第31课

旁白 neutral

True eccentrics never deliberately set out to draw attention to themselves.

真正的怪人从不刻意引人注目。

旁白 neutral

They disregard social conventions without being conscious that they are doing anything extraordinary.

他们无视社会习俗，却没意识到自己在做任何非凡的事情。

旁白 neutral

This invariably wins them the love and respect of others, for they add colour to the dull routine of everyday life.

这总能让他们赢得他人的爱戴和尊重，因为他们为平淡的日常生活增添了色彩。

旁白 neutral

Up to the time of his death, Richard Colson was one of the most notable figures in our town.

直到去世，理查德·科尔森都是我们镇上最著名的人物之一。

旁白 neutral

He was a shrewd and wealthy businessman,

他是一位精明富有的商人，

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but most people in the town hardly knew anything about this side of his life.

但镇上大多数人对他生活的这一面几乎一无所知。

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He was known to us all as Dickie and his eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.

他被我们称为迪基，他的怪癖在他去世前很久就已成为传奇。

旁白 neutral

Dickie disliked snobs intensely.

迪基非常讨厌势利小人。

旁白 neutral

Though he owned a large car, he hardly ever used it, preferring always to go on foot.

尽管他有一辆大车，但他几乎从不用它，总是喜欢步行。

旁白 neutral

Even when it was raining heavily, he refused to carry an umbrella.

即使下大雨，他也不撑伞。

旁白 neutral

One day, he walked into an expensive shop after having been caught in a particularly heavy shower.

一天，他在一场大雨中淋湿后走进一家昂贵的商店。

旁白 neutral

He wanted to buy a £300 watch for his wife,

他想为妻子买一块300英镑的手表，

旁白 neutral

but he was in such a bedraggled condition that an assistant refused to serve him.

但他衣衫褴褛，店员拒绝为他服务。

旁白 neutral

Dickie left the shop without a word and returned carrying a large cloth bag.

迪基一言不发地离开了商店，然后提着一个大布袋回来了。

旁白 neutral

As it was extremely heavy, he dumped it on the counter.

因为袋子很重，他把它扔在柜台上。

旁白 neutral

The assistant asked him to leave, but Dickie paid no attention to him and requested to see the manager.

店员让他离开，但迪基没有理会他，要求见经理。

旁白 neutral

Recognizing who the customer was,

经理认出了这位顾客，

旁白 neutral

the manager was most apologetic and reprimanded the assistant severely.

非常抱歉，并严厉训斥了店员。

旁白 neutral

When Dickie was given the watch, he presented the assistant with the cloth bag.

当迪基拿到手表时，他把布袋递给了店员。

旁白 neutral

It contained £300 in pennies.

里面装着300英镑的便士。

旁白 neutral

He insisted on the assistant's counting the money before he left--30,000 pennies in all!

他坚持要店员在他离开前数清钱——总共3万枚便士！

旁白 neutral

On another occasion, he invited a number of important critics to see his private collection of modern paintings.

另一次，他邀请了一些重要的评论家参观他的现代绘画私人收藏。

旁白 neutral

This exhibition received a great deal of attention in the press,

这次展览受到了媒体的广泛关注，

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for though the pictures were supposed to be the work of famous artists,

因为尽管这些画被认为是著名艺术家的作品，

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they had in fact been painted by Dickie.

但实际上它们是迪基画的。

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It took him four years to stage this elaborate joke simply to prove that critics do not always know what they are talking about.

他花了四年时间策划这个精心设计的玩笑，只是为了证明评论家并不总是知道他们在说什么。