For Anthony Cleri

Book One

Chapter 01

Behind every great fortune there is a crime.

Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her.

The judge, a formidably heavy-featured man, rolled up the sleeves of his black robe as if to physically chastise the two young men standing before the bench. His face was cold with majestic contempt. But there was something false in all this that Amerigo Bonasera sensed but did not yet understand.

"You acted like the worst kind of degenerates," the judge said harshly. Yes, yes, thought Amerigo Bonasera. Animals. Animals. The two young men, glossy hair crew cut, scrubbed clean-cut faces composed into humble contrition, bowed their heads in submission.

The judge went on. "You acted like wild beasts in a jungle and you are fortunate you did not sexually molest that poor girl or I'd put you behind bars for twenty years." The judge paused, his eyes beneath impressively thick brows flickered slyly toward the sallow-faced Amerigo Bonasera, then lowered to a stack of probation reports before him. He frowned and shrugged as if convinced against his own natural desire. He spoke again.

"But because of your youth, your clean records, because of your fine families, and because the law in its majesty does not seek vengeance, I hereby sentence you to three years' confinement to the penitentiary. Sentence to be suspended."

詞匯

1. Amerigo Bonasera：（人名）亞美利哥·勃納瑟拉；

2. vengeance ：['vend??ns], n. 復仇；報復；報仇 the act of punishing or harming sb in return for what they
   have done to you, your family or friends

3. formidably： [f?r'm?d?bl?]， adv. 可怕地

   formidable: adj. 可怕的；令人敬畏的；難對付的

4. chastise ：[t??'sta?z]，v. 批評；指責；責備；體罰，這里翻譯成嚴懲比較好

   ~ sb (for sth/for doing sth)

5. majestic：[m??d??stik]，adj. 宏偉的，威嚴的

   majesty : ['m?d??sti]， n. 威嚴；莊嚴

6. contempt：[k?n'tempt]，n. 蔑視；輕蔑

7. degenerate：[d??d?en?re?t]，v. 退化；墮落； adj. 墮落的；n. 墮落的人

8. harshly：[?hɑr?l?]， adv. 嚴厲地，苛刻地

9. glossy：['ɡl?si]，adj. 光滑的；光彩奪目的；n. 用光亮紙印刷的雜志

10. crew cut：平頭

11. scrub： [skr?b]， n. 擦洗；刷洗；灌木叢 v. 擦洗，刷洗；取消（原有安排）；adj. 矮小的；不中用的；

12. humble ：['h?mb(?)l]，v.謙遜；低聲下氣；虛心；貶低 adj. 謙遜的；虛心的

13. contrition：[k?n'tr??(?)n]， n. 悔恨

14. submission：[s?b'm??(?)n]， n. 提交；屈服；投降

15. molest ：[m?'lest]，v. 對（兒童）性騷擾；攻擊；傷害

16. flicker ：['fl?k?r]， n. 閃爍；忽隱忽現；撲動；〈美〉金翼啄木鳥 v. 閃爍；閃變；(樹葉等)擺動；假裝昏倒

17. slyly：adv. 狡獪地；躲躲閃閃地；奸詐地

18. sallow：['s?lo?]，adj. 灰黃的；蠟黃的 n. 黃華柳 v. (使)成[變成]灰黃色

19. probation：[pr?'be??(?)n]，n. 緩刑；試用期；試讀；緩刑制

20. frown：[fra?n]， n. 皺眉 v. 皺眉

21. shrug：[?r?ɡ]， n. 聳肩（表示不知道或不在乎）；帶袖短披肩 v. 聳肩（表示不知道或不在乎）

22. confinement：[k?n'fa?nm?nt]， n. 禁閉；監(jiān)禁；分娩；產期

23. penitentiary：[.pen?'ten??ri]，adj. 悔改的；苦行贖罪的；〈美〉應監(jiān)禁的; n. 監(jiān)獄;教養(yǎng)院（文中應該是這個意思）

24. Sentence to be suspended：該判決緩期執(zhí)行

25. sentence：['sent(?)ns]，n. 句子；判決；判刑；宣判; v. 判決；判刑；宣判

26. suspend：[s?'spend]，v. 懸浮；暫停；懸掛；停止

單詞詳解

1. vengeance：['vend??ns], n. 復仇；報復；報仇

   同義詞： revenge,retribution,reprisal,retaliation,punishment

   with a vengeance(informal):程度更深地；出乎意料地to a greater degree than is expected or usual

   例句1：Some said he was the bird "Jingwei" , which would filled up the sea for vengeance .精衛(wèi)填海是為了報復！我都忘了這個典故了，小學課本里的嗎？

   例句2：One might think such an experience would sour me to love and bring back, with a vengeance, my scowling hostility to romance. 也許有人認為這樣一段經歷會讓我憎惡愛情，讓我對浪漫愛情的敵意重新喚起。 突然發(fā)現多了兩個單詞不認識，哈哈，sour：動詞惡化的意思，名詞是酸味。scowl：皺眉頭，和前面的frown好像是同義詞，現在分詞作表語，令人皺眉的。hostility ： 名詞敵意。

2. formidably： [f?r'm?d?bl?]， adv. 可怕地

   同義詞：horrendously,worryingly,disturbingly,fearfully,terribly

   例句1: But the US university system remains a formidably well-funded generator of research. 但是美國的大學體系仍然是擁有最強資金的研發(fā)機構。這里副詞用以修飾形容詞。雖然翻譯中沒有明確說可怕，但是最強這倆字還是可以讓人害怕的，新廣告法里都不能這么講了。

   formidable：可怕的，令人敬畏的，形容詞。例句：A formidable Polish beauty, Lola was an exotic nouveau-riche specimen who taught her daughter the power of a good story. 這位令人敬畏的波蘭美女羅拉是外來暴發(fā)戶的樣本，她讓女兒有了領悟一個好故事的能力。雖然看上去這句話不知所云，為什么一個波蘭美女就令人敬畏了？forbid這個單詞有禁止的意思，為啥我要說這個，可能一個formidable波大美女，會forbid我想入非非。這個例句選的不好。

3. chastise ：[t??'sta?z]，v. 批評；指責；責備；體罰

   例句：So, your wife caught you and now she's going to chastise you. Well, you're just going to have to take your medicine. 所以你得老婆抓到你，現在要懲罰你了。你將不得不忍受處罰。為什么抓到你就要懲罰你呢，有個詞是chase，追逐，追趕，追捕的意思，可能在chastise你之前，已經chase了很久了，現在抓到你的小辮辮，就好好懲罰你了！還好我沒有老婆，真是可怕。

4. majestic：[m??d??stik]，adj. 宏偉的，威嚴的

   可以形容人威嚴，也可以形容建筑宏偉。名詞形式majesty

   例句1：His speech is magnificent and majestic, he has a clear mind and a good sense of humor, and he is ready to devote his time and talents. 他的演講雄偉壯麗，他有清晰的頭腦，很好的幽默感，他樂于付出他的時間和才能。 好像是在夸我？

   例句2：'Of course he thinks about you, Your Majesty, 'I said. 大寫形式，表示陛下，皇帝老兒肯定很威嚴的吧。

5. contempt：[k?n'tempt]，n. 蔑視；輕蔑

   例句：The unbelief of the general and his contempt for the Lord made him see the grain but not eat of it. 軍長的不信和他對神的蔑視，使他親眼看見但卻不得吃。 這個軍長好悲催，居然敢contempt神，神就tempt你，讓你看的見吃不著。tempt（v. 誘惑；引誘）活像一個綠茶婊，跟前面那個波蘭美女一樣，formidable！

后記

天哪，沒想到這么短短的幾段話，有這么多我不太熟悉的單詞，其中包括一些形容人面貌的詞匯，表示神情動作的，還有sentence我一直只知道是句子的意思，在這里有判決的意思，在特定的語境中，確實能夠更好的理解詞匯的另一個意思。