Analytical reading-Part 3

The Whispering Land

By Gerald Durrell

B

uenos Aires, decked out for spring, was looking her best. The tall and elegant buildings seemed to gleam like icebergs in the sun, and the broad avenues were lined with trees covered with a mist of mauvy blue flowers, or others, with their strange bottle-shaped trunks and their spindly branches starred with yellow and white flowers. The springlike atmosphere seemed to have infected the pedestrians, who fled across the road through the traffic with even less caution than usual, while the drivers of the trams, buses and cars vied with each other in the time-honoured Buenos Aires game of seeing how close they could get to each other at the maximum speed without actually crashing.

            Not having a suicidal streak in me, I had refused to drive in the city, and so we swept on our death-defying way in the Land Rover with Josefina at the wheel. Short, with curly auburn hair and big brown eyes, Josefina had a smile like a searchlight that could paralyse even the most unsusceptible male at twenty paces. By my side sat Mercedes, tall, slim, blonde and blue-eyed; she habitually wore an expression as though butter would not melt in her mouth, and this successfully concealed an iron will and grim, bulldog-like tenacity of purpose.

Lexical analysis:

to gleam¾flash, sparkle, glitter, glimmer, shimmer, glisten¾v блестя, проблясвам, блещукам

1. To gleam denotes a not very brilliant intermittent or non-directional stream of light; it commonly applies to light or a ray which shines through an intervening medium, or against a background of relative darkness (icebergs gleaming in the sun¾айсберги, блестящи на слънцето)
2. To flash is to send forth light with a sudden, transient brilliancy (A shooting star flashed briefly—проблясна)
3. To sparkle is to give off innumerable small flashes of light or sparks or small ignited particles, or to send forth small but brilliant gleams, sometimes by reflection (it can be used figuratively as well) (her eyes sparkled¾блестяха, искряха)
4. To glitter is to reflect intermittently flashes of light from a hard surface; it suggests greater brilliancy than to sparkle, sometimes with the implication of something sinister or a bright cold light (there was a dangerous glitter in her eyes¾имаше опасен блясък в погледа й), (ice glitters in the moonlight¾блести)
5. To glimmer indicates a non-directional light that is feeble and unsteady (a window glimmered faintly in the distance¾блещукаше), (The blade of the knife glimmered in the dim light of the candle¾проблясваше)
6. To shimmer refers to the changing play of light on a (generally moving) surface, as of water or silk; it suggests soft, tremulous and lustrous light (moonbeams shimmered on the dark water¾играеха, блещукаха), (Her new silk shawl shimmered in the strong light as she danced¾проблясваше), (A strange light shimmered at the bottom of the well)
7. To glisten refers to a lustrous light as from sleek or wet or it may refer to myriads of tiny gleams reflected from small surfaces (the wet fur of her coat glistened¾лъщеше), (The new snow glistened in the sunlight¾блестеше)

mauve¾бледоморав

vie (vied, vying)¾v състезавам се, съпернича, конкурирам се (with)

Syn to compete with

streak n strain, vein, touch, suggestion, suspicion, soupçon, tincture, tinge, shade, smack, spice, dash, tendency in behavior/temperament, trait¾прен. жилка; черта, елемент (he has a ~ of cruelty има нещо жестоко у него)

auburn¾reddish-brown color, chestnut¾кестеняв

susceptible¾adj easily affected emotionally; having a sensitive nature or feelings, sensitive, subject, exposed, prone, liable, open

Ana inclined, disposed, predisposed

susceptible of¾that gives a chance for; admitting; allowing (testimony susceptible of error¾допускащ, позволяващ)

susceptible to¾easily influenced by or affected with (susceptible to disease¾податлив на)

unsusceptible¾неподатлив, безчувствен

tenacity n resolution, spirit, courage¾ упоритост, непокорство, неотстъпчивост; твърдост, решителност (tenacity of purpose¾упоритост в преследване на целите)

Ana pluck, grit, guts, fortitude, backbone: hardihood, audacity, nerve (see temerity¾ дързост, нахалство; безразсъдна смелост)

to deck out¾v to cover or clothe with finery or ornaments, to adorn, to trim: often followed by out (decked out for spring¾пролетно пременен (запазете алитерацията в бълг. превод)

starred with white and yellow flowers¾осеяни с бели и жълти цветчета