Introduction：When Mrs。Mallard was informed of her husband’s sudden death，shewas not as sad as might be expected。On the contrary，she felt much relieved，for her husband’s death offered her an opportunity for freedom which was impossible in her unhappy marriage life。However，she had one more surprise awaiting her before her excitement came to an end。
1.Knowing that Mrs。Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble，great care was taken to break toher as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death。
2.It was her sister Josephine who told her，in broken sentences veiled hints that revealed in half concealing。Her husband’s friend Richards was there，too，near her。It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of therailroad disaster was received，with Brently Mallard’s name leading the list of“killed”。He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a secondtelegram，and had hastened to forestall any less careful，less tender friend inbearing the sad message。
3.She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same，with a paralyzed inability toaccept its significance。She wept at once，with sudden，wild abandonment，in hersister’s arms。When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone。She would have no one follow her。
afflict：v。使痛苦，折磨。be afflicted with意為“苦於……深受……折磨”。
break to sb。the news of：告知某人……消息。第二段首句中的“broken”則是“不完整的，斷斷續續的”意思。
veiled hints that revealed in half concealing：意為“半遮半掩”，veil 和conceal 都有“隱藏”的意思。
intelligence：n。消息
forestall：v。用先發製人的方法預防
paralyzed：adj。癱瘓的
abandonment：n。放棄，放肆
4.There stood，facing the open window，a comfortable，roomy armchair。Into this she sank，pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul。
5.She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life。The delicious breath of rain was in the air。In the street below a peddler was crying his wares。The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly，and countless sparrows weretwittering in the eaves。
評注：作者在第5段的描寫中采用了“移情”（empathy）的手法，即將自己的情感移入所見之物上。文中的一些生動意象，如顫抖的樹冠，春雨的氣息，街上叫賣的商販和嘰嘰喳喳的小鳥，是我們探測女主人公內心世界的關鍵，為下文做好鋪墊。
6.There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window。
7.She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair，quite motionless，except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her，as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams。
8.She was young，with a fair，calm face，whose lines bespokerepression and even a certain strength。But now there was a dull stare in her eyes，whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky。It was not a glanceof reflection，but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought。