A Beautiful Girl (Ⅱ) 美少女(二)

哈丽特·B. 斯托(Harriet B. Stowe)

Her form was the perfection of childish beauty, without its usual chubbiness and squareness of outline. There was about it an undulating and aerial grace, such as one might dream of for some mythical and allegorical being. Her face was remarkable less for its perfect beauty of feature than for a singular and dreamy earnestness of expression, which made the ideal start when they looked at her, and by which the dullest and most literal were impressed, without exactly knowing why. The shape of her head and the turn of her neck and bust were peculiarly noble and the long golden-brown hair that floated like a cloud around her face,the deep spiritual gravity of her violet blue eyes, shaded by heavy fringes of golden brown — all marked her out from other children, and made every one turn and look after her, as she glided hither and thither on the boat. Nevertheless, the little one was not what you would have called either a grave child or a sad one. On the contrary, an airy and innocent playfulness seemed to flicker like the shadow of summer leaves over her childish face, and around her buoyant figure. She was always in motion, always with a half smile on her rosy mouth, flying hither and thither, with an undulating and cloud-like tread, singing to herself as she moved as in a happy dream.

- chubbiness [ˈtʃʌbɪnɪs] n. 圆胖，丰满

- squareness [ˈskweənɪs] n. 方正，平直

- undulating [ˈʌndjʊleɪtɪŋ] a. 起伏的，波动的

她的身段优美、清纯，没有通常的那种圆滚滚、方正正的轮廓，堪称完美。她的体态上有一种梦幻般的曲线美，宛如人们会梦想到的一些神话寓言中的人物。她的脸蛋儿远远不及表情那么诱人，那种具有单纯而梦幻般认真的表情，一看上去就给人一种理想的最初印象。这种表情，即便是最乏味、最刻板的人，也会不知不觉地深受感染。她的头部的形状，颈部和腰围的扭转，都显得极其高贵，金褐色的长发像云一样在脸上飘拂；那双紫罗兰色的眼睛，清澈、机灵而沉稳，衬托着金褐色的、浓浓的刘海，使她与其他孩子迥然不同，人人都要转过头盯着她看，而她就在船上像鸟儿展翅滑翔般到处走动。然而，这小女孩不是那种你会称之为严肃或忧郁的孩子。恰恰相反，她那稚嫩的脸蛋，那洋溢着轻松愉悦的身材，轻盈而率真，似乎闪烁着快乐的嬉笑，就像夏日树叶的影子摇曳多姿。她闲不住，红润的嘴巴总带着微笑，迈着轻盈的脚步，像一片云，四处蹦蹦跳跳，哼哼唱唱，就像在快乐的梦中。

哈丽特·B. 斯托(1811—1896)，英国女作家，生于康涅狄格州，作品有《汤姆叔叔的小屋》(Uncle Tom's Cabin ，1852)，《德雷德》(Dred ，1856)，《牧师的求婚》(The Minister's Wooing ，1859)，《奥尔岛上的珍珠》(The Pearl of Orr's Island ，1862)，《老城的人们》(Oldtown Folks ，1869)等。

《汤姆叔叔的小屋》讲述了奴隶汤姆叔叔和其他奴隶们的悲惨命运，并揭示了奴隶制度的残酷和不人道。这部小说在当时引发了广泛的社会讨论，激发了人们对奴隶制度的反思，并对废奴运动产生了重大影响。它加强了北方与南方之间的紧张关系，被认为是导致美国内战爆发的触发点之一。

哈丽特·B. 斯托的作品不仅在当时产生了巨大影响，也在后世继续发挥着重要作用。她被视为美国文学史上最重要的女作家之一，她的作品通过揭示社会不公和人道主义价值观，持续地影响着读者和社会。