213 The superficial superintendent
213 肤浅的校长
The superficial qualities of the superintendent of the school led many to question his suitability for the job. Most couldn’t wait for a new supervisor to supersede him. He acted so superior and thought he possessed superb good looks. He would lay out in the sunlight in order to get a tan. But the joke was on him, because his sunburn would be so bad that he looked like an evil, supernatural being. He was superbly unknowledgeable, reaching unseen summits of ignorance, but because he had powers of supervision over young students, he thought he could get away with supplanting truth with lies. He claimed he had a beautiful sunlit in Beverly Hills. He would pack his suitcase and go across the country every weekend to stay there. “I eat the most sumptuous food in Beverly Hills restaurants,” he claimed. While chatting about history, he even tried to claim that an ancestor of his invented the sundial! Sometimes the stories would border on the absolutely fantastic. He once told the students that he could hover in the middle of the air when on one was looking. He also claimed to be able to summon dead spirits. Did he think the students were believers in superstition? It seemed he needed a psychiatrist to closely supervise his activities. On one occasion, the students paid one to listen to the superintendent’s rants. “What I see,” the doctor said afterward, “is a very sullen man. He actually has a very supple mind. He suffers from an overly strong desire to make his agile mind public knowledge. This desire is supplemented by a fear of dying as an unknown.”
这所学校的校长资质肤浅，令很多人对他能否胜任工作提出质疑。大多数人迫不及待地希望有个新的校长取代他。他举止傲慢，认为自己拥有第一流的长相。他经常躺在阳光下晒皮肤以使肤色变深，但弄巧成拙，他的晒斑往往太严重，使他看上去像个邪恶的精灵。他的知识极为贫乏，无知到了极点，但是因为他有管理年轻学生的权力，他觉得自己可以用谎言代替真相。他声称自己在贝弗利山庄拥有一套充满阳光的漂亮房子。他会在每个周末打点手提箱，穿过乡村去那里小住。“我在贝弗利山庄的饭店里吃最丰盛的饭菜，”他说。在闲聊历史的时候，他甚至宣称他的一个祖先发明了日晷！有时他的说法简直荒唐可笑。他曾告诉学生，没人在场时，他可以在空中飞旋。他还说自己可以召唤亡灵。他认为学生们信迷信吗？似乎他需要有位精神病医生来密切监督他的行为。有一次，学生们雇了一位医生来听这位校长的夸夸其谈。“我所看到的，”后来这位医生说，“是个郁郁寡欢的人。实际上他头脑灵活。他有一种过分强烈的欲望，要让大家知道他头脑灵活。这种欲望被死于默默无闻的担心所取代。”
Whatever the situation, the superintendent remained as he always had been.
不管怎样，这位校长依然故我。
Words:
sullen adj.闷闷不乐的,阴沉的
summit n.山顶,顶点
summon v.召唤,传唤,召集
sumptuous adj.奢侈的,华丽的
sunburn n.晒斑,晒黑
sundial n.(通过太阳知道时间的)日规,日晷
sunlight n.日光,阳光
sunlit adj.被日光照射了的,阳光照射的
superb adj.极好的,超级的
superbly adv.雄伟地,壮丽性,极好地
superficial adj.肤浅的,表面(上)的
superintendent n.主管,负责人,主日学校校长
superior adj.级别工地位更高的,质量或价值更好的
supernatural adj.超自然的,神奇的
supersede vt.代替,接替
superstition n.迷信
supervise vt.监督,指导
supervision n.监督,管理
supervisor n.主管,管理人
supplant n.排挤,取代
supple adj.柔软的,灵活的,柔顺的
supplement vt. 增补,补充n.增补,补充