Beatrice Tarleton was a busy woman, having on her hands not only a large cotton plantation, a hundred negroes and eight children, but the largest horse-breeding farm in the state as well. She was hot-tempered and easily plagued by the frequent scrapes of her four sons, and while no one was permitted to whip a horse or a slave, she felt that a lick now and then didn't do the boys any harm.

塔尔顿太太终日操劳不休，不仅得经营一大片棉花地、上百名黑奴、八个儿女，还得照料本州最大的养马场。她性情暴躁，四个儿子又不争气，所以她动不动就大发雷霆。她不许任何人鞭打马匹和黑奴，却认为对几个儿子抽上一顿没坏处。

"Of course she won't hit Boyed. She never did beat Boyed much because he's the oldest and besides he's the runt of the litter" said Stuart, proud of his six feet two. That's why we left him at home to explain things to her. God's mighty, Ma ought to stop licking us! We're nineteen and Tom's twenty-one, and she acts like we are six years old."

“妈才不会揍博伊德哩。博伊德是老大，个头又小，妈从不对他动真格的。“ 斯图尔特边说边得意自己六英尺二的身量，”所以我们才留他在家，好跟妈解释解释。老天在上，妈真不该再揍我们啦！我俩都十九了，汤姆二十一，可妈还把我们当成六岁的小娃娃。“

"Will your mother ride the new horse to the Wilkes barbecue tomorrow?"

“你妈明天会不会骑那匹新买的马参加威克斯尔家的烤肉宴？“

"She wants to, but Pa says he's too dangerous. And, anyway, the girls won't let her. They said they were going to have her go to one party at least like a lady, riding in the carriage."

“她是这么想的，可我爸说太危险。再说我家那几位小姐也不肯，说妈至少得有一回像一个有身份的太太，坐着马车去。“

"I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow," said Scarlett. It's raied nearly evvery day for a week. There's nothing worse than a barbecue turned into an indoor picinic. "

“但愿明天不要下雨，“斯佳丽道，”这星期几乎天天下。烤肉宴若搬到屋子里办，那才真没意思。“

"Oh, it'll be clear tomorrow and hot as June," said Stuart. "Look at that sunset. I never saw one redder. You can always tell weather by sunsets."

“天没准晴，会热得跟六月份一样，“斯图尔特道，”瞧瞧那落日，没见过更红的啦。看落日知天气嘛。“

解析

第一段：

Beatrice Tarleton was a busy woman, having on her hands not only a large cotton plantation, a hundred negroes and eight children, but the largest horse-breeding farm in the state as well. She was hot-tempered and easily plagued by the frequent scrapes of her four sons, and while no one was permitted to whip a horse or a slave, she felt that a lick now and then didn't do the boys any harm.

塔尔顿太太终日操劳不休，不仅得经营一大片棉花地、上百名黑奴、八个儿女，还得照料本州最大的养马场。她性情暴躁，四个儿子又不争气，所以她动不动就大发雷霆。她不许任何人鞭打马匹和黑奴，却认为对几个儿子抽上一顿没坏处。

1）hot-tempered /ˌhɒt ˈtempə(r)d/: becoming angry very easily 脾气暴躁的；易怒的

类似的词还可以用bad-tempered，short-tempered，irritable，moody，touchy 等；反义词可以用patient。

2）plague /pleɪɡ/ ：我们一般认为这个词是瘟疫的意思，但在这里它生动地被用作动词，作为烦扰，纠缠的意思

e.g., Telephone sales plague our lives.

         有电话销售烦扰到我们的生活。

3）scrapes: （口语上）困境，窘境

e.g., We need to handle our scraped here.

         我们需要处理困境。

4）lick /lɪk/：我们一般理解它为舔舐的意思，在这里指鞭打，它还可以延伸为狠狠一击的意思

e.g., We licked the other team on Sunday. 

          我们星期天狠狠打败了那一队

5) do harm to    对......有害处

e.g., What you have done might do harm to others.

你所做的事或许对别人有害处。

第二段：

"Of course she won't hit Boyed. She never did beat Boyed much because he's the oldest and besides he's the runt of the litter" said Stuart, proud of his six feet two. That's why we left him at home to explain things to her. God mighty, Ma ought to stop licking us! We're nineteen and Tom's twenty-one, and she acts like we are six years old."

“妈才不会揍博伊德哩。博伊德是老大，个头又小，妈从不对他动真格的。“ 斯图尔特边说边得意自己六英尺二的身量，”所以我们才留他在家，好跟妈解释解释。老天在上，妈真不该再揍我们啦！我俩都十九了，汤姆二十一，可妈还把我们当成六岁的小娃娃。“

the runt of the litter： (俚语）我们这伙人中最矮小的

第三段：

"Will your mother ride the new horse to the Wilkes barbecue tomorrow?"

“你妈明天会不会骑那匹新买的马区参加威克斯尔家的烤肉宴？“

barbecue：户外烧烤              

第四段：

"She wants to, but Pa says he's too dangerous. And, anyway, the girls won't let her. They said they were going to have her go to one party at least like a lady, riding in the carriage."

“她是这么想的，可我爸说太危险。再说我家那几位小姐也不肯，说妈至少得有一回像一个有身份的太太，坐着马车去。“

Riding in a carriage 做 at least like a lady的伴随状语， 表示一种go to one party 的伴随动作，并且和前面主语一致，这个语法功能可以代替and，丰富句式。

在这里，几位小姐们坚持乘坐马车和当时的美国大工业发展的背景形成了有趣的文化冲突。19世纪前半叶蒸汽火车就已经进入欧美人视野，然而就像《飘》这本小说里的人物反映的，人们依然将马车当作身份贵重的标志之一。由于泥泞的路面状况，只有马车才能即保持出行效率，又有能显得身份体面。有趣的是，18世纪的欧洲上流人士必须配备一辆白天搭乘的蒂尔伯力敞篷轿车，和一辆晚上出门的四轮马车，和小说中的美国社会有异曲同工之妙。

第五段：

"I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow," said Scarlett. It's rained nearly every day for a week. There's nothing worse than a barbecue turned into an indoor picnic. "

“但愿明天不要下雨，“斯佳丽道，”这星期几乎天天下。烤肉宴若搬到屋子里办，那才真没意思。“

There is nothing worse than: 这种否定词比较级than的用法：没有比...更怎样的了：

e.g., There is nothing more complicated than this lawsuit. 

         没有比这个案件更复杂的了。

第六段：

"Oh, it'll be clear tomorrow and hot as June," said Stuart. "Look at that sunset. I never saw one redder. You can always tell the weather by sunsets."

“天没准晴，会热得跟六月份一样，“斯图尔特道，”瞧瞧那落日，没见过更红的啦。看落日知天气嘛。“

1) clear：if the sky or the weather is clear, there are no clouds, rain etc

e.g., The following Sunday is bright and clear.

下周天阳光明媚，晴朗无云。

2) tell something by...： 通过...来分辨...

e.g., We can tell her mood by talking with her.

我们可以通过和她说话来分辨她的情绪如何。

Hope you all enjoy it! 

From a hard-working student who is working to tight deadlines

播讲：Jane

文案：Jane, Isabella, chen chen

文案后期：Jane

音频后期：chen chen