The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Found Among the Papers of the Late Diedrich Knickerbocker
A pleasing land of drowsy head it was,
Of dreams that wave before the half-shut eye; And of gay castles in the clouds that pass,
For ever flushing round a summer sky.
---Castle of Indolence.
hope用法IN THE bosom of one of tho spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail, and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crosd, there lies a small market-town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good houwives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact, but merely advert to it, for the sake of being preci and authentic. Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley, or rather lap of land, among high hills, which is one of the quietest plac
es in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, with just murmur enough to lull one to repo; and the occasional whistle of a quail, or tapping of a woodpecker, is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity.
I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in squirrel-shooting was in a grove of tall walnut-trees that shades one side of the valley. I had wandered into it at noon time, when all nature is peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my own gun, as it broke the Sabbath stillness around, and was prolonged and The Castle of Indolence <；懒惰城堡>是苏格兰浪漫主义先驱诗人James Thomson于1748年出版的一首长诗。Irving借用这几句来为小说铺设场景。
河湾
以锯齿状排列纽约哈得逊河命名
Hudson哈得逊河上的最宽处
祈求
Tarry的本意是徘徊，逗留，和下文的linger，sojourn同意
根深蒂固的瘾；长期的坏习惯小客栈，酒馆
可靠的；真实的
爆鱼的做法休息；睡眠
鹌鹑
宁静
小伙子
基督教徒的安息日，此处表示寂静
reverberated by the angry echoes. If ever I should
wish for a retreat, whither I might steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than this little valley. From the listless repo of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch ttlers, this questered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLO
W, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. A drowsy, dreamy influence ems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor, during the early days of the ttlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. Certain it is, the place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are given to all kinds of marvellous beliefs; are subject to trances and visions; and frequently e strange sights, and hear music and voices in the air. The whole neighborhood abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the nightmare, with her whole nine fold, ems to make it the favorite scene of her gambols.
The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and ems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horback without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, who head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the revolutionary war; and who is ever and anon en by the country folk, hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the 相当于where
僻静的幽谷
乡野的
蔓延；弥漫
被迷惑，被施以巫术，和下文的enchanted同意
高地德语圣愚
印第安人的祈祷仪式
英国航海家，哈得逊湾的发现者
咒语
白日梦；迷茫
恍惚；迷睡
充满
此处援引莎士比亚的《李尔王》，nightmare “噩梦”一词中，mare有母马的意思，nine fold为她的九个顽皮的孩子
幽灵；幻象
独立战争时期英军中的德国雇佣兵
时而
wind. His haunts are not confined to the valley, but extend at times to the adjacent roads, and
especially to the vicinity of a church at no great distance. Indeed, certain of the most authentic historians of tho parts, who have been careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this spectre, allege that the body of the trooper, having been buried in the church-yard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head; and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes pass along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being belated, and in a hurry to get back to the church-yard before daybreak.
Such is the general purport of this legendary superstition, which has furnished materials for many a wild story in that region of shadows; and the spectre is known, at all the country firesides, by the na
me of the Headless Horman of Sleepy Hollow.
It is remarkable that the visionary propensity I have mentioned is not confined to the native inhabitants of the valley, but is unconsciously imbibed by every one who resides there for a time. However wide awake they may have been before they entered that sleepy region, they are sure, in a little time, to inhale the witching influence of the air, and begin to grow imaginative —to dream dreams, and e apparitions.
I mention this peaceful spot with all possible laud; for it is in such little retired Dutch valleys, found here and there embosomed in the great State of New York, that population, manners, and customs, remain fixed; while the great torrent of migration and improvement, which is making such incessant changes in other parts of this restless country, sweeps by them unobrved. They are like tho little nooks of still water which border a rapid stream; where we may e the straw and bubble riding quietly at anchor, or slowly revolving in their mimic harbor, undisturbed by the rush of the passing current. Though many years have elapd since I trod the 附近
核实
幽灵；鬼影
迟了的；落后的。根据迷信，鬼魂必须在破晓前回到坟墓
大意
家庭
爱幻想的习惯
吸入；喝做奶油蛋糕
吸入
赞美
环绕
不断的
角落
流逝
drowsy shades of Sleepy Hollow, yet I question whether I should not still find the same trees and炖羊棒骨
the same families vegetating in its sheltered bosom.
In this by-place of nature, there abode, in a remote period of American history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the name of Ichabod Crane; who sojourned, or, as he expresd it, “tarried,” in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpo of instructing the children of the vicinity. He was a native of Connecticut; a State which supplies the Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest, and nds forth yearly its legions of frontier woodsmen and country schoolmasters. The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have rved for shovels, and his whole frame most looly hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe no, so that it looked like a weather-cock, perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew. To e him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield.
他身材高，而非常瘦，狭窄的肩膀，长臂长腿，一双手吊在袖子外面一里之遥，脚可以用来做铲子，全身骨骼都是极松弛地连在一起，吊儿郎当。他的头很小，头顶平坦，耳朵非常大，绿玻璃似的大眼睛，鷸鸟喙似的长鼻子，因此他的头像一只风信鸡，高栖在他细长的颈项上，彷佛在那裏辨别风向。在台大风的日子，你如果看见他大踏步在小山的侧面上走著，他的衣服被风吹得膨胀起来，在他周身上下飘舞著，你也许会把他当作旱魃下降世间，或是田野裏逃出来的一个稻草人。
His school-hou was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed of logs; the windows partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of 单调地生活
居住，abide的过去式
人（比较古老的用法）
此处指美国
军团；大批
姓氏（crane一词有仙鹤的意思，而下文描述此人身体细长）细长
悬垂
铁锨
沙锥鸟
纺锤
稻草人
逃亡
这是张爱玲女士的译文，请大家欣赏，并尝试给Ichabod画个像吧！
装上玻璃
old copy-books. It was most ingeniously cured at vacant hours, by a withe twisted in the handle of the door, and stakes t against the window shutters; so that, though a thief might get in with perfect ea, he would find some embarrassment in getting out; an idea most probably borrowed by the architect, Yost Van Houten, from the mystery of an eel-pot. The school-hou stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation, just at the foot of a woody hill, with a brook running clo by, and a formidable birch tree growing at one end of it. From hence the low murmur of his pupils’ voices, conning over th领导风格
eir lessons, might be heard of a drowsy summer’s day, like the hum of a beehive; interrupted now and then by the authoritative voice of the master, in the tone of menace or command; or, peradventure, by the appalling sound of the birch, as he urged some tardy loiterer along the flowery path of knowledge. Truth to say, he was a conscientious man, and ever bore in mind the golden maxim, “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”—Ichabod Crane’s scholars certainly were not spoiled.
I would not have it imagined, however, that he was one of tho cruel potentates of the school, who joy in the smart of their subjects; on the contrary, he administered justice with discrimination rather than verity; taking the burden off the backs of the weak, and laying it on tho of the strong. Your mere puny stripling, that winced at the least flourish of the rod, was pasd by with indulgence; but the claims of justice were satisfied by inflicting a double portion on some little, tough, wrong-headed, broad-skirted Dutch urchin, who sulked and swelled and grew dogged and sullen beneath the birch. All this he called “doing his duty by their parents;” and he never inflicted a chastiment without following it by the assurance, so consolatory to the smarting urchin, that “he would remember it, and thank him for it the longest day he had to live.”
When school hours were over, he was even the companion and playmate of the larger boys; and 巧妙地
柳条
干柴
女性淋病
剪纸春捕鳝笼
可怕的桦树
熟读，默记
威胁，恐吓恐怕，万一可怕的
磨蹭的闲逛的人
认真的，有良心的
信条，格言
孩子不打不成器
君主
臣民
小的
畏缩挥舞
纵容，溺爱
加刑
顽童委屈而且被打肿的顽固而且阴郁的
惩罚
安慰性的疼痛的
