賽珍珠：貧瘠的春天
《貧瘠的春天》是西南聯大英文課的第一課，摘自諾貝爾文學獎獲得者賽珍珠的小說《大地》，文章描寫了中國底層農民的生活。
【作者簡介】
賽珍珠（Pearl S. Buck，1892年6月26日－1973年3月6日），直譯珀爾·巴克，美國作家、人權和女權活動家。
1892年10月，出生4個月後賽珍珠即被身為傳教士的雙親帶到中國，在鎮江度過了童年、少年，進入到青年時代，前後長達18年之久。賽珍珠在中國生活了近40年，她把中文稱為「第一語言」，把鎮江稱為「中國故鄉」。作為以中文為母語的美國女作家，她曾在這裡寫下了描寫中國農民生活的長篇小說《大地》（The Good Earth），1932年憑藉其小說 ，獲得普利茲小說獎，並在1938年以此獲得美國歷史上第三個諾貝爾文學獎。她也是唯一一個同時獲得普立茲獎和諾貝爾獎的女作家。1934年，賽珍珠告別了中國，回國定居。
原文【1】
Barren Spring
By Pearl S. Buck
Liu, the farmer, sat at the door of his one-room house. It was a warm evening in late February, and in his thin body he felt the coming of spring. How he knew that the time had now come when sap should stir in trees and life begin to move in the soil he could not have told himself. In other years it would have been easy enough. He could have pointed to the willow trees about the house, and shown the swelling buds. But there were no more trees now. He had cut them off during the bitter winter when they were starving for food and he had sold them one by one. Or he might have pointed to the pink-tipped buds of his three peach trees and his six apricot trees that his father had planted in his day so that now, being at the height of their time, they bore a load of fruit every year. But these trees were also gone. Most of all, in any other year than this he might have pointed to his wheat fields, where he planted wheat in the winter when the land was not needed for rice, and where, when spring was moving into summer, he planted the good rice, for rice was his chief crop. But the land told nothing, this year. There was no wheat on it, for the flood had covered it long after wheat should have been planted, and it lay there cracked and like clay but newly dried.
【標題解析】
Barren Spring貧瘠的春天
barren/ˈbærən,ˈberən/ adj.貧瘠的
標題使用了「矛盾修辭法」（oxymoron），來自希臘語oxymoron,敏銳的傻瓜，oxys,銳利的，敏銳的，moron,傻瓜。後語言學家借用該詞來表達矛盾修辭法，用兩種不相調和，甚至截然相反的詞語來形容一件事物，barren是貧瘠的，而spring是春天，本應萬物復甦、代表著希望，兩者放在一起，起到一種強烈的修辭效果，使得所表達的語義更強烈。
又比如我很愛看的一部美劇行屍走肉，劇名「Living Dead」也是用了兩個截然相反的詞。
【句子1】
Liu, the farmer, sat at the door of his one-room house. It was a warm evening in late February, and in his thin body he felt the coming of spring.How he knew that the time had now come when sap should stir in trees and life begin to move in the soil he could not have told himself.
【句子結構分析】
是修飾the time，是個定語從句，從句用到了should表示「本應該」，說明事實並非如此。
最難理解的可能是這部分，為什麼這個句子會放在這裡？我們得聯繫到部分的結構，明顯是how引導的句子，how he knew的語序也告訴我們這是個陳述語序，看到官方譯文是翻譯成問句的，琢磨一下似乎容易產生歧義。
正常的語序應該是這樣吧：
he could not have told himself how he knew that the time had now come when sap should stir in trees and life begin to move in the soil .他無法告訴他自己他如何知道春天已經到來了。這樣就比較符合邏輯，因為上一句「in his thin body he felt the coming of spring」，他瘦削的身體已經感知到春天的來臨，他無法告訴自己的是「自己如何得知春天已經來臨」。tell sb sth,how引導的從句為賓從，作tell的直接賓語。
注意，he could not have told himself，could not have done 不是虛擬語氣的用法，couldn't have done 只能表推測，相當於 can't have done，意為：「過去不可能做了某事。」
【語言點】
farmer：a person who owns or manages a farm 農場主；農人
從這個farmer的用詞可以知道老劉是擁有田地的，我們常見的另一個表示農民的詞「peasant」則通常指的是「小農，佃農」，「a poor person of low social status who works on the land」
a warm evening一個溫煦的黃昏
sap/sæp/ n. [植] 樹液；
作動詞時表示「削弱，使虛弱，逐漸破壞」
e.g.The hot sun sapped our energy. 火辣辣的太陽烤得我們虛軟無力。
stir/stɜː, stɜːr/ vi.&vt.微動；攪動
e.g.A slight breeze was stirring the branches. 微風吹動著樹枝。
stir作名詞表示「excitement, anger or shock that is felt by a number of people （一些人感到的）激動，憤怒，震動」
e.g.The TikTok-bashing by the United States has caused quite a stir in recent days. 這幾天，美國打壓TikTok的事情鬧得很大。
【句子2】
In other years it would have been easy enough. He could have pointed to the willow trees about the house, and shown the swelling buds.
【語言點】
這幾句話重點關注一下虛擬語氣
would have done表示「過去本應該會做某事卻未做」。
could (不能用 can) have done表示「過去本能夠做某事卻未做。」注意：其否定形式 couldn't have done 沒有虛擬語氣的用法，couldn't have done 只能表推測，相當於 can't have done，意為：「過去不可能做了某事。」
might (不能用 may) have done表示「過去本可以做某事卻未做。」 注意：其否定形式 might not have done 沒有虛擬語氣的用法，might not have done 只能表推測，相當於 may not have done，意為：「過去可能沒有做某事。」
should have done表示「過去本應該做某事卻未做。」其否定結構 shouldn't have done 表示 「過去本不該做某事卻做了。」
ought to have done表示「過去本應該做某事卻未做。」其否定結構 oughtn't to have done 表示 「過去本不該做某事卻做了。」
need have done表示「過去本有必要做某事卻未做。」其否定結構 needn't have done 表示 「過去本沒必要做某事卻做了。」
the willow treesaboutthe house：about表示「surrounding/around sb/sth 圍繞」
swelling/ˈswelɪŋ/ adj.膨脹的
bud/bʌd/ n.芽
the swelling buds就要抽條的嫩芽；
【句子3】
But there were no more trees now. He had cut them off during the bitter winter when they were starving for food and he had sold them one by one.
【語言點】
had cut和had sold是過去完成時態，表示「過去的過去」，或者表示過去某一時間或某一動作發生之前已經完成的動作。在這句話中肯定是表示過去的過去發生且已經完成，「已經一棵接一棵地把樹賣光了」才無法告訴自己是如何知道春天已經來了。
the bitter winter：bitter，苦的，形容天氣時表示「嚴寒的」
e.g.a bitter wind 刺骨寒風
e.g.It's really bitter out today. 今天戶外的確很冷
be starving for sth極餓的, 餓得很
one by one一棵接一棵
【句子4】
Or he might have pointed to the pink-tipped buds of his three peach trees and his six apricot trees that his father had planted in his day so that now, being at the height of their time, they bore a load of fruit every year. But these trees were also gone.
【語言點】
the pink-tipped buds粉嫩的花苞
peachtrees桃樹
apricot/ˈeɪprɪkɒt/ trees杏樹
in his day：in one’s day 在壯年期；在某人的鼎盛時期；在年輕時，當年
e.g.She was a great dancer in her day. 她曾是紅極一時的舞蹈家。
at the height of their time果樹的壯年時期
at the height of在…頂點；在…的頂峰或鼎盛時期
e.g.In China,at the height ofthe battle against COVID-19, more than 40,000 health workers from across the country rushed to Hubei province, which was the hardest hit by the virus, and two-thirds of them were women. 在中國抗擊新冠肺炎疫情最緊要的時刻，來自中國全國各地馳援湖北的4萬多名醫護人員中，三分之二是女性。
bear/beə, ber/ vi.結果；開花
a load of大量，許多
【句子5】
Most of all,in any other year than this he might have pointed to his wheat fields, where he planted wheat in the winter when the land was not needed for rice, and where, when spring was moving into summer, he planted the good rice, for rice was his chief crop. But the land told nothing, this year. There was no wheat on it, for the flood had covered it long after wheat should have been planted, and it lay there cracked and like clay but newly dried.
【句子結構分析】
第一句話比較長，但結構也很容易切分清楚，是主句，繼續使用虛擬語氣，我們可以通過這篇文章感受出來虛擬語氣傳遞出來的那種「遺憾、惋惜」，最令人心碎的，莫過於聽到「如果」、「本可以」，這種「已然失去」的痛苦……
和是and並列的兩個非限制性定語從句，共同修飾wheat fields，兩個定語從句在內容上是相似的，在結構上稍有變化，第一個定從通過在winter後面嵌入一個when引導的定語從句去解釋說明「冬天種麥子」，第二個定從通過for引導的原因狀語從句來解釋「夏天種水稻」。
【語言點】
在往年：上一句In other years，這一句是in any other year than this
快入夏時：when spring was moving into summer
But the land told nothing：地裡啥也沒有、顆粒無收；動詞tell用在這裡是擬人手法，這短短一句話也體現了「英文喜用物稱、中文喜用人稱」的英漢語言差異：
e.g.An idea suddenly struck me.我突然想到了一個主意。
再舉幾個英文中使用擬人手法的例子：
e.g.Recent years have seen a boom of people-to-people and cultural exchanges. 近年來，人文交流有聲有色。
以「時間」作主語，用擬人的修辭手法巧用動詞see來引出背景。
e.g.As the pandemic is unlikely to go away in the near future, the catering industry will continue to feel the pinch.
feel the pinch：pinch「捏、掐、擰」，感受到被掐，擬人手法，表示「受到影響」。
wheat/wiːt/ n.小麥
crop/krɒp, krɑːp/ n.莊稼
crack破裂；裂開；斷裂
clay/kleɪ/ n.粘土
【課文參考譯文】
農民老劉坐在自己只有一間房的門口。那是二月末的一個溫煦的黃昏，他瘦削的身體已經感知到春天的來臨。他怎會知道正是這時候樹木的汁液開始顫動，泥土中的生命開始甦醒呢？他無法給自己一個答案。可是在往年，這本是一件極容易的事情。他本可以指著屋子四周的柳樹，給大家看就要抽條的嫩芽。但是現在樹已經沒有了，嚴冬饑荒時被他全砍了，一棵一棵地賣了。或者他本來還可以指著父親年輕時親手栽種的三株桃樹和六棵杏樹，給大家看那粉嫩的花苞。這些果樹正值壯年，每年都會結下累累的果實。但是這些樹也沒有了。最重要的是，往年他還會指著麥地給大家看。在這塊地上，他冬天種麥子，因為那個時令沒法種水稻；快入夏時，他就會插秧種稻子，而且收成很好。水稻是他田裡的主要農作物。但是今年地裡啥也沒有。沒有離離的麥子，因為該種麥子的時候，田地被洪水淹沒了，現在地都開裂了，像剛乾不久的黏土一樣。
以上。
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