example, Petey Bellows, my roommate at the university. Same age, same background, but dumb as an ox『字面意思：蠢得像头牛，常指沉默寡言、不爱说话<--- 可别随意使用此句哦！』. A nice『nice可是一个非常地道的口语单词，如果你对一个淘气的小孩说“Be nice！”意思为“老实点儿，别胡闹！”其他情况如别人对你说“You are so nice！”意思为“你这人真好！”（待人随和、乐于助人……总之“非常好！”）』 enough fellow, you understand, but nothing upstairs『upstairs：上面，即头脑、智力方面』. Emotional type. Unstable. Impressionable. Worst of all, a faddist『好赶时髦的人，趋于流行者』. Fads, I submit『submit是法律术语（比较庄严、神圣），由后文可知此青年是一个法律专业的学生，所以此处为幽默的用法』, are the very negation of reason『理性、逻辑，如启蒙运动时期被称为 the Age of Reason』. To be swept up in every new craze that comes along, to surrender oneself to idiocy just because everybody else is doing it『faddist一词的最好解释（paraphrase）』—this, to me, is the acme『极致、最甚』 of mindlessness. Not, however, to Petey.『however，Petey don't think so.』

One afternoon I found Petey lying on his bed with an expression of such distress on his face that I immediately diagnosed appendicitis『“我”立刻诊断此兆为得了急性阑尾炎所致。<---自负性格的又一体现』. “Don’t move,” I said, “Don’t take a laxative『服用泻药』. I’ll get『get——口语中的金牌动词』 a doctor.”

“Raccoon,” he mumbled thickly.

“Raccoon?” I said, pausing in my flight.

“I want a raccoon coat,” he wailed.

I perceived that his trouble was not physical, but mental. “Why do you want a raccoon coat?”

“I should have known it,” he cried, pounding his temples. “I should have known they’d come back when the Charleston came back. Like a fool I spent all my money for textbooks, and now I can’t get a raccoon coat.”

『以上连续用了几个表示说话的动词：mumble，wail，cry，意思分别为：嘟囔，哀嚎着说，高叫着说』

『pounding his temples，使劲儿敲打着太阳穴』

“Can you mean,” I said incredulously, “that people are actually wearing raccoon coats again?”

“All the Big Men『指那些像他一样喜欢追求时尚的学生』 on Campus are wearing them. Where’ve you been?”

“In the library,” I said, naming a place not frequented『此处frequent为动词，可别光记着它的形容词词性哦 <---这也是扩大词汇量的一个有效方式呢！』 by Big Men on Campus.

He leaped from the bed and paced the room『在屋里来回踱着步，再如，wander the garden 在公园里漫步』. “I’ve got to have a raccoon coat,” he said passionately. “I’ve got to!”