段落分析：

這一段主要描寫英國(guó)投資者對(duì)美國(guó)的憤怒和不滿。文章一開始就可以看到滿滿的火藥味。如果認(rèn)真觀察，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)許多爆發(fā)力十足的單詞：thunder 怒斥，cheat 騙子，rascal 無(wú)賴，ingrate 忘恩負(fù)義之徒。接下來(lái)的部分描述財(cái)政部代理人去歐洲見(jiàn)詹姆斯羅斯柴爾德。這個(gè)人估計(jì)是歐州金融界響當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)囊粋€(gè)人物。不然他不會(huì)稱自己是”最具權(quán)威的人”。不但金融家對(duì)美國(guó)的違約怒火中燒，連宗教人士和文學(xué)家也都加入討伐行列。

原文段落：

British investors cursed America as a land of cheats, rascals, and ingrates. State defaults also tainted federal credit, and when Washington sent Treasury agents to Europe in 1842, James de Rothschild thundered, “Tell them you have seen the man who is at the head of the finances of Europe, and that he has told you that they cannot borrow a dollar. Not a dollar.”7 Clergyman Sydney Smith sneered at the American “mob” and said that whenever he met a Pennsylvanian at a London dinner, he felt “a disposition to seize and divide him. . . . How such a man can set himself down at an English table without feeling that he owes two or three pounds to every man in the company, I am at a loss to conceive; he has no more right to eat with honest men than a leper has to eat with clean men.”8 Even Charles Dickens couldn’t resist a jab, portraying a nightmare in which Scrooge’s solid British assets are transformed into “a mere United States’ security.”

單詞與短語(yǔ)：

Rascal n. a dishonest person 無(wú)賴

中文里的老賴就可以用這個(gè)詞來(lái)形容。

Ingrate n. an ungratelful person 忘恩負(fù)義的人

a land of cheats, rascals, and ingrates. 這個(gè)地方遍地都是騙子，無(wú)賴，和忘恩負(fù)義之徒。之所以會(huì)出現(xiàn)這樣的評(píng)論要去聯(lián)系上文去看去。美國(guó)各州政府拒絕支付債券利息。也難怪英國(guó)人會(huì)這么說(shuō)。

Mob n. a large and often disorderly crowd 烏合之眾

這個(gè)詞也可以用來(lái)形容聚眾鬧事的歹徒。

Disposition n. a tendency 書面語(yǔ)，這里用來(lái)指短暫的情緒

Feel a disposition to seize and divide him 想抓住他，將其撕碎

Jab v. to deliver a short straight punch 擊打

couldn’t resisit a jab 也忍不住加入了功擊者的行列

Mere adj. nothing more than 語(yǔ)氣上的肯定，區(qū)區(qū)，僅僅

Mere mords won‘t help. 只是動(dòng)動(dòng)嘴皮子解決不了問(wèn)題。

金立群譯文：

英國(guó)投資者痛罵美國(guó)是騙子、無(wú)賴和忘恩負(fù)義的國(guó)度。各州的拖欠還影響到聯(lián)邦信用。1842年當(dāng)財(cái)政部代理人從華盛頓去歐洲時(shí)，詹姆斯?羅斯柴爾德怒吼道：“回去告訴他們，你已見(jiàn)到歐洲金融最具權(quán)威的人，那個(gè)人要你告訴他們，一美元也甭想借到，哪怕是一美元?！?7)悉尼?史密斯牧師譏笑這些美國(guó)“烏合之眾”說(shuō)，無(wú)論何時(shí)，只要他在倫敦的宴會(huì)上碰到賓夕法尼亞人，他“都想抓住他，將其撕碎……這樣一個(gè)人如何能坐在英國(guó)餐桌旁，而不感到他欠在座的每個(gè)人兩三英鎊，我想象不出來(lái)。他沒(méi)有權(quán)利和誠(chéng)實(shí)的人們一起就餐，就像麻風(fēng)病人無(wú)權(quán)和干凈人一道就餐一樣”。(8)就連查爾斯?狄更斯也忍不住加入了攻擊者的行列，他描繪了一場(chǎng)噩夢(mèng)，夢(mèng)中吝嗇鬼的全部英國(guó)資產(chǎn)都轉(zhuǎn)換成了“可憐的美國(guó)證券”(9)。