细看香奈儿的经历与人生态度,从故事里学英语:出身卑微、独树一格的英文怎么说?

成立超过 100 年的 CHANEL(香奈儿)早已成为优雅、时髦、精品的代名词。

Coco Chanel 可说是史上最有名的时尚设计师,她在时尚史和现代女性史留下的贡献和价值都十分有影响力。从永远的热销商品斜纹软呢外套装(Tweed Suit),到菱格纹包(Quilting Bag),香奈儿 NO5 香水,她所创造的无数经典让香奈儿诞生至今 100 年,仍是不败的世纪风格。作为历史上一位最伟大与最有影响力的高级时装设计师,Coco Chanel 从未过时。她在过去的 100 年中,无论是在时装还是人生态度,都是女性追求的先导和典范。尽管已逝世多年,但许多人仍热爱着 Chanel 风格,她精彩的人生,大战前后的绯闻,使她的生命留下浓厚的传奇色彩。今天就让我们看影片学英文,同时了解 Coco Chanel 的传奇一生。

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Once upon a time, there lived a little girl who hid her humble origins all her life and preferred to invent her own legend.

从前,有位小女孩一辈子隐瞒着自己卑微的出身,并希望开创出属于自己的传奇。

Once upon a time 通常被拿来当作讲故事的典型起手式,是代表“从前、很久以前”的意思。

humble 通常都指“谦逊的、谦虚的”,但在这边是指“地位卑下的、卑微的”;“卑微的身世”可以如影片中所说 humble origins,也可以说 humble background。

Once upon a time, Gabrielle Chanel was born under the sign of the Leo to a traveling peddler and a laundress, who died at 32, exhausted by life.

从前,在太阳运行到狮子座之际,嘉柏丽·香奈儿诞生了,她的双亲是沿街叫卖的小贩和洗衣妇,母亲在三十二岁时因生活劳苦而辞世。

⊙ was born under the sign of the Leo 代表星座是狮子座。在英语中问他人是什么星座,可以说:“What is your zodiac sign / star sign?”或是最简单的:“What is your sign?”而要回答自己是狮子座,除了说“ I was born under the sign of the Leo.”,也可以说“I am a Leo.”或是“My star sign is Leo.”

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Once upon a time, there was a father who abandoned his five children and had his three daughters sent away to an orphanage. At 12 years old, Gabrielle would never see him again. Forever after, she pretended that he had left to make his way in America.

从前,有名父亲遗弃自己的五个孩子,并将他的三个女儿送进孤儿院。在十二岁时,嘉柏丽将永远不会再见到父亲。自此之后,她假装他已远赴美国打拼。

Make one's way 代表前进、发迹,在这边则是进一步衍伸做“奋斗、打拚”的意思。

Once upon a time, there was an orphanage behind the walls of a convent, the abbey of Aubazine, where Gabrielle spent nearly seven years. The Romanesque purity of this ascetic world would inspire her sense of austerity and her taste for black and white, while the opulence of religious garments and ceremonial objects would spark her fascination with Baroque style, gold, and colored gems in years to come.

从前,在奥巴辛修道院的高墙后有一间孤儿院,嘉柏丽在那里度过将近七年岁月。这个禁欲世界中的罗马式纯朴风格将激发她对极简的体悟以及对黑与白的爱好,而宗教服饰及礼器的华丽则让她在未来醉心于巴洛克风格、金色以及色彩缤纷的宝石。


图片|来源

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl who spent her days sewing and her nights singing in a cabaret before troops of cavalrymen. She was called "Coco" because she often sang "Who's Seen Coco in the Trocadero?" She always preferred to pretend that Coco was the nickname given to her by her father.

从前,有位美丽的少女,她白天缝纫,夜晚则到一间夜总会唱歌给骑兵团听。人们叫她“Coco”,因为她时常唱一首《谁有在特罗卡德罗看到 Coco?》。 她总是喜欢假装 Coco 是父亲给自己取的小名。

Once upon a time, a young woman with a boyish allure refused to ride sidesaddle on the horses of a well-born cavalier, Etienne Balsan. She dressed like no one else, taking her inspiration from masculine attire and inventing new styles of hat, which she stripped off their birds and feathers to make them simpler, lighter, more chic. Her first clients were working girls, but society quickly followed.

从前,一个男孩子气但迷人的年轻女子,她拒绝用女式马鞍骑乘在艾提安·贝森,一名出身高贵的骑士的马上。她的穿衣风格独树一帜,她的灵感源自男性服装,她还创造出新式样的帽子,除去鸟饰及羽毛来让帽子更简洁、轻巧、时尚。她一开始的顾客是一些女工们,但上流社会很快地跟上这股潮流。

⊙ dress like no one else 字面上意思是“穿着不像其他任何人”,也就是指“穿衣风格独树一格”,此外“独树一格”的英文也可以说 have a style of one's own。

Once upon a time, there was a great love named Boy Capel, English, wealthy, and cultivated—he was the man of her dreams. He introduced her to literature, the Orient, and the esoteric. Boy helped Coco become Chanel. She decided to open her first boutiques in Paris, Deauville, and Biarritz. She wanted to work to win her liberty.

从前,有种深刻的爱叫“鲍伊·卡柏”,他是英国人,富有且温文儒雅--他是她的理想情人。他引领她进入文学、东方以及神祕学的世界。鲍伊让 Coco 蜕变成香奈儿。她决定在巴黎、多维勒还有比亚里茨开设最初的几间精品店。她想努力工作来获得自由。

Once upon a time, a revolution came to pass when, in a stroke of genius, Coco Chanel transformed the female silhouette. She shortened dresses, revealed ankles, freed the waist, eliminated corsets, revived jersey, cut her hair, and bronzed her skin. Chanel closed one era and launched a new century of fashion.

从前,一场时尚革命到来,当时可可·香奈儿灵机一动,改变女性呈现的轮廓。她将洋装改短、露出脚踝、解放腰际、脱掉束腹、让佳绩布料有新样貌、剪短头发,还晒出古铜肤色。香奈儿替一个时代划下句点,并开启一个时尚新纪元。

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⊙ come to pass 是指“发生、应验”的意思,所以 a revolution came to pass 就是指“一场革命发生、到来”;a stroke of genius 字面上是“突如其来、忽然发生的天才奇想”,也就是指心血来潮、灵机一动想到某个好主意的意思。

Once a upon a time, at 31 Rue Cambon, Mademoiselle Chanel opened her first couture house in Paris in 1918. The little country girl, the orphan of Aubazine, had become the queen of Paris. Before liberating women, she had liberated herself.

从前,香奈儿小姐在 1918 年时于巴黎康朋街 31 号创立她的第一间时装店。这个乡下小女孩、奥巴辛的孤儿,已经摇身一变为巴黎女王。在解放女性之前,她已先解放了自己。

Once upon a time, there was a love story that ended abruptly. Boy Capel died in a car accident. For the first and last time, Coco Chanel was seen to cry. "Either I die as well," she said, "or I finish what we started together." She chose to go on.

从前,有段骤逝的爱情故事。鲍伊·卡柏死于一场车祸。是第一次也是最后一次,可可·香奈儿在人们面前落泪。“不是我也跟着走,”她说,“就是我继续完成我们一同开创的一切。”她选择继续走下去。

⊙ abrupt 是形容词,指“很突然且意料之外的”,通常也被用来形容不太令人开心的事物,表示事情的发展急转直下。而在这边 end abruptly 的 abruptly 是副词,修饰前面的动词 end,指前面的爱情故事“骤逝、戛然而止”。