喜樂美語

核心畫面

Picture a closed box: you can see that something is inside, but not what. That gap between knowing there is something and not knowing what it is holds the whole word. Sometimes the gap is a puzzle waiting to be solved, sometimes it is an atmosphere a person gives off, and sometimes it is a whole shelf of novels built around keeping the box shut until the last page.

可以想成：一個蓋著的盒子——你知道裡面有東西，但不知道是什麼。「知道有」和「不知道是什麼」之間的那個縫，撐起了整個字…更多收起可以想成：一個蓋著的盒子——你知道裡面有東西，但不知道是什麼。「知道有」和「不知道是什麼」之間的那個縫，撐起了整個字。有時候那個縫是一道等著被解開的謎，有時候是一個人身上散發出來的氣質，有時候則是一整櫃小說的架構：把盒子蓋到最後一頁才打開。

Three branches

想不通、解不開的事

核心那一面：知道有這件事，但說不出它是怎麼回事。

unexplained thing · noun · B1

Something that people cannot understand or explain because they do not know enough about it.

謎；謎團

讓人猜不透的氣息

從「解不開的事」變成「散發出來的感覺」：不是有一個謎，而是整個人帶著那種氛圍。

an air of mystery · noun · B1

A feeling or quality that makes someone or something seem strange, secret, and hard to understand.

神秘感

推理作品

把「盒子蓋著」變成一種說故事的形式：讀者一路猜，最後一頁才揭曉。

whodunit story · noun · B1

A story, film, or play about a crime, in which you do not find out who did it until the end.

推理作品；懸疑故事

原始詞典資料10 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

mysterynoun/ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/

  • 1

    Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown.

    • The truth behind the events remains a mystery.
    • The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.
  • 2

    Someone or something with an obscure or puzzling nature.

    • That man is a mystery.
    • Then I had a good think on the subject of the hocussing of Cigarette, and I was reluctantly bound to admit that once again the man in the corner had found the only possible solution to the mystery.
  • 3

    An account, story, book, film, or play, often with the theme of crime or murder, with a surprise ending that explains all the strange events that have occurred.

  • 4

    A mystery play.

    • The Moralities displayed something more of art and invention than the Mysteries; in them virtues, vices and qualities were personified, and something like a plot was frequently to be discovered.
  • 5

    obsoleteA secret or mystical meaning.

    • […] and, not knowing the meaning or misterie of her pollicie, forgat no termes of reproche or rigorous rebuke against his chast doughter.
  • 6

    A religious truth not understandable by the application of human reason alone (without divine aid).

    • 1744 (first printed), Jonathan Swift, A Sermon on the Trinity If God should please to reveal unto us this great mystery of the Trinity, or some other mysteries in our holy religion, we should not be able to understand them, unless he would bestow on us some new faculties of the mind.
  • 7

    A sacrament.

    • There are seven mysteries, or sacraments, in the Greek church, viz. baptism, the chrism (a rite peculiar to this church), the eucharist, confession, ordination, marriage, and the holy oil.
  • 8

    A secret religious celebration, admission to which was usually through initiation.

    • the Eleusinian mysteries
    • the Mysteries of Mithras
另外 2 個記錄的用法
  • 9

    CatholicismChristianityA particular event or series of events in the life of Christ.

    • The second decade of the Rosary concerns the Sorrowful mysteries, such as the crucifixion and the crowning with thorns.
  • 10

    archaicA craft, art or trade; specifically a guild of craftsmen.

    • The trades, the crafts, the mysteries, would all be losers.

資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。