威廉·S. 毛姆(William S. Maugham)
When she woke, she rubbed her eyes to gather her senses together and gradually she remembered having gone to the theatre on the previous evening; then suddenly everything came back to her. She stretched out her legs and gave a long sigh of delight. Her heart was full; she thought of Jim, and the delicious sensation of love came over her. Closing her eyes, she imagined his warm kisses, and she lifted up her arms as if to put them round his neck and draw him down to her; she almost felt the rough beard on her face, and the strong heavy arms round her body. She smiled to herself and took a long breath; then, slipping back the sleeves of her nightdress, she looked at her own thin arms, just two pieces of bone with not a muscle on them, but very white and showing distinctly the interlacement of blue veins; she did not notice that her hands were rough, and red and dirty with the nails broken, and bitten to the quick. She got out of bed and looked at herself in the glass over the mantelpiece ; with one hand she brushed back her hair and smiled at herself; her face was very small and thin, but the complexion was nice, clear and white, with a delicate tint of red on the cheeks, and her eyes were big and dark like her hair. She felt very happy.
stretch out 伸展
- reverie [ˈrevərɪ] n. 幻想，梦想
- interlacement [ˌɪntəˈleɪsmənt] n. 交织，交错
- mantelpiece [ˈmæntlpiːs] n. 壁炉架
- complexion [kəmˈplekʃən] n. 面容
她苏醒了，先揉揉眼，让全身知觉恢复，渐渐想起前天晚上去了戏院；接着突然间一切都回忆起来了。她伸了伸腿，快活地长舒了一口气。她心满意足，想着吉姆，美滋滋的爱意传遍全身。闭上眼睛，她回味着他温馨的亲吻，她举起手臂好像要搂住他的脖颈，把他拉得贴近自己的身体；她几乎感觉到他粗厚的胡须贴在自己脸上，感受到他用粗大结实的双臂搂抱她的身体。她会心一笑，深深地吸了一口气；接着，她向上挽起睡衣的袖子，看着自己瘦削的手臂，两根骨头突兀，没有一点肌肉，但是很白，清晰地显露出交织的青筋；她没有注意到自己的手很粗糙，又红又脏，指甲破损，有的钻进了肉根。她下了床，对着壁炉上方的镜子照了照；用一只手把头发向后拢了拢，冲着自己微笑；她的脸小而清瘦，但是肤色很好，干净白嫩，双颊微微泛红，一双大眼睛如同她的头发一样乌黑。幸福感油然涌上她的心头。
威廉·萨姆塞特·毛姆(1874—1965)，英国小说家、剧作家、批评家。在其众多的长篇小说中，半自传体小说《人性枷锁》(Of Human Bondage， 1915)集中体现了他的人生哲理，体现了他40年的生活历程。他擅长喜剧、笑剧、情节剧，撰写了三十多部，还有文学评论、游记传世。他的作品题材广，文体美，结构严谨，情节幽默，在全世界读者中享有盛名。