大学英语精读第三册课文翻译

第一课

与法律的小摩擦

我平生只有一次跟警方发生纠葛。被捕和出庭的整个过程在当时是一件非常不愉快的事，但现在倒成了一篇很好的故事。这次经历令人可恼之处在于围绕着我的被捕以及随后庭上审讯而出现的种种武断专横的情况。

I have only once been in trouble with the law. The whole process of being arrested and taken to court() was a rather unpleasant experience at the time, but it makes a good story now. What makes it rather disturbing was the arbitrary circumstances both of my arrest and my subsequent fate in court.

事情发生在大约12年前，其时正是2月。几个月前我中学毕业了，但上大学要等到10月。当时我还在家中居住。

It happened in February about twelve years ago. I had left school a couple of months before that and was not due to go to university until the following October. I was still living at home at the time.

一天早晨，我来到里士满。这里是伦敦的一个郊区，离我住的地方不远⊙我在寻找一份临时工作，以便积些钱去旅游。由于天气晴朗，当时又无急事，我便慢悠悠看看橱窗，逛逛公园。有时千脆停下脚步，四处张望。现在看来，一定是这种明显的毫无回的的游逛，使我倒了霉。

One morning I was in Richmond, a suburb of London near where I

lived. I was looking for a temporary job so that I could save up some money

to go traveling. As it was a fine day and I was in no hurry, I was taking

my time, looking in shop windows, strolling in the park, and sometimes

just stopping and looking around me. It must have been this obvious aim-

lessness that led to my downfall.

事情发生在11点半钟光景。我在当地图书馆谋职未成，刚刚走出来，便看到一个人穿越马路，显然是要来跟我说话。我以为他要问我时间，不料他说他是警官，要逮捕我。起先我还以为这是在开玩笑，但又一个出现在我的面前，这次是位身着警服的，这一下使我确信无疑了。

It was about half past eleven when it happened. I was just walking out

of the local library, having unsuccessfully sought employment there, when

I saw a man walking across the road with the obvious intention of talking

to me. I thought he was going to ask me the time. Instead, he said he was

a police officer and he was arresting me. At first I thought it was some

kind of joke. But then another policeman appeared, this time in uniform, and

was left in no doubt.

“为什么要抓我？”我问道。

“到处游荡，企图作案，”他说。

“作什么案？”我又问。

“偷窃，”他说。

“偷什么？”我追问。

“牛奶瓶，”他板着面孔说道。

“噢，”我说。

事情原来是这样的，在这一地区多次发生小的扒窃案，特别是从门前台阶上偷走牛奶瓶。

It turned out there had been a lot of petty thefts in the area,

particularly that of stealing milk bottles from doorsteps.

接着，我犯了一个大错误。其时我年方19，留一头蓬乱的长发，自认为是60年代“青

年反主流文化”的一员。所以我想装出一副冷漠的、对这一事件满不在乎的样子。于是我尽量用一种漫不经心的极其随便的腔调说，“你们跟踪我多久啦？”这样一来，在他们眼里，我就像是非常熟悉这一套的了，也使他们更加确信我是一个地地道道的坏蛋。

Then I made my big mistake. At the time I was nineteen, had long

untidy hair, and regarded myself as part of the sixties'` youth counterculture'.

As a result, I wanted to appear cool and unconcerned with the incident, so

I said, ` How long have you 'been following me?' in the most casual and

conversational tone I could manage. I thus appeared to them to be quite

familiar with this sort of situation, and it confirmed them in their belief that

I was a thoroughly disreputable character.

几分钟后，开来了一辆警车。

“坐到后面去，”他们说。“把手放到前排座位的靠背上，不准挪动。”

他们分别坐在我的两边。这可再也不是闹着玩的了。

在局，他们审讯了我好几个小时。我继续装成老于世故、对这种事习以为常。当他们问我在千什么时，我告诉他们在找工作。“啊，”我可以想见他们在想，“果然是个失业

的家伙。”

At the police station they questioned me for several hours. I continued

to try to look worldly and au fait with the situation. When they asked me

what I had been doing, I told them I'd been looking for a job. ` Aha, ' I

could see them thinking, `unemployed '.

最后，我被正式指控，并通知我下周一到里士满地方法庭受审。随后他们让我离开。

我想在法庭上作自我辩护，但父亲知道这事后，马上请了一位高明的律师。我们星期一出庭的时候，带了各种各样的证人，其中包括我中学的英语老师，作我人品的见证人。但结果法庭没有叫他作证。我的“审判”没有进行到那一步。开庭1 5分钟，法官就驳回了对我的指控。我无罪获释。可怜的警方败诉，我的律师甚至让法庭责成警方承担了诉讼费用。

I wanted to conduct my own defense in court, but as soon as my father

found out what had happened, he hired a very good solicitor. We went

along that Monday armed with all kinds of witnesses, including my English

teacher from school as a character witness. But he was never called on to

give evidence. My `trial' didn't get that far. The magistrate dismissed the

case after fifteen minutes. I was free. The poor police had never stood a

chance. The solicitor even succeeded in getting costs awarded against the

police.

这样，我的履历上没有留下犯罪的记录。但当时最令人震惊的，是那些显然导致宣布我无罪的证据。我讲话的口音“表明我受过良好教养”，到庭的有体面的中产阶级的双亲，有可靠的证人，还有，我显然请得起一名很好的律师。从对我指控的这种捕风捉影的做法来看，我肯定，如果我出身在另一种背景的家庭里，并且真的是失了业的话，我完全可能被判有罪。当我的律师要求赔偿诉讼费时，他公然把辩护的证据建立在我“学业优异”这一事实上。

And so I do not have a criminal record. But what was most shocking at

the time was the things my release from the charge so clearly depended on.

I had the `right' accent, respectable middle-class parents in court, reliable

witnesses, and I could obviously afford a very good solicitor. Given the obscure

nature of the charge, I feel sure that if I had come from a different background,

and had really been unemployed, there is every chance that I would have

been found guilty. While asking for costs to be awarded, my solicitor's case

quite obviously revolved around the fact that I had a 'brilliant academic

record' .

与此同时，就在审判室外面，一位抓我的正在沮丧地向我母亲抱怨，说是又一个小伙子要跟作对了。他带着责各的口气对我说，“我们抓你的时候，你本可以稍微帮J点忙的。”

Meanwhile, just outside the courtroom, one of the policemen who had

arrested me was gloomily complaining to my mother that another youngster

had been turned against the police. 'You could have been a bit more helpful

when we arrested you,' he said to me reproachfully.

他说这话什么意思？大概是说我本该显出愤愤不平的样子，并说，“喂，留神，点，你知道你在跟谁说话？我是学业出众的高材生。你敢抓我！”那样一来，他们或许会向我道歉，说不定还会脱帽致意，让我走开呢。

What did he mean? Presumably that I should have looked outraged and said

something like, ' Look here, do you know who you're talking to? I am a highly

successful student with a brilliant academic record. How dare you arrest me!'

Then they, presumably, would have apologized, perhaps even taken off

their caps, and let me on my way.

第二单元

不肯告发的女人

“我从来就不恨北方佬，我所恨的只是战争……”

我的姨婆贝蒂一讲起她的故事来，总是用这样的话开头。她的故事，在我还小的时候就听过多遍。姨婆住在弗吉尼亚贝利维尔一所旧房子里。每逢我们一家去看望她，她都要讲讲她的故事，那时姨婆贝蒂都快80岁了。但我可以想象到故事里她的容貌——刚刚20岁，长着一双亮晶晶的蓝眼睛，非常漂亮。

贝蒂•范•米特完全有理由憎恨内战。她有个兄弟死在葛底斯堡战场上，还有一位当了俘虏。接着，她年轻的丈夫詹姆斯——南部邦联的一名军官——也被俘虏，关到某地一所不为人知的俘虏营里。

9月下旬的一个热天，贝蒂家以前的奴隶迪克•朗纳来到贝蒂处，告诉她一件奇怪的事。他在察看离范•米特家半英里处的一所农舍时，本以为那是所空房子，但在屋里，他听到有人低声呻吟。他随着呻吟声来到顶楼，发现了一名受伤的联邦士兵，在他的身边放着

一支步。

贝蒂姨婆跟我讲起她第一次看到那个身着污渍斑斑的蓝军服、长着胡须的人时，她总是说，“我就像步入一场梦境：可怕的绷带，吓人的气味。孩子，那才是战争的真实写照：没有军号，也没有战旗。有的只是痛苦和污秽，无益与死亡。”

在贝蒂•范•米特眼里，这个伤兵不是敌人，而是一个受苦受难的人。她给他水喝，并设法擦净他那可怕的伤口。然后她走出农舍，到外面呼吸一点清凉的空气，她倚在屋旁，想到她所见到的这一切——他那只打烂的右手，那条失去的左腿，真是恶心难忍。

贝蒂在顶楼上找到的伤兵的证件，证实他的身份是第十一佛蒙特志愿军D连中尉亨利•比德尔，30岁。她知道应该把这个联邦军官的情况向南方邦联的报告，可是她也明白她不会那样做。她是这样向我解释的：“我一直在想，他是不是在什么地方有一位妻子，等着他，盼着他，可又毫无音信——就像我一样。在我看来，唯一重要的事是让她的丈夫重新田到她的身旁。”

詹姆斯•范•米特的妻子慢慢地、耐心地、巧妙地．点燃了亨利•比德尔身上奄奄一息的生命火花。要说药品，她几乎没有。而她又不肯从南方邦联医院里极少的一点医药用品里去拿。但她尽其所有作了一切努力。

当比德尔的体力有所恢复时，他向贝蒂叙说了他在佛蒙特韦斯菲尔德的妻子和子女的J晴况。当贝蒂讲起她的兄弟和詹姆斯时，比德尔也仔细倾听着。贝蒂姨婆总是跟我讲，“我知道他的妻子一定在为他祈祷，就像我为詹姆斯祈祷一样。真奇怪，我和她的感情多么接近。”

山谷地带，10月的夜晚变得越来越冷。比德尔的伤田感染突然加剧。在迪克和他妻子詹尼的帮助下，贝蒂趁黑夜将这位联邦军官搬到她自家暖和的厨房上面的一个不易发现的阁楼上。

但在第二天，比德尔发起高烧。贝蒂明白她必须求人帮助，否则他将会死去，因此找到她的家庭医生，多年的朋友格雷厄姆•奥斯本。

奥斯本医生为比德尔作了检查，然后摇摇头说，希望甚微，除非能弄到合适的药品。

“那好，”贝蒂说。“我到哈珀斯渡口北方军那儿去弄！”

医生说她想必疯了。联邦军的司令部在将近⒛英里之外，即使找到了北方军，他们也决不会相信她的话。

“我把证据带去，”贝蒂说。她到阁楼上取下一份血迹斑斑的文件，上面盖着陆军部的官印。“这是他最后一次晋升的记录，”她说。“我让他们看这个，他们一定会相信我。”

她叫医生写下所需药品的清单。次日一早，她就登程赶路。

她驱车5个小时，马要休息时，她才停一停。当她终于到达哈珀斯渡口，找到司令官的时候，太阳都快落山了。

约翰•D•史蒂文森将军听了她的叙述，但不信她的话。他说，“夫人，我们已接到比德尔阵亡的报告。”

“他还活着，”贝蒂坚持说。“不过，除非他得到单子上的药品，否则他就活不了多久

了。”

“好吧，”将军最后说，“我不想为了搞清这r点事，而拿一个巡逻队的生命去冒险。”他转向一个下级军官说，“你负责让范•米特太太得到这些药品。”他对贝蒂的感谢并没有怎么理会，却说道，“不管你讲的是真是假，你是一位勇敢的女性。”

有了贝蒂带回贝利维尔的药品，奥斯本医生才将比德尔从垂危之中拯救了过来。10天之后，比德尔就能拄着迪克为他制作的拐杖一瘸一拐地行走了。“我不能再这样连累你了，”比德尔对贝蒂说道，“我现在身体已经够好了，可以走了。我想尽早回去。”

于是，他们作了安排，由贝蒂的邻居和朋友萨姆先生用他的运货马车协助贝蒂将比德尔送交驻守在哈珀斯渡口的联邦军司令部。

他们将贝蒂的马和萨姆先生的骡一起套上车。比德尔躺在一个装满干草的旧木箱内，他将步和拐杖放在身边。

行程迟缓而漫长，差一点以灾难而告终。在离联邦军防线仅有1小时的路程时，突然出现了两个骑马的人。一个人举着手，逼着要钱。另一人将萨姆从车上拉了下来，贝蒂吓呆了，坐着一动不动。就在这时，一声响，拿手的歹徒应声倒地身亡。又一声响，另一个歹徒也躺倒地上。是比德尔开的！贝蒂看着他放下步，掸掉头发里的干草。“上车吧，萨姆先生，”他说道，“我们赶路吧！”

在哈珀斯渡口，士兵们惊奇地盯着这位老农民和这位年轻的女子看。当缺了一条腿的联邦军官从装着干草的木箱里站起来时，他们更是惊愕不已。

比德尔被派去华盛顿。在华盛顿，他把情况向陆军埃德温•M•斯坦顿作了汇报。斯坦顿给贝蒂写了一封感谢信，并签署了一项将詹姆斯•范•米特从战俘营释放的命令。可是首先必须找到詹姆斯。经过安排，由比德尔陪同贝蒂寻找她的丈夫。

有文件记载，有个叫詹姆斯•范•米特的曾被送到俄亥俄的一个战俘营。可是当那些衣衫褴褛的俘虏们被带到贝蒂面前时，詹姆斯却不在里面。又查了一个俘虏营，结果也是一样。贝蒂•范•米特拼命抑制着一种令人战栗不已的恐惧感，她担心她的丈夫已经死去了。

后来在特拉华堡，在靠近一排战俘的末尾处，一个高高个子的人从队伍里走了出来，蹒跚着扑到贝蒂怀里。贝蒂拥抱着他，泪流满面。拄着拐杖站立一旁的亨利•比德尔也流泪了。

\"I never did hate the Yankees. All that I hated was the war... \"

That's how my great-aunt Bettie began her story. I heard it many

times as a child, whenever my family visited Aunt Bettie in the old house in

Berryville, Virginia. Aunt Bettie was almost 80 years old then. But I could

picture her as she was in the story she told me- barely 20, pretty, with

bright blue eyes.

Bettie Van Metre had good reason to hate the Civil War. One of her

brothers was killed at Gettysburg, another taken prisoner. Then her young

husband, James, a Confederate officer, was captured and sent to an un-

known prison camp somewhere.

One hot day in late September Dick Runner, a former slave, came

to Bettie with a strange report. He had been checking a farmhouse half

a mile away from the Van Metre home, a farmhouse he thought was

empty. But inside, he heard low groans. Following them to the attic,

he found a wounded Union soldier, with a rifle at his side.

When Aunt Bettie told me about her first sight of the bearded man in

the stained blue uniform, she always used the same words. \"It was like

walking into a nightmare : those awful bandages, that dreadful smell.

That's what war is really like, child: no bugles and banners. Just pain and

filth, futility and death. \"

To Bettie Van Metre this man was not an enemy but rather a suffering

human being. She gave him water and tried to clean his terrible wounds.

Then she went out into the cool air and leaned against the house, trying

not to be sick as she thought of what she had seen-that smashed right

hand, that missing left leg.

The man's papers Bettie found in the attic established his identity: Lt.

Henry Bedell, Company D, North Vermont Volunteers, 30 years old. She

knew that she should report the, presence of this Union officer to the Con-

federate army. But she also knew that she would not do it. This is how she

explained it to me: \"I kept wondering if he had a wife somewhere, wait-

ing, and hoping, and not knowing- just as I was. It seemed to me that

the only thing that mattered was to get her husband back to her. \"

Slowly, patiently, skillfully, James Van Metre's wife fanned the spark

of life that flickered in Henry Bedell. Of drugs or medicines she had almost

none. And she was not willing to take any from the few supplies at the

Confederate hospital. But she did the best she could with what she had.

As his strength returned, Bedell told Bettie about his wife and children

in Westfield, Vermont. And Bedell listened as she told him about her

brothers and about James. \"I knew his wife must be praying for him \"

Aunt Bettie would say to me, \"just as I was praying for James. It was

strange how close I felt to her. \"

The October nights in the valley grew cold. The infection in Bedell's

wounds flared up. With Dick and his wife, Jenrue, helping, she moved the

Union officer at night, to a bed in a hidden loft above the warm kitchen

of her own home.

But the next day, Bedell had a high fever. Knowing that she must get

help or he would die, she went to her long-time friend and family doctor,

Graham Osborne.

Dr Osborne examined Bedell, then shook his head. There was little

hope, he said, unless proper medicine could be found.

\"All right, then,\" Bettie said. \"I'll get it from the Yankees at Harpers

Ferry. \"

The doctor told her she was mad. The Union headquarters were

almost 20 Miles away. Even if she reached them, the Yankees would never

believe her story.

\"I'll take proof,\" Bettie said. She went to the loft and came back with

a blood-stained paper bearing the official War Department seal. \"This is a

record of his last promotion,\" she said. \"When I show it, they'll have to

believe me. \"

She made the doctor write out a list of the medical items he needed.

Early the next morning she set off.

For five hours she drove, stopping only to rest her horse. The sun was

almost down when she finally stood before the commanding officer at

Harpers Ferry.

Gen. John D. Stevenson listened, but did not believe her. \" Madam, \"

he said, \"Bedell's death was. reported to us. \"

\"He's alive, \" Bettie insisted. \"But he won't be much longer unless he

has the medicines on that list.

\"Well,\" the general said finally, \"I'm not going to risk the lives of a

patrol just to find out. \"He turned to a junior officer. \"See that Mrs. Van

Metre gets the supplies. \" He brushed aside Bettie's thanks. \" You're a

brave woman, \" he said, \"whether you're telling the truth or not. \"

With the medicines that Bettie carried to Berryville, Dr. Osborne

brought Bedell through the crisis. Ten days later Bedell was hobbling on a

pair of crutches that Dick had made for him. \"I can't go on putting you in

danger, \"Bedell told Bettie. \"I'm strong enough to travel now. I'd like to

go back as soon as possible. \"

So it was arranged that Mr. Sam, one of Bettie's neighbors and

friends, should go and help Bettie deliver Bedell to Union headquarters at

Harpers Ferry in his wagon.

They hitched Bettie's mare alongside Mr. Sam's mule. Bedell lay

down in an old box filled with hay, his rifle and crutches beside him.

It was a long, slow journey that almost ended in disaster. Only an

hour from the Union lines, two horsemen suddenly appeared. One pointed

a pistol, demanding money while the other pulled Mr. Sam from the wag-

on. Shocked, Bettie sat still. Then a rifle shot cracked out, and the man

with the pistol fell to the ground dead. A second shot, and the other man

went sprawling. It was Bedell shooting! Bettie watched him lower the rifle

and brush the hay out of his hair. \"Come on, Mr. Sam, \" he said. \"Let's

keep moving. \"

At Harpers Ferry, the soldiers stared in surprise at the old farmer and

the girl. They were even more amazed when the Union officer with the

missing leg rose from his hay-filled box.

Bedell was sent to Washington. There he told his story to Secretary of

War Edwin M. Stanton. Stanton wrote a letter of thanks to Bettie and

signed an order to free James Van Metre from prison. But first James had

to be found. It was arranged for Bedell to go with Bettie as she searched

for her husband.

Records showed that a James Van Metre had been sent to a prison

camp in Ohio. But when the ragged prisoners were paraded before Bettie,

James was not there. A second prison was checked, with the same result.

Bettie Van Metre fought back a chilling fear that her husband was dead.

Then at Fort Delaware, near the end of the line of prisoners a tall man

stepped out and stumbled into Bettie's arms. Bettie held him, tears stream-

ing down her face. And Henry Bedell, standing by on his crutches, wept,

too.

Click the button to listen to the pronunciations of new words

第三单元

我为什么当教师

你为什么要教书呢？当我告诉一位朋友我不想谋求行政职务时，他便向我提出这一问题。所有美国人受的教育是长太成人后应该追求金钱和权力9而我却偏偏不要明明是朝这个目标“迈进”的工作，他为之大惑不解。

Why do you teach? My friend asked the question when I told him that

I didn't want to be considered for an administrative position. He was puz-

zled that I did not want what was obviously a \"step up\" toward what all

Americans are taught to want when they grow up: money and power.

当然，我之所以教书不是因为我觉得教书轻松。我做过各种各样的工作，藉以谋生：机修工、木工、作家，教书可是其中最难的一行。对我来说，教书是个会令人熬红眼睛、手掌出汗、精神沮丧的职业。说熬红眼睛，这是因为我晚上无论各课各到多晚，总觉得各得还不充分。说手掌出汗，这是因为我跨进教室之前总是非常紧张，自信学生一定会发觉原来我是个傻瓜蛋。说精神沮丧，这是因为我1小时后走出教室时，确信这堂课上得比平常还要平淡无味。

Certainly I don't teach because teaching is easy for me. Teaching is the

most difficult of the various ways I have attempted to earn my living: me-

chanic, carpenter, writer. For me, teaching is a red-eye, sweaty-pain,

sinking-stomach profession. Red-eye, because I never feel ready to teach no

matter how late I stay up preparing. Sweaty-palm, because I'm always ner-

vous before I enter the classroom, sure that I will be found out for the

fool that I am. Sinking-stomach, because I leave the classroom an hour

later convinced that I was even more boring than usual.

我之所以教书，也不是因为我认为自己能够解答问题，或者因为我有满腹学问，觉得非与别人分享不可。有时我感到很惊异，学生竟真的把我课上讲的东西做了笔记！

Nor do I teach because I think I know answers, or because I have

knowledge I feel compelled to share. Sometimes I am amazed that my stu-

dents actually take notes on what I say in class !

这样说来，我为什么还要教书呢？

我教书，是因为我喜爱校历的步调。6月、7月和8月提供了一个供思考、研究和创作的机会。

I teach because I like the pace of the academic calendar. June, July,

and August offer an opportunity for reflection, research, and writing.

我教书，是困为教学是建立在“变”这一基础上的职业。教材还是原来的教材，但我自身却变了——更重要的是，我的学生变了。

I teach because teaching is a profession built on change. When the ma-

terial is the same, I change - and, more important, my students change.

我教书，是因为我喜欢有让自己犯错误的自由，有自己吸取教训的自由，有激励自己和激励学生的自由。作为教师，我可以自行作主。如果我想要求一年级学生通过自行编写课本的办法来学习写作，谁能说我不可以那样做呢？这样的课程也许会彻底失败，但我们都可以从失败的尝试中获得教益。

I teach because I like the freedom to make my own mistakes, to learn

my own lessons, to stimulate myself and my students. As a teacher, I'm

my own boss. If I want my freshmen to learn to write by creating their

own textbook, who is to say I can't? Such courses may be huge failures,

but we can all learn from failures.

我教书，是因为我喜欢向学生提出必须绞尽脑汁才能回答的问题。我们这个世界有无穷无尽的正确答案来对付拙劣的问题。何况我在教学过程中有时也会想到一些出色的问题。

I teach because I like to ask questions that students must struggle to

answer. The world is full of right answers to bad questions. While teach-

ing, I sometimes find good questions.

我教书，是因为我喜欢想方设法使自己和我的学生从象牙塔里走出来，步入现实世界。我曾经开过一门叫做“在工业技术社会里如何自力更生”的课程。我教的1 5位学生读了爱默生、梭洛和赫胥黎的作品，记了日记，还写了学期论文。

I teach because I enjoy finding ways of getting myself and my students

out of the ivory tower and into the real world. I once taught a course called

\"Self-Reliance in a Technological Society.\" My 15 students read Emerson,

Thoreau, and Huxley. They kept diaries. They wrote term papers.

但除此而外，我们还办起一个公司，借钱买下一所破旧的房屋，通过对这一建筑物的整修翻新，我们就自力更生这一课题进行了一次实践活动。在期末我们把房子卖掉，还清贷款，缴了税，佘下的收益分给了参加实践的学生。

But we also set up a corporation, borrowed money, purchased a run-

down house and practiced self-reliance by renovating it. At the end of the

semester, we sold the house, repaid our loan, paid our taxes, and distribut-

ed the profits among the group.

所以说，教学使我的工作进程有了规律，使我的生活变得丰富多采，教学向我提出了挑战，也给了我不断学习的机会。

So teaching gives me pace, and variety, and challenge, and the oppor-

tunity to keep on learning.

不过，我要教书的最重要的几个原困还没有讲到呢。

其中一个原因与维基有关。维基是我的第一个博士生。她精力充沛，孜孜不倦地撰写她那篇论述14世纪一位不知名诗人的学位论文。她写过一些文章，寄给了学术刊物。这一切都由她完成，我偶尔从旁略加指J点。我亲眼看到了她完成论文，看到了她得悉自己的文章被采用，亲眼目睹她找到了工作并获得了在哈佛大学当研究员的职位，著书论述她在做我学生时萌发的思想。

One is Vicky. My first doctoral student, Vicky was an energetic stu-

dent who labored at her dissertation on a little-known l4th century poet.

She wrote articles and sent them off to learned journals. She did it all

her-self, with an occasional nudge from me. But I was there when she finished

her dissertation, learned that her articles were accepted, got a job and won

a fellowship to Harvard working on a book developing ideas she'd first

had as my student.

再一个原因与乔治有关。他开始学的是工程学，后来他深信自己爱人胜过爱物，所以改学英语。

Another reason is George, who started as an engineering student, then

switched to English because he decided he liked people better than things.

还有珍妮。她中途辍学，但是她的同学把她拉了回来，困为他们想让她看到自力更生整修旧房这一项目的结果。我亲眼看到她回来了。我亲耳听到她对我说，她后来对城市贫民产生了兴趣，继而成了捍卫公民权的律师

There is Jeanne, who left college, but was brought back by her class-

mates because they wanted her to see the end of the self-reliance house pro-

ject. I was there when she came back. I was there when she told me that

she later became interested in the urban poor and went on to become a

civil rights lawyer.

还要提一提清洁女工杰基。她凭直觉了解的事情比我们多数人通过分析弄清的东西还要多。杰基已经决定读完中学，然后还要上太学。

There is Jacqui, a cleaning woman who knows more by intuition than

most of us learn by analysis. Jacqui has decided to finish high school

and go to college.

这些在我眼前成长、变化的人，便是我要当教师的真正原因。当一名教师意味着是创造的见证人，他目睹人体开始呼吸，开始了生命

These are the real reasons I teach, these people who grow and change

in front of me. Being a teacher is being present at the creation, when

the clay begins to breathe.

“提升了”，不再教书了，也许会给我带来金钱和权力。可是我现在也有钱c我拿了薪金去做自己乐意做的事：读书、交谈、提问，比如问：“做个富翁有什么意思呢？”

A \"promotion\" out of teaching would give me money and power. But I

have money. I get paid to do what I enjoy: reading, talking with people,

and asking questions like, \"What is the point of being rich?\"

我现在还有权呢。我有权启迪，有权激发才智9有权开出书目，有权指矽支迷津。还有其他什么权力更值得考虑呢？

但教书还会带来金钱和权力以外的东西：那便是爱。不仅是爱学习、爱书本、爱思想，

而且还有老师对出类拔萃的学生的爱。这样的学生走进了老师的生活，自己也开始成长了。爱这个字也许用得不恰当：说是魔力可能更为贴切。

But teaching offers something besides money and power: it offers love.

Not only the love of learning and of books and ideas, but also the love that

a teacher feels for that rare student who walks into a teacher's life and

be-gins to breathe. Perhaps love is the wrong word: magic might be better.

我教书，是因为与开始戚长的学生朝夕相处，我有时感到自己也和他们一起开始成长了。

第四单元

潦而不倒的女隐士们

每一个大城市都有一批漂泊不定的流浪者。但他们大多是男人，通常嗜酒成癖。看来只有纽约例外，它吸引了一群奇特的无家可归的孤独女人。这些女人生活在一个多疑的、与世隔绝的自己的小天地里。

携带购物袋的流浪女士们不酗酒。她们不像无业游民那样麋集为伴，互寻温暖。她们彼此之间似乎也合不来。她们也不爱接近普通人。一位社会学家把这些人称之为都市里的隐士。她们会一连数月在同一街坊度过她们的日日夜夜，然后便像突然出现一样突然消失不见了。她们知道饭馆在什么时间将残羹剩饭倒入泔脚桶，她们就在那里寻找食物。当地

的居民每天在同一个街角看到同一个流浪女士，便常在路过时悄悄地塞给她一些零钱。

流浪女士们并不公开行乞，但她们也不拒绝别人的施舍。一旦某个流浪女士成了你那街坊的常客，你就很难在走过她身边的时候不给她点钱，这就如同在教堂里走过募捐箱而不得不捐献一样。虽然你未必喜欢，但如果她选中你的门廊作为她夜间栖息之所，从道义上来讲，你就很难将她赶走，就像你很难赶走一条丧家之犬一样。

有各种各样的流浪女士：有的栖身街头，声称喜欢自由自在，不受社会的约束；有的因亲属去世或因无力继续支付房租而变得无家可归，而她们又不知道到哪里或如何申请救济；也有些是准流浪女士，她们有个落脚点——有个兄弟或姊妹，偶尔可以去他们那儿洗个澡。

大多数流浪女士的年龄介于40到65岁之间。她们穿着一层又一层的衣服，即使在夏天也是如此。衣服之间塞满报纸，遇上坏天气，可以多一丁点抵挡。一般来说，这些女士们带的袋袋越多，她们应付街头流浪生活的能力也越强。

“你可能以为我这些袋袋里是一堆垃圾，”一位流浪女士在一个教堂的施汤处一边吃饭一边主动说道，“可这都是我所需要的东西。替换的衣服啦，御寒的报纸啦。”流浪女士们不爱多说话，常把一般的交谈当成一种侵扰。但过了一会，喝了鸡汤身子暖和了，她开始讲了起来。

“这个地方不错，”她主动说道，“这里的人挺友好。大多数的纽约人很冷淡。我城里有姊妹，但长大成人之后，就各走各的路了。对不对？”

“我因牙齿坏了，经常出去。你知道这是怎么回事：只要你在饭馆里拣点吃的，牙齿

就会被搞坏，你再当心都没有用。人家才不管你呢。饭馆也不把杯子洗干净。还没有等你弄清是怎么回事儿，就挨上了。我就遇上了这种事。在我把牙齿补好之前，我不想见人。所以我就出去，试图忘掉这些倒霉事儿。我常找个地方坐一会儿，弄点吃的，然后再去那些非去不可的地方。我把所有的东西都带在身边，因为你没法相信别人。”

所谓补牙云云，是典型的流浪女士的幻想。精神病学家们说，即使长时间交谈之后，流浪女士们仍然不能区别事实与想象。

有一个准流浪女士尽管在附近一家便宜旅馆里租有一间房间，每天却在火车站的自动楼梯下呆8个小时。附近教堂的一位牧师发现她有权享受一份小小的残疾人津贴，而她却从未去要过。于是，他便替她找了这一住处。但是每天大约从9点到5点，她仍然带着一只装牛奶瓶的提篮，坐在车站自动楼梯旁，不做任何事，也不与任何人交谈。她就像上班一样。

谁也不知道在纽约有多少流浪女士。她们的人数正在增加。一些牧师、修女和研究人员⒙费大量的时间照管或观察流浪女士们，并尽其所能努力改善这些穷因的女隐士们的生活。

In big cities Like New York, you can find homeless

women with shopping bags wandering on the streets.

They choose to live in an isolated, mistrustful world of

their own. They are called lady hermits or just shop-

ping-bag ladies.

LADY HERMITS WHO ARE DOWN BUT NOT OUT

Every large city has its shifting population of vagrants. But in most

cases these are men, usually with an unhealthy appetite for alcohol. Only

New York, it seems, attracts this peculiar populace of lone and homeless

women who live in an isolated, mistrustful world of their own.

Shopping-bag ladies do not drink. They do not huddle together for

warmth and companionship like bums. They do not seem to like one anoth-

er very much . Neither, are they too keen on conventional people. Urban

hermits, one sociologist has called them. They will spend their days and

nights in the same neighbourhood for months on end, then disappear as in

explicably as they came. They know the hours when restaurants put their

leftovers in the garbage cans where they search for food And local resi-

dents, seeing the same bag lady on the same corner every day, will slip

her some change as they pass.

Shopping-bag ladies do not overtly beg, but they do not refuse what is

offered. Once a shopping-bag lady becomes a figure of your neighbourhood,

it is as hard to pass her by without giving her some money as it is to

ignore the collection box in church. And although you may not like it, if

she chooses your doorway as her place to sleep in the night, it is as

morally hard to turn her away as it is a lost dog.

There are various categories of bag ladies: those who live on the

streets, claiming they enjoy the freedom from constraints of society; those

who became homeless because a relative died or because they couldn't keep

up rent payments, and they didn't know where to go or how to apply for

relief; and quasi bag ladies who have an anchor point-a sister or brother

whom they can visit once in a while to take a bath.

Most shopping-bag ladies seem to be between the ages of 40 and 65.

They wear layers of clothes even in summer time, with newspapers stuffed

between the layers as further protection against bad weather. In general,

the more bags the ladies carry the better organised they are to cope

with life on the streets.

\"You may think I have a lot of garbage in these bags,\" one shopping-

bag lady volunteered over lunch in a church soup kitchen, \"but it's every-

thing I need. Extra clothes, newspapers for the cold.\" Shopping-bag ladies

are not very communicative and take genera l conversation as an intrusion.

But after a while, warmed by chicken soup, she began to speak.

\"The place is nice,\" she volunteered, \"people are friendly. Most New

Yorkers are very cold I have sisters in the city, but when you grow up,

each goes his own way. Right?\"

\"I go out a lot because of my teeth. You know how it is: you pick up

something in a restaurant and your teeth turn rotten, no matter how careful

you are. People aren't considerate. The restaurants don't wash the glasses

properly, and before you know where you are you have caught it. That's

what happened to me. I don't like meeting people until I have this dental

work done. So I go out to forget my troubles. I sit a little while some-

where, have something to eat at one of these places, then go wherever I

have to go. I take all my things with me because you can't trust people.\"

The story of the dental work was a typical shopping-bag lady fantasy.

Psychiatrists say that even after long interviews shopping-bag ladies

are still at a loss to separate truth from imagination.

One quasi bag lady spends about eight hours every day at the foot of

the main escalator in a railroad station, although she rents a room in a

cheap hotel in the neighbourhood. One of the priests from the nearby church

found this lodging for her after he discovered that she was entitled to a

small disability pension which she had never claimed. But every day from

about nine to five, she still asks a milk crate and sits by the station

escalator, not doing anything or talking to anyone. It's like a job to her.

No one knows how many shopping-bag ladies there are in New York.

The figure is going up. Some priests, nuns and researchers spend a great

deal of time shepherding or observing shopping-bag ladies and are doing

what they can to better the life of the lady hermits who are down.

第五单元

妈哭的那天

在很久以前一个昏暗的冬天，我放学回家，心中充满了期待。我腋下夹着一期新的我最爱看的体育杂志，再者9家里没有别人打扰我。爹在上班，妹不在家。妈刚找到新工作，

还得过一个小时才下班。我跳上台阶，冲进起居室，啪嗒一声打开电灯。

Coming home from school that dark winter's day so long ago, I was

filled with anticipation. I had a new issue of my favorite sports magazine

tucked under my arm, and the house to myself. Dad was at work, my sis-

ter was away, and Mother wouldn't be home from her new job for an hour.

I bounded up the steps, burst into the living room and lipped on a light.

我被眼前的景象惊呆了。妈双手捂着脸，身子紧缩成一团，坐在长沙发的那一端哭泣着。我见妈哭这还是第一次。

I was shocked into stillness by what I saw. Mother, pulled into a tight

ball with her face in her hands, sat at the far end of the couch. She was

crying. I had never seen her cry.

我小心地向她走去，轻轻拍她的肩膀。“妈，”我说，“怎么啦？”

妈深深吸了一口气，强作微笑。“没什么，真的。没有什么要紧的事。只是我这份新工作要丢了。我字打得不够快。”

“可你上班才3天，”我说。“你会熟练起来的。”我这是在重复她讲过上百次的一句话，每当我学习或做一件与自己关系重大的事情而遇到因难时，她总是这样跟我说的。

“不成，”妈黯然神伤地说。“过去我总是讲，只要我下决心，什么事都能干成。现在我仍然认为大多数的事我都能做。但打字这件事我干不了啦。”

我感到为力，而且十分尴尬。我虽然1 6岁了，但仍然以为妈什么都能千。几年前，当我们卖掉农场，搬到城里住的时候，妈决定开办日托所。她过去没有受过这方面的训练，但这并不能阻碍她。她写信要求参加幼托函授课程，学习了6个月就正式获得从事这项工作的资格。不久她的日托所招生额满，而且还有不少小孩登记等着入托呢。我觉得凭妈的能力，办成这一切是理所当然的。

I felt helpless and out of place. At age 16 I still assumed Mother could

do anything. Some years before, when we sold our ranch, and moved to

town, Mother had decided to open a day nursery. She had had no training,

but that didn't stand in her way. She sent away for correspondence courses

in child care, did the lessons and in six months formally qualified herself for

the task. It wasn't long before she had a full enrollment and a waiting list.

I accepted all this as a perfectly normal instance of Mother's ability.

然而，无论是托儿所或是我父母后来购买的汽车旅馆都不能提供足够的收入供我妹妹和我上大学。两年后就该是我上大学的时候了。再过3年，妹妹也要上了。时间一天天过去，妈拼命想办法积蓄钱。很清楚，爹已尽了最大努力——除了一份全日工作之外，还耕种了80英亩地。

But neither the nursery nor the motel my parents bought later had pro-

vided enough income to send my sister and me to college. In two years I

would be ready for college. In three more my sister would want to go.

Time was running out, and Mother was frantic for ways to save money. It

was clear that Dad could do no more than he was doing already -- farming

80 acres in addition to holding a fulltime job.

我们卖了汽车旅馆没几个月，妈搬回来一台旧打字机。这架打字机有时要跳字，键盘也很松。那天吃晚饭时，我把这台机器说成是“废物一件”。

A few months after we'd sold the motel, Mother arrived home with a

used typewriter. It skipped between certain letters and the keyboard was

soft. At dinner that night I pronounced the machine a \"piece of junk.\"

“我们只买得起这样旧的，”妈说。“学打字用是够可以的了。”从那天起，餐桌一收拾9盘子一洗，妈马上到她的缝纫间去练习。有几天，那缓慢的嗒、嗒、嗒的声音一直持续到午夜。

\"That's all we can afford, \"Mother said. \"It's good enough to learn

on. \"And from that day on, as soon as the table was cleared and the dishes

were done, Mother would disappear into her sewing room to practice. The

slow tap, tap, tap went on some, nights until midnight.

临近圣诞节的时候，我听说妈在电台找到一份工作。我一点也不惊奇，也不觉得有什么特别，但妈却欣喜万分。

It was nearly Christmas when I heard Mother got a job at the radio

station. I was not the least bit surprised, or impressed. But she was

ecstatic.

星期一，妈第一天上班回来，我发觉妈的高兴劲儿已经烟消云散。妈绷着脸，看上去很疲劳，我没对她作任何表示。

Monday, after her first day at work, I could see that the excitement

was gone. Mother looked tired and drawn. I responded by ignoring her.

星期二，爹做晚饭，收拾厨房。妈呆在缝纫间练习打字。“妈还好吗？”我问爹。

“妈打字碰到丁点因难，”他说，“她需要练习。我想，如果我们在家里多帮一丁点忙，她会很感激的。”

“我已经做得不少了，”我马上警觉起来，说道。

“我知道你做得不少，”爹心平气和地说。“说不定你还得再多干一丁点。你要记住，她现在工作主要是为了能供你上大学。”

老实说，上不上大学我并不在乎。我真希望妈一点也不要把这事放在心上。

星期三，当发现妈哭时我所感到的震惊和窘迫，完全表明了我对妈所承受的压力是多么的不理解。我坐在她的身旁，慢慢开始理解了。

My shock and embarrassment at finding Mother in tears on Wednesday

was a perfect index of how little I understood the pressures on her. Sitting

beside her on the couch, I began very slowly to understand.

“我想我们都不免有失败的时候，”妈平静地说。我可以感觉到她的痛苦，也感觉到她在极方抑制着由于我闯进来而被打断的强烈情感的发泄。突然，我心里一酸，伸开双臂，把妈搂在怀里。

\"I guess we all have to fail sometime, \"Mother said quietly. I could

sense her pain and the tension of holding back the strong emotions that

were interrupted by my arrival. Suddenly, something inside me turned.

I reached out and put my arms around her.

妈再也控制不住了。她把脸贴着我的肩膀，抽泣着。我紧紧抱着她，没有说话。我明白我是在做我应该做的和我所能做的，这就够了。妈非常激动，我感到她的背在颤抖。就在那一时刻，我第一次明白妈也有弱J点。她还是我的妈，但又不仅如此：她和我一样也是一个普通的人，会害怕，会受到伤害，会遭到失败。我感觉到她的痛苦，就像我千百次在她怀里寻求安慰时，她感到我的痛苦一样。

She broke then. She put her face against my shoulder and sobbed. I

held her close and didn't try to talk. I knew I was doing what I should,

what I could, and that it was enough. In that moment, feeling Mother's

back racked with emotion, I understood for the first time her vulnerability.

She was still my mother, but she was something more: a person like me,

capable of fear and hurt and failure. I could feel her pain as she must have

felt mine on a thousand occasions when I had sought comfort in her

arms.

一周过后9妈找到一个卖纺织品的工作，工资只有原先电台的一半。“这是一个我能胜任的工作，”她简单地说道。但在晚上，她继续在那台绿色的1日打字机上练习。如今，每当我在夜晚走过她的房门前，听着她那一刻不停的嗒、嗒的打字声时，我的感情与过去迥然不同了。我深知，在那个房间里进行着的绝不仅仅是一个妇女在学习打字。

A week later Mother took a job selling dry goods at half the salary

radio station had offered. \"It's a job I can do, \"she said simply. But the

evening practice sessions on the old green typewriter continued. I had a

very different feeling now when I passed her door at night and heard her

tapping away. I knew there was something more going on in there than a

woman learning to type.

两年后我上大学时，妈找到一份薪金比原来高但责任也比原来重的办公室工作。使我不得不相信的是，妈不可思议地从失败中学到的东西竟与我所学到的一样多。因为几年后，我大学毕业、自豪地受聘担任报纸记者时，她已在我们家乡的报社里当了6个月的记者了。

When I left for college two years later, Mother had an office job with

better pay and more responsibility. I have to believe that in some strange

way she learned as much from her moment of defeat as I did, because

several years later, when I had finished school and proudly accepted a job

as a newspaper reporter; she had already been a journalist with our

hometown paper for six months.

那台绿色旧打字机现在放在我的办公室里，至今没有修理过。它是一件纪念品。但它所勾起的我的回忆与妈的不尽相同。每当我写文章遇到因难想打退堂鼓时，或是自叹不走运时，我就往那台破旧的打字机里卷进一张纸，像妈当年一样，一个字一个字地吃力地打着。这时，我回忆起的不是妈的失败9而是她的勇气，她那一往无前的勇气。

The old green typewriter sits in my office now, unrepaired. It is a me-

mento, but what it recalls for me is not quite what it recalled for Mother.

When I'm having trouble with a story and think about giving up or when I

start to feel sorry for myself and think things should be easier for me, I

roll a piece of paper into that cranky old machine and type, word by

painful word, just the way Mother did. What I remember then is not her

failure, but her courage, the courage to go ahead.

这台打字机是我一生中得到的最好的纪念品。

It's the best memento anyone ever gave me.

第六单元

一天的等待

他走进我们房间关窗户的时候，我们还未起床。我见他一副病容，全身哆嗦，脸色苍白，步履缓慢，好像一动就会引起疼痛。

He came into the room to shut the windows while we were still in bed

and I saw he looked ill. He was shivering, his face was white, and he

walked slowly as though it ached to move.

“你怎么啦，宝贝？”

“我头痛。”

“你最好回床上去睡。”

“不，我没啥病。”

“你先去睡。我穿好衣服来看你。”

可是当我来到楼下时，他已穿好衣服，坐在火炉旁。这个9岁的男孩，看上去病得厉害，一副可怜的模样。我用手摸了摸他的额头，知道他发烧了。

But when I came downstairs he was dressed, sitting by the fire, looking

a very sick and miserable boy of nine years. When I put my hand on

his forehead I knew he had a fever.

“你到楼上去睡，”我说，“你病了。”

“我没有病，”他说。

医生来后，量了孩子的体温。

“多少度？”我问医生。

“102度。”

下楼后，医生留下用不同颜色胶囊包装的三种药丸，并嘱咐如何服用。一种药退烧，另一种润肠、通便，还有一种是去酸。他解释说，流感细菌只能在酸性环境中生存。他似乎对流感很内行，并说，如果发烧不超过104度，就用不着担心。这是轻度流感，只要当心不引起肺炎，就无危险。

Downstairs, the doctor left three different medicines in different col-

ored capsules with instructions for giving them. One was to bring down the

fever, another a purgative, the third to overcome an acid condition. The

germs of influenza can only exist in an acid condition, he explained. He

seemed to know all about influenza and said there was nothing to worry

about if the fever did not go above one hundred and four degrees. This was

a light epidemic of flu and there was no danger if you avoided pneumonia.

我田到房里，记下孩子的体温，并记下各种胶囊的服用时间。

“要不要让我读，点书给你听？”

“好的，如果你想读的话，”孩子说。他的脸色十分苍白，眼窝下方有黑晕。他躺在床上一动不动，对周围发生的一切漠然置之。

我朗读霍华德•派尔的《海盗故事》，但我看得出他并不在听。

“你感觉怎么样，宝贝？”我问他。

“到目前为止，还是老样子，”他说。

我坐在床的脚端自个儿看书，等着到时间再给他服一粒药丸。按理，他本该睡着了。然而，当我抬头看时，他却双眼盯着床的脚端，神情异常。

I sat at the foot of the bed and read to myself while I waited for it

to be time to give another capsule. It would have been natural for him to

go to sleep, but when I looked up he was looking at the foot of the bed,

looking very strangely.

“你为什么不睡一会儿呢？到吃药时，我会叫醒你的。”

“我宁愿醒着。”

过了一会儿，他对我说：“你不必呆在这里陪我，爸爸，要是这事令你烦恼的话。”

“没有什么可烦恼的。”

“不，我是说，要是这事终将给你带来烦恼的话，你就不必呆在这里。”

我想，或许他有，点儿神志不清了。11点钟，照规定给他服药后，我便出去了一会儿。那是个晴朗而又寒冷的日子，地上覆盖着一层已结成冰的冻雨，就像那光秃秃的树木，那灌木丛，那砍下的树枝，以及所有的草坪和空地都用冰漆过似的。我带着我那条幼小的爱尔兰猎犬，沿着大路和一条冰冻的小溪散步。但在这玻璃般平滑的地面上站立和行走是很因难的。红毛狗一路上连跌带滑，我自己也摔倒了两次，都是挺重的。一次猎也摔丢了，

在冰上滑出去老远。

I thought perhaps he was a little lightheaded and after giving him the

prescribed capsules at eleven o'clock I went out for a while. It was a bright,

cold day, the ground covered with a sleet that had frozen so that it seemed

as if all the bare trees, the bushes, the cut brush and all the grass and

the bare ground had been varnished with ice, I took the young Irish setter

for a walk up the road and along a frozen creek, but it was difficult to

stand or walk on the glassy surface and the red dog slipped and slithered

and I fell twice, hard, once dropping my gun and having it slide away

over the ice.

高高的土堤上长着倒垂下来的灌木丛，我们从那下面撵起了一群鹌鹑。当它们快要从堤岸上消失时，我击落了两只。有几只鹌鹑停落在树上，但大部分飞散了，钻进了灌木丛。你得在这些被冰裹着的树丛上跳上好几下，才能把它们惊起。当你在这些既滑又有弹性的树丛上摇摇晃晃尚未立稳之际，它们却飞了出来，使你很难射中。我击落了2只，却被逃掉了5只。动身返回时，我感到很高兴，因为我在离家不远的地方发现了一群鹌鹑，而且还剩下许多，改日可再去搜寻猎取。

We flushed a covey of quail under a high clay bank with overhanging

brush and i killed two as they went out of sight over the top of the bank.

Some of the covey lit in trees, but most of them scattered into brush piles

and it was necessary to jump on the ice-coated mounds of brush several

times before they would flush. Coming out while you were poised unstea-

dily on the icy, springy brush they made difficult shooting and I killed two,

missed five, and started back pleased to have found a covey close to the

house and happy there were so many left to on another day.

回到屋里，他们说孩子不让任何人进入他的房间。

“你们不能进来，”他说。“你们千万不要传染上我的病。”

我来到他身边，发现他仍像我离开时那样躺着。他面色苍白，但两颊上部烧得发红，眼睛依旧一动不动地盯着床的另一端。

I went up to him and found him in exactly the position I had left him,

white-faced, but with the tops of his cheeks flushed by the fever, staring

still, as he had stared, at the foot of the bed.

我量了他的体温。

“多少？”

“大约100，”我说。实际上是102度4分。

“原先是102度，”他说。

“谁说的？”

“医生。”

“你的体温没啥问题，”我说，“用不着担心。”

“我不担心，”他说，“但是我不能不想。”

“不要想，”我说。“放心好了。”

“我没有什么不放心的，”他说着，眼睛直盯着前方。显然，他有什么心事，但在尽力控制着自己

“将这个用水吞下。”

“你看这有用吗？”

“当然有用。”

我坐下来，打开了《海盗故事》，开始读给他听，但我看得出来他不在听，于是我停了下来。

“你看我大概什么时候会死？”他问道。

“什么？”

“到我死大概还有多少时间？”

“你不会死。你怎么啦？”

“啊，不，我会死的。我听到他说102度。”

“人发烧发到102度是不会死的。你这是说傻话。”

“我知道会的。在法国上学的时候，同学告诉我说，烧发到44度就不能活了。我已经102度了。”

原来自上午9｀点起，整整一天弛都在等死。

“你这可怜的宝贝，”我说，“哦，可怜的宝贝，这就像英里和公里。你不会死的。那种温度计不一样。用那种温度计量，37度是正常的体温。用这种温度计量，正常体温是98度。”

\"You poor Schatz, \" I said. \"Poor old Schatz. It's like miles and kilo-

meters. You aren't going to die. That's a different thermometer. On that

thermometer thirty-seven is normal. On this kind it's ninety-eight. \"

“你肯定？”

“绝对没错，”我说。“这跟英里和公里的区别一样。你知道，就好像我们车速开到70英里该折合成多少公里一样。

Absolutely, \" I said. \"It's like miles and kilometers. You know, like

how many kilometers we make when we do seventy miles in the car?\"

“啊，”他说。

他那凝视着床的脚端的目光松弛了。他的紧张状态也终于缓和了。第二天，越发轻松了。 为了一丁点无关紧要的小事，他会动辄哭起来。

But his gaze at the foot of the bed relaxed slowly. The hold over him-

self relaxed too, finally, and the next day it was very slack and he cried

very easily at little things that were of no importance.

第八单元

做点白日梦

“又在白日做梦啦，巴勃？你要是老这样消磨时间，你将一事无成！难道你就不能找J点有益的事做吗？

\"Daydreaming again, Barb? You'll never amount to anything if you

spend your time that way! Can't you find something useful to do? \"

许多年轻人都听到他们的父母讲过类似的话。直到最近，这种对白日做梦的敌视态度仍是人们最常见的态度。白日做梦被视为浪费时间，或被看成是逃避现实生活及其责任的一种不健康的倾向。但现在有人对此持一种新的见解。有些人认为，白日做梦或许是一件十分有益于健康的事情。

Many youngsters have heard words like those from their parents. And

until recently this hostile attitude towards daydreaming was the most com-

mon one. Daydreaming was viewed as a waste of time. Or it was considered

an unhealthy escape from real life and its duties. But now some people are

taking a fresh look at daydreaming. Some think it may be a very healthy

thing to do.

人们对白日做梦的态度正在改变，这与人们对夜间做梦的看法的变化有非常相似之处。人们曾一度以为夜间做梦干扰我们所需的休息。后来，研究人员设法打断睡眠者的梦。他们获悉不让睡眠者做梦，他们反而得不到有益的休息。这些人变得紧张不安，烦躁易怒。他们的注意力难以集中。他们会暂时在精神上受到损害。要恢复健康，就得让他们做梦。

Attitudes towards daydreaming are changing in much the same way

that attitudes towards night dreaming have changed. Once it was thought

that nighttime dreams interfered with our needed rest. But then researchers

tried interrupting the dreams of sleepers. They learned that sleepers who

aren't allowed to dream lose the benefits of rest. They become tense and

anxious. They become irritable. They have trouble concentrating. Their

mental health is temporarily damaged. To f eel well again, they must be al-

lowed to dream.

如今研究人员正发现白日做梦对人的精神可能也有重要的影响。他们说，白日做梦是一种很好的休息方式。其好处还不止于此。一些心理学家已经进行过试验，并得出一些令人吃惊的结论。

Now researchers are finding that daydreaming may also be important

to mental health. Daydreaming, they tell us, is a good means of relaxation.

But its benefits go beyond this. A number of psychologists have conducted

experiments and have reached some surprising conclusions.

○琼•T•弗赖伯格博士得出结论说，白日做梦有助于智力的发展。她说，白日做梦还能使人更加专注，延长注意力集中的时间，并改善与别人相处的能力。在对上学的儿童进行的一项试验中，这位研究人员还发现白日做梦使孩子们更加注意细节。他们的精神更加愉快。他们相互间合作得更好。另一名研究人员报告说，白日做梦似乎能改善自我克制力与创造力。

Dr. Joan T. Freyberg has concluded that daydreaming contributes to

intellectual growth. It also improves concentration, attention span, and the

ability to get along with others, she says. In an experiment with school

children, this same researcher found that daydreaming led the children to

pay more attention to detail. They had more happy feelings. They worked

together better. Another researcher reported that daydreaming seemed to

produce improved self-control and creative abilities.

但这些仅是一部分情况。有关白日做梦的最引人注目的事情，或许是它在按我们自己的意愿创造未来生活方面所起的有益作用。工业家亨•J•凯泽相信，他的成功相当程度上应归功于积极利用白日做梦。他坚持说，“你尽可以想象自己的未来。”佛洛伦斯。南丁格尔曾梦想成为护士。年轻的托马斯。爱迪生也曾把自己想象成一位发明家。对这些著名的成功者来说，似乎他们的白日梦统统变成了现实。

But that's only part of the story. The most remarkable thing about

daydreaming may be its usefulness in shaping our future lives as we want

them to be. Industrialist Henry J.Kaiser believed that much of his success

was due to the positive use of daydreaming. He maintained that \"you can

imagine your future. \" Florence Nightingale dreamed of becoming a nurse.

The young Thomas Edison pictured himself as an inventor. For these no-

table achievers, it appears that their daydreams came true.

哈里•埃默森•福斯迪克博士相信，我们想象自己成为什么样的人，结果往往就成为什么样的人。他劝告说，“在你的心目中树立起一个你自己的形象……，这样，你就会向这个形象靠拢。倘使你把自己维妙维肖地想象成一个失败者，单这一J点就会使胜利化为泡影。你若把自己想象成一个胜利者，这将对你的成功起到不可估量的作用。如果你心目中没有

一个确立的形象，你就会随波逐流……”

Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick believed that the way we picture ourselves

is often the way we turn out. He offered this advice: \" Hold a picture of

yourself... in your mind's eye, and you will be drawn toward it. Picture

yourself vividly as defeated, and that alone will make victory impossible.

Picture yourself as winning, and that will contribute immeasurably to suc-

cess. Do not picture yourself as anything, and you will drift...\"

一些运动员的经历似乎证实了这种看法。例如，前撑竿跳冠军约翰•尤尔塞斯每次比赛前都使用白日做梦的技术。他想象自己赢得胜利。他逼真地想象自己在某一高度是怎样越过横竿的。他会把所有的细节一一地在脑海里审察一遍。他会想象到体育场和观众的情景。他甚至想象出草坪和泥土发出的气味。他说，这种想象力的运用在脑子里留下记忆痕。这些记忆痕将有助于他的临场发挥。

The experiences of some athletes seem to confirm this belief. For in-

stance, John Uelses, a former pole-vaulting champion, used daydreaming

techniques before each meet. He would imagine himself winning. He would

vividly picture himself clearing the bar at a certain height. He would go

over all the details in his mind. He would picture the stadium and the

crowds. He'd even imagine the smell of the grass and the earth. He said

that this exercise of the imagination left memory traces in his mind that

would later help his actual performance.

为什么脑子里的一个成功形象会有助于取得实际的成功？身为外科医生兼作家的马克斯韦尔•莫尔茨博士是这样解释的：“你的精神系统不能区别想象的经历和实际的经历。无论哪种情况，它都自动地对你给的信息作出反应……它对你信以为真或想象为实的情况作出恰当的反应。”

Why would a mental vision of success help produce real success? Dr.

Maxwell Maltz, a surgeon and author, says this: \" Your nervous system

cannot tell the difference between an imagined experience and a real experi-

ence. In either case it reacts automatically to information that you give

it... It reacts appropriately to what you think or imagine to be true.\"

他相信，有回的的白日做梦在脑子里建立起新的“记忆”。这些积极的记忆可以改善一

个人的自我形象。而自我形象对一个人的行动和成就有着重要的影响。

He believes that purposeful daydreaming builds new \"memories\" in the

brain. These positive memories improve a person's self-image. And self-

image has an important effect on a person's actions and accomplishments.

你会利用有意识的白目做梦来创造自己的前程吗？你不妨试一试。下面是那些相信白日做梦的创造性的人推荐的方法。选一个你能独自一人不受打扰的时间。闭上你的眼睛，让你的想象力更加自由地翱翔。许多人发现，如果假想自己坐在一个大的屏幕前，则可以获得最佳效果。他们可以将自己的理想的形象放映到这个屏幕上。

Can you use purposeful daydreaming to shape your own future? Why

not try? Here is how those who believe in creative daydreaming recommend

going about it. Choose a time when you can be alone and undisturbed.

Close your eyes, to permit your imagination to soar more freely. Many peo-

ple find that they get best results by pretending that they are sitting

before a large screen. They project the desired image of themselves onto

that screen.

现在你就来尽可能生动地按你所希望的那样想象一下你自己吧。记住将你想达到的回标想象成似乎你已达到了。仔细琢磨一番这一图象的全部细节。每一个细节都要看得清楚、明晰。将这些细节深深地刻印在你的记忆里。这样生成的记忆痕，据信会影响你的日常生活。它们将帮助把你引向你要达到的目标。

Now picture yourself-as vividly as possible-the way you want to be.

Remember to picture your desired goals as if you had already attained

them.Go over all the details of this picture See them clearly and sharply. Im-

press them strongly on your memory. The resulting, memory traces will

supposedly start affecting your everyday life. They will help lead you to

the attainment of your goals.

当然，白日做梦绝不能代替艰苦的努力。如果你要在运动上有所成就，你还得进行大量的练习。你得努力提高技术。如果你要学业优异，你绝不能忽视学习。单是白日做梦不能使你功成名就，如愿以偿。但与较为通常的自我提高的方法结合起来9它就有可能起关键性的作用。是仅仅干得好一些，还是成为冠军，其差别往往在此一举。

Of course daydreaming is no substitute for hard work. If it's athletic

achievement you want, you also have to get lots of practice in your sport.

You have to work hard to develop skills. If it's school success you're after,

you can't neglect studying. Daydreaming alone can't turn you into your

heart's desire. But in combination with the more usual methods of self-

development, it might make a critical difference. It could be the difference

between becoming merely good at something and becoming a champion.

假如研究人员所说是真，那么没有想入非非、白目做梦的生活就不可能是丰富多采和富有成就的。因此研究人员建议每天留出几分钟用于白日做梦。这样做，可以改善你的身心健康。每天放上10分钟或l 5分钟的“假”，到想象的王国里去遨游一番，可以为你的生活增添许多兴奋和乐趣。说不定你真的会见到你的白日梦成为现实呢。

If what researchers are saying is true, a life lived without fantasies and

daydreams isn't as rich and rewarding as life can be. So they suggest

setting aside a few minutes each day for daydreaming. By so doing, you

may improve your physical and mental well-being. By taking a ten- or

fifteen- minute \"vacation\" into the realm of imagination each day, you

may add much to the excitement and enjoyment of your life. And

who knows: You might see your own daydreams come true.