【BBC纪录片】凡尔赛宫 第35期：正室与小三也能和平共处?
孩子们不喜欢父亲的新女友
and the same was true at Versailles.
在凡尔赛宫内也是如此
Especially when Louis's many children
特别是当路易的孩子们发现
saw him spending a fortune on her.
他在她身上花了大笔的钱
They felt, rightly or wrongly, that her presence, somehow,
他们认为她的存在
demeaned their father.
玷污了他们父亲的名誉
As a consequence, of course, they famously dubbed her,
于是 他们给她取了个著名的绰号
Mummy Whore.
老鸨
Louis's children may have loathed her,
路易的孩子们也许鄙视她
but their mother, the Queen, was rather impressed.
而他们的母亲 王后 却喜欢她
She was particularly nice to the Queen,
她对王后非常友善
which poor old Marie Leszczynska was very grateful for,
让可怜的玛丽·蕾姗斯卡很感激
because until Madame de Pompadour arrived,
因为在蓬帕杜夫人进宫之前
nobody had ever taken any notice of her, at all.
从没人把她这个王后当回事
In fact, the first time she was ever sent flowers
事实上 王后收到的第一束花
was at Madame de Pompadour's instigation.
就是蓬帕杜夫人指使人送的
And, although, obviously,
尽管很明显
the difference in their positions
她们两人的身份
meant that they could never be anything like friends,
让她们永远也不可能成为真正的朋友
the Queen was heard to say,
可据说王后曾表示
if there must be a mistress,
如果注定要有一位情妇来争宠
better that it is this one.
蓬帕杜已算是不幸中的万幸了
一.rare:adj. 罕见的，珍贵的，煎得嫩的
【词义辨析】
occasional,uncommon,scare,rare
occasional: 指偶然、不时或间或发生的事，侧重无规律可循。
uncommon: 指一般不发生或很少发生的事情，故显得独特、异常与例外。
scare: 指暂时不易发现、不存在或数量不足，供不应求的东西。
rare: 指难得发生的事或难遇见的人或事，侧重特殊性。
【例句用法】
1.It is rare to find such a genius nowadays.
这样的天才现在很少见。
2.A collector of rare insects will show us some of his latest discoveries.
一位稀有昆虫采集家将给我们看一些他的最新发现。
3.Parliament has passed an Act forbidding the killing of rare animals.
国会通过了一项法令，禁止捕杀珍稀动物。
4.These rare tigers are protected by special laws.
这些珍贵的老虎受到专门法律的保护。
5.Those rare books are shelved in the East Library.
那些珍贵的书籍都放在图书馆东馆的架子上。
二.hear：v. 得知，倾听，听到，听证
【词语用法】
1.hear同see，watch，feel，notice等感观动词一样，其宾语后所接的不定式不含to。
I often hear her sing.
我常听到她唱歌。
但是，hear用于被动语态时，不定式中要含to。
She is often heard to sing.
2.hear的宾语后既可接不定式，也可接动名词，但是在表示“故意听……”时，只能用不定式。
I often hear her sing.
I often hear her singing.
3.hear him表示“听见他”，不管是听到讲话，唱歌，读书等，均可;
4.hear of sb表示“听说过某人”，不一定用耳朵去听，在报道上看到的也可以。
I have heard of the hero through the press.
我曾在报刊上读到过这个英雄。
5.hear from可表示“收到……寄来的信”，后可接表示人或地方的词。
I hear from him every week.
I have not heard from England for several months.
要注意的是，在回信时，开首提及收到对方的信，习惯上用receive your letter来代替hear from you。
hear from ... that/how等不一定表示“收到……的信”，可以是“听说”等其他含义。
I have heard from your father that you are in Beijing.
6.hear的宾语后有时可接过去分词。
I have often heard you spoken of as a model student.
7.hear同listen的比较：hear一般指听到一些东西进入到我们的耳朵里，而listen一般用于去注意一些声响，这些声响是进行中的。
You can hear something without wanting to, but you can only listen to something deliberately.
【错句举例与错句分析】
错句：I heard him to start the car and drive away quickly.
纠正：I heard him start the car and drive away quickly.
翻译：我听到他发动汽车的声音了，很快就开走了。
分析：hear同see，watch，feel，notice等感观动词一样，其宾语后所接的不定式不含to。
【例句用法】
1.I can't let you pay my debts I won't hear of such a thing.
我不能让你替我还债--我不同意此事。
2.I've only just heard about his dismissal.
我刚听到他遭解雇的事。
3.He wouldn't hear of my walking home alone.
他不许我单独一人走回家。
4.If we don't give her what she wants we'll never hear the end of it.
我们若不满足她的要求，这事就没完没了了。
5.We listened but could hear nothing.
我们注意听，但什么也听不见。
