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THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST WEBSTER'S CHINESE SIMPLIFIED THESAURUS EDITION for ESL, EFL, ELP, TOEFL ®, TOEIC ®, and AP ® Test Preparation Oscar Wilde TOEFL , TOEIC , AP  and Advanced Placement are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.

TOEFL ®, TOEIC ®, AP ® and Advanced Placement ® are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved. The Importance of Being Earnest Webster's Chinese Simplified Thesaurus Edition for ESL, EFL, ELP, TOEFL ®, TOEIC ®, and AP ® Test Preparation Oscar Wilde

ii IC ON C LASSICS Publish ed by I CON Group In ternation al, Inc. 7404 T rade St reet San Diego, CA 92121 U SA www.icongroup online.com The Im port ance of Bein g Earn est: Webst er's Ch inese Simplified Thesaurus Edi tion for ESL, EF L, ELP, TOE FL®, TOEIC®, and AP® Tes t Preparat ion This ed ition pu blis hed by IC ON Clas sics in 2005 Prin ted in the Unit ed St ates of America. Co pyr ight ©2005 by IC ON Grou p In ternation al, Inc. Edit ed by Philip M. P arker, Ph.D. (INSEA D); Copyrigh t ©2005, all ri ghts res erved. All righ ts reserved. Th is book is prot ected by copyri ght. No part of it may be r epro duced, st ored in a retrieval syst em, or t ransm itted in an y form or by an y m eans, elect ronic, mechanical, ph otocopying, recordin g, or ot herwise, with out wri tten perm ission from th e publ ish er. Copyin g our publicat ion s in whole or in part , fo r wh atever reas on, is a violat ion of copyright laws and can lead t o penalties and fi nes. S hould yo u wa nt to copy tables , graphs, or ot her materials , pleas e con tact us t o req uest per missi on (E-m ail: iconedit@san.rr.com ). ICON Group oft en gran ts perm ission for very lim ited reproduct ion of our pu blicat ion s for in ternal use, pr ess releases, an d acad em ic res earch . Su ch reprod uction re quires con firm ed perm ission from IC ON Group Internation al, In c. TOE FL®, T OEIC ®, A P® an d A dvan ced Place ment® are trad emarks of the Edu cation al Te sting Servic e which has ne ither review ed no r end orse d this b ook. A ll rights r eserved. ISB N 0- 497- 2606 6-2

iii Contents PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR ........................................................................................ 1 THE PERSONS IN THE PLAY ........................................................................................... 2 THE SCENES OF THE PLAY ............................................................................................ 3 FIRST ACT ......................................................................................................................4 SECOND ACT ............................................................................................................... 38 THIRD ACT ................................................................................................................... 81 GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................. 103



Oscar W ilde 1 PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR Webster’s paperbacks take advantage of the fact that classics are frequently assigned readings in English courses. By using a running English-to-Chinese Simplified thesaurus at the bottom of each page, this edition of The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trvial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde was edited for three audiences. The first includes Chinese Simplified-speaking students enrolled in an English Language Program (ELP), an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) program, an English as a Second Language Program (ESL), or in a TOEFL ® or TOEIC ® preparation program. The second audience includ es English-speaking students enrolled in bilingual education programs or Chinese Simplified speakers enrolled in English speaking schools. The third audience consists of students who are actively build ing their vocabularies in Chinese Simplified in order to take foreign service, translation certification, Advanced Placement ® (AP ®)1 or similar examinations. By using the Webster's Chinese S implified Thesaurus Edition when assigned for an English course, the reader can enrich their vocabulary in anticipation of an examination in Chinese Simplified or English. Webster’s edition of this classi c is organized to expose the reader to a maximum number of difficult and potentially ambiguous English words. Rare or idiosyncratic words and expressions are given lower priority compared to “difficult, yet commonly used” words. Rather than supply a single translation, many words are translated for a variety of meanings in Chinese Simplified, allowing readers to better grasp the ambiguity of Engl ish, and avoid them using the notes as a pure translation crutch. Having the reader decipher a word’s meaning within context serves to improve vocabulary retention and understanding. Each pa ge covers words not already highlighted on previous pages. If a difficult word is not translated on a page, chances are that it has been translated on a previous page. A more complete glossary of translations is supplied at the end of the book; translations are extracted from Webster’s Online Dictionary. Definitions of remaining terms as we ll as translations can be found at www.websters-online- dictionary.org . Please send suggestions to websters@icongroupbooks.com The Editor Webster’s Online Dictionary www.websters-online-dictionary.org 1 TOEFL ®, TOEIC ®, AP ® and Advanced Placement ® are trademarks of the Educational Testing Service which has neither reviewed nor endorsed this book. All rights reserved.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 2 THE PERSON S IN THE PLAY John W orthing , J.P. Alge rnon Mo ncrieff Rev. C anon C hasuble, D.D. Merrim an, B utler Lane, Manservant Lady Br ackne ll Hon. Gwendolen Fairfax Cecily Ca rdew Mis s Pr ism , Governess

Oscar W ilde 3 THE SCENES OF THE PLAY ACT I. Algernon Moncrieff's Flat in Half-Moon Street, W. ACT II. The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton. ACT III. Drawing-Room at the Manor House, Woolton. TIME: The Present.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 4 FIRST AC T SCENE — Mo rning-room %in Alg ernon's flat in Half-Moon Street. The room is luxuriously and a rtisti cally furnish ed. The sound of a piano is hear d in t he adjoin ing roo m. [LANE is arr ang ing aft erno on tea on the ta ble, and a fter the music ha s cea sed , ALGERNON enter s.] ALGERNON . Did yo u he ar what I w as p layin g, Lane ? LANE . I didn't th ink it poli te to listen , sir. ALGERNON . I'm sorry for t hat, for yo ur sak e. I don't play accur ately - any one can p lay accura tely - but I pl ay wi th wonderf ul expr essio n. As far as the piano is concer ned , sentim ent is my for te. I kee p science for Life . LANE . Yes, sir. ALGERNON . And, spe akin g of the scien ce of Life , have you got the cucumber s andw ich es cut for L ady Brackn ell? Chinese Simplif ied accur ately: 正确地 . afternoon : 下午, 午后. arranging : 安排. ceased : 停止. concer ned: 挂念, 关心. cucumber : 黄瓜. cut: 采伐, 切, 刀口, 伤口, 割, 截, 剪切, 切口. exp ression : 表情, 表现, 神情, 表达, 表露, 神色, 神气, 表示. flat: 平坦, 平板, 平坦的, 平的, 居室. fort e: 长处. furnished: 供给. hear: 听见, 听取, 听. heard: 听见. lane : 小路, 小巷, 胡同. listen : 听, 倾听. luxuriously : 豪华地. music : 音乐, 民乐, 曲子. pia no: 钢琴. polite : 有礼貌, 客 气, 有礼貌的, 斯文, 和气. sake : 缘故. sandwiche s: 三明治. scienc e: 科学, 学 , 学术. sentim ent : 情绪. sir: 先生, 爵士. sorry: 遗憾, 对不起. sound : 声音, 音. tea: 茶, 茶叶. wonde rful: 奇妙, 奇妙的.

Oscar W ilde 5 LANE. Yes, sir. [Hands them on a salver.] ALGERNON. [Inspects them, takes two, and sits down on the sofa.] Oh!... by the way, Lane, I see from your book that on Thursday night, when Lord Shoreman and Mr. Worthing were dining with me, eight bottles of champagne are entered as having been consumed. % LANE. Yes, sir; eight bottles and a pint. ALGERNON. Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne? I ask merely for information. LANE. I attribute it to the superior quality of the wine, sir. I have often observed that in married households the champagne is rarely of a first-rate brand. ALGERNON. Good heavens ! Is marriage so demoralising as that? LANE. I believe it IS a very pleasant state, sir. I have had very little experience of it myself up to the present. I have only been married once. That was in consequence of a misunderstanding between myself and a young person. ALGERNON. [Languidly.] I don't know that I am much interested in your family life, Lane. LANE. No, sir; it is not a very interesting subject. I never think of it myself. ALGERNON. Very natural , I am sure . That will do, Lane, thank you. LANE. Thank you, sir. [LANE goes out.] Chinese Simplified attribute : 属性. brand: 厂牌, 商标. champagne : 香槟酒. consequence : 后果. dining: 进餐. drink: 喝, 饮用, 饮, 饮料. establishment : 编制, 建立, 设施. goes: 去. heavens : 老天爷, 天. households : 家庭. interested: 有兴趣, 感兴趣的. interesting : 有趣, 有意思, 有兴趣, 好玩儿, 吸引人的. invariably: 不变化, 不变地, 不变化地. marriage: 婚姻, 婚事, 婚嫁. married: 已婚, 已婚的. merely: 仅仅, 只是, 只, 不过, 单纯, 只管, 只顾. misunderstanding: 误会, 误解. myself: 我自己. natural : 自然, 天然, 自然的, 天生. pint: 品脱. pleasant : 愉快, 愉快的, 舒适的. rarely: 稀少, 稀少地. sits: 坐. superior: 优势, 优越, 上司, 优越的, 上级, 优胜. sure: 肯定. takes : 拿, 取走. thank : 感谢, 谢谢. wine: 酒, 葡萄酒, 水果酒, 酒色财气.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 6 ALGERNON . Lanes views on marriage seem som ewhat lax . Re ally, if the lower ord ers don't set us a good exam ple, what on e arth is the use of them? They seem, as a class, to h ave abs olutely no sen se o f mora l respon sibility. % [Enter LA NE.] LANE . Mr. Ernest Worthing. [Enter JA CK .] [LA NE go es out .] ALGERNON . How are yo u, my de ar Ern est? Wh at brings yo u up to tow n? JACK. Oh, pleas ure , ple asu re! What else sh ould br ing o ne any whe re? Eating as usual , I see, Algy! ALGERNON . [St iffly. ] I believe it is custom ary in good society to take some slig ht refr eshment at five o'c lock . Wher e h ave you been sinc e last Thursd ay? JACK. [Sitting down on the sof a.] In the country. ALGERNON . What on eart h do yo u do there? JACK. [Pulling o ff h is g loves.] When one is in town one am uses ones elf. When one is in t he co un try one amus es ot her peop le. It is excess ively bor ing . ALGERNON . And who are the people yo u amuse? JACK. [Airily.] Oh, neighbours, n eighbours. Chinese Simplif ied absolutely : 百分 之百, 绝对地, 绝对, 万万. amu se: 使娱乐, 娱乐. anywhere: 无论何 处. bor ing: 没意思, 钻孔, 沉闷的. bring : 带, 带来, 携带. brings : 带来. class : 班, 学级, 种类, 课时, 课程, 阶级, 类别, 裸. customary : 习惯性 , 习惯性 的. dear: 亲爱, 亲爱 的, 可爱的. eating: 吃. enter: 进, 进入, 回车键, 入. examp le: 例子, 例题, 榜样, 例证, 标兵, 表率, 模范, 事例, 典范, 典型, 典. excessively: 过於, 极端的. jack : 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. lax: 松弛的. lower : 降下, 降低, 减低, 低. moral : 道德. oneself : 自身, 本人, 亲身, 个人, 自己. orders : 命令. pleasu re: 欢乐, 乐趣, 愉快. refresh ment: 身心 爽快, 茶点. seem : 显得, 看来, 彷佛, 好象. slight : 轻微, 稍微. somewh at: 有些, 有所, 有点, 有一些, 有点儿. town : 城镇, 城市 , 市镇. usua l: 通常, 寻常 , 一般的. views : 见解.

Oscar W ilde 7 ALGERNON. Got nice neighbours in your part of Shropshire? JACK . Perfectly horrid! Never speak to one of them. % ALGERNON. How immensely you must amuse them! [Goes over and takes sandwich.] By the way, Shropshire is your county, is it not? JACK. Eh? Shropshire? Yes, of course. Hallo ! Why all these cups? Why cucumber sandwiches ? Why such reckless extravagance in one so young? Who is coming to tea? ALGERNON. Oh! merely Aunt Augusta and Gwendolen. JACK. How perfectly delightful ! ALGERNON. Yes, that is all very well; but I am afraid Aunt Augusta won't quite approve of your being here. JACK. May I ask why? ALGERNON. My dear fellow, the way you flirt with Gwendolen is perfectly disgraceful. It is almost as bad as the way Gwendolen flirts with you. JACK. I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her. ALGERNON. I thought you had come up for pleasure?... I call that business. Chinese Simplified afraid : 危惧, 恐怕, 害怕. amuse : 使娱乐, 娱乐. approve : 赞成, 认证, 赞同, 认可, 允许. ask: 问, 询问. bad: 坏, 糟糕, 不良, 不善, 淘气, 坏的. call : 喊, 称呼, 叫, 号召, 召唤. coming : 未来, 到来. county: 郡, 县. course: 课程, 经过, 进程, 路程, 路线, 学科, 过程. cucumber : 黄瓜. dear: 亲爱, 亲爱的, 可爱的. delightful : 愉快, 好玩儿, 欢欣的. disgraceful : 不名誉, 不名誉的, 不光采的. expressly: 特意地. extravagance : 挥霍无度. fellow: 同伴, 伙伴. flirt: 调情. hallo : 喂, 哈罗. horrid : 讨厌的. jack: 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. merely : 仅仅, 只是, 只, 不过, 单纯, 只管, 只顾. nice: 和蔼, 可亲, 好, 尼斯. perfectly : 完美, 完美地. propose: 提议, 倡导, 倡议, 提出. reckless: 蛮干, 不顾一切, 不顾一切后果的. sandwiches : 三明治. speak: 说, 讲.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 8 JACK. How utte rly unromanti c you are! ALGERNON . I really don't see anythin g romantic in proposing . It is very romantic to be in love. B ut there is not hing r omant ic abou t a de finite pr oposal. Why , one may be accep ted . One usually is, I believe. Then the exc item en t is all over. Th e very ess enc e of romance is uncer tainty. If ever I get married, I'll c ertain ly try to forg et the fa ct. % JACK. I have no doubt ab out that, de ar A lgy. The D ivorce C ourt was sp ecially invent ed fo r people whose me mori es are so c urio usly consti tute d. ALGERNON . Oh! there is n o use speculatin g on tha t subject. Divor ces are m ade in He aven - [ JACK puts out his h and to t ake a sand wich . ALGE RN ON at once interfere s.] P lease don't touch the cuc umber sandw iches. They ar e ordered specially for Aunt Augusta. [Takes one and ea ts it.] JACK. Well, y ou h ave been e atin g them all the time. ALGERNON . That is quite a different matter. She is my aunt . [Takes plate from bel ow. ] Have some bread and bu tter. The b read and butter is for G wendolen. Gwendolen is devoted to brea d a nd butter. JACK. [Adv ancing to ta ble a nd helping him self.] And ver y good bre ad and butter it is too. ALGERNON . Well, my de ar fellow, you need not eat as if you wer e going to eat it all. You beh ave as if you were m arried to her alr ead y. You are not mar ried to her alr ead y, and I don't think you ev er wi ll b e. Chinese Simplif ied accepted: 公认, 公认的. aunt : 伯母, 姑妈, 大娘, 婶母, 阿姨, 姨妈, 婶子. behave: 举止, 表现, 行为. bread: 面包. butter : 牛油, 黄 油. constituted : 构成. definite : 肯定, 明 确, 确定, 确切, 具体, 明确的, 确 凿. devoted : 忠诚, 忠实的, 忠实. divorc es: 离婚. doubt : 怀疑, 疑. eat: 吃. essence: 本质, 精华. excitemen t: 兴奋, 刺激. forg et: 忘记, 忘, 忘却. helping : 帮助人的 , 辅助的, 帮助. memo ries: 记忆. pla te: 碟, 盘子. proposal : 提议, 建议, 提案, 动议, 方案, 议案, 倡议. proposing : 提出. puts : 放. rom ance: 浪漫. rom antic : 浪漫, 浪漫的. sandwich : 三明治 , 三文治. speci ally: 专门, 特殊. speculating : 思索. touch : 触摸, 笔锋, 触, 联系, 碰, 接触. uncert ainty : 不确 定, 疑惑, 不确定性. utterl y: 不堪.

Oscar W ilde 9 JACK. Why on earth do you say that? ALGERNON. Well, in the first place girls never marry the men they flirt with. Girls don't think it right. % JACK. Oh, that is nonsense! ALGERNON. It isn't. It is a great truth . It accounts for the extraordinary number of bachelors that one sees all over the place. In the second place, I don't give my consent . JACK. Your consent! ALGERNON. My dear fellow , Gwendolen is my first cousin. And before I allow you to marry her, you will have to clear up the whole question of Cecily. [ Rings bell.] JACK. Cecily! What on earth do you mean? What do you mean, Algy, by Cecily! I don't know any one of the name of Cecily. [Enter LANE .] ALGERNON. Bring me that cigarette case Mr. Worthing left in the smoking-room the last time he dined here. LANE. Yes, sir. [LANE goes out.] JACK. Do you mean to say you have had my cigarette case all this time? I wish to Chinese Simplified accounts : 据闻. allow: 容许, 允许, 任. bachelors : 单身汉. cigarette: 香烟, 烟卷儿, 纸烟. consent: 同意. cousin: 表亲, 表哥, 堂表. dear: 亲爱, 亲爱的, 可爱的. dined : 进餐. enter: 进, 进入, 回车键, 入. extraordinary : 特殊, 非常, 非凡的, 了不起. fellow: 同伴, 伙伴. flirt: 调情. goes : 去. jack: 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. lane: 小路, 小巷, 胡同. marry : 结婚. nonsense : 无聊, 废话, 屁话. rings: 吊环. sir: 先生, 爵士. truth : 真理, 实话. wish: 愿望, 希望, 意愿, 祝, 祝愿, 志愿.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 10 goodn ess yo u had let me know. I have been writ ing fr ant ic let ters to Scot lan d Ya rd abo ut it. I was ve ry nearl y offe ring a la rge rew ard.% ALGERNON . Well, I w ish you would o ffer one. I ha pp en to be mo re than us uall y har d up. JACK. There is no good offerin g a lar ge rew ard now that th e thing is found. [Enter LANE wi th the ci ga rette ca se on a salver . ALGE RNO N take s it at once. LANE goes o ut.] ALGERNON . I think that is rather m ean o f y ou, E rnest, I m ust say. [Op ens case and ex am ines it.] H owever, it m akes n o matter, for, now that I look a t the inscripti on inside, I find tha t the thi ng i sn't yours after al l. JACK. Of course it's mine. [ Mo ving to him.] You have seen me with it a hundred times, an d yo u have no right whatsoever to read what is writ ten inside . It is a very ungentlema nly thi ng to rea d a pri vate ciga rette ca se. ALGERNON . Oh! it is absurd to have a hard and fas t rule ab out w hat one shou ld re ad and what one shouldn 't. More than half of modern cu lture depen ds on what one shouldn't re ad. JACK. I am quite aw are of the fact , and I don't propose to discuss moder n cultur e. It isn't the sort of t hing one s hould talk of in priv ate. I simply want m y cig aret te case back. ALGERNON . Yes; but thi s isn't your ciga rette ca se. Thi s ciga rette ca se is a present f rom some one of the name of Cecily, an d you s aid you didn't know any one o f that name. JACK. Wel l, if you want to know , Ceci ly hap pens to be my aunt. Chinese Simplif ied absurd: 荒谬, 岂有此理, 不合理 的, 荒唐, 荒谬的, 妄 图. aware: 察觉, 注意到, 自觉. culture : 文化, 培养, 文明. depends : 依赖. discuss : 商讨, 商谈, 讨论, 商榷, 洽谈. examin es: 检查. fast: 快, 禁食, 快速, 迅速, 速. frantic : 狂暴, 狂 暴的. goodness : 美德. happe n: 发生. happe ns: 发生. inscription : 题字, 题词, 铭刻. lett ers: 信件, 函件. mine : 矿, 我的, 矿山, 矿井. modern : 现今, 现 在, 当前, 现代的. moving : 感动, 动态, 动人, 活动, 乔迁. nearly: 几乎, 差 不多, 将近. offer : 捐助, 开设, 提供. offering : 奉现, 提供. opens : 打开. rew ard: 报酬, 酬 劳, 酬金, 奖励, 奖赏. rule: 统治, 规则, 规章, 规矩, 宰制, 主宰, 法则, 尺子, 尺, 天下. salv er: 金属托盘. wha tsoever : 任何, 任何其它. writing : 篇章, 笔墨, 着述, 写, 写作. writt en: 书面, 成文, 笔头, 书写. yours : 你的.

Oscar W ilde 11 ALGERNON. Your aunt! JACK. Yes. Charming old lady she is, too. Lives at Tunbridge Wells. Just give it back to me, Algy. % ALGERNON. [Retreating to back of sofa .] But why does she call herself little Cecily if she is your aunt and lives at Tunbridge Wells? [Reading.] 'From little Cecily with her fondest love.' JACK. [Moving to sofa and kneel ing upon it.] My dear fellow, what on earth is there in that? Some aunts are tall, some aunts are not tall. That is a matter that surely an aunt may be allowed to decide for herself. You seem to think that every aunt should be exactly like your aunt! That is absurd! For Heaven's sake give me back my cigarette case. [Follows ALGERNON round the room.] ALGERNON. Yes. But why does your aunt call you her uncle? 'From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack.' There is no objection, I admit , to an aunt being a small aunt, but why an aunt, no matter what her size may be, should call her own nephew her uncle, I can't quite make out. Besides, your name isn't Jack at all; it is Ernest. JACK. It isn't Ernest; it's Jack. ALGERNON. You have always told me it was Ernest. I have introduced you to every one as Ernest. You answer to the name of Ernest. You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life. It is perfectly absurd your saying that your name isn't Ernest. It's on your cards. Here is one of them. [Taking it from case.] 'Mr. Ernest Worthing, B. 4, The Albany.' I'll keep this as a proof that your name is Ernest if ever you attempt Chinese Simplified absurd : 荒谬, 岂有此理, 不合理的, 荒唐, 荒谬的, 妄图. admit: 接纳, 接待, 承认. allowed : 允许. answer: 回答, 解答, 答案, 答复, 答, 响应, 适合, 负责, 符合. aunt: 伯母, 姑妈, 大娘, 婶母, 阿姨, 姨妈, 婶子. aunts : 伯母. besides : 此外, 另外, 除了, 并且, 再说, 况且. charming : 迷人, 迷人的. cigarette: 香烟, 烟卷儿, 纸烟. decide: 判定, 决定, 作主. exactly : 刚好, 就是, 确切地, 就, 恰恰, 可不是. fellow: 同伴, 伙伴. herself : 她自己. lady: 女士, 夫人. matter : 事情, 事, 物质, 事项. nephew : 外甥, 侄子. objection : 异议, 反对. perfectly: 完美, 完美地. proof: 证据, 证明, 证, 论证. sake: 缘故. saying : 名言, 说. size: 大小, 尺寸, 纤度, 个子, 个儿. sofa : 沙发. surely : 一定, 保管, 肯定地. tall: 高大的, 高大. uncle : 叔叔, 伯伯, 叔父, 大爷, 老大爷, 姑夫.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 12 to deny it to me, or to Gw endol en, or to a ny one el se. [ Puts the card in hi s pocket.] JACK. W ell, m y name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country, and the cigarette case was gi ven to me i n the country. % ALGERNON . Yes, but tha t does not acc ount for t he f act that your s mall A unt Cecily , who lives at Tunb ridge Wells, calls yo u her dear unc le. Come, old bo y, yo u had much better ha ve the thi ng out at once. JACK. My de ar Alg y, yo u tal k exact ly as if you were a dentis t. It i s ver y vu lgar to talk like a d entist when on e isn 't a dent ist. It prod uces a false im pressi on , ALGERNON . W ell, that is exactly w hat dentists always do. N ow, go on! Tell m e the w hole thing. I m ay mention that I hav e alw ays suspec ted you of bei ng a confirm ed and secret Bu nburyi st; and I am quite su re of it now. JACK. Bunbury ist? What on eart h do yo u me an by a Bunb uryist? ALGERNON . I'll revea l to you the meani ng of th at incom parabl e expression as soon as you are k ind enough to inform me w hy you are Ernest in town and Jack in the country. JACK. Well, prod uc e my c igarette case fir st. ALGERNON . Here it is . [Hands cigar ette case.] Now produce your exp lana tion , a nd pray ma ke it im probab le. [Sits on sofa.] JACK. My de ar fe llo w, t here is n othing im probab le ab out m y exp lan ation at al l. In fact it's perf ectly ordin ary. Ol d Mr. Thoma s Cardew, who adopted me when Chinese Simplif ied account : 帐户, 账 , 帐, 户口, 重要性. boy : 男孩, 男孩子 , 男孩儿, 小子. card : 卡, 名片, 卡片. confir med : 确定的 . dentist : 牙科医 生, 牙医. deny: 驳斥, 否认. explanation: 说明, 解释, 解答. false: 假, 虚伪, 虚假. hands : 手. impression : 印像, 印象. improbabl e: 不会 , 不可能 会发生 的. incomparabl e: 无双的, 无比的, 无可比拟 的. inform : 通知, 报信. meaning : 意义, 意思, 含义, 含意, 意味着. mention : 提到, 提及. ordinar y: 通常, 普通, 平常, 寻常, 一般, 正常, 普通 的, 正常的. pray: 祈祷. produce : 蔬菜, 出产, 生. rev eal: 表露, 暴 露, 透露, 流露, 走漏. secret: 秘密, 机密. sits : 坐. soon : 不久, 最近, 眼看, 快, 近期, 早, 早日. suspect ed: 嫌疑. talk : 谈话, 报告, 言语, 谈. thomas : 汤姆斯. vulgar : 粗俗, 鄙俗, 鄙俚, 鄙吝, 庸俗的, 庸俗.

Oscar W ilde 13 I was a little boy, made me in his will guardian to his grand-daughter, Miss Cecily Cardew. Cecily, who addresses me as her uncle from motives of respect that you could not possibly appreciate , lives at my place in the country under the charge of her admirable governess, Miss Prism. % ALGERNON. Where in that place in the country, by the way? JACK. That is nothing to you, dear boy. You are not going to be invited... I may tell you candidly that the place is not in Shropshire. ALGERNON. I suspected that, my dear fellow! I have Bunburyed all over Shropshire on two separate occasions. Now, go on. Why are you Ernest in town and Jack in the country? JACK. My dear Algy, I don't know whether you will be able to understand my real motives. You are hardly serious enough. When one is placed in the position of guardian, one has to adopt a very high moral tone on all subjects. It's one's duty to do so. And as a high moral tone can hardly be said to conduce very much to either one's health or one's happiness , in order to get up to town I have always pretended to have a younger brother of the name of Ernest, who lives in the Albany, and gets into the most dreadful scrapes. That, my dear Algy, is the whole truth pure and simple . ALGERNON. The truth is rarely pure and never simple. Modern life would be very tedious if it were either, and modern literature a complete impossibility ! JACK. That wouldn't be at all a bad thing. ALGERNON. Literary criticism is not your forte, my dear fellow. Don't try it. You should leave that to people who haven't been at a University. They do it so well in Chinese Simplified addresses : 地址. admirable: 令人钦佩, 令人钦佩的. adopt: 收养, 采纳, 抱养, 采用. appreciate : 涨价, 感激, 升值, 欣赏.brother: 弟兄, 兄弟. charge: 收费, 控告, 记帐, 冲锋, 指责, 负荷. complete : 完成, 完全, 全部, 完善, 彻底, 通通, 完整, 成套, 完备. conduce: 导致. criticism : 批评. dreadful: 可怕, 恐怖的. duty: 任务, 义务, 责任, 关税, 职责. guardian : 监护人. happiness : 幸福, 快乐. hardly: 几乎不, 毫不, 辛苦地. impossibility : 不可能的事, 不可能. leave: 别离, 动身, 离开, 起身. literature : 文学. possibly: 或者, 可能地. pure: 单纯, 纯净的, 纯洁, 纯粹. respect : 尊敬, 方面, 遵守, 尊重. separate : 脱离, 另外, 分别, 分离, 别. serious: 严重, 郑重, 岸然, 沉重, 认真, 严重的, 正经. simple: 简单, 简易, 简略, 简单的, 单纯. tedious : 乏味, 厌烦的. tone: 音调, 笔调, 口气, 语气, 声调, 语调. younger : 较年轻的.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 14 the daily papers . Wh at you re ally are is a Bunb uryist . I wa s quite r ight in say ing yo u were a Bun buryist. You are one of the most adv anc ed Bunbury ists I know. % JACK. What on eart h do yo u me an? ALGERNON . You have inv ented a very usefu l youn ger brother called Erne st, in order that you m ay be abl e to come up to town a s often as you li ke. I ha ve invented a n inv aluab le perm an en t inv alid called Bunbury, in order that I m ay be able to go down i nto the country when ev er I choos e. Bu nbu ry i s perf ectl y inva luable. If it w asn't for Bunbury 's ex traordin ary b ad h ealth, for ins tance, I wouldn't be able to din e wi th you at Wi llis's to- night, for I ha ve been real ly engag ed t o Aunt Au gu sta for m ore t han a wee k. JACK. I ha ven't asked you to di ne wi th me anywhere to- night. ALGERNON . I know. You are ab surd ly careless ab out sending out invi tation s. It is very foolish of you. Nothing annoys peopl e so much as n ot rec eiving invi tations. JACK. You had muc h better dine with your Aunt Augusta. ALGERNON . I haven't the sm alles t int enti on of do ing an ything of the kin d. To beg in wi th, I dined there on Mond ay, and once a w eek is quite e nough to din e with one 's own relations . In the second place , wh enever I do dine there I am always trea ted as a member of the f amily, a nd sen t down with either n o woman at all, or two. In the thi rd pl ace, I know perf ectl y wel l whom she will place me next to, to-night. She will place me ne xt Mary Far quhar , who al ways f lirts with her own husband across the din ner-table. Th at is not very pleasant. Indeed , it i s not even decent... and that sort of thin g is eno rmously on the increase. Th e amo unt of women in London w ho flirt w ith their own Chinese Simplif ied absurdly: 荒谬地. advan ced: 先进的 , 高级, 深造, 先进, 高等的. begin : 开始, 开创, 发起, 掀起, 兴办. careless: 大意, 粗心, 草草, 不在意 , 粗心大意, 不小 心, 大意的, 潦草, 草率, 马虎. choose : 挑选, 选 择, 拣, 推举, 推选, 选定, 选取. daily : 每日, 日常, 每天. dine : 用膳, 吃晚餐, 进餐. enorm ously: 大大. foolish : 愚蠢的. husba nd: 丈夫, 爱人, 老公. indeed : 的确, 确实, 果真. instanc e: 例子, 比方, 实例. intention : 意图, 打算, 动机, 心意, 心眼儿, 用心, 用 意, 念头. invalid : 病人, 无效的. invaluabl e: 无价, 无价的. invitations : 邀请. papers: 报纸. permanent: 永久, 永久的, 常驻, 常任, 持久的, 不 变的. receiving : 接受的. relations: 关系. sending : 发送. sent : 送了. small est: 最少. use ful: 有用, 顶 事, 有用的. wheneve r: 无论何 时, 每当. whom : 谁.

Oscar W ilde 15 husbands is perfectly scandalous. It looks so bad. It in simply washing one's clean linen in public. Besides, now that I know you to be a confirmed Bunburyist I naturally want to talk to you about Bunburying. I want to tell you the rules. % JACK. I'm not a Bunburyist at all. If Gwendolen accepts me, I am going to kill my brother, indeed I think I'll kill him in any case. Cecily is a little too much interested in him. It is rather a bore. So I am going to get rid of Ernest. And I strongly advise you to do the same with Mr... with your invalid friend who has the absurd name. ALGERNON. Nothing will induce me to part with Bunbury, and if you ever get married, which seems to me extremely problematic , you will be very glad to know Bunbury. A man who marries without knowing Bunbury has a very tedious time of it. JACK. That is nonsense. If I marry a charming girl like Gwendolen, and she is the only girl I ever saw in my life that I would marry, I certainly won't want to know Bunbury. ALGERNON. Then your wife will. You don't seem to realise, that in married life three is company and two is none. JACK. [Sententiously.] That, my dear young friend, is the theory that the corrupt French Drama has been propounding for the last fifty years. ALGERNON. Yes; and that the happy English home has proved in half the time. JACK. For heaven's sake, don't try to be cynical. It's perfectly easy to be cynical. Chinese Simplified accepts : 接受. advise: 忠告, 劝告, 劝导, 劝说. bore: 钻洞. clean : 清洁, 擦拭, 乾净, 刷, 清洗, 干净. corrupt : 败坏, 贪污, 腐败. cynical: 讥诮, 冷嘲热讽的. easy: 容易, 轻而易举, 简易, 安逸, 便利, 便当, 容易的, 纵横. extremely : 极其, 不亦乐乎, 不堪, 不得了, 极了, 不胜, 极端地, 要命 , 极度, 万分. fifty: 五十, 半白. girl: 女孩, 姑娘, 女孩子. glad : 高兴, 高兴的. happy : 快乐, 愉快, 幸福, 快活, 美好, 欢乐, 高兴, 快乐的, 喜悦, 舒畅, 愉快的. induce : 劝诱, 归纳, 归结. kill: 打死, 杀害, 杀死. knowing : 博学的, 知道. linen: 亚麻布. looks : 样子, 姿容, 神态, 看. marries : 结婚. naturally : 自然, 自然地. none: 无, 没有. problematic : 成问题的, 有问题的. realise: 达. rid: 摆脱. scandalous : 恶意中伤. strongly: 强烈地. theory: 理论, 原理, 学说. washing : 洗涤.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 16 ALGERNON . My de ar fellow , it isn't easy to be an ything no wa days. There 's su ch a lot of be ast ly com petition about. [The sound of an electric bel l is he ard .] Ah! that must be Aunt August a. Only relatives, or cred itors, ever ring in t hat Wagne rian ma nne r. Now, i f I get her out of the wa y f or ten mi nutes, so tha t you c an have an op portun ity for propo sing to Gwendol en, m ay I din e with you to- night at Willis 's? JACK. I suppos e so, if you want to.% ALGERNON . Yes, but you must be serio us about it. I hate people who are not serious about me als. It is so shallow of them. [Enter LA NE , LADY B RACKNELL, an d MISS FAI RFAX. A LGERNON go es forward to me et them. Enter LADY BRACKNELL and GWEND OLEN.] LADY B RAC KNELL. Good afterno on, dear Algernon, I ho pe you are behaving very w ell. ALGERNON . I'm feeling very we ll, A unt Aug usta. LADY B RAC KNELL. Tha t's not qui te the sa me thi ng. In fact the two things rarely go together. [See s JACK a nd bows to him wi th icy coldness.] ALGERNON . [To G W ENDOLEN. ] De ar me, yo u are sma rt! GWENDOLE N. I am alw ays smart ! Am I n ot, Mr. Wort hing? JACK. You're quite perf ect , M iss Fai rfax. GWENDOLE N. Oh! I hope I am not that. It would leave no room f or dev elopments , and I Chinese Simplif ied beast ly: 残忍的, 野兽般. behaving : 表现. bell: 钟, 铃. bows : 弓. competit ion : 竞争, 比赛, 竞赛. developme nts: 发展. dine : 用膳, 吃晚餐, 进餐. electric : 电, 电气 , 电力的. feeling : 感觉, 情 绪, 感情, 情感, 思绪. fellow: 同伴, 伙伴. forw ard : 向前, 前 言, 在前, 引言, 前进的. hate: 厌恨, 忌恨, 恨, 嫌. hope : 期望, 希望, 指望. icy: 冷的. lot: 地皮, 批量, 地段. manner : 方式, 样子, 态度, 礼貌, 神态, 神气. meals : 膳食. meet : 遇见, 见面, 会合, 会晤, 聚会. nowa days: 现今, 当今, 现在, 如今. oppor tunity : 机会, 时机, 机遇. perfect: 完美, 完善, 完美的, 无话可说, 完备. proposing : 提出. rarely: 稀少, 稀少地. ring: 戒指, 环, 圈, 篮圈, 戒子, 圈子, 响铃, 电话 铃声. shallow : 粗浅, 浅 , 鄙陋, 浅的. smart : 高明, 时髦的. suppose : 假使, 猜想, 假定.

Oscar W ilde 17 intend to develop in many directions . [GWENDOLEN and JACK sit down together in the corner.] LADY BRACKNELL. I'm sorry if we are a little late, Algernon, but I was obliged to call on dear Lady Harbury. I hadn't been there since her poor husband's death. I never saw a woman so altered ; she looks quite twenty years younger . And now I'll have a cup of tea , and one of those nice cucumber sandwiches you promised me. % ALGERNON. Certainly, Aunt Augusta. [ Goes over to tea-table.] LADY BRACKNELL. Won't you come and sit here, Gwendolen? GWENDOLEN. Thanks, mamma , I'm quite comfortable where I am. ALGERNON. [Picking up empty plate in horror.] Good heavens! Lane ! Why are there no cucumber sandwiches? I ordered them specially. LANE. [Gravely.] There were no cucumbers in the market this morning, sir. I went down twice. ALGERNON. No cucumbers! LANE. No, sir. Not even for ready money. ALGERNON. That will do, Lane, thank you. LANE. Thank you, sir. [Goes out.] Chinese Simplified altered : 改变. call: 喊, 称呼, 叫, 号召, 召唤. comfortable : 舒服, 舒服的. cucumber: 黄瓜. cup: 杯, 茶杯, 杯子. dear : 亲爱, 亲爱的, 可爱的. develop : 开展, 发展, 发扬. directions : 指导, 说明, 方向. empty: 空, 空洞. goes: 去. heavens : 老天爷, 天. intend: 意图, 有意, 打算. lane: 小路, 小巷, 胡同. late: 晚, 迟, 迟慢, 迟了, 迟迟. looks : 样子, 姿容, 神态, 看. mamma : 妈妈. nice: 和蔼, 可亲, 好, 尼斯. plate : 碟, 盘子. poor: 差, 贫穷, 穷, 差劲, 贫瘠, 贫穷的, 贫苦, 困苦. ready : 就绪, 愿意, 准备, 妥当. sandwiches : 三明治. sir: 先生, 爵士. sit: 坐. sorry: 遗憾, 对不起. specially : 专门, 特殊. tea: 茶, 茶叶. thank : 感谢, 谢谢. twenty : 二十. twice: 两次. younger : 较年轻的.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 18 ALGERNON . I am greatly distr essed , Aunt Aug usta, about there being no cuc umbers, not even for re ad y money. % LADY B RAC KNELL. It rea lly m akes no ma tter, Al gernon. I ha d some crumpets wi th La dy Ha rbury, who seems to me to be living e ntirely for p leasur e now. ALGERNON . I hear her h air has turned quite go ld fro m grief . LADY B RAC KNELL. It certainly h as changed its colour . Fro m what cause I, of course, cannot say. [ALGE RNO N cros ses an d hand s tea.] Thank yo u. I've qu ite a trea t for you to- night, Alge rnon. I am go ing to send you down w ith Mary Far quhar . She is such a nice w oman, and so attentive to her husb and. It's deli ghtful to watch them. ALGERNON . I am afraid, Aunt A ugusta, I shall have to give up the pleasure of dining w ith you to-night aft er a ll. LADY B RAC KNELL. [Frown ing.] I hope not, Algernon. It would p ut my table comple tely out. Your unc le would have to dine up stairs. Fortuna tely he is accustomed to tha t. ALGERNON . It is a great bore, an d, I need hardly say, a terrible di sappo intm en t to me, but the fact is I have just had a tel egra m to say tha t my poor f riend Bunbury i s very ill ag ain . [Exc han ges glances wi th J ACK.] They seem to thi nk I shoul d be with him. LADY B RAC KNELL. It is very strange. This Mr. Bunbur y seems to su ffer from curiously bad health. Chinese Simplif ied attentive : 仔细, 细心, 特别留心 的. cannot : 不能, 不足, 不得, 不可, 不克, 未可. caus e: 原因, 致使, 事业, 缘故, 缘由, 造成. changed : 改变. colour : 颜色, 粉 饰. complet ely: 全然, 十分, 截然, 总体, 一干二净, 完全地, 十足. disa ppointme nt: 失望. distr essed: 苦恼, 哀伤. entirely: 完全, 全部地. exchanges: 交换. fortu nately: 幸好, 恰巧, 幸亏, 幸好地. glanc es: 匆匆一看 . gold : 金, 黄金. greatly : 大幅度地, 大大地, 大大. grief: 哀思, 哀痛, 悲伤, 忧伤. ill: 生病, 不善, 不完全, 麻烦的, 拙劣的. living : 活泼的. send : 派遣, 派出, 送, 发送, 寄, 投, 派. strange : 奇怪, 奇特, 陌生, 奇异的, 生疏. suff er: 受苦, 蒙受, 遭受, 受到, 遭到. telegram : 电报. terribl e: 可怕, 糟糕, 可怕的. treat : 对待. upstairs : 楼上, 在楼上. watch: 观看, 手表, 监视.

Oscar W ilde 19 ALGERNON. Yes; poor Bunbury is a dreadful invalid. LADY BRACKNELL. Well, I must say, Algernon, that I think it is high time that Mr. Bunbury made up his mind whether he was going to live or to die. This shilly-shallying with the question is absurd. Nor do I in any way approve of the modern sympathy with invalids. I consider it morbid. Illness of any kind is hardly a thing to be encouraged in others. Health is the primary duty of life. I am always telling that to your poor uncle, but he never seems to take much notice... as far as any improvement in his ailment goes. I should be much obliged if you would ask Mr. Bunbury, from me, to be kind enough not to have a relapse on Saturday, for I rely on you to arrange my music for me. It is my last reception , and one wants something that will encourage conversation, particularly at the end of the season when every one has practically said whatever they had to say, which, in most cases, was probably not much. % ALGERNON. I'll speak to Bunbury, Aunt Augusta, if he is still conscious , and I think I can promise you he'll be all right by Saturday. Of course the music is a great difficulty. You see, if one plays good music, people don't listen, and if one plays bad music people don't talk. But I'll ran over the programme I've drawn out, if you will kindly come into the next room for a moment. LADY BRACKNELL. Thank you, Algernon. It is very thoughtful of you. [Rising, and following ALGERNON.] I'm sure th e programme will be delightful, after a few expurgations. French songs I cannot possibly allow. People always seem to think that they are improper, and either look shocked, which is vulgar, or laugh , which is worse. But German sounds a thoroughly respectable language, and indeed, I believe is so. Gwendolen, you will accompany me. GWENDOLEN. Certainly, mamma. Chinese Simplified accompany : 陪伴, 陪同, 伴奏, 伴, 陪. ailment: 病, 疾病, 病痛, 小病. arrange: 整理, 擘画, 安排, 布置. conscious: 察觉, 有意识, 清醒的, 自觉. conversation : 谈话, 会话. die: 逝世, 不讳, 死. encourage : 助长, 激励, 鼓励, 勉励.illness: 病, 病症, 疾病. improper: 不端, 不合适, 不当, 不适当的. improvement : 改善, 改进. kindly: 和蔼, 可亲, 仁慈, 慈祥, 善良地. laugh: 笑. practically : 几乎, 实际上, 实际上地. promise: 答应, 约定, 承诺, 誓言, 诺言, 允诺. reception : 招待, 招待会, 欢迎, 接收, 接待. relapse: 再发, 复旧, 故态复萌. rely: 依靠. respectable : 可尊敬, 可尊敬的. rising: 攀升, 新兴, 高升的. songs: 歌. sounds : 声音. sympathy : 同情. thoroughly: 好好儿地, 彻底地, 一干二净. thoughtful : 周到, 懂事, 沉思的, 心眼大, 有心眼.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 20 [LADY B RACKNELL and ALGE RNO N go into the music -roo m, GWENDOLE N remai ns behind.] JACK. Charming day it h as be en, Mis s Fairfax.% GWENDOLE N. Pra y don't tal k to me about the weath er, Mr. Wort hing. Whene ver people talk to me about the wea ther, I al ways fee l q uite cert ain t hat they m ean somethin g else. And tha t ma kes me so nerv ous . JACK. I do mea n something else. GWENDOLE N. I thought so. In fact, I am n ever wrong . JACK. And I wo uld like to be allowed to take adv antage of Lad y Brackn ell's tem porary ab sence... GWENDOLE N. I would certain ly adv ise you to do so. Ma mma has a way o f co ming back sudden ly into a room tha t I ha ve of ten ha d to speak to her a bout. JACK. [Nervo usly.] Miss Fair fax , ever since I m et you I have admired you more than any gir l... I h ave ever met s ince... I met yo u. GWENDOLE N. Yes, I am quite well aw are of t he f act. A nd I oft en wi sh t hat in p ublic, at an y rate , yo u had been more demonstrative . Fo r me you have alw ays h ad an irres istib le f ascin atio n. Even before I met you I was far from indi ffe rent to you. [JACK looks at her in amazement .] W e live , as I hope yo u know, M r Worthing, in an age of ideals. The fact is cons tantly mentioned in the more expens ive m onth ly m agazin es, a nd has reache d the prov inc ial pulpit s, I am told; and m y ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. There is somet hing in t hat name t hat inspi res absolu te c onfide nce. The Chinese Simplif ied absolute : 绝对, 绝对的. advan tage: 好处, 裨益, 优点. advise: 忠告, 劝告, 劝导, 劝说. certainly : 一定, 保管, 当然, 理所当然, 岂不, 肯定地. confidenc e: 信心, 自信. constantly : 一向, 不住, 经常地, 时时. demonstr ative: 论证的, 指示的. exp ensive: 昂贵, 高价, 昂贵的. fascinat ion : 魅力, 迷恋. ideal: 理想, 理想的, 志愿. ideals: 理想. indifferent: 冷淡, 无关紧要, 漠不关心 的. irresi stible : 不能抵抗, 不能抵抗 的. live : 住, 活, 居住. mag azines : 杂志. mamm a: 妈妈. met : 遇见了. monthly : 每月, 单月. nervous : 神经过敏 , 紧张, 紧张的. provincia l: 省的. rate: 比率, 速度, 率, 速率, 流量, 等级. reach ed: 到达. remain s: 遗体, 残骸, 剩余物. sudde nly : 忽然, 突然地, 骤, 猛然, 一下. tempo rary : 一时, 临时, 暂时, 暂时的, 临时的. weath er: 天气. wrong : 不对, 不平, 错误的, 错误.

Oscar W ilde 21 moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you. JACK . You really love me, Gwendolen? GWENDOLEN. Passionately! JACK. Darling! You don't know how happy you've made me. % GWENDOLEN. My own Ernest! JACK. But you don't really mean to say that yo u couldn't love me if my name wasn't Ernest? GWENDOLEN. But your name is Ernest. JACK. Yes, I know it is. But supposing it was something else? Do you mean to say you couldn't love me then? GWENDOLEN. [Glibly.] Ah! that is clearly a metaphysical speculation, and like most metaphysical speculations has very little reference at all to the actual facts of real life, as we know them. JACK. Personally, darling, to speak quite candidly, I don't much care about the name of Ernest... I don't think the name suits me at all. GWENDOLEN. It suits you perfectly. It is a divine name. It has a music of its own. It produces vibrations . Chinese Simplified actual: 现实, 实际, 实际的, 真. clearly: 逼真, 清楚地, 显而易见. darling : 宝宝, 宝贝, 老公, 老婆, 打令. divine: 神圣, 神的. facts: 事实. friend : 朋友, 熟人, 友人. happy : 快乐, 愉快, 幸福, 快活, 美好, 欢乐, 高兴, 快乐的, 喜悦, 舒畅, 愉快的. jack: 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. music : 音乐, 民乐, 曲子. perfectly : 完美, 完美地. reference: 参考, 参考书. speak: 说, 讲. speculation : 推测, 思索. speculations : 思索. supposing: 假若. vibrations: 振动.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 22 JACK. Wel l, re ally , Gwendolen, I must say t hat I t hink t here are lot s of other much nicer n ames. I think Jack, for inst ance, a charming name . GWENDOLE N. Jac k?... No , there is very little music in the nam e Jac k, if any at al l, indeed . It does not thri ll. It produce s ab sol utely no vibrati ons ... I have kno wn sever al Jacks, and th ey a ll, w ithout ex ception , wer e m ore than us ually plain . Besid es, Jack is a not orious dom estic ity for John! And I pity an y w oman who is m arried to a man called John. She would prob ably never be allowed to know the en tranc ing pleasure of a single moment's solitud e. The only re ally saf e na me is Ernest JACK. Gwendolen, I must get chr istened at on ce - I me an we must get married at once. There is no time to be lost. % GWENDOLE N. Marr ied , Mr . Worthing? JACK. [Astoun ded. ] Well ... s urely. You know that I love you, and yo u led me to bel ieve, Mi ss Fa irfa x, tha t you were not absol utely ind ifferen t to m e. GWENDOLE N. I adore yo u. But you have n't proposed to me yet. No thi ng ha s been sa id at all about m arriage. The subject has not eve n been touch ed on. JACK. Well... may I propose to yo u now? GWENDOLE N. I think it wou ld be an adm irable opportunity. And to spar e you an y possib le dis appoint ment, Mr. Wort hing, I think it only fair to tell you quite frankly before-h and that I am fully de term ined to acc ept yo u. JACK. Gwendolen! Chinese Simplif ied accept: 将就, 接受, 采纳, 受, 同意. admir able: 令人钦 佩, 令人钦佩的. adore: 爱慕, 崇拜. charm ing: 迷人, 迷人的. determin ed: 坚决, 有决心, 决心, 已决定的. domesti city: 家庭 生活. entrancing: 使人 神魂颠倒 的. exception : 例外. fair: 公平, 博览会 , 清澈, 公正, 公道, 展, 直. frankly : 索性, 真诚地, 坦白地. fully : 十分, 完全地. indifferent: 冷淡, 无关紧要, 漠不关心 的. led : 光二极管, 领 导. notor ious : 恶名昭 彰, 恶名昭彰的. pity : 怜悯, 遗憾, 哀怜, 同情. pla in: 平原. propose : 提议, 倡导, 倡议, 提出. safe: 安全, 保险, 安全的, 稳妥, 保险箱. single : 单一, 单 独的, 单身的, 唯一的, 选拔. solitude : 单独, 孤 独. spar e: 备用, 饶恕. subje ct: 科目, 主 题, 主语, 话题, 题目, 议题, 标题, 主词, 主体, 学科, 课. thrill : 颤抖, 发抖. usua lly: 平常, 常常, 通常, 素来, 照例.

Oscar W ilde 23 GWENDOLEN. Yes, Mr. Worthing, what have you got to say to me? JACK . You know what I have got to say to you. % GWENDOLEN. Yes, but you don't say it. JACK. Gwendolen, will you marry me? [Goes on his knees.] GWENDOLEN. Of course I will, darling . How long you have been about it! I am afraid you have had very little experience in how to propose. JACK. My own one, I have never loved any one in the world but you. GWENDOLEN. Yes, but men often propose for practice. I know my brother Gerald does. All my girl-friends tell me so. What wonderfully blue eyes you have, Ernest! They are quite, quite, blue. I hope you will always look at me just like that, especially when there are other people present. [Enter LADY BRACKNELL.] LADY BRACKNELL. Mr. Worthing! Rise, sir, from this semi-recumbent posture. It is most indecorous . GWENDOLEN. Mamma! [He tries to rise; she restrains him.] I must beg you to retire. This is no place for you. Besides, Mr. Worthing has not quite finished yet. LADY BRACKNELL. Finished what, may I ask? GWENDOLEN. I am engaged to Mr. Worthing, mamma. [They rise together.] Chinese Simplified afraid: 危惧, 恐怕, 害怕. ask: 问, 询问. beg : 恳求, 乞求, 要求. besides : 此外, 另外, 除了, 并且, 再说, 况且. blue: 蓝, 蓝色, 青. brother : 弟兄, 兄弟. course: 课程, 经过, 进程, 路程, 路线, 学科, 过程. darling : 宝宝, 宝贝, 老公, 老婆, 打令. enter: 进, 进入, 回车键, 入. especially : 格外, 尤其, 特别, 尤其是, 份外, 特别是. finished: 完结了的, 完蛋了的. goes: 去. hope : 期望, 希望, 指望. indecorous : 不合礼节的. jack: 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. lady : 女士, 夫人. mamma : 妈妈. marry: 结婚. posture: 姿势, 姿态. practice : 演习, 实际, 操练, 作法, 练习, 实践, 实习. present: 礼物, 现在, 这次, 呈送, 眼前, 当前, 当今, 出席的, 递交, 呈献, 出席. propose : 提议, 倡导, 倡议, 提出. retire: 退休. rise: 升起, 上升, 上涨, 兴起, 增大. sir: 先生, 爵士.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 24 LADY B RAC KNELL. Pardon me, y ou are not engage d to any one. When you do become engage d to some one, I, or your fat her, should h is h ealth permit him, wi ll i nform you of the fact. An enga ge me nt sho uld come on a young girl as a surpris e, pleasant or unpl eas an t, as the ca se may be. It i s hardl y a ma tter tha t she could be allo wed to arr ange for her self... And now I have a few q uestions to put to you, Mr. Worthing. While I am making these inqu iries , yo u, Gwendolen, will wa it for me below in t he carr iage .% GWENDOLE N. [R eproa chfully.] Ma mma ! LADY B RAC KNELL. In the carriag e, Gwendole n! [GWEND OLEN goes to the door. She and JACK blow k isses to each other behind LADY BRA CKNELL'S b ack. LADY BRACK NEL L looks vagu ely ab out as if she cou ld not understand what the nois e wa s. Fin ally turns ro und.] Gwend olen, the car riage! GWENDOLE N. Yes, m amma. [Goes out, looking b ack at JACK.] LADY B RAC KNELL. [Sitting down.] You ca n take a seat , M r. Worthing. [Looks in her pocket for no te-book an d p encil .] JACK. Thank y ou, L ady Br ackne ll, I prefer s tan ding . LADY B RAC KNELL. [Penc il and n ote-book in h and. ] I fee l bound to tel l you tha t you are not down on my list of eligi ble young men, alth ough I have the same list as the dear Duchess of Bolton has. W e w ork together, in fact. H owever, I am quite ready to enter your na me, shoul d your an swers be wh at a re ally affect ion ate mother requ ires . Do y ou smo ke? JACK. Well, y es, I m ust admit I smoke. Chinese Simplif ied affection ate: 深爱, 亲热, 深爱的. answers: 回答. below : 下面, 以下. blow : 吹, 打击. bound : 限 , 边际, 弹回, 范围. carriage: 车厢, 马车, 四轮马车, 炮架. eligibl e: 合格, 合格的. engag ement: 订婚, 约会, 婚约. few : 少数, 很少. finally: 最后, 到底, 终于, 最後, 总算. inquir ies: 询问. kisses : 吻. list : 名单, 列举, 开列, 目录, 编目 , 列出, 列表. noise : 噪音, 噪声 , 响声, 吵闹声, 吵声. permit: 容许, 允许, 许可. pocke t: 口袋, 衣袋, 兜儿, 窟窿. prefer: 比较喜 欢, 喜欢. que stions : 问题. require s: 要求. seat : 座位, 位置, 位子, 席位, 座. smoke : 烟, 抽烟, 烟雾, 硝烟, 吸烟, 熏. standing : 站立, 地位. surprise: 使吃惊, 惊奇, 惊骇. unde rstand: 了解, 明白, 理解, 领会. unple asant: 不愉快, 不愉快的. vaguel y: 含糊地, 模糊地. wait: 等待, 等, 伺候.

Oscar W ilde 25 LADY BRACKNELL. I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is. How old are you? JACK. Twenty-nine. % LADY BRACKNELL. A very good age to be married at. I have always been of opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know? JACK. [After some hesitation.] I know nothing, Lady Bracknell. LADY BRACKNELL. I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance . Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, ed ucation produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes , and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square. What is your income? JACK. Between seven and eight thousand a year. LADY BRACKNELL. [Makes a note in her book.] In land, or in investments? JACK. In investments, chiefly. LADY BRACKNELL. That is satisfactory . What between the duties expected of one during one's lifetime , and the duties exacted from one after one's death, land has ceased to be either a profit or a pleasure. It gives one po sition, and prevents one from keeping it up. That's all that can be said about land. Chinese Simplified acts: 作用, 法案. bloom : 花开, 开花. chiefly : 多半, 主要地. classes: 类别. danger : 危险. delicate : 精美, 纤小, 纤巧, 纤弱, 精细的, 细致. duties: 税, 职责. eight: 八. exotic : 舶来品, 外来物, 外来的. expected : 预期. fruit: 水果, 果实. idle: 懒惰, 空闲的. ignorance : 无知, 忽略. income: 收入, 营收. investments : 投资. keeping: 保管, 保持. lead: 领导, 铅, 带领, 主角, 率领. lifetime : 百年, 辈子, 毕生, 一生, 终生, 寿命. note: 便条, 按语, 看到, 注意, 声调, 笔记, 注解. occupation : 职业. opinion: 意见, 看法, 意思, 见解. pleased: 满意, 高兴的. profit: 盈利, 裨益, 成果, 收益, 盈余, 获利, 利润, 利益, 盈馀. prove: 证明. satisfactory : 满意的, 称心, 圆满. thousand: 千. unsound: 不健全的. upper: 帮子, 上面的. violence : 暴力.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 26 JACK . I have a co un try house w ith some land , of cour se, atta che d to i t, about fifteen hundr ed acre s, I be lieve; b ut I don't depend on tha t for my re al inc ome . In fact , as far as I can m ake out , the p oachers are t he only p eop le who m ake anything out of it. % LADY BRAC KNELL. A country ho use! How m any bedrooms? Well, th at point can be cleared up aft erw ards . Y ou h ave a to wn house, I hope? A girl with a simp le, un spoiled nature , lik e G wendolen, co uld hardly be ex pe cte d to reside in the country. JACK. Wel l, I own a hous e in B elgr ave S quare, but it is l et by t he year t o Lady Bloxham . Of course, I c an get it bac k when ev er I like, at six month s' no tice. LADY B RAC KNELL. Lady Bloxh am? I don't kn ow her. JACK. Oh, she goes about very little. Sh e is a lady cons iderably ad vanc ed in y ears. LADY B RAC KNELL. Ah, no wa days tha t is no gu ara ntee of resp ect ability of ch aracter. Wh at number in Be lgr ave Sq ua re? JACK. 14 9. LADY B RAC KNELL. [Sha king her head.] The unfash ion ab le side. I thought there wa s somethi ng. However, th at could ea sil y be altered. JACK. Do you mea n the fa shi on, or the si de? LADY B RAC KNELL. [Sternly.] Bot h, if necessar y, I presume. What are your polities? Chinese Simplif ied advan ced: 先进的 , 高级, 深造, 先进, 高等的. afterwards: 后来, 然后, 以后, 此后, 後, 然後, 后, 过后, 底下, 此後, 後来. altered: 改变. attached: 附配. character: 性格, 字, 文字, 特征, 字符, 色彩, 字元. con siderably: 相 当, 非常地. depend: 依赖, 取决. easily : 容易地, 轻 易. exp ected: 预期. fash ion : 时尚, 方式, 时装. fifteen: 十五. guarantee: 保证, 担保, 确保, 包管. hardly: 几乎不, 毫不, 辛苦地. hundr ed: 百, 佰. jack : 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. lady : 女士, 夫人. land : 土地, 着陆, 陆地. nature : 性质, 大自然, 性格, 本性, 自然, 本质, 性情. necessary : 必要, 必需的. notice : 通知, 注 意, 布告, 注意到, 启事. nowa days: 现今, 当今, 现在, 如今. presume : 假定. reside: 居住. resp ectability : 可敬. unf ashiona ble: 不 流行的, 不时髦 的, 过时的. wheneve r: 无论何 时, 每当.

Oscar W ilde 27 JACK. Well, I am afraid I really have none. I am a Liberal Unionist. LADY BRACKNELL. Oh, they count as Tories. They dine with us. Or come in the evening , at any rate. Now to minor matters . Are your parents living? JACK. I have lost both my parents. % LADY BRACKNELL. To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness. Who was your father? He was evidently a man of some wealth . Was he born in what the Radical papers call the purple of commerce, or did he rise from the ranks of the aristocracy ? JACK. I am afraid I really don't know. The fact is, Lady Bracknell, I said I had lost my parents. It would be nearer the truth to say that my parents seem to have lost me... I don't actually know who I am by birth. I was... well, I was found. LADY BRACKNELL. Found! JACK. The late Mr. Thomas Cardew, an old gentleman of a very charitable and kindly disposition , found me, and gave me the name of Worthing, because he happened to have a first -class ticket for Worthing in his pocket at the time. Worthing is a place in Sussex. It is a seaside resort. LADY BRACKNELL. Where did the charitable gentleman wh o had a first-class ticket for this seaside resort find you? JACK. [Gravely.] In a hand-bag. LADY BRACKNELL. A hand-bag? Chinese Simplified aristocracy : 贵族社会, 贵族. birth: 出生, 起源, 诞生, 出身, 开始. born: 出生, 天生的. carelessness : 疏忽. charitable: 仁慈, 仁慈的. commerce : 商业, 商务. count: 计数, 伯爵, 计算, 有价值, 认为. dine: 用膳, 吃晚餐, 进餐. disposition : 意向, 性格, 脾气, 安排, 部署. evening: 晚, 黄昏, 傍晚, 晚上. first-class : 第一流, 第一流的. gentleman : 绅士. happened: 发生. kindly: 和蔼, 可亲, 仁慈, 慈祥, 善良地. lose: 丢失, 丧失, 失掉, 遗失. lost: 遗失. matters : 事, 事宜. minor: 未成年人, 未成年者, 小, 次要的, 较小的. misfortune : 不幸, 变故. parent: 父母亲, 家长, 母亲, 父亲. parents : 父母, 双亲, 家长, 母亲, 父亲. purple: 紫色, 紫色的. ranks: 队伍, 行列, 等级. resort : 娱乐场, 求助. seaside : 海边, 海滨. ticket: 票. wealth : 财富, 财帛.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 28 JACK. [Ver y ser iou sly.] Y es, L ady Brackn ell. I was in a h and-bag - a som ewhat large , bla ck leathe r hand-b ag, with hand les to it - an or dina ry hand -bag in fa ct.% LADY B RAC KNELL. In what loca lity did this Mr. Jame s, o r Thomas, C ardew come acros s this ordina ry ha nd -bag? JACK. In t he cloak-r oom at Vict oria Station. It was given t o him in mistak e for hi s own. LADY B RAC KNELL. Th e cloa k-room a t Vi ctoria Station? JACK. Yes. The Brig hton line. LADY B RAC KNELL. The line is imma teria l. Mr. Worthin g, I confes s I feel somewh at bew ild ered by w hat you have just told m e. To be born, or at an y rate bred , in a hand-b ag, whether it h ad h andles o r not, seem s to me to dis play a con tempt for the ordin ary de cencies of family life that reminds one of the worst exc ess es of the French Revolution . And I presume you know what that unfortu nate movem ent led t o? As for the part icu lar loca lity in w hich t he han d-bag wa s found , a clo ak-room at a railway station might serve to conceal a so cial indisc retion - has prob ably, indee d, be en used for that purpos e before now- but it cou ld h ard ly be r egarded as an assured bas is for a r ecogn ised position in good soc iety. JACK. May I ask yo u then what you would advi se me to do? I need hardly say I would do an ything in the world to ens ure Gwendolen's ha ppiness. LADY B RAC KNELL. I would stron gly advise yo u, Mr. Worthing, to try and acquire some relations Chinese Simplif ied acquire : 获得, 获取, 得, 养成. advise: 忠告, 劝告, 劝导, 劝说. assur ed: 被保险 人, 确实的. basis: 基础, 根据, 依据, 道理, 基. bewildered : 迷惑. bred: 饲养. conceal : 隐蔽, 包藏, 暗藏, 掩盖, 隐瞒. confess : 忏悔, 供认, 招认. conte mpt: 轻视, 卑视. decencie s: 庄重. displa y: 陈列, 搬弄, 表现, 展示, 显示. ensure: 确保, 保证. excesses: 超越. handle s: 柄. happine ss: 幸福, 快乐. immateri al: 非实质. indiscretion : 不慎重, 轻率. jam es: 雅各书, 詹 姆士. leather : 皮革, 皮. locali ty: 位置. mistak e: 错误, 差 错. movem ent: 运动, 移动, 动作, 动态, 手足. presume : 假定. pur pose : 目的, 用意. railway: 铁路, 轨道. serve: 侍候, 伺候, 待候. station : 站, 车站. unf ortuna te: 不幸 , 不幸的, 不幸的人. wor st: 最坏的.

Oscar W ilde 29 as soon as possible, and to make a definite effort to produce at any rate one parent, of either sex, before the season is quite over. % JACK. Well, I don't see how I could possibly manage to do that. I can produce the hand-bag at any moment. It is in my dressing-room at home. I really think that should satisfy you, Lady Bracknell. LADY BRACKNELL. Me, sir! What has it to do with me? You can hardly imagine that I and Lord Bracknell would dream of allowing our only daughter - a girl brought up with the utmost care - to marry into a cloak-room, and form an alliance with a parcel ? Good morning, Mr. Worthing! [LADY BRACKNELL sweeps out in majestic indignation.] JACK. Good morning! [ALGERNON, from the other room, strikes up the Wedding March. Jack looks perfectly furious, and goes to the door.] For goodness' sake don't play that ghastly tune , Algy. How idiotic you are! [The music stops and ALGERNON enters cheerily.] ALGERNON. Didn't it go off all righ t, old boy? You don't mean to say Gwendolen refused you? I know it is a way she has. She is always refusing people. I think it is most ill-natured of her. JACK. Oh, Gwendolen is as right as a trivet. As far as she is concerned, we are engaged. Her mother is perfectly unbearable. Never met such a Gorgon... I don't really know what a Gorgon is like, but I am quite sure that Lady Bracknell is one. In any case, she is a monster, without being a myth, which is rather unfair... I beg your pardon , Algy, I suppose I shouldn't talk about your own aunt in that way before you. ALGERNON. My dear boy, I love hearing my relations abused. It is the only thing that Chinese Simplified alliance: 联盟, 同盟, 联合. allowing : 允许. beg: 恳求, 乞求, 要求. brought : 携带. daughter : 女儿, 女孩儿, 闺女. dream: 梦寐, 梦见, 做梦, 梦想. effort: 功夫, 承诺, 工夫, 努力. furious : 狂怒, 猖狂, 狂怒的, 气愤. ghastly: 恐怖的. goodness : 美德. hearing: 听力, 听见. idiotic: 白痴般, 愚蠢的. ill-natured : 怀着恶意. imagine: 想像, 设想. majestic : 崇高, 壮丽, 雄壮, 雄伟的, 盛大, 浩浩荡荡. manage: 符合, 管理, 处理. monster : 妖怪, 怪物, 妖物. myth: 神话. parcel : 包裹, 包, 邮包. pardon : 赦免, 包容, 原谅, 宽恕, 饶恕. play: 表演, 戏剧, 游戏, 玩, 演出, 戏, 剧本, 扮演, 悬念, 弹奏, 奏. refusing : 拒绝. satisfy: 满意. season : 季节, 季, 时节. sex: 性. stops : 停止. strikes : 打击. tune: 调子, 调. unbearable : 不堪忍受, 不能忍受的. utmost: 极度的.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 30 ma kes me p ut up wi th them a t all. Rel ations are simp ly a tedious p ack of peopl e, who ha ven't got the remotest knowledg e of how t o live, nor the smalles t instinct about when to di e.% JACK. Oh, that i s non sense! ALGERNON . It isn't! JACK. Well, I won 't argu e about t he ma tter. You alwa ys wa nt to a rgue about thi ngs. ALGERNON . That is ex act ly what things were originally ma de for. JACK. Upon my wo rd, if I thought tha t, I'd shoot myse lf... [A p ause.] You don't thi nk there is any ch anc e of Gwendo len becoming like her mother in abo ut a hundred and fifty ye ars , do you, A lgy? ALGERNON . All women b ecome lik e t heir mot hers. That is t heir tra ged y. No man does . That's h is. JACK. Is that clev er? ALGERNON . It is pe rfectly phrased! an d quite as true as an y ob serv ation in ci vilised life shoul d be. JACK. I am sic k to dea th of clev erness . Ev eryb ody is c lever nowadays . Y ou can 't go anyw her e without me eting clever pe opl e. The thi ng ha s be come an abs olute public nuis ance . I wish to good ness we had a few fo ols left . ALGERNON . We h ave. Chinese Simplif ied absolute : 绝对, 绝对的. anywhere: 无论何 处. argu e: 争辩, 计较. chance : 机会. clev er: 高明, 聪明的, 伶俐, 玲珑, 机灵, 巧妙, 聪明. clev ern ess: 聪明. everybody : 每个 人, 各位. goodness : 美德. instinct : 本能. knowle dge: 知识, 学问, 智慧, 见闻, 了解. meeting : 会议, 集会, 会晤, 会见, 聚会. nonse nse: 无聊, 废话, 屁话. nor : 也不. nowa days: 现今, 当今, 现在, 如今. nuisa nce : 损害, 讨厌的事 物. observ ation: 观测, 观察. origin ally : 本来, 原来, 原本, 当初 , 起初. pack: 包装, 包扎, 包, 背包. perfec tly: 完美, 完美地. shoot : 射击, 芽, 射门. sick : 生病. simply : 简直, 只是, 根本, 简单地, 高低, 只管, 只需, 只顾. small est: 最少. tedious : 乏味, 厌烦的. tragedy : 悲剧. true : 真实, 确实, 确有其事, 真正, 属实, 对头, 真正的. wor d: 字, 词, 单词, 誓言.

Oscar W ilde 31 JACK. I should extremely like to meet them. What do they talk about? ALGERNON. The fools? Oh! about the clever people, of course. % JACK. What fools! ALGERNON. By the way, did you tell Gwendolen the truth about your being Ernest in town, and Jack in the country? JACK. [In a very patronising manner.] My dear fellow, the truth isn't quite the sort of thing one tells to a nice, sweet , refined girl. What extraordinary ideas you have about the way to behave to a woman! ALGERNON. The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty , and to some one else, if she is plain. JACK. Oh, that is nonsense. ALGERNON. What about your brother? What about the profligate Ernest? JACK. Oh, before the end of the week I shall have got rid of him. I'll say he died in Paris of apoplexy . Lots of people die of apoplexy, quite suddenly, don't they? ALGERNON. Yes, but it's hereditary, my dear fellow. It's a sort of thing that runs in families . You had much better say a severe chill. JACK. You are sure a severe chill isn't hereditary, or anything of that kind? Chinese Simplified apoplexy : 中风. behave: 举止, 表现, 行为. brother : 弟兄, 兄弟. chill: 寒冷. clever: 高明, 聪明的, 伶俐, 玲珑, 机灵, 巧妙, 聪明. dear: 亲爱, 亲爱的, 可爱的. die: 逝世, 不讳, 死. extraordinary : 特殊, 非常, 非凡的, 了不起. extremely: 极其, 不亦乐乎, 不堪, 不得了, 极了, 不胜, 极端地, 要命 , 极度, 万分. families: 家庭. fellow: 同伴, 伙伴. hereditary : 遗传, 遗传的. jack: 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. nice: 和蔼, 可亲, 好, 尼斯. nonsense : 无聊, 废话, 屁话. plain: 平原. pretty : 漂亮, 美丽的, 秀丽. profligate : 浪子. refined: 文雅, 精制, 精炼的, 斯文, 优雅的. rid: 摆脱. runs : 跑. severe : 严重, 严竣, 严厉, 严峻, 剧烈, 严肃的. suddenly : 忽然, 突然地, 骤, 猛然, 一下. sweet: 甜, 甜食, 糖果. truth: 真理, 实话.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 32 ALGERNON . Of course it isn't! JACK . Very we ll, then. My poor broth er Erne st to carried of f sudd enly , in Pari s, by a severe ch ill . That gets rid of him .% ALGERNON . But I thought you s aid that ... M iss Carde w was a little too much interested in your poor brother Ernest? Won't she feel his loss a go od deal ? JACK. Oh, t hat is all ri ght . Cec ily is not a silly rom antic girl, I am gla d to say. She has got a cap ital ap pe tite, goes long wa lks, and pay s no atten tion at all to her lessons. ALGERNON . I would rather like to see C ecily. JACK. I will t ake ve ry good care you neve r do . She is exces sively pr etty, a nd s he i s only j ust eigh teen . ALGERNON . Ha ve you told Gwendol en yet tha t you ha ve a n excessi vely pretty ward who is on ly j ust eight een? JACK. Oh! one doesn't bl urt these thi ngs out to peopl e. Ceci ly and Gwendol en are perf ectly certain to be ex trem ely great friends. I'll bet you anythin g you lik e that hal f an ho ur after they ha ve me t, th ey wi ll be c alling e ach othe r sis ter. ALGERNON . W omen only do that w hen they have called each o ther a lot of other things fir st. Now , m y dear boy, if w e w ant to get a good table at W illis's, w e really must go and dress . Do yo u know it is n early seve n? JACK. [Irrit ably.] O h! It alw ays is near ly seven. Chinese Simplif ied appe tite : 食欲. attention : 注意, 注意力. bet: 打赌, 赌. brother : 弟兄, 兄弟. capit al: 首都, 本钱, 资本, 本金. chill : 寒冷. deal: 处理. dear: 亲爱, 亲爱 的, 可爱的. dress: 服装, 打扮. eigh teen: 十八. excessively: 过於, 极端的. extremely: 极其, 不亦乐乎, 不堪, 不得了, 极了, 不胜, 极端地, 要命 , 极度, 万分. glad : 高兴, 高兴的. hour : 小时, 钟头, 钟点, 现在. interest ed: 有兴趣 , 感兴趣 的. jack : 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. loss : 亏损, 损失. met : 遇见了. pays: 支付. perfec tly: 完美, 完美地. pretty : 漂亮, 美丽的, 秀丽. rid: 摆脱. rom antic : 浪漫, 浪漫的. sev en: 七. sev ere: 严重, 严 竣, 严厉, 严峻, 剧烈, 严肃的. silly : 愚蠢, 糊涂, 愚蠢的, 傻的, 傻. sister : 姐妹. walks: 步行. ward: 病房.

Oscar W ilde 33 ALGERNON. Well, I'm hungry. % JACK . I never knew you when you weren't... ALGERNON. What shall we do after dinner? Go to a theatre? JACK. Oh no! I loathe listening . ALGERNON. Well, let us go to the Club? JACK. Oh, no! I hate talking. ALGERNON. Well, we might trot round to the Empire at ten? JACK. Oh, no! I can't bear looking at things. It is so silly. ALGERNON. Well, what shall we do? JACK. Nothing! ALGERNON. It is awfully hard work doing nothing. However, I don't mind hard work where there is no definite object of any kind. [Enter LANE .] LANE. Miss Fairfax. [Enter GWENDOLEN. LANE goes out.] ALGERNON. Gwendolen, upon my word! Chinese Simplified awfully : 不亦乐乎. bear: 熊, 忍受, 背负, 忍耐, 承担, 担负, 空头, 堪. definite : 肯定, 明确, 确定, 确切, 具体, 明确的, 确凿. dinner: 晚餐, 正餐. enter: 进, 进入, 回车键, 入. goes: 去. hard: 硬, 坚固, 沉重, 辛苦, 艰苦, 坚硬. hate: 厌恨, 忌恨, 恨, 嫌. jack: 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. lane: 小路, 小巷, 胡同. listening : 听. loathe: 鄙弃, 憎恶, 厌恶, 蔑视. object: 对象, 物件, 宾语, 物体, 物, 事物. silly: 愚蠢, 糊涂, 愚蠢的, 傻的, 傻. theatre : 剧场. trot: 快步跑, 小跑. word : 字, 词, 单词, 誓言.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 34 GWENDOLE N. Algy , kin dly turn yo ur back. I have so mething very particular to say to Mr. Worthing. % ALGERNON . Re ally, G wen dolen, I don't think I c an allow t his at all. GWENDOLE N. Algy , you always adopt a strict ly im moral at titud e towa rds li fe. You a re not qu ite ol d eno ugh to do that. [ALGE RNO N retires to the fi repla ce.] JACK. My own dar ling! GWENDOLE N. Ernest, we may never be married. Fro m the expression on ma mma's face I fear we neve r shall. Few parents now adays p ay any reg ard to wha t thei r chi ldren sa y to them. The old -fashione d respect for the young is fast dyin g out. What ever i nflue nce I ever had over mamma, I lost at the age of three. But al though she may preven t us from becoming m an an d wife , and I may marry some one else , and marry often, nothing that she can poss ibly do c an alter my eter nal d evo tion to you. JACK. Dear Gwen dolen! GWENDOLE N. The story of y our roman tic orig in, as relat ed to me by ma mma , with unpleas ing comments, has naturally st irred the deeper fibr es of my nature. Your Christian name has an irresistible fascin ation . The sim plic ity of your char acter make s you ex quis itely incompreh ens ible to me. Your town addr ess at th e Alb any I have. Wh at i s your addre ss in the country ? JACK. The Mano r H ouse, Woo lton, Hertfo rdsh ire. Chinese Simplif ied addr ess: 地址, 致 词, 演说. alter: 更改, 变更, 修改, 改变, 改. attitude : 态度, 姿态, 架势. devotion : 热诚, 忠诚. dying : 不行了, 垂 死, 垂死的. eternal: 永远, 永恒, 永恒的, 万古长青, 永久 的. fear: 恐惧, 忌惮, 畏惧, 生怕, 害怕. fibres: 纤维. immoral : 不道德, 不道德的. incompre hensible : 不能理 解的, 无限的, 费解的, 不能理解. influence : 影响, 势力. irresi stible : 不能抵抗, 不能抵抗 的. mamm a: 妈妈. old-f ashione d: 过时, 旧式的. origin : 起源, 来 历, 根源, 由来, 本源, 来源, 缘起, 原因. prevent: 预防. reg ard: 看待, 关系, 认为, 留意, 注意, 心意. related: 亲生, 连带. retires: 退休. simplicity : 简单. story : 故事, 报导. strict ly: 严格地. turn : 转动, 转弯. unple asing : 使人 不愉快. whatev er: 无论如 何, 无论何事, 不拘, 任何. wif e: 妻子, 太太, 爱人, 媳妇儿, 妻, 老婆.

Oscar W ilde 35 [ALGERNON, who has been carefully listening, smiles to himself, and writes the address on his shirt-cuff. Then picks up the Railway Guide.] GWENDOLEN. There is a good postal service, I suppose? It may be necessary to do something desperate. That of course will require serious consideration . I will communicate with you daily. % JACK. My own one! GWENDOLEN. How long do you remain in town ? JACK. Till Monday. GWENDOLEN. Good! Algy, you may turn round now. ALGERNON. Thanks, I've turned round already. GWENDOLEN. You may also ring the bell . JACK. You will let me see you to your carriage, my own darling? GWENDOLEN. Certainly. JACK. [To LANE , who now enters.] I will see Miss Fairfax out. LANE. Yes, sir. [JACK and GWENDOLEN go off.] [LANE presents several letters on a salver to ALGERNON. It is to be surmised that they are bills, as ALGERNON, after looking at the envelopes, tears them up.] Chinese Simplified address : 地址, 致词, 演说. bell: 钟, 铃. carefully : 小心地, 小心翼翼. carriage: 车厢, 马车, 四轮马车, 炮架. communicate : 沟通, 通信, 转达, 转告. consideration : 考虑, 心眼, 考量. darling: 宝宝, 宝贝, 老公, 老婆, 打令. desperate: 危急, 非常的. jack: 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. lane: 小路, 小巷, 胡同. letters : 信件, 函件. listening : 听. necessary : 必要, 必需的. picks: 选择. postal : 邮政, 邮政的. remain : 遗迹, 留下, 保持. require: 要求, 要有, 需要. ring: 戒指, 环, 圈, 篮圈, 戒子, 圈子, 响铃, 电话铃声. salver : 金属托盘. serious: 严重, 郑重, 岸然, 沉重, 认真, 严重的, 正经. sir: 先生, 爵士. smiles : 微笑. suppose : 假使, 猜想, 假定. tears: 泪, 泪水, 眼泪. town: 城镇, 城市, 市镇. turn: 转动, 转弯. writes : 写.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 36 ALGERNON . A glass of sherry , L ane. % LANE . Yes, sir. ALGERNON . To-morrow, Lane, I'm go ing Bunb urying. LANE . Yes, sir. ALGERNON . I shal l probabl y not be b ack till Monda y. You ca n put up my dress c lothes , my smoking jack et, and all the B unbury su its... LANE . Yes, s ir. [Han ding sherr y.] ALGERNON . I hop e to-mo rrow will be a fine da y, Lane . LANE . It never is , sir. ALGERNON . La ne, y ou're a pe rfect pe ssimist. LANE . I do my be st to give satisf actio n, sir . [Enter JACK . LANE go es off.] JACK. There's a sens ible, intellectua l girl! the only girl I ever cared for in my life . [ALGE RNO N is lau ghing immoder ately.] Wh at on earth are yo u so am used at? ALGERNON . Oh, I'm a little an xious ab out poor Bunb ury, that in all. Chinese Simplif ied anxiou s: 焦急, 巴不得, 担心, 焦虑的. clothes : 衣服, 服装, 西装, 件, 衣裳. dress: 服装, 打扮. enter: 进, 进入, 回车键, 入. fine: 罚款, 罚金, 良好, 要得, 美好, 精美, 纤小, 纤细, 不赖, 优美, 美好的. girl : 女孩, 姑娘, 女孩子. glass : 玻璃, 杯子. goes : 去. hope : 期望, 希望, 指望. intell ectual : 知识 份子, 知识分子, 知识. jacket : 夹克, 上衣 , 短上衣, 外套. lane : 小路, 小巷, 胡同. laughing : 可笑的, 笑. perfect: 完美, 完善, 完美的, 无话可说, 完备. pessimi st: 悲观主 义者. poor : 差, 贫穷, 穷, 差劲, 贫瘠, 贫穷的, 贫苦, 困 苦. satis faction : 满意. sensibl e: 明智, 懂事, 感觉得到 的, 可感觉到 的. sher ry: 谢丽. sir: 先生, 爵士. smoking : 冒烟, 抽烟. till: 直到.

Oscar W ilde 37 JACK. If you don't take care, your friend Bunbury will get you into a serious scrape some day. % ALGERNON. I love scrapes. They are the only things that are never serious. JACK. Oh, that's nonsense, Algy. You never talk anything but nonsense. ALGERNON. Nobody ever does. [JACK looks indignantly at him, and leaves the room. ALGERNON lights a cigarette , reads his shirt-cuff, and smiles.] [ACT DROP] Chinese Simplified cigarette : 香烟, 烟卷儿, 纸烟. friend: 朋友, 熟人, 友人. jack: 小起重机, 千斤顶, 水手. leaves : 离开. lights: 灯火. looks: 样子, 姿容, 神态, 看. nonsense : 无聊, 废话, 屁话. reads: 阅读. scrape : 刮掉, 削刮. serious: 严重, 郑重, 岸然, 沉重, 认真, 严重的, 正经. talk: 谈话, 报告, 言语, 谈.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 38 SECO N D AC T SCENE — Gar den at the Manor Ho use. A flight of grey st on e st ep s le ads up to the house. The garden , a n old-fash ioned one, full of roses. Time of year, Jul y. Bask et chairs , and a ta ble covered wi th books, a re set under a la rge yew-tree. % [MISS PRI SM discovered seated at the t able. CECILY is at the bac k wa tering flow ers .] MISS P RISM . [Calling.] Cecily, Ce cily! Surely such a utilitarian oc cupatio n as t he water ing of flowers is ra ther Moul ton's duty tha n yours? E specially at a m oment when int ellectu al p leasur es aw ait yo u. Your German gramma r is on the table. Pray open it at pag e fifteen. W e wil l repe at yes terday's lesson . CECILY. [Coming ove r very slowly .] But I don't like G erm an. It isn't at all a becoming lang uage. I know perfect ly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson . MISS P RISM . Child, you k now how an xio us yo ur gu ardian is t hat you shou ld im prov e yours elf in every w ay. He laid pa rticula r stress on your G erm an, as h e w as Chinese Simplif ied anxiou s: 焦急, 巴不得, 担心, 焦虑的. await: 等待. baske t: 篮, 篮子, 笼, 淘箩, 筐, 笼子. chair s: 椅子. flight : 航程, 班机 , 飞行. flow ers: 花. gard en: 花园. gramm ar: 文法, 语法, 语法学. grey : 灰色的, 灰白, 灰, 灰色. guard ian: 监护人. improv e: 改良, 好转, 改进, 改善. intell ectual : 知识 份子, 知识分子, 知识. laid : 放. lead s: 铅. lesson : 教训, 课, 课业, 课程, 裸. occupa tion : 职业. old-f ashione d: 过时, 旧式的. page: 页, 页面, 小听差. pla in: 平原. pleasu res: 愉快. pray: 祈祷. rep eat: 重复, 复述, 复诵, 重做. steps : 步骤. stone : 石头, 石. stress: 重音, 压力. utilitari an: 功利主 义的, 功利主义, 功利的, 实利的, 功利主义 者. watering: 给浇水. yourself : 你自己.

Oscar W ilde 39 leaving for town yesterday. Indeed, he always lays stress on your German when he is leaving for town. % CECILY. Dear Uncle Jack is so very serious! Sometimes he is so serious that I think he cannot be quite well MISS PRISM. [Drawing herself up.] Your guardian enjoys the best of health, and his gravity of demeanour is especially to be commanded in one so comparatively young as he is. I know no one who has a higher sense of duty and responsibility. CECILY. I suppose that is why he often looks a little bored when we three are together. MISS PRISM. Cecily! I am surprised at you. Mr. Worthing has many troubles in his life. Idle merriment and triviality would be out of place in his conversation. You must remember his constant anxiety about that unfortunate young man his brother. CECILY. I wish Uncle Jack would allow that unfortunate young man, his brother, to come down here sometimes. We might ha ve a good influence over him, Miss Prism. I am sure you certainly would. You know German, and geology, and things of that kind influence a man very much. [CECILY begins to write in her diary .] MISS PRISM. [Shaking her head.] I do not think that even I could produce any effect on a character that according to his own brother's admission is irretrievably weak and vacillating . Indeed I am not sure that I would desire to reclaim him. I am not in favour of this modern mania for turning bad people into good people at a moment's notice. As a man sows so let him reap. You must put away your diary, Cecily. I really don't see why you should keep a diary at all. Chinese Simplified according: 根据. admission : 进场, 承认. anxiety: 焦急, 忧虑, 担. begins: 开始. bored: 无聊, 沉闷的. comparatively : 比较, 比较地. constant: 一贯, 不变, 不断, 固定的, 常量. desire: 愿望, 欲望, 渴望, 意愿, 心愿. diary: 日记. favour : 赞成, 德, 偏袒. geology : 地质学, 地质. gravity: 重力, 万有引力, 地心吸引力. higher: 更高, 高等. mania: 躁狂症. merriment : 欢乐. reap: 收割. reclaim : 开垦, 要求归还. remember : 记忆, 记得. responsibility : 责任. sows: 播种. surprised : 惊讶. triviality: 琐事. troubles: 坏处, 麻烦. turning: 旋转. vacillating : 优柔寡断的. weak: 衰弱, 瘫软, 脆弱, 薄弱, 虚弱, 虚弱的, 软弱, 微弱. write: 撰写, 写, 编着, 写作, 写信给, 书写, 书写器, 写字, 作曲. yesterday : 昨天.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 40 CECILY. I keep a diar y in order t o ent er the wonderful s ecrets of my life. If I didn't write them down, I sho uld probably for get all a bout them. % MISS P RISM . Memory, my dear Cecily , is the d iary t hat we all carry about wi th us. CECILY. Yes, but it usua lly chronicles the thi ngs tha t ha ve never happ en ed , and couldn 't poss ibly ha ve happened. I believe tha t Memory is res ponsib le for nearly all the three-volume nov els tha t Mu die sends u s. MISS P RISM . Do not speak slight ingly of t he three -volume nov el, Cec ily. I wrote one myself in ear lier da ys. CECILY. Did yo u really, Miss Prism? How wo nderfully clev er you are! I hope it did not end ha pp ily? I don 't like novel s that end h app ily . They depress me so much. MISS P RISM . The good en ded happ ily , and the bad unhappil y. Th at i s wh at Fic tion mean s. CECILY. I suppos e so. But it seems very unf air . And was your novel ever published? MISS P RISM . Alas! no. The ma nuscri pt unfortuna tely wa s ab and oned. [C EC ILY start s.] I use the w ord in the sense o f lost o r m islaid. T o y our w ork, child, these specu lations are prof itless . CECILY. [Smi lin g.] B ut I see de ar Dr . Chas uble co ming up through the gar den . MISS P RISM . [R ising and a dvancin g.] Dr . Cha subl e! This is indee d a pleasure. [Enter CA NO N CHA SUB LE.] Chinese Simplif ied carry: 搬运, 输送, 携带, 进位. chronicl es: 编年史 . clev er: 高明, 聪明的, 伶俐, 玲珑, 机灵, 巧妙, 聪明. dear: 亲爱, 亲爱 的, 可爱的. depress: 萧条, 压 下. dia ry: 日记. earlier: 一向, 早些, 早, 先, 较早时. enter: 进, 进入, 回车键, 入. forg et: 忘记, 忘, 忘却. gard en: 花园. happe ned: 发生. happily : 幸福地. manuscr ipt: 手稿. nearly: 几乎, 差 不多, 将近. novel : 小说, 新奇, 新的. pleasu re: 欢乐, 乐趣, 愉快. possibly : 或者, 可能地. profit less: 无利可 图的, 无益的. responsibl e: 主管 , 有责任, 自负, 负责, 有责任的. secrets: 秘密. speak : 说, 讲. spe culations : 思索. suppose : 假使, 猜想, 假定. unf air: 不公, 不公平, 不公平的. unf ortuna tely: 不巧, 不幸, 不幸的是, 很遗 憾, 不幸地. wonde rful: 奇妙, 奇妙的. write : 撰写, 写, 编着, 写作, 写信给, 书写, 书 写器, 写字, 作曲. wrote: 写了.

Oscar W ilde 41 CHASUBLE. And how are we this morning? Miss Prism, you are, I trust, well? CECILY. Miss Prism has just been complaining of a slight headache . I think it would do her so much good to have a short stroll with you in the Park, Dr. Chasuble. % MISS PRISM. Cecily, I have not mentioned anything about a headache. CECILY. No, dear Miss Prism, I know that, but I felt instinctively that you had a headache. Indeed I was thinking about that, and not about my German lesson, when the Rector came in. CHASUBLE. I hope, Cecily, you are not inattentive. CECILY. Oh, I am afraid I am. CHASUBLE. That is strange . Were I fortunate enough to be Miss Prism's pupil, I would hang upon her lips. [MISS PRISM glares.] I spoke metaphorically. - My metaphor was drawn from bees. Ahem! Mr. Worthing, I suppose, has not returned from town yet? MISS PRISM. We do not expect him till Monday afternoon. CHASUBLE. Ah yes, he usually likes to spend his Sunday in London. He is not one of those whose sole aim is enjoyment , as, by all accounts, that unfortunate young man his brother seems to be. But I must not disturb Egeria and her pupil any longer. MISS PRISM. Egeria? My name is Laetitia, Doctor. Chinese Simplified accounts : 据闻. afraid: 危惧, 恐怕, 害怕. aim: 对准, 目的, 宗旨. complaining : 抱怨. disturb: 打扰, 惊动, 扰乱, 干扰. drawn: 画了. enjoyment: 乐趣, 享乐. expect: 预期, 期待. fortunate : 幸运, 幸运的. hang: 挂, 悬挂. headache : 头痛. inattentive : 疏忽的, 不注意的, 失神. lesson: 教训, 课, 课业, 课程, 裸. lips: 嘴唇. longer : 较长的. metaphor : 比喻, 比拟, 譬喻, 隐喻. pupil: 学生. slight : 轻微, 稍微. sole: 唯一, 单一, 唯一的, 惟一, 跖, 鞋底. spend : 度过, 花费, 支出, 耗费. spoke: 辐条, 说了. strange : 奇怪, 奇特, 陌生, 奇异的, 生疏. stroll: 徐行, 脉搏, 散步. thinking : 思想, 思维. till: 直到. trust: 信任, 信赖, 委托, 信托, 威信. unfortunate : 不幸, 不幸的, 不幸的人.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 42 CHASU BLE. [Bowin g.] A classical allusion mer ely, drawn from the Pa ga n authors. I sha ll see yo u both no doub t at Evensong? MISS P RISM . I think, dear Doctor, I will have a stroll with you. I find I have a he adac he aft er a ll, an d a wa lk might do it good. % CHASU BLE. With pleasure, Miss Prism , with p leasu re. W e might go as far as the schools and b ack. MISS P RISM . That would b e deligh tfu l. Cecily , you w ill r ead your Polit ical Econ omy in my abs ence . The chap ter on the Fall o f the Rupee you m ay om it. It is somewh at too sens ation al. Even thes e me tallic problems ha ve t heir me lodramatic side. [Goes down the garden w ith DR. CHA SUBLE.] CECILY. [Pic ks up bo oks and throws them ba ck on ta ble.] Horrid Po litical Economy! Horrid Geogr aphy! Hor rid, horrid Germ an! [Enter ME RRIMAN w ith a card on a salver.] MERRIM AN. Mr. Ernest Worthing has just driv en over from the station. He has brought his luggage with him. CECILY. [Tak es the c ard and reads it.] 'Mr. Ern est Worthing , B. 4, The A lbany , W .' Uncle Jack's broth er! D id you tel l him Mr. Worthing was in town? MERRIM AN. Yes, M iss. H e seemed ver y much disappoin ted . I mentioned that you an d Miss P rism were in the g arden. H e said h e w as anx ious to sp eak to you priv ately for a moment. Chinese Simplif ied absen ce: 缺席. allusion : 典故, 暗 示. anxiou s: 焦急, 巴不得, 担心, 焦虑的. books : 图书, 书籍, 书, 篇. brother : 弟兄, 兄弟. card : 卡, 名片, 卡片. chapter : 章节, 章. classical: 古典, 古典的. dear: 亲爱, 亲爱 的, 可爱的. delightf ul: 愉快, 好玩儿, 欢欣的. disa ppointe d: 败兴, 失望的, 惆. doubt : 怀疑, 疑. drawn: 画了. driven: 驾. enter: 进, 进入, 回车键, 入. head ache: 头痛. horrid : 讨厌的. luggag e: 行李. melod ramatic: 轰动的. merely : 仅仅, 只是, 只, 不过, 单纯, 只管, 只顾. met allic : 金属的. omit : 略去, 省略, 删除, 删去. pleasu re: 欢乐, 乐趣, 愉快. privat ely: 背地风, 私下地, 私自. reads: 阅读. schools : 学校. sensa tiona l: 轰动的. somewh at: 有些, 有所, 有点, 有一些, 有点儿. stroll : 徐行, 脉搏, 散步. walk: 行走, 步行, 走, 走道, 散步.

Oscar W ilde 43 CECILY. Ask Mr. Ernest Worthing to come here. I suppose you had better talk to the housekeeper about a room for him. % MERRIMAN. Yes, Miss. [MERRIMAN goes off.] CECILY. I have never met any really wicked person before. I feel rather frightened. I am so afraid he will look just like every one else. [Enter ALGERNON, very gay and debonnair.] He does! ALGERNON. [Raising his hat.] You are my little cousin Cecily, I'm sure. CECILY. You are under some strange mistake. I am not little. In fact, I believe I am more than usually tall for my age. [ALGERNON is rather taken aback.] But I am your cousin Cecily. You, I see from your card, are Uncle Jack's brother, my cousin Ernest, my wicked cousin Ernest. ALGERNON. Oh! I am not really wicked at all, cous in Cecily. You mustn't think that I am wicked. CECILY. If you are not, then you have certainly been deceiving us all in a very inexcusable manner . I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy . ALGERNON. [Looks at her in amazement.] Oh! Of course I have been rather reckless. CECILY. I am glad to hear it. Chinese Simplified afraid : 危惧, 恐怕, 害怕. brother : 弟兄, 兄弟. card: 卡, 名片, 卡片. certainly : 一定, 保管, 当然, 理所当然, 岂不, 肯定地. cousin: 表亲, 表哥, 堂表. double : 双重, 双, 加倍. enter: 进, 进入, 回车键, 入. frightened : 受惊. gay: 欢乐, 快活, 快乐的, 基佬. glad : 高兴, 高兴的. goes : 去. hear: 听见, 听取, 听. hope : 期望, 希望, 指望. housekeeper : 女管家, 保姆. hypocrisy: 虚伪. inexcusable : 不能原谅的. leading: 领导. manner : 方式, 样子, 态度, 礼貌, 神态, 神气. met: 遇见了. mistake : 错误, 差错. pretending : 假装. reckless: 蛮干, 不顾一切, 不顾一切后果的. strange: 奇怪, 奇特, 陌生, 奇异的, 生疏. suppose : 假使, 猜想, 假定. sure: 肯定. talk: 谈话, 报告, 言语, 谈. tall: 高大的, 高大. wicked : 邪恶, 邪恶的, 恶性.

The Im portance of Being Earn est 44 ALGERNON . In fact, now you me ntion the subject , I ha ve been very ba d in my own sma ll way. % CECILY. I don't thi nk you shoul d be so proud of tha t, though I a m sure it must have been very plea sant. ALGERNON . It is much ple asanter bein g here w ith yo u. CECILY. I can't under stan d how you are here at al l. Unc le Jack won't be ba ck till Monday after noon . ALGERNON . That is a gre at disappo intmen t. I am obliged to go up by the first tra in on Monday mor ning. I have a busin ess app ointment that I am anx ious ... to m iss? CECILY. Couldn't you miss it anyw her e but in London? ALGERNON . No: the appointment i s in London. CECILY. Wel l, I kno w, of cour se, how import ant it is not to keep a bus iness enga ge men t, if one wants to reta in an y sense of the beauty of li fe, but st ill I thi nk you had better wait till Unc le J ack arr ive s. I know he wants to speak to you about yo ur em igr ating . ALGERNON . About my w hat? CECILY. Your emi grating. He h as go ne up to buy your ou tfit. ALGERNON . I cer tainly wouldn 't let Jac k buy my o utfit. He h as no taste in neckt ies at al l. Chinese Simplif ied afternoon : 下午, 午后. anywhere: 无论何 处. appointment : 约会. arrives: 到达. bad: 坏, 糟糕, 不 良, 不善, 淘气, 坏的. beau ty: 美人, 美丽, 美. buy : 买, 采买, 购买. certainly : 一定, 保管, 当然, 理所当然, 岂不, 肯定地. disa ppointme nt: 失望. engag ement: 订婚, 约会, 婚约. gone : 去. mention : 提到, 提及. outfit : 旅行装 备, 装备. pleas ant: 愉快, 愉快的, 舒适的. proud : 傲岸, 骄 矜, 骄傲的, 自豪的. retain: 保留, 保持. speak : 说, 讲. subje ct: 科目, 主 题, 主语, 话题, 题目, 议题, 标题, 主词, 主体, 学科, 课. sure : 肯定. tast e: 滋味, 品味, 味道, 尝味. till: 直到. train : 训练, 火车, 列车, 乘务员, 熏陶. uncle : 叔叔, 伯伯, 叔父, 大爷, 老大爷, 姑夫. unde rstand: 了解, 明白, 理解, 领会. wait: 等待, 等, 伺候.

Oscar W ilde 45 CECILY. I don't think you will require neckties. Uncle Jack is sending you to Australia. % ALGERNON. Australia! I'd sooner die. CECILY. Well, he said at dinner on Wednesday night, that you would have to choose between this world, the next world, and Australia. ALGERNON. Oh, well! The accounts I have received of Australia and the next world, are not particularly encouraging. This world is good enough for me, cousin Cecily. CECILY. Yes, but are you good enough for it? ALGERNON. I'm afraid I'm not that. That is why I want you to reform me. You might make that your mission , if you don't mind, cousin Cecily. CECILY. I'm afraid I've no time, this afternoon. ALGERNON. Well, would you mind my reforming myself this afternoon? CECILY. It is rather Quixotic of you. But I think you should try. ALGERNON. I will. I feel better already. CECILY. You are looking a little worse. ALGERNON. That is because I am hungry. Chinese Simplified accounts : 据闻. afraid: 危惧, 恐怕, 害怕. afternoon : 下午, 午后. choose: 挑选, 选择, 拣, 推举, 推选, 选定, 选取. cousin: 表亲, 表哥, 堂表. die: 逝世, 不讳, 死. dinner : 晚餐, 正餐. hungry : 饥饿, 饿, 饥饿的. mission : 任务, 传道部. myself: 我自己. received : 收到. reform: 改革. reforming : 改革. require: 要求, 要有, 需要. sending: 发送. uncle: 叔叔, 伯伯, 叔父, 大爷, 老大爷, 姑夫. worse : 更坏, 更糟.

. . . . . .