- 改变历史进程的那些美文（环球时代美文读本）
- 吴中东 宫玉波
- 3856字
- 2020-08-30 00:49:32
01 A Room of His Own
自己的小天地
导读
一个人只有在夜深人静的时候，才能体会人生的真谛；一个人只有在独处的时候，才能思考人生的意义。夜深人静，万事万物都已沉寂，思绪才能在思想的银河中徜徉；在独处中，人才能静心冥思，深入透彻理解人生的哲学。
Unmistakable noises are coming through my bedroom wall. Now a scuffling
, now a bumping, a long, drawn-out scraping. “John, are you moving furniture in there? Again? ” I call. The wall muffles his “yes” but does not filter out of his voice the tinge of excitement.
I am not upset by these impulsive rear-rangements, just amused at their frequency. I remember my own feelings when I was 13 as he is — the startling, rapid evolution of body and mind and emotions, the need to invent and reinvent yourself through clothes, hairstyles and the arrangement and decor of your room.
Amid the smothered thuds I remember how much John longed for the privacy of his own domain, how he took me aside two years ago when he was sharing a room with his younger brother, Robert.“Mom, ” he said, “can I please have a room of my own? I could use Jeff's. He won't mind.”
It was true that Jeff had graduated from college that past June and had flown from the nest. But would he mind if the place where he had spent countless hours growing up was yanked out from under him? Would he feel ousted from the family, barred from ever coming home again?
But beyond his feelings, would I mind? That room was so much a part of our lives over the many years that Jeff had been our only child. In it I taught him to read; we constructed archi tectural wonders out of blocks and set up elaborate desks. It was where Jeff perfected his artwork and struggled with college ap plications. It was the place where I told him a thousand stories and where we had a thousand talks.
As close as we were, though, the time came when Jeff need ed a door between us, a space of his own to grow in. The door to that bedroom would be shut most of the evening, behind it the muffled sound of a radio or the clack of his secondhand manual typewriter as he banged
out one of his marathon letters.
I knew those letters to friends must have been filled with thoughts and opinions Jeff did not share with me. His life was spreading into areas that had nothing to do with home and fami ly. I no longer could —or should —know everything about him.
As conscientious parents, we strive to foster indepen dence. But when it happens, when you pause outside that door and look at the blank panels it is always a little unsettling.
It turned out that getting Jeff's permission to change the room was easy.“Of course, ” he said. “It would be selfish of me to hold on to it.” Then his voice softened. “Mom, I won't be living at home again —you know that.” Behind his glasses, his eyes were lit with all the love that has passed between us over the years. There were no doors closed here —they had all opened up again.
Then John and I jumped into the task of cleaning out closets and drawers, dispatching all the things Jeff had left behind. Playbills, and snapshots, a withered boutonniere, old report cards that stung me with pride, a stack of homemade thank-you cards from the second-grade Spanish class Jeff volunteered to teach.
Suddenly, amid all the upheaval my throat caught. There, in a pile of assorted sketches, was a pencil drawing of T-Bird — Jeff's beagle, dead these many years — curled up asleep. Jeff's rendering was so evocative I could almost feel the dear old dog's satiny warm ears. And in that room, with Jeff's things heaped around me, I could almost touch the little boy I knew was gone forever.
But we accept — at least we say we do. All of parenting is a series of letting go by degrees. The child walks and runs and rides a bike; he is stricken with the pangs of first love that we are powerless to kiss away. Then he is driving a car, and we are falling asleep before he gets home, alert, even in our dreams, to the sound of his motor gearing down.
I looked at the room around me and, in my heart, I let it go. To hold on would be, as Jeff said, selfish. Now it was time for John, shouldering through the door with an armload of his things, his eyes bright with the promise of independence, to dis appear behind the door. It was time for the letting go to begin again.
透过我卧室的墙壁清清楚楚地传来嘈杂声。一会儿是拖来拖去的声音，一会儿是嘎噔嘎噔的撞击声，一会儿是咚咚的重击声，一会儿是拉得长长的尖利的刮擦声。“约翰，你又在倒腾家具啦？”我喊道。隔着墙壁，传来他闷声闷气的回答：“对！”但墙壁并没有过滤掉他话音里的激动。
对他的这些心血来潮的重新布置我并不感到烦乱，只是对他如此频繁地倒腾感到好笑。我还记得我13岁时，和他现在一样大的时候，自己的那些感觉——身体上、心理上和情感上的惊人的、迅速的变化，想通过衣着、发式以及房间的布置和装饰来塑造和重新塑造自我的那种需求。
就在这些闷声闷气、叮叮咚咚的撞击声中，我记起了约翰是多么向往拥有一个自己的小天地。两年前，当时他跟弟弟罗伯特同住一间屋子。他把我拉到一边对我说：“妈妈，求求你，我一个人住间屋子好吗？我可以用杰夫的房间，他不会在意的。”
的确，杰夫在那一年的6月份就已大学毕业，飞离了这个鸟窝。但是，如果猛地一下抽掉他曾经在其中成长和度过许多时光的栖息之处，他会不在意吗？他会不会觉得家里人不要他了并不许他再踏进家门了呢？
还有，除了他的感情以外，我就不会在意吗？在我们只有杰夫这一个孩子的许多年里，那间屋子在我们一家人的生活中占据了多么重要的地位啊！在这间屋子里，我教他认字读书，我们用积木堆出建筑上的奇迹（我们一起摆积木，那些积木简直就是建筑上的奇迹），安放很精巧的书桌。就在这里，杰夫修改过他的一幅幅美术作品，为申请上大学煞费苦心；就在这里，我给他讲过上千个故事；就在这里，我们交谈过上千次（就在这里，我给他讲过无数个故事，无数次我们彼此敞开心扉）。
尽管我们亲密无间，这样一个时刻终于还是来到了：杰夫需要在我们之间隔一扇门，需要一个他自己的成长空间。晚饭后，那间卧室的门多数都是关着的。这扇关闭的门后面总是闷声闷气地传来收音机的声音或是他在他那台旧打字机上敲出马拉松式的长信时咯嗒咯嗒的响声。
我明白，杰夫从没给我讲过的各种各样的念头和看法都在这些给朋友的信里头。他的生活正在朝着他的家和家人毫不相干的领域扩展。对他的事，我再也不能——或者说再也不应该，什么都知道了。
作为责任心很强的父母，我们努力培养孩子们的独立性。可是一旦他们有了独立性，当你站在关上的门外边看着光秃秃的门板时，心里总是有那么一点不安。
果然，杰夫很爽快地就同意让约翰住他的房间。“当然可以，”他说，“我占着那间屋子不放就太自私了。”然后他的声音柔和下来：“妈妈，我不会再住在家里了，这一点我想你会明白的。”他的眼镜后面，双眼闪烁着这些年来我们之间一直都传递着的爱的光泽（在他的眼镜后面，双眼一直闪烁着光泽，这光泽就是我们一直以来给予彼此的爱）。这时我们之间没有关上的门了，因为它们突然一下子都重新打开了。（我们之间那扇关上的门已经消失了，因为它们突然间一下子全部都打开了。）
接着，约翰和我马上就忙起清理那间屋子里的柜子和抽屉来，把杰夫撂在家里不用的东西都处理掉：剧场节目单、快照、枯萎了的纽扣花、曾经让我得意的心里一阵阵乱跳的学习成绩报告单（曾经让我倍感得意的成绩报告单）、还有一叠小学二年级学生送的手工制作的感谢卡，杰夫给他们义务教过西班牙语。
突然，就在上下翻腾的忙乱之中，我一下子就哽咽住了。在一大堆各种各样的画稿之中，有一幅用铅笔画的杰夫的小猎兔犬——雷鸟正蜷缩着身子睡觉的画（其中一幅画的是杰夫的小猎兔犬——雷鸟，它正蜷缩着身子在睡觉）。那只狗好多年以前就死了。杰夫的描绘是如此的生动逼真，不禁使我觉得那条可爱的狗那滑溜溜、热乎乎的耳朵似乎伸手可及。就在那个房间里，四面都堆着杰夫的旧物，我觉得几乎可以触摸到那个男孩子，虽然我自己也明白他已经一去不复返了。
但是我们还是接受了这个事实——至少可以说我们这么做了。养育儿女实际上就是一个逐步撒手、放手的过程。小的时候，他先会走，后会跑，再会骑自行车；接着他为初恋而痛苦，这种痛苦是我们无法吻去的；然后他就会开车了，我们都睡着了他才回家，即使在梦中我们都留意听着他的马达换低速挡的声音。
我环顾着四周的房间，在心底里我已松开了手。正如杰夫所说，抓住不放是自私的。现在，该轮到约翰了，他两眼闪着独立自主的希望之光，抱着自己的东西，用肩膀顶开门，然后消失在门背后。又到了开始撒手、放手的时候了。
（孙建中 译注）
Cloze
完形填空
I was staying recently in rather a smart hotel in Melbourne, Australia. No 1 had I got into bed than I became 2 of music coming from the room next to mine. I knocked quite gently on the partition wall to indicate that it was unacceptably loud. I 3, nonetheless, have dropped off to sleep. At 2:00 a.m., I was wide 4 and the music seemed even louder. I walked out into the corridor to get the room number before telephoning the person 5 next door. A sleepy Australian voice replied and I told him 6 no uncertain terms that his music was disgracefully loud.
Another ten minutes 7 the noise was no better. I rang again, even more angry this time. As I appeared to be getting nowhere fast, 8 depression I telephoned the hotel security. The noise seemed to get even worse. I banged more angrily on the wall. Eventually the hotel security man turned 9. He entered my room, walked to the side of the bed and 10 a button. There was silence. All the time it had been my own radio with its loudspeaker by the wall, which had been the cause of the trouble.
Key
1. sooner 2. aware/conscious 3. must 4. awake 5. living 6. in 7. and 8. in 9. up 10. pressed
Translation Practices
翻译练习
(1) Textual Translation（篇章翻译）
突然，就在上下翻腾的忙乱之中，我一下子就哽咽住了。在一大堆各种各样的画稿之中，有一幅用铅笔画的杰夫的小猎兔犬——雷鸟正蜷缩着身子睡觉的画。那条狗已经死了好些年了。杰夫的描绘是如此的生动逼真，不禁使我觉得那条可爱的狗那滑溜溜、热乎乎的耳朵似乎伸手可及。就在那个房间里，四面都堆着杰夫的旧物，我觉得几乎可以触摸到那个男孩子，虽然我自己也明白他已经一去不复返了。
(2) Sentence Translation（句子翻译）
① 子曰：“吾未见好德如好色者也。”
② 子曰：“语之而不惰者，其回也与！”
③ 子谓颜渊曰：“惜乎！吾见其进也，未见其止也。”
参考译文
(1) Suddenly, amid all the upheaval my throat caught. There, in a pile of assorted sketches, was a pencil drawing of T-Bird — Jeff's beagle, dead these many years —curled up asleep. Jeff's rendering was so evocative I could almost feel the dear old dog's satiny warm ears. And in that room, with Jeff's things heaped around me, I could almost touch the little boy I knew was gone forever.
(2) ① Confucius said, “I've never met anyone who loves virtue as much as he loves beauties.”
② Confucius said, “I'm afraid only Yan Hui never gets bored when listening to my speech even one hundred times.”
③ Confucius said to Yan Yuan, “What a pity! I've only seen him advancing but never seen him stopping.”
Emulation
美文自己写得出——学生仿写
仿写范例
The significance of Initiative
We are familiar with the old saying “the winner takes it all”. Of all the characters of a winner, the initiative will be given high priority which brings one's potential into full play. Once one masters the initiative of his life, whatever field he is involved in, he edges all the contemporaries out of the era. In our daily life, the initiative serves as the lighthouse that guides the marching direction of life, in that one in possession of the priority confirms where he should start from, what he should do, and which result he should achieve.
First things first, a student who commands the initiative will outreaches all the other students of his/her class. Even though universities and their professors offer pedagogical expertise and provide curricula based on appropriate learning goals, realistic expectations and ongoing evaluation, the outcome is bound to be melancholic given that one doesn't take initiative in discussing, studying and researching. Supposing the student is only bent on duplicating this kind of structure, the tragic result won't be beyond our imagination. However, those who master the initiative often seem to know how to self-educate, what kind of means will be adopted and what one aims to reach. Take Wei Shusheng for example. Mr. Wei is acclaimed as an education reformer, who ranked first among his counterparts and procured greater achievements than others in that he was adept in employing his unique methods to study independently in a positive means.
Additionally, the importance of the initiative can't be emphasized too much in a market competition. If an enterprise expects to occupy a significant position in the socialistic modernization, it is a must to positively grasp the initiative. For one thing, a company that takes the lead in contriving to put forward an important strategic decision will seize the privilege of strengthening the collective force in the domestic and foreign markets. For another thing, an enterprise which prefers to plan for its long-term interests rather than concentrate on the immediate benefits will lead off with the result that the enterprise will turn into the bellwether of the same occupation. Based on what mentioned above, we can come to realize the fact that nothing seems to be more important than the initiative concerning whether a corporation comes off or not.
Finally, it is of great magnitude to give the initiative into full play in the interpersonal relationships, even the relations among nations. As we all know, friendship is no one-sided affair. There can be no friendship without reciprocity. Thus, proactive interaction with people should be given high priority in the course of the formation of a good relationship. A negotiation between two countries is a case in point. When the two warring nations finally came to a ceasefire, a talk between them seemed to be indispensable. In the process of negotiating, one side that enables to dominate the conference will definitely gain the upper hand to the point that the nation benefits a lot.
In conclusion, the initiative belongs to those who clarify their objectives. Only when we firmly grasp the initiative to exploit its functions to the full will the success come before us. No matter what sector we will engage in, studying, working or communicating, we should go to great lengths to seize our priority of life in an active manner.