中英双语美文欣赏---英语美文欣赏9(中英双语).pdf

中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）1/11英语美文欣赏 9Not Talking About It尽在不言中尽在不言中When I read a book from my mothers shelves,its not unusual to come across a gap in the text.A paragraph,or maybe just a sentence,has been sliced out,leaving a window in its place,with words from the next page peeping through.The chopped up page looks like a nearly complete jigsaw puzzle waiting for its missing piece.But the piece isnt lost,and I always know where to find it.Dozens of quotations,clipped from newspapers,magazinesand booksplaster one wall of my mothers kitchen.What means the most to my mother in her books she excises and displays.当我翻看妈妈书架上的书时，常常会发现其中的文字缺了一部分。其中的一个段落，或可能只是一个句子，被剪了下来，在原来的位置上留下了一扇窗户，让后一页上的文字探头探脑地露了出来。被挖掉一块的那一页看上去就像是一幅几乎就要完成的拼图作品，等待着缺失的那一块拼图。但那一块拼图并没有丢，而且我总是知道在哪儿能找到它。在我妈妈的厨房里，从报纸上、杂志上还有书上剪下的纸片贴满了一面墙。在她的书里，那些她最喜欢的句子和段落都被她剪了下来，贴在墙上。Ive never told her,but those literary amputations appall me.I know Ann Patchett and Dorothy Sayers,and Somerset Maugham would fume alongside me,their careful prose severed from its rightful place.She picks extracts that startle me,too:“Put your worst foot forward,because then if people can still stand you,you can be yourself.”Sometimes I stand reading the wall of quotations,holding a scissors-victim novel in my hand,puzzling over what draws my mother to these particular words.我从未当面和她说过，但她对文学作品的这种“截肢手术”的确让我感到震惊。我知道，安帕契特、多萝西塞耶斯和萨默塞特毛姆也在我身旁气得冒烟呢，怎么能把这些他们呕心沥血写出来的文字就这样从它们原来的位置上“截肢”了呢！她挑出来的那些段落也着实吓了我一跳，比如：“以你最糟糕的一面示人，因为如果那样人们也能容忍你的话，你就能做真正的自己了。”有时候，我会站在那儿读墙上那些书摘，手里拿着一本备受剪刀“迫害”的小说，心里充满困惑，不知道到底是什么驱使妈妈剪下了这样一些稀奇古怪的句子。My own quotation collection is more hidden and delicate.I copy favorite lines into a spiral-bound journal-a Christmas present from my mother,actuallyin soft,gray No.2 pencil.This means my books remain whole.The labor required makes selection a cutthroat process:Do I really love these two pages of On Chesil Beach enough to transcribe them,word by finger-cramping word?(The answer was yes,中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）2/11the pages were that exquisite.)我也摘录和收藏文字，不过我的收藏更为隐秘和精致。我会用灰色的二号软芯铅笔把我最喜欢的句子摘抄到一个活页日记本里事实上，这还是我妈妈送我的一份圣诞礼物呢。也就是说，我的书都是完整的。但因为摘抄需要工夫，因此选择哪些文字摘抄就成了一个痛苦的过程：我是不是真的喜欢在切瑟尔海滩上里的这两页文字？喜欢到我愿意一个字一个字地把它们抄下来，直抄到手指头都抽筋？（答案为“是”，因为这两页文字写得实在太美了。）My mother doesnt know any of this.She doesnt know I prefer copying out to cutting out.Ive never told her that I compile quotations at all.我妈妈一点也不知道这件事。她不知道与剪贴相比，我更喜欢抄录。我压根就没告诉过她我也收集自己喜欢的文字。Theres nothing very shocking about that;for all our chatting,we dont have the words to begin certain conversations.My mother and I talk on the phone at least once a week,and in some ways,we are each others most dedicated listener.She tells me about teaching English to the leathery Russian ladies at the library where she volunteers;I tell her about job applications,cover letters,and a grant Id like to win.We talk about my siblings,her siblings,the president,and Philip Seymour Hoffman movies.We make each other laugh so hard that I choke and she cries.But what we dont say could fill up rooms.Fights with my father.Small failures in school.Anything,really,that pierces us.其实这一点没什么值得大惊小怪的；尽管我们总是聊天，但对于某些特定的话题，我们总是不知道该怎么开口。妈妈和我一个星期至少会通一次电话，从某些方面来说,我们是对方最专心的听众。她会告诉我她在图书馆做志愿者教那些强悍的俄罗斯妇女英语时发生的事；而我会和她谈谈我找工作的事、我的求职信，还有我想要争取的补助什么的。我们会聊我的兄弟姐妹、她的兄弟姐妹、总统，还有菲利普塞默霍夫曼的电影。我们常常逗得对方大笑，笑得我喘不过气来，笑得她眼泪都流出来了。但我们不聊的东西也很多，多得几个房间都装不下。譬如她和我爸吵架了，又譬如我在学校遇到一些小挫折了。事实上，所有让我们伤心的事，我们都避而不谈。I like to say that my mother has never told me“I love you.”Theres something reassuring in its self-pitying simplicityas if the three-word absence explains who I am and wins me sympathy-so I carry it with me,like a label on my back.I synthesize our cumbersome relationship with an easy shorthand:my mother never said“I love you”.The last time my mother almost spoke the words was two years ago,when she called to tell me that a friend had been hospitalized.我常常说，妈妈从来没和我说过“我爱你”。这句有点自怜的简单话语听起来颇有些自我安慰的味道仿佛这三个字的缺失就为我为什么成为现在的我提供了借口，还为我赢得了同情于是，我总是把这句话挂在嘴边，中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）3/11就像把它贴在背上当标签一样。对于我和妈妈之间的这种微妙关系，我总是简单地用一句“谁让她从来不说我爱你”来总结。上一次妈妈差点说出这几个字是在两年前，当时她给我打电话，告诉我她有个朋友住院了。I said,“I love you,Mom.”She said,“Thank you.”I havent said it since,but Ive thought about it,and Ive wondered why my mother doesnt.A couple of years ago,I found a poem by Robert Hershon called“Sentimental Moment or Why Did the Baguette Cross the Road?”that supplied words for the blank spaces I try to understand in our conversations:我对她说：“我爱你，妈妈。”而她说:“谢谢。”这件事后来我再没提过，但却始终在我的脑海里盘旋不去，我一直想知道为什么我妈妈从来不说这几个字。几年前，我读到罗伯特赫尔希写的一首诗，诗名叫感伤的时刻或面包为什么要过马路？，这首诗填补了我和妈妈的对话中许多我不能理解的空白：Dont fill up on bread.I say absent-mindedly.The servings here are huge.My son,whose hair may be receding a bit,says:Did you really just say that to me?What he doesnt know is that when were walking together,when we get to the curb.I sometimes start to reach for his hand.别用面包把肚子塞满了。我心不在焉地说。这儿的菜量大得很，我的儿子，我那发线已开始后退少许的儿子，对我说：你怎么会跟我说这样的话？他不知道的是当我们一起散步时，当我们走到马路边时，我有时会不自觉地伸出手想要去牵他的手。Its a humble poem,small in scope,not the stuff of epic heartbreak,yet poignant.After copying it down in my quotation journal,my wrist smudging the pencil into a gray haze as I wrote,I opened an e-mail I had begun to my mother,and added a postscript:“This poem made me think of you,”with the 13 lines cut and pasted below.My mother doesnt read poetryor at least,she doesnt tell me that she reads poetry-and I felt nervous clicking,“Send”.这是一首朴实无华的小诗，篇幅不长，不是动人心魄的宏伟诗篇，但读了却让人感到有点心酸。我把它抄在了我的书摘日记本里，写的时候，手腕把灰色的铅笔字迹都蹭模糊了。然后，我打开一封写给妈妈的电子邮件，信已经开了头，我在后面加上了附言：“这首诗让我想起了你。”然后，我在电脑上把这首 13 行诗剪切下来，粘贴在了邮件下面。我妈妈从来不读诗或至少她从没告诉过我她读诗所以，点下“发送”键时，我感到心中隐隐的紧张和不安。She never mentioned the poem.But the next time I went home for vacation,I noticed something new in the kitchen.Not on her quotation wall,but across the room,fixed to an antique magnetic board:Robert Hershons poem,printed on a scrap of white paper in the old-fashioned font of a typewriter.The board hung above the radiator,where we drape wet rags and mittens dripping with snow,in the 中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）4/11warmest spot in the kitchen.The poem still hangs there.Neither my mother nor I have ever spoken about it.她从未和我提起过这首诗，但后来放假回家时，我注意到厨房里有了样新东西。这次不是在她常常粘纸片的墙上，而是在厨房的另一头，粘在一块老旧的磁力板上：罗伯特赫尔希的诗。诗打印在一小片白纸上，字体有点过时，像是打字机打出来的字体。这块板子高高挂在暖气片的上方，那儿可是厨房里最温暖的地方，我们常在那儿挂湿抹布和粘着雪的手套。那首诗现在还挂在那儿，但无论妈妈还是我，都从未开口谈论过它。A Girl Who Changed My Life一位改变了我生活的女孩一位改变了我生活的女孩My childhood and adolescence were a joyous outpouring of energy,a ceaseless quest for expression,skill,and experience.School was only a background to the supreme delight of lessons in music,dance,and dramatics,and the thrill of sojourns in the country,theaters,concerts.我在童年和少年时代激情四溢，无时无刻不追求展现自我、磨砺才艺和体味生活。学校里的音乐、舞蹈和戏剧课让我欢欣不已，而剧院和音乐会更让我身心为之震颤，乡间流连的时光也同样美妙。And books,big Braille books that came with me on streetcars,to the table,and to bed.Then one night at a high school dance,a remark,not intended for my ears,stabbed my youthful bliss:“That girl,what a pity she is blind.”Blind!That ugly word that implied everything dark,blank,rigid,and helpless.Quickly I turned and called out,Please dont feel sorry for me,Im having lots of fun.But the fun was not to last.还有我的书，那些厚重的盲文书籍无论在我乘车、用餐还是睡觉时都与我形影不离。然而，一天晚上，在高中的一次舞会上，一句我无意中听到的话霎那间将我年少的幸福击碎“那女孩是个瞎子，真可惜！”瞎子这个刺耳的字眼隐含着一个阴暗、漆黑、僵硬和无助的世界。我立刻转过身，大声喊道：“请不要为我叹惜，我很快乐！”但我的快乐自此不复存在。With the advent of college,I was brought to grips with the problem of earning a living.Part-time teaching of piano and harmony and,upon graduation,occasional concerts and lectures,proved only partial sources of livelihood.In terms of time and effort involved,the financial remuneration was disheartening.This induced within me searing self-doubt and dark moods of despondency.Adding to my dismal sense of inadequacy was the repeated experience of seeing my sisters and friends go off to exciting dates.How grateful I was for my piano,wherethrough Chopin,Brahms,and BeethovenI could mingle my longing and seething energy with theirs.And where I could dissolve my frustration in the beauty and grandeur 中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）5/11of their conceptions.升入大学之后，我开始为生计而奔波。课余时间我教授钢琴及和声，临近毕业时还偶尔参加几次演奏会，做了几次讲座，可要维持生计光靠这些还是不够，与投入的时间和精力相比，它们在经济上的回报让人沮丧。这让我失去了自信和勇气，内心郁闷苦恼。眼看我的姐妹和伙伴们一次次兴高采烈地与人约会，我更觉消沉空虚。所幸的是，还有钢琴陪我。我沸腾的渴望和激情在肖邦、贝多芬、勃拉姆斯那里得到了共鸣。我的挫败感在他们美妙壮丽的音乐构想中消散。Then one day,I met a girl,a wonderful girl,an army nurse,whose faith and stability were to change my whole life.As our acquaintance ripened into friendship,she discerned,behind a shell of gaiety,my recurring plateaus of depression.She said,“Stop knocking on closed doors.Keep up your beautiful music.I know your opportunity will come.Youre trying too hard.Why dont you relax,and have you ever tried praying?”直到有一天，我遇见一位女孩，一位出色的女孩，这名随军护士的信念和执著将改变我的一生。我们日益熟稔，成为好友，她也慢慢察觉出我的快乐的外表之下内心却时常愁云密布。她对我说，“门已紧锁，敲有何用？坚持你的音乐梦想，我相信机会终将来临。你太辛苦了，何不放松一下试试祷告如何？”The idea was strange to me.It sounded too simple.Somehow,I had always operated on the premise that,if you wanted something in this world,you had to go out and get it for yourself.Yet,sincerity and hard work had yielded only meager returns,and I was willing to try anything.Experimentally,self-consciously,I cultivated the daily practice of prayer.I said:God,show me the purpose for which You sent me to this world.Help me to be of use to myself and to humanity.祷告？我从未想到过，听起来太天真了。一直以来，我的行事准则都是，无论想得到什么都必须靠自己去努力争取。不过既然从前的热诚和辛劳回报甚微，我什么都愿意尝试一番。虽然有些不自在，我尝试着每天都祷告“上帝啊，你将我送到世上，请告诉我你赐予我的使命。帮帮我，让我于人于己都有用处。”In the years to follow,the answers began to arrive,clear and satisfying beyond my most optimistic anticipation.One of the answers was Enchanted Hills,where my nurse friend and I have the privilege of seeing blind children come alive in Gods out-of-doors.Others are the never-ending sources of pleasure and comfort I have found in friendship,in great music,and,most important of all,in my growing belief that as I attune my life to divine revelation,I draw closer to God and,through Him,to immortality.在接下来的几年里，我得到了明确而满意的回答，超出了我最乐观的期望值。其中一个回答就是魔山盲人休闲营区。在那里，我和我的护士朋友每中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）6/11年都有幸看到失明 的孩子们在大自然的怀抱中是多么生气勃勃。除此之外，朋友们真挚的友谊以及美妙的音乐都给我带来无穷无尽的欢乐和慰藉。最重要的是，我越来越意识到，在我日复一日的祷告中，当我聆听上帝的启示之时，我正日益与他靠近，并通过他接近永恒。A Mothers Love妈妈的爱妈妈的爱A Mothers Love is like an islandIn lifes ocean vast and wide,A peaceful,quiet shelter From the restless,rising tide.A Mothers Love is like a fortressAnd we seek protection thereWhen the waves of tribulation Seem to drown us in despair.A Mothers Loves a sanctuaryWhere our souls can find sweet restFrom the struggle and the tensionOf lifes fast and futile quest.A Mothers Loveis like a towerRising far above the crowd,And her smile is like the sunshineBreaking through a threatening cloud.A Mothers Love is like a beaconBurning bright with Faith and Prayer,And through the changing scenes of lifeWe can find a Haven There.For A Mothers Love is fashioned中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）7/11After Gods enduring love,It is endless and unfailingLike the love of Him above.For God knew in His great wisdomThat He couldnt be Everywhere,So He put His Little ChildrenIn a Loving Mothers Care.Try to Remember the Good Things回忆美好回忆美好When times become difficult(and you know they sometimes will),remember a moment in your life that was filled with joy and happiness.Remember how it made you feel,and you will have the strength you need to get through any trial.当你身陷困境的时候（你有时会），回想你生命中快乐和幸福的时刻。回想它是如何使你快乐，你便有了走出困境的勇气。When life throws you one more obstacle than you think you can handle,remember something you achieved through perseverance and by struggling to the end.In doing so,youll find you have the ability to overcome each obstacle brought your way.当面对重重困难，你感觉举步维艰的时候，回想你以前是如何坚持到底战胜困难的最后时刻的。这样，你就会发现你有能力克服每个障碍。When you find yourself drained and depleted of energy,remember to find a place of sanctuary and rest.当你觉得精疲力尽的时候，暂时离开，让自己稍作休息。Take the necessary time in your own life to dream your dreams and renew your energy,so youll be ready to face each new day.从你的生活中多抽出点时间去梦想，重振你的精力，你会完全准备好又去迎接新的一天。When you feel tension building,find something fun to do.Youll find that the stress you feel will dissipate and your thoughts will become clearer.当你感觉到紧张的压力，做一些有乐趣的事吧。你会发现压力在渐渐消逝，你的想法也渐渐明朗了。Youre listening to Faith Radio Online-Simply to Relax,Im Faith.When youre faced with so many negative and draining situations,realize how minuscule problems will seem when you view your life as a whole-and remember the positive things.这里是 Faith 主持的 Faith 轻松电台节目。当你面对重重困难的时候，要中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）8/11意识到相对于你的整个生命，这些难题其实是微不足道的，请铭记你生命中美好的东西。Being Angry is Showing Your Incompetence生气是在展现你的无能生气是在展现你的无能No matter where you live,you must understand that this world which you live in does not necessarily work as you think.无论你生活在哪你都得明白你生活的这个世界不可能完全按照你设想的方式去运转The person who you have a crush onmay just not be into you.你喜欢的人可能就是不喜欢你The company you want to work in may see you as incompetent.你想应聘的公司可能看不上你The kids brought by your relativesmay not behave themselves.亲戚家的熊孩子可能不会乖乖守规矩The family next door may just not stay that quiet.隔壁的邻居也可能就是不保持安静So what would you do?所以，你会怎么做呢?Get angry?生气?No,I suggest that you dont.不，还是别了吧。You will only be showing your incompetency if you do.你那只是在展示自己的无能You must understand:中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）9/11Being angry doesnt do you any good because it changes nothing.你要明白生气对你自己来说没有任何好处因为它改变不了任何事If you dont like whats happening,then try to identify the problem and find a way to deal with it.如果你不喜欢现状那就去找到问题的根源然后试着解决它Thats the only way out.那才是唯一的出路Song to the Oak Tree致橡树致橡树If I love you我如果爱你 I wont wind upon you like a trumpet creeper 绝不像攀援的凌霄花upvalue myself by your height借你的高枝炫耀自己If I love you我如果爱你 I will never follow a spoony bird绝不学痴情的鸟儿repeating the monotone song for the green shade为绿荫重复单调的歌曲not only like a spring head也不止像泉源brings you clean coolness whole year long常年送来清凉的慰籍not only like a steepy peak也不止像险峰enhances your height,sets off your straightness增加你的高度衬托你的威仪even sunshine中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）10/11甚至日光。and spring rain甚至春雨。No,all these are not enough!不，这些都还不够！I must be a ceiba by your side我必须是你近旁的一株木棉，as a tree standing together with you做为树的形象和你站在一起。our roots melt underneath根，紧握在地下our leaves merge in clouds叶，相触在云里when wind breezes每一阵风过 we greet each other我们都互相致意but no one但没有人 can understand our peculiar words听懂我们的言语you have your strong stem and branches你有你的铜枝铁干like knives and swords像刀，像剑and like halberds也像戟I have my red ample flowers我有我的红硕花朵like heavy sighs像沉重的叹息and heroic torches as well又像英勇的火炬 we partake cold tide,thunder storm,firebolt我们分担寒潮、风雷、霹雳together we share brume,flowing mist,rainbow我们共享雾霭、流岚、虹霓中英双语美文欣赏-英语美文欣赏 9（中英双语）11/11as if we separate all the time仿佛永远分离actually we forever rely on each other却又终身相依this is great love这才是伟大的爱情loyalty lives here坚贞就在这里：LOVE爱 not only your giant body不仅爱你伟岸的身躯but also the position you stand，the earth under your feet也爱你坚持的位置，脚下的土地