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中英文互译简单文章

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中英文互译简单文章

  中英文互译的文章,能够有效帮助读者在看英语文章的时候更好的理解文章的内容,下面就是学习啦小编给大家整理的中英文互译简单文章,希望大家喜欢。

  中英文互译简单文章篇1:My Mother's Gift

  母亲的礼物

  Suzanne Chazin

  苏珊娜·蔡津

  I grew up in a small town where the elementary school was a ten-minute walk from my houseand in an age , not so long ago , when children could go home for lunch and find their motherswaiting.

  我是在一个小镇上长大的,从镇上的小学校到我家,只需步行10分钟。离当前不算太太久远的那个时代,小学生可以回家吃午饭,而他们的母亲,则会老早在家等候着。

  At the time, I did not consider this a luxury, although today it certainly would be. I took it forgranted that mothers were the sandwich-makers, the finger-painting appreciators and thehomework monitors. I never questioned that this ambitious, intelligent woman, who had hada career before I was born and would eventually return to a career, would spend almost everylunch hour throughout my elementary school years just with me.

  这一切对如今的孩子来说,无疑是一种奢望了,可是那时的我,却并不以为然。我觉得做母亲的给她的孩子制作三明治,鉴赏指画,检查他们的家庭作业,都是理所当然的事。我从来没有想过:像我母亲这样一个颇有抱负又很聪明的女人,在我降生之前,她有一份工作,而且后来她又谋了份差事,可是,在我上小学那几年,她却几乎天天陪着我吃午饭,一同打发午餐时的每一分钟。

  I only knew that when the noon bell rang, I would race breathlessly home. My mother would bestanding at the top of the stairs, smiling down at me with a look that suggested I was the onlyimportant thing she had on her mind. For this, I am forever grateful.

  只记得,每当午时铃声一响,我就一口气地往家里跑。母亲总是站在门前台阶的最高层,笑盈盈地望着我--那神情分明表示:我便是母亲心目中唯一最重要的东西了。为此,我一辈子都要感谢我的母亲。

  Some sounds bring it all back: the highpitched squeal of my mother's teakettle, the rumble ofthe washing machine in the basement and the jangle of my dog's license tags as shebounded down the stairs to greet me. Our time together seemed devoid of thegerrymandered schedules that now pervade my life.

  如今,每当我听到一些声音,像母亲那把茶壶水开时发出的尖叫声,地下室洗衣机的隆隆声,还有,我那条狗蹦下台阶冲我摇头摆尾时它脖子上那牌照发出的撞击声,便会勾起我对往事的回忆。和母亲在一起的岁月,全然没有充斥于我的生活中的、事先做好的安排往往任意改动。可是,和母亲在一起的那些岁月里,这样的现象似乎根本不存在。

  One lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had been picked to bethe princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstakingly rehearsed my lineswith me. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped onstage,every word disappeared from my head.

  我永远忘不了在我上三年级时的那一顿午饭。在那天之前,我被学校选中,要在一个即将演出的小剧中扮演公主的角色。一连好几个礼拜,母亲总是不辞辛劳地陪着我,一起背诵台词。可是,不管在家里怎么背得滚瓜烂熟,只要一上舞台,我的脑子里就成了一片空白。

  Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator's part to theplay, and asked me to switch roles. Her word, kindly delivered, still stung, especially when I sawmy part go to another girl.

  终于,老师把我叫到了一边。她说剧中旁白这个角色的台词已写好了,想把我替换下来当旁白。尽管老师这些话说得和和气气,可还是刺痛了我的心,特别是当我发觉自己扮演的公主角色让另外一个女孩顶替时,更是如此。

  I didn't tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But shesensed my unease, and instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked If I wanted towalk in the yard.

  那天回家吃午饭时我没有把这事告诉母亲。然而,母亲见我心神不定,因此没有再提练习背台词的事儿,而是问我愿意不愿意到院子里散散步。

  It was a lovely spring day and the rose vine on the trellis was turning green. Under the hugeelm trees, we could see yellow dandelions popping through the grass in bunches, as if a painterhad touched our landscape with dabs of gold .I watched my mother casually bend down byone of the clumps. "I think I'm going to dig up all these weeds, "she said, yanking a blossomup by its roots. "From now on, we'll have only roses in this garden. "

  那真是一个可爱的春日,棚架上蔷薇的藤蔓正在转青。在一些高大的榆树下面,我们可以看到,一丛丛黄色的蒲公英冒出草坪,仿佛是一位画家为了给眼前的美景增色而着意加上的点点金色。我看到母亲在一簇花丛旁漫不经心地弯下身来。“我看得把这些野草都拨了,”她说着,一边使劲把一丛蒲公英连根拨出。“往后咱这园子里只让长蔷薇花。”

  "But I like dandelions, " I protested. "All flowers are beautiful-even dandelions. "

  “可是我喜欢蒲公英,”我不满地说,“凡是花都好看--蒲公英也不例外。”

  My mother looked at me seriously. "Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn't it?"She asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over. "And that is true of peopletoo, " she added. "Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that.

  母亲严肃地看着我。“噢,这么说,每朵花都自有它令人赏心悦目的地方喽?”她若有所思地问道。我点了点头,总算说服了母亲,这使我很得意。“可是人也一样呀,”母亲接着又发话,“不见得人人都能当公主,但当不了公主并不丢脸。”

  Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry as I told her what had happened. Shelistened and smiled reassuringly.

  母亲猜到了我的苦恼,这使我的情绪安定下来。我哭了起来,把事情的经过讲给母亲听。母亲专注地听着,脸上带着安详的微笑。

  "But you will be a beautiful narrator, " she said , reminding me of how much I loved to readstories aloud to her . "The narrator's part is every bit as important as the part of a princess. "

  “但你会成为一名顶呱呱的解说员,”母亲又说。她说平常我是多么喜欢朗诵故事给她听,还说“从哪方面看,旁白这个角色都和公主那个角色一样重要”。

  Over the next few weeks, with her constant encouragement, I learned to take pride in therole. Lunchtimes were spent reading over my lines and talking abut what I would wear.

  往后的几个星期,在母亲的一再鼓励下,我渐渐地以担任旁白的角色感到骄傲。利用午饭时间,我们又一起念台词,议论到时候我该穿什么样的演出服装。

  Backstage the night of the performance, I felt nervous. A few minutes before the play, myteacher came over to me. "Your mother asked me to give this to you, " she said, handing me adandelion. Its edges were already beginning to curl and it flopped lazily from its stem. But justlooking at it, knowing my mother was out there and thinking of our lunchtime talk, made meproud .

  到了演出那个晚上,当我登上后台,心里还感到紧张。离演出还有几分钟的时候,老师朝我走了过来。“你母亲让我把这个交给你,”说着她递过来了一朵蒲公英。那花儿四周已开始打蔫,花瓣儿从梗上向下有气无力地耷拉着。可是,只要看一眼,知道母亲就在外面呆着,回想起和母亲用午饭时说的那些话,我就感到胸有成竹。

  After the play , I took home the flower I had stuffed in the apron of my costume . My motherpressed it between two sheets of paper toweling in a dictionary , laughing as she did it that wewere perhaps the only people who would press such a sorry-looking weed .

  演出结束后,我把塞在演出服围裙里的那朵蒲公英拿回了家。母亲将花接了过去,用两张纸巾将它压平,夹在了一本字典里。她一边忙碌着,一边笑,想到也许只有我们俩会珍藏这么一朵打了蔫的野草花。

  I often look back on our lunchtimes together , bathed in the soft midday light . They were thecommas in my childhood , the pauses that told me life is not savored in premeasuredincrement , but in the sum of daily rituals and small pleasures we casually share with lovedones . Over peanut-butter sandwiches and chocolate-chip cookies , I learned that love , firstand foremost , means being there for the little things .

  我常常回想起和母亲在一起度过的那些沐浴在和煦阳光之中的午餐时光。它们是我孩提时代的一个个小插曲,告诉我一个道理:人生的滋味,就在于和我们所爱的人在一起不经意地共度的日常生活、分享的点点滴滴的欢乐,而不在于某种事先测量好的“添加剂”。在享用母亲做的花生酱、三明治和巧克力碎末小甜饼的时候,我懂得了,爱就体现在这些细微这处。

  A few months ago , my mother came to visit , I took off a day from work and treated her tolunch. The restaurant bustled with noontime activity as businesspeople made deals and glancedat their watches . In the middle of all this sat my mother , now retired , and I . From her face Icould see that she relished the pace of the work world .

  几个月前,母亲又来看我。我特意请了天假,陪母亲吃午饭。中午,饭馆里熙熙壤攘,做生意的人忙不迭地从事交易活动,他们不时地看看手表。如今已经退休的母亲和我就坐在这群人中间。从母亲的表情中,我看得出,母亲打心眼里喜欢上班族这种生活的节奏。

  "Mom , you must have been terribly bored staying at home when I was a child , " I said .

  “妈,我小的时候,您老呆在家里一定觉得很烦吧?”我说。

  "Bored? Housework is boring . But you were never boring . "

  “烦?做家务是令人心烦,不过,你从来没使我感到心烦过。”

  I didn't believe her , so I pressed . "Surely children are not as stimulating as a career. "

  我不相信这是实话,于是我又想法子套她的话。“看孩子哪会像工作那样富有刺激性呢?”

  "A career is stimulating , " she said . "I'm glad I had one . But a career is like an open balloon.It remains inflated only as long as you keep pumping . A child is a seed . You water it . You carefor it the best you can . And then it grows all by itself into a beautiful flower . "

  “工作是富有刺激性的,”母亲答道,“很高兴我也有过工作。可是工作好比开了口的气球,你只有不停地充气,它才能鼓着劲。可是一个孩子就是一粒种子,你浇灌了它,全心全意地爱护它,然后,它就会独立自主地开出美丽的花朵来。”

  Just then , looking at her , I could picture us sitting at her kitchen table once again , and Iunderstood why I kept that flaky brown dandelion in our old family dictionary pressed betweentwo crumpled bits of paper towel.

  此时此刻,我凝视着母亲,脑海里又浮现儿时和母亲一起坐在饭桌旁的情景,同时也明白了我为什么仍要把那朵已经发黑、一碰就碎的蒲公英用两片皱纸巾夹起来,珍藏在祖传的那本旧词典里。

  中英文互译简单文章篇2:My Father's Music

  我父亲的音乐

  Wayne Kalyn

  韦恩·卡林

  I remember the day Dad first lugged the heavy accordion up our front stoop,taxing his smallframe. He gathered my mother and me in the living room and opened the case as if it were atreasure chest. "Here it is,"he said. "Once you learn to play, it'll stay with you for life."

  我还记得那天,爸爸豁出瘦小的身躯,第一次把那沉甸甸的手风琴拖上我们家的门廊。他把妈姆和我召到客厅,打开箱子,好像那是个百宝箱似的.“给,”。他说,“你一学会拉它,它就跟你终身做伴。”

  If my thin smile didn't match his full-fledged grin, it was because I had prayed for a guitar or apiano. It was 1960, and I was glued to my AM radio,listening to Del Shannon and ChubbyChecker. Accordions were nowhere in my hit parade. As Ilooked at the shiny white keys andcream-colored bellows, I could already hear my friends' squeeze box jokes.

  我淡淡一笑,满不像他那么喜笑颜开,可那是因为裁一直巴望着有一把吉他,或一架钢琴。当时是1960年,我迷上了在调幅广播里收听戴尔·香农和查比·切克的音乐。手风琴在我的流行曲目里根本排不上号。看着那白晃晃的琴键和奶油色的风箱,我都可以听到伙伴们嘲弄这玩意儿的声音。

  For the next two weeks, the accordion was stored in the hall closet. Then one evening Dadannounced that I would start lessons the following week. In disbelief I shot my eyes towardMom for support. The firm set of her jaw told me I was out of luck.

  后来的两个礼拜,手风琴一直搁在门厅的壁橱里。有天晚上,爸爸宣布,’下周起我就开始上手风琴课。狐疑中我直向母亲递眼色,求她帮忙。可她紧闭着嘴,就是说我这次倒了霉了。

  Spending 0 for an accordion and per lesson was out of character for my father. He waspractical always-something he learned growing up on a Pennsylvania farm. Clothes, heat andsometimes even food were scarce.

  花300元买架手风琴,每上一课还得交五元,这可不合我父亲的性格。他向来都很讲究实际——这是他自小在宾夕法尼亚州的农场学来的。当时穿的,取暖的,有时候连吃的都很少。

  Before I was born, he and my mother moved into her parents' two-story home in Jersey City,N.J. I grew up there on the second floor; my grandparents lived downstairs. Each weekday Dadmade the three-hour commute to and from Long Island, where he was a supervisor in acomparty that serviced jet engines. Weekends, he tinkered in the cellar, turning scraps ofplywood into a utility cabinet or fixing a broken toy with spare parts. Quiet andshy, he wasnever more comfortable than when at his workbench.

  我出生前,父母搬进了新泽西州泽西城外公外婆家一楼一底的房子。我就是在那儿的楼上长大的,外公他们住楼下。爸爸每天去长岛上班来回要坐三个小时的车。他在那儿的一家飞机发动机维修公司做监督,周末他就在地窖里东修西补,不是把零星的胶合板拼凑成多用柜,就是找些个零部件修理破玩具。他生性沉静腼腆,只有坐在工作凳上时他才最为自在。

  Only music carried Dad away from his world of tools and projects. On a Sunday drive, he turnedthe radio on immediately. At red lights, I'd notice his foot tapping in time. He seemed to hangon every note.

  只有音乐可以使爸爸陶醉,忘却他那个近视工具和活计的天地。星期天只要一开车,他便打开收音机。遇见红灯,就见他的脚及时地轻轻打起拍子。他好像不放过每一个音符。

  Still, I wasn't prepared when, rummaging in a closet, I found a case that looked to me like a tinyguitar's. Opening it, I saw the polished glow of a beautiffil violin. "It's your father's," Mom said. "His parents bought it for him. I guess he got too busy on the farm to ever learn to play it." Itried to imagine Dad's rough hands on this delicate instrument-and couldn't. .

  然而,我还是没有料到,又一次翻一个壁橱,竟发现一只盒子,我看像个小吉他盒。打开一看,却是把漂亮的小提琴,光滑锃亮的。“那是你父亲的,”妈妈说,“他父母给他买的。怕是农场上太忙了吧,他压根儿就没顾上学。”我尽量想象爸爸那双粗手在摆弄这把精巧的小提琴——可就是想象不出来。

  Shortly after, my lessons began with Mr. Zelli at the Allegro Accordion School tucked betweenan old movie theater and a pizza parlor. On my first day, with straps straining my shoulder, Ifelt clumsy in every way. "How did he do?" my father asked when it was over. "Fine for the firstlesson,"said Mr.ZeUi. Dad glowed with hope.

  不久,我在手风琴速成学校跟泽里先生上起课来了,那个学校夹在一家旧电影院和一家馅饼店之间。第一天,我肩上勒紧了两条皮带,怎么都觉得别扭。“他怎么样?”过后父亲问老师。“第一课嘛,还可以。”泽里先生说。爸爸看有希望,神采奕奕。

  I was ordered to practice half an hour every day, and every day I tried to get out of it. Myfuture seemed to be outside playing ball, not in the house mastering songs I would soonforget, but my parents hounded me to practice.

  按规定我每天的练半小时的琴,而我每天都没法躲过去。我看我的前途是在户外打球,不是呆在屋里练很快就会遗忘的曲子,可父母逼着我练。

  Gradually, to my surprise, I was able to string notes together and coordinate my hands toplay simple songs. Often, after supper, my father would requesta tune or two. As he sat in hiseasy chair, I would fumble through "Lady of Spain" and "Beer Barrel Polka."

  想不到我渐渐可以把各个音符串起来,两手配合着拉起简单的歌曲了。晚饭后,父亲常常要我拉上一两段曲子。他坐在安乐椅里,我就笨手笨脚地拉完《西班牙女郎》和《啤酒桶波尔卡》

  "Very nice, better than last week," he'd say. Then I would segue into a med-ley of his favorites, "Red River Valley" and "Home on the Range," and he would drift off to sleep, the newspaperfolded on his lap. I took it as a compliment that he could relax under the spell of my playing.

  “很好,比上星期强。”他会说。于是我一口气拉下去,把他最喜欢的歌曲《红河谷》和《家在牧场》混在一起,于是他不知不觉地睡去,报纸还摊在膝上。他能在我的演奏感召之下,也轻松一下算是对我的赞赏吧。

  One July evening I was giving an almost flawless rendition of "Come Back to Sorrento,"and myparents called me to an open window. An elderly neighbor, rarely seen outside her house, wasleaning against our car humming dreamily to the tune. When I finished, she smiled broadly andcalled out, "I remember that song as a child in Italy. Beautiful, just beautiful."

  有年七月的一天傍晚,我正在拉《重归苏连托》,几乎是无懈可击,父母把我叫到一扇窗口。一个上了年纪的邻居,很少见她出门,这时正依在我家车旁,恍恍惚惚地跟着曲子哼着。我拉完了,她笑眯眯地喊道:“我小时候在意大利就记得这首歌。好听,真好听。”

  Throughout the summer, Mr. Zelli's lessons grew more difficult. It took me a week and a half tomaster them now. All the while I could hear my buddies outside playing heated games ofstickball. I'd also hear an occasional taunt: "Hey, where's your monkey and cup?

  整个夏天,泽里先生的课越上越难。现在要花一个半星期才能学会。我一边学琴一边可以听到伙伴们在外面玩棍球玩得好热闹,不时还听到句把损人的话:“喂!你那猴儿罐儿呢?”

  Such humiliation paled, though, beside the impending fall recital, I would have to play a soloon a local movie theater's stage. I wanted to skip the whole thing. Emotions boiled over in thecar one Sunday afternoon.

  不过,眼看秋季演奏会就要到来,这么糟践人也就不算个事了。强得耷本地一家电影院上台独奏。我想赖掉这差事。个星期天下午在车上,我们都动了感情,都发火了。

  "I don't want to play a solo," I said.

  我不想独奏。”我说。

  "You have to," replied my father.

  你就得独奏。”父亲答道。

  "Why?" I shouted. "Because you didn't get to play your violin when you were a kid? Whyshould I have to play this stupid instrument when you never had to play yours7"Dad pulled thecar over and pointed at me.

  “为啥?”我吼道,“就因为你小时候没能拉成小提琴?你不拉就行我干吗就非得拉这笨乎乎的玩意儿?爸爸刹住车,面对着我。

  "Because you can bring people joy. You can touch their hearts. That's a gift I won't let youthrow away." He added softly, "Someday you'll have chance I never had: you'll play beautifulmusic for your family. And you understand why you've worked so hard."

  “就因为你可以给别人带来欢乐。你可以打动他们的心。,那是给人的一份礼物,我不许你白扔了。”他又轻声说,“总有一天你会有我从来没有的机会:你会给你的妻子儿女演奏美丽动听的音乐。那时候你就会明白你干吗要这么苦练了。”

  I was speechless. I had rarely heard Dad speak with such feeling about anything, much less theaccordion. From then on, I practiced without parents' making me.

  我无言以对。我很少听到父亲说话这么动情,更何况是说的手风琴。从此我练琴不用父母逼了。

  The evening of the concert Mom wore glittery earrings and more makeup than I couldremember. Dad got out of work early, put on a suit and tie, and slicked down his hair withVitalis. They were an hour early, so we sat in the living room chatting nervously. I got theunspoken message that playing this one song was a dream come true for them.

  音乐会那天晚上,妈妈戴上亮晶晶的耳环,脸上没见她这么打扮过。爸爸早早就下了班,扎上领带,一身套装,头发用发油梳得溜光。他们提前一小时就打扮完了,我们便坐在客厅里紧张地聊天。这时我得到一个无言的启示:演奏这么一首歌是实现他俩的一个梦想。

  At the theater nervousness overtook me as I realized how much I wanted to make my parentsproud. Finally, it was my turn. I walked to the lone chairon stage and performed "Are YouLonesome Tonight?" without a mistake. The applause spilled out, with a few hands still clappingafter others hadstopped. I was lightheaded, glad my ordeal was over.

  在电影院,我意识到我是真想使父母感到自豪时,简直紧张死了。终于轮到我上场了。我走向台上孤零零的椅子,演奏了《今晚你可寂寞?》没出一点儿错。一时掌声四起,落下后还有几个人在拍手。我高兴得轻飘飘的,总算熬到头了。

  After the concert Mom and Dad came backstage. The way they walked—heads high, facesflushed—I knew they were pleased. My mother gave me a big hug. Dad slipped an arm aroundme and held me close. "You were just great," he said. Then he shook my hand and was slow tolet it go.

  音乐会散后妈妈和爸爸来到后台。瞧他们走路那神气——昂首挺胸,红光满面,我就知道他们很高兴。母亲紧紧拥抱了我。爸爸伸过一只胳臂搂住我不放。“你真是好样儿的!”他说,然后又握住我的手,久久不松开。

  As the years went by, the accordion drifted to the background of my life. Dad asked me to playat family occasions, but the lessons stopped. When I went to college, the accordion stayedbehind in the hall closet next to my father's violin.

  随着岁月的流逝,那架手风琴在我的生活中也渐渐隐退了。爸爸只要我在家有节庆的时候拉一拉,课是不上了。我上大学,那琴就放在门厅的壁橱里,挨着父亲的小提琴。

  A year after my graduation, my parents moved to a house in a nearby town. Dad, at 51, finallyowned his own home. On moving day, I didn't have the heart to tell him he could dispose ofthe accordion, so I brought it to my own home and put it in the attic.

  我毕业一年后,父母搬到了附近一个镇上。父亲在51岁终于有了自己的房子。搬家那天,我不忍心告诉他可以把手风琴卖了,于是我把它拿回我自己的家,放在阁楼上。

  There it remained, a dusty memory until one afternoon several years later when my two childrendiscovered it by accident. Scott thought it was secret treasure; Holly thought a ghost livedinside. They were both right.

  它就呆在那儿,一件灰尘扑扑的纪念物,直到好几年后的一天下午,我的两个孩子偶然发现了它。司各特以为是个秘藏的珍宝,荷里以为里头住了个精灵。他俩都讲对了。

  When I opened the case, they laughed and said, "play it, play it." Reluctantly,I strapped on theaccordion and played some simple songs. I was surprised! my skills hadn't rusted away. Soonthe kids were dancing in circles and giggluig. Even my wife, Terri, was laughing and clapping tothe beat. I wa samazed at their unbridled glee.

  我一打开箱子,他们就笑了,说道:“拉拉,拉拉嘛。”我勉强套上琴的背带,拉了一些简单的歌曲。没想到我的琴法竟然没有荒疏。很。陕孩子们就转着圈子跳呀笑个不停。连我妻子特丽也乐呵呵地和着节奏拍起手来。他们那兴高采烈的痛快劲儿真让我吃惊。

  My father's words came back to me: "Someday you'll have the chance I never had. Then you'IIunderstand."I finally knew what it meant to work hard and sacrifice for others. Dad had beenright all along: the most precious gift is to touch the hearts of those you love.

  这时,父亲的话又回到我的脑海:“总有一天你会有我从来没有的机会。那时你就会明白的。” 我终于明白了为他人努力工作和做出牺牲的意义。爸爸始终是对的:打动你所爱的人的心才是最宝贵的礼物。

  Later I phoned Dad to let him know that, at long last, I understood. Fumbling for the rightwords, I thanked him for the legacy it took almost 30 years to discover. "You're welcome," hesaid, his voice choked with emotion.

  事后我打电话给爸爸,告诉他我终于明白过来了。我拙嘴笨舌地不知说什么好,只说我花了差不多30年的工夫才发现了他留给我的这笔财富,为此我感谢他。“不客气。”他说,嗓音因激动而哽咽了。

  Dad never learned to coax sweet sounds from his violin. Yet he was wrong to think he wouldnever for his family. On that wonderful evening, as my wife and children laughed and danced,they heard my accordion. But it was my father's music.

  爸爸从未学会从他那小提琴上拨出甜美的声音。但他以为他永远都不会为他的家人演奏乐曲,那是他错了。就在那个美妙的夜晚,我的妻儿又笑又跳,听着我拉手风琴。可那是我父亲的音乐。

  中英文互译简单文章篇3:My Average Uncle

  艾默大叔——一个普普通通的人

  Robert P. Tristram Coffin

  罗伯特·P.T.科芬

  He stood out splendidly above all my uncles because he did not stand out at all. That was hisdistinction. He was the averagest man I ever knew.

  在我众多的叔叔大爷中,他是最突出的一个,原因就在于他从不突出自己。这就是他与众不同之处。他是我见过的最普通的人。

  You would never pick him out in a crowd. He became just another man the minute he was inone. So many more pounds of man. Good solid pounds,but just pounds. You would neverremember his hair or his chin, or the shape of his ears. If he said something, you would agreewith it, and, an hour later, you would be sure you had said it yourself.

  他在人群里一点也不显眼。他一混人人海就和周围的人没什么两样了,他长得敦敦实实,体重超过常人许多磅,但也仅此而已。你永远也想不起他头发是什么颜色,他的下巴、耳朵是什么样子。如果他说些什么,你会表示同意,过一个小时,你会觉得这话就是你自己说的。

  Sometimes I think men like that get along about the best . They are the easiest on theirhouses, their wives, and their children. They are easiest on the world. They slide along withouthaving to do anything about it as small boys do on their breeches after they have slid on themenough to wear them down smooth. The world is all so much pine needles under them.

  有时我想,正是这种人才活得轻松自在。他们对住房、对妻子、对儿女总是那么宽宏大量,从不挑剔。他们是世界上最宽容的人。他们总是那么顺其自然地活着,从不为任何事情操心,就像小孩子坐滑梯把裤裆磨破了也不在乎。这个世界就像铺在身子底下的松针一样,柔软舒适。

  Uncle Amos was easy on his wives and children. He had three of them, in all. Wives, I mean. Inever did get the count of his children straight, there were too many assortments of them.Three wives. It seemed surprising to me at the time. With all the trouble I had, myself, havingto stand on my head and work my legs, or bung stones at cherrybirds, to keep the attention ofjust one girl for a month. I often wondered how Uncle Amos, who never stood on his head orwhittled out even a butterpat, could attract so many women as he did. Wlth hair a little thin onhis head, and legs that could not possibly do more than three and a half miles an hour on theroad, there he was with three families behind him. Of course, he had the families spaced. Thewives of Uncle Amos did not come all at once. They were drawn out . One batch of children grewpretty well up by the time the next batch hove insight, waddling and falling on thek faces-tosave their hands-as waddling children do.

  艾默大叔对妻子儿女和和气气。他总共有三个。我是说他有三个妻子。我从来数不准他到底有多少孩子,他们太多了。而且各种各样。居然有三个妻子。那时我觉得这太不可思议了。因为我在这方面吃过不少苦头。我曾经使出全身本领:拿大顶、兔子蹦、投石打鸟,好不容易才使一个女孩注意我一个月。我真不明白,艾默大叔从不拿大顶,甚至连一个黄油球也削不出来,居然能吸引那么多女人。他头发有点稀疏,两条腿一小时走不了十里半路,就这样一个人,一生居然有过三拨家小。当然啦,艾默大叔三房妻子之间都隔着一段时间,不是同时娶来的,而是一个接着一个。一拨孩子已经长大,另一拨才呱呱落地。他们蹒跚地走路,常常脸朝下跌倒在地,也不知用手去撑——小孩子学走路都是这样。

  I knew my Bible, especially the marital parts, in which I took deep interest. I had read the Biblethrough many times under the eye of one particular aunt. I knew a lot about matrimony fromthat. But Uncle Amos had me puzzled. He had broken no commandments. All his marriageswere open and aboveboard. He wasn't like the patriarchs who didn't always wait for one wifeto go before another came. Yet Uncle Amos's status and his children's status were rathercomplicated.

  我对圣经很熟,对有关婚娶的章节尤感兴趣。在一位爱挑剔的姑妈监督之下曾多次诵读圣经,从中学到许多有关婚姻的清规戒律。但艾默大叔却令我困惑。他没有触犯任何一条戒规,每次结婚都是公开的,光明正大的,不像那些道貌岸然的人,妻子还好好的,就又勾搭上了别的女人。然而艾默大叔的情况和他的孩子们的情况却颇为复杂。

  The women must have been drawn to him because he was so muchlike whatan average fairhusband would seem to a woman to be.

  女人迷恋他,一定是因为在她们的心目中他十分接近一个普通模范丈夫的形象。

  This man made no flourishes to attract anybody. He never drove a fast horse. He never woretrousers with checks any larger than an inch square-which,for the time, was conservative. Hishouse never got afire and burned downjust after the fire insurance had run out. Not one of hisboys and girls got drowned or run over by the steamcars. The few that died growing died ofdiphtheria or scarlet fever, which were what children died of then, the usual ways.

  他这个人从不哗众取宠。他没骑过快马,裤子上的方格从不超过一英寸——这在当时已是相当保守的了。他的房手也从未在火灾保险刚过期就失火烧塌过。他的众多子女中也没有一个落水溺死或死于车祸的。几个夭折的,不是死于白喉就是死于猩红热,那时许多孩子都得这种病死的,十分常见。

  Uncle Amos never had a fight.

  艾默大叔从未打过架。

  Uncle Amos never lost a pocket-book. At least not one with much money in it.

  艾默大叔从未丢过钱包,至少没丢过里面装有很多钱的钱包。

  Uncle Amos never went even as far as Boston.

  艾默大叔甚至连波士顿那么远的地方都没去过。

  But there he was, never making much money, but with all the comforts of home around him,eating his stewed eels, sitting in his galluses out in the orchard in the cool of the evening, witha plump baby to climb up in his lap,whenever he felt like having a baby on his lap and had hisold trousers on and didn't care much what happened to him. There he was, shingling his houseonly when it got to leaking so it put the kitchen fire out. Drinking a little ale now and then,when he came by it easy. No big hayfields to worryabout. No wife that craved more than onenew dress a year, and that one she generally ran up herself on her sewing machine. One bestpair of trousers to his name, which the moths got into, but not so deep but what they couldbe healed up with a needle. Not many books to excite him and keep him awake nights, or putideas into his head and make him uneasy. No itch ever spreading out upon him to go out andtake the world by its horns .There he was, in clover!

  然而就是这样一个人,从未挣过大钱,却尽情享受着家的舒适温馨,吃着炖鳗鱼,穿着背带裤,凉爽的黄昏,坐在果园里。想抱孩子时,便有个胖娃娃爬到膝头上来,穿的是旧裤子,所以不怕孩子糟蹋。他就是这样一个人,屋顶漏雨,厨房里的火都快浇灭了他才去修。要是啤酒来得容易,偶尔也喝上一杯。没有大块干草场要他操心。妻子也从不吵着一年要两件新衣服,就是那一件,还是她亲自动手,用缝纫机做的。在他的名下只有一条像样的裤子,还让蛀虫蛀了,但并不严重,三针两线就可补好。没有几本书使他激动不已,彻夜难眠,或是把各种思想塞进他的脑袋里,使他坐立不安。没有难以抑制的渴望在内心泛滥,使他离开家门去闯世界。他就是这样一个人,日子过得舒舒服服,,安安逸逸!

  Amos was a Republican. But then, most everybody around was. It was an average condition.Uncle Amos didn't have much to do except carry a torchlight when the Republican Presidentsgot elected, as they did regularly. And if Uncle Amos got grease on him, it never was very muchgrease, and his current wife took it out of him with her hot iron. Politics passed him by.Greatevents passed him by. And big taxes.

  艾默是共和党人,不过那时周围的人,哪个不是?当时的情形就是这样。艾默大叔倒也没干过什么,不过是在共和党人当选总统时,举举火把而已(这是他们的惯例)。如果他衣服沾上了油脂,也总是不太严重,他当时的妻子会用热熨斗帮他去掉。政治和他不沾边,大事没他的份儿,巨额税款也轮不到他的头上。

  But we nephews did not pass him by. We were strangely drawn to him. Especially when some ofour specialist uncles wore us down with their crankiness and difference. I spent some of thequietest Sundays of my life in Uncle Amos's yard, lying under apple trees and listening to beesand not listeningto Uncle Amos who was bumbling away at something he did not expect me tolisten to at all.And caterpillars came suddenly down on fine wires shining like gold, and hit UncleAmos on his bald spot, and he brushed them off and went on bumbling. The heat was aburden, and the apple blossoms fell to pieces and drifted down on me, and I could see the roofof the world over the black twigs they came from. These were my solidest hours of pure being. Idid not have to do anything to live up to this quiet, friendly man. He did not expect me to standon my head and show off, or go after his pipe, or keep the flies from lighting on his bald spot.And he always had lemon drops somewhere deep in his roomy pockets? fore or aft, and he likedto give them to me.

  但我们这些侄子们却没有忽略他,反而被他紧紧地吸引住,特别是在我们那些当专家的叔叔们用他们的古怪脾气和意见分歧搞得我们不耐烦的时候。我的一生中,有许多宁静的星期天都是在艾默大叔的果园里度过的。躺在苹果树下,耳边响着蜜蜂的嗡嗡声,无须用心去听艾默大叔永无休止的唠叨。他也完全没有要我听的意思。毛毛虫拖着金光闪闪的细丝掉下来,打在艾默大叔的秃顶上。他挥挥手把虫子弹掉,又继续唠叨下去。暑热难当,苹果花纷纷扬扬落在我的身上花儿落了,透过黑乎乎的枝条可以看见高悬的苍穹。这是我生活中最充实的时刻,我无须着意做什么来取悦这位安详的老人。他也不指望我拿大顶炫耀宜己,或跑腿为他取烟斗,或为他赶走秃顶上的苍蝇。他的宽大的前后农袋里总是装着柠檬糖,而且十分乐意送给我吃。

  The only trouble Uncle Amos had in his life was after he had got through with it. When theycame to bury him, they could not fix it so he could lie next to all his three women. He had likedthem all equally well. But there was not enough of Uncle Amos to go round. So they put him onthe end of the row.

  艾默大叔一生中遇到的唯一麻烦是在他走完了生命的旅途之后。为他下葬时人们怎么也想不出办法把他同时和三个女人并排埋在一起。生前这三个女人他都爱,而艾默大叔却只有一个,没法平均分给三个女人,只好把他埋在那一排坟的最后。

  Uncle Amos did not mind, I am sure. I am sure he sleeps average well.

  一我相信艾默大叔是不会介意的,我也相信他会和平时睡得同样的香甜。

  
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