Unit 9 茶花女
①I was at that time recently returned from my travels. ②It was quite natural that no one had told me about Marguerite's death, for it was hardly one of those momentous news-items which friends always rush to tell anybody who has just got back to the capital city of News.③Marguerite had been pretty, but the greater the commotion that attends the sensational lives of these women, the smaller the stir once they are dead. ④They are like those dull suns which set as they have risen: they are unremarkable. ⑤News of their death, when they die young, reaches all their lovers at the same instant, for in Paris the lovers of any celebrated courtesan see each other every day. ⑥A few reminiscences are exchanged about her, and the lives of all and sundry continue as before without so much as a tear.
⑦For a young man of twenty-five nowadays, tears have become so rare a thing that they are not to be wasted on the first girl who comes along. ⑧The most that may be expected is that the parents and relatives who pay for the privilege of being wept for are indeed mourned to the extent of their investment.
Key words and phrases
commotion [kəˈməʊʃn] n．混乱，喧闹
reminiscence [ˌremɪˈnɪsns] n．旧事，回忆
unremarkable [ˌʌnrɪˈmɑ:kəbl] a．寻常的，平凡的
privilege [ˈprɪvəlɪdʒ] n．特权
句构分析
译 那个时候，我刚从外地旅游归来。
译 当一个人刚回到消息灵通的首都时，朋友们总是要告诉他一些重要新闻的，但是没有人把玛格丽特的去世当作什么大事情来告诉我，这也是很自然的。
语法分析 在该句中，为了避免头重脚轻，it作形式主语，放在句首，真正的主语是that no one had told me。
译 玛格丽特一直很漂亮，但是，这些女人生前考究的生活越是闹得满城风雨，她们死后也就越是无声无息。
语法分析 该句中中采用了“the+比较级+..., the+比较级+...”的句式结构，表示“越……，越……”。
译 她们就像某些星辰，陨落时和初升时一样黯淡无光。
译 如果她们年纪轻轻就死了，那么她们所有的情人都会同时得到消息，因为在巴黎，一位名妓的所有情人彼此几乎都是密友。
译 大家会相互回忆几件有关她过去的事，然后各人将依然故我，丝毫不受这事的影响，甚至谁也不会因此而掉一滴眼泪。
译 如今，人们到了二十五岁的年纪，眼泪就变得非常珍贵，决不能轻易乱流。
译 充其量只对为他们花费过金钱的双亲才哭上几声，作为对过去他们破费的报答。