《喬布斯傳》自問世以來受到了全世界人民的關注，對此英語推出《喬布斯傳》翻譯筆記系列，讓我們在翻譯學習中回顧喬幫主的偉大一生。第二章 “輟學” 第一部分介紹了喬布斯的初戀女友克里斯安·布倫南。布倫南是喬布斯的第一任正式女友，兩人交往了很長時間，喬布斯蘋果創業的時候布倫南就陪伴在他身邊。布倫南為喬布斯生下了女兒Lisa，但是喬布斯很長時間內拒絕承認。布倫南小姐終身未嫁，他們之間的愛恨糾葛外人無法揣測。老喬的初戀是怎樣看待他的？

“We worked together on an animated movie, then started going out, and she became my first real girlfriend,” Jobs recalled. As Brennan later said, “Steve was kind of crazy. That’s why I was attracted to him.” Jobs’s craziness was of the cultivated sort. He had begun his lifelong experiments with compulsive diets, eating only fruits and vegetables, so he was as lean and tight as a whippet. He learned to stare at people without blinking, and he perfected long silences punctuated by staccato bursts of fast talking. This odd mix of intensity and aloofness, combined with his shoulder-length hair and scraggly beard, gave him the aura of a crazed shaman. He oscillated between charismatic and creepy. “He shuffled around and looked half-mad,” recalled Brennan. “He had a lot of angst. It was like a big darkness around him.”

喬布斯后來回憶道：“我們一起制作了一部動畫電影，后來我們開始約會，她成了我第一任正式女友。” 布倫南后來表示：“史蒂夫有點瘋狂，不過這也正是他吸引我的地方。” 喬布斯的瘋狂是有教養的那種。他開始并堅持了一輩子強制性的飲食實驗：只吃水果和蔬菜，所以他的樣子又瘦弱又結實，像只敏捷的惠比特犬。他學會了眼睛一眨不眨地盯著別人看，也喜歡在長時間的沉默間斷斷續續突然快速地講話。他這種奇怪的個性組合：高度緊張卻又超然離群，再加上他的外表——齊肩的頭發和凌亂的胡子，讓他看起來像是個瘋狂的薩滿巫師。喬布斯的狀態起伏不定：時而魅力四射，時而令人毛骨悚然。布倫南后來回憶道：“他個性善變，看起來半瘋半癲的樣子。他老是很焦慮，似乎一團黑暗包圍著他。”

1. compulsive:

compulsive bargain hunter/spender：

compulsive obsessive disorder：

注意辨析：“義務教育”用的可不是這個詞哦，雖然它們長得很像。義務教育：compulsory education

2. burst of：

His lecture was punctuated by burst of applause.他的演講不斷被一陣陣掌聲所打斷。

She strained herself to a final burst of speed.她傾全力突然加速作最后沖刺。

3. scraggly:

He was very uptight about his daughter's scraggly-looking boyfriends.他女兒那些外表邋遢的男朋友們令他緊張不安。

注意辨析：scraggy VS scraggly：scraggy 也可以表示“凹凸不平的”之意，但它還有另外一層“骨瘦如柴的”之意。

scraggy shoulders

4. oscillate between A and B:

He seemed to oscillate between very drunk and icy sober.他總是游離在酩酊大醉和完全清醒之間。

參與《喬布斯傳》翻譯筆記討論，貼上你的翻譯版本>>>