2021年1月23日发(作者：山口)

A Winter to Remember

难忘的冬天

Robert Best
罗伯特
.
贝斯特



①
According
to
the
weather
men
last
winter
was
one
of
the
worst
in
living
memory.

①
气象员说，去年冬天是记忆中最冷的一个冬天。

①
We live in the depths of the country,
and
my whole family agree
that
it was
certainly
a
winter
we
shall
never
forget.
②
Snow
began
to
fall
at
round
about
the
beginning of the New Year
and
continued on and off for approximately ten days.
①
我们生活在偏远地区；
我们全家人都认为去年冬天肯定是我们 永远无法忘
记的。
②
雪在年初开始下，断断续续下了十来天。

①
At first we were all thrilled to see it.
②
It fell silently
and
relentlessly in large
soft
flakes
until

every
ugly
patch
and

corner
of
our
rather
rambling
garden
was
smoothed over
and
had become a spotless white canopy.
③
The children soon spoilt
its beauty by having snowball fights
and
leaving their footprints all over it.
④
Hungry
birds too,
in search of scraps
of food, made delicate impressions
on its surface.
⑤
It
was
now,
when

the
garden
was
all
churned
up
and

of
a
dirty
grey
colour,
that

a
severe frost set in, hardening the snow into ugly lumps of grimy concrete.
⑥
For the
next three months the whole countryside lay in a grip of iron.

①
看见这样的情形，我们一开始都很兴奋。②
雪花很大很软，悄无声息，下
个不停，
最后我们家的那个布局很不规则的花园的 每片土地上都蒙上了厚厚的一
层雪，就像是一席洁白无瑕的罩蓬。
③
但是，孩子们打雪 仗，雪地上满是脚印，
很快就破坏了这种美景。
④
觅食的小鸟在雪地上也留下了纤细的 爪痕。
⑤
只有在
花园被彻底翻腾过，呈现出肮脏的灰色后，严寒才会到来，把雪硬化成 块，就像
灰色的混凝土一样难看。
⑥
在接下来的三个月里，整个乡村都陷入了冰天雪地 。

①
Every
day
the
birds
grew
tamer,
often
waiting
hopefully
almost
on
our
backdoor step.
②
We fed them with bits of cheese, chopped up meat
and
any leftovers
we had.
③
We also
put
out
bowls of water,
which
unfortunately within an hour had
frozen solid.


1

①
小鸟变得更加驯服，
常常在我们家后门的台阶上满怀希望地等待。
②
我们
用碎奶酪喂它们，
我们还 把肉和其他剩余食物切碎喂它们。
③
还端出几碗水给它
们喝，只可惜不到一个小时，就 冻得结结实实。


①
Indoors
it
was
pretty
cold
too.
②
Our
central
heating
system
proved
both
inadequate
and uncooperative
:
inadequate
partly because it needed overhauling
and
partly because the poor state of the doors and most of the windows made a whistling
stream of cold air come through
;
uncooperative
because occasionally it simply went
on strike.
③
To make matters worse
there were tiny holes in the brickwork of many
of the rooms.
④
As a result
the water pipes froze so that for several weeks our water
supply had to be brought in buckets from a nearby farm.
⑤
We tried to buy a number
of oil-stoves to keep these rooms warm,
but
other people had thought of doing this
too
—

when
we called at the village shop the shopkeeper told us she had sold out
and
that

although there were more on order they were unlikely to be delivered until the
spring
—

which
, of course, was a great comfort.

①
室内也非常冷。
②
我们的中央供热系统很糟糕，
很
“
不合作
”
：< br>之所以说很糟
糕，
部分原因是系统需要全面检修，
部分原因是门窗状况很糟，< br>使得风嗖嗖地往
室内钻；之所以说很
“
不合作
”
，是因为系统 偶尔会
“
罢工
”
。
③
更糟的是，许多房
间的砖结构 上有很多小孔，
结果水管冻住了，
以至于有几个星期我们的供水就是
靠从附近的一家农 场一桶又一桶地往家里提水。
④
为了给房间取暖，
我们想法设
法去买一些油炉 ，
但是别人也想到了这一点
——
我们到村里的商店买油炉时，
店
主告 诉我们已经卖完了，
虽然也有订货，
但是要等到明年春天才能送到
———
很< br>显然，这也是一个很大的
“
安慰
”
。

①
Throughout
January

and
February
and

much
of March we sat
about
in our
overcoats
and
warmed ourselves by tramping to and from the farm, lugging buckets
of water.

①
在整个一月和 二月，
以及三月的很长时间里，
我们的取暖方式就是坐着的
时候穿着棉大衣；
另外的就是拖着沉重的脚步，
来往于农场和屋舍之间，
一桶接
一桶地提水。

①
On one occasion the water actually froze
before
it reached the house,
and
our
youngest son
—
not the most intelligent of youth
—
promptly took it all the way back
to the farm.


2

①
有一次，水还没有到家就已经冻住了，而我最小的儿子
——
他在 同龄人中
不是最聪明的
——
居然又原路返回把水送回了农场。

①
However
,
one
good
thing
did
happen.
②
One
of
the
children
dropped
a
container
with
a
dozen
eggs
in
it.
③
I
stooped
down
furiously
to
pick
up
what
I
thought would be the messy remains only to discover the eggs had come to no harm
—
they were as solid as if they had been hard-boiled.

①< br>不管怎样，还是发生了一件让人高兴的事。
②
我的一个孩子把一个装有一
打鸡蛋 的容器掉在地上。
③
我原以为那些鸡蛋已经摔成了稀烂，很生气，但是蹲
下去捡时，< br>却发现鸡蛋完好无损
——
原来那些鸡蛋已经冻得非常结实，
像煮熟了
一 样。

①
Late in March, it finally thawed.
②
Water squirted from pipes in at least half a
dozen places.
③
Instead of carting buckets of water into the kitchen from the farm we
now
brought
them
in
from
different
parts
of
the
house.
④
Eventually

we
found
a
plumber.
⑤
The plumber undoubtedly saved us from drowning.
⑥
I have been devoted
to plumbers ever since.

①
三月底的时候，冰雪终于融化了（或译为：天终于回暖了）。
②
我们家的< br>水管至少有六个地方漏水，
我们只能在漏水的地方接水，
再也不用一桶接一桶地
从农场往厨房里提水了。
③
最后，我们找到一个管子工，他帮助我们免除了被淹
死的危 险，所以从那以后，我都一直都非常感激管子工。




结

束




















Unit 13 [
见教材
P157]

Christmas





圣诞节

Floyd Dell (the U.S.)

弗洛依德
.
戴尔（美国）


①
That fall,
before
it was discovered
that
the soles of both my shoes were worn
clear
through,
I
still
went
to
Sunday
school.
②
And

one
time
the
Sunday-school
superintendent made a speech to all the classes.
③
He said
that
these were hard times,
and
that

many
poor
children
weren’t
getting
enough
to
eat.
④
It
was
the
first
time

3

that

I
had
heard
about
it.
⑤
He
asked
everybody
to
bring
some
food
for
the
poor
children next Sunday.
⑥
I felt very sorry for the poor children.

①
那年 秋天，我一直在主日学校学习，直到发现我两只鞋的底子彻底磨烂。
②
有一次，主日学校的校长 对所有班级的学生讲话，他说现在是困难时期，许多
贫困的孩子得不到足够的食物。
③
那是我第一次听到这样的事情，
他要求每一个
学生下个礼拜日再来上学时，
给那些贫困 的孩子们带些食物。
④
我非常同情那些
孩子。


①
Also
, little envelopes were distributed to all the classes.
②
Each little boy and
girl
was
to
bring
money
for
the
poor,
next
Sunday.
③
The
pretty
Sunday- school
teacher explained
that
we were to write our names,
or
have our parents write them,
up in
the left-hand corner of the little envelopes. ...
④
I told my mother
all about
it
when

I
came
home.
⑤
And

my
mother
gave
me,
the
next
Sunday,
a
small
bag
of
potatoes to carry to Sunday school.
⑥
I supposed t
he poor children’s mothers would
make
potato
soup
out
of
them. ...
⑦
Potato
soup
was
good.
⑧
My
father,
who
was
quite a joker, would
always say,
as
if he
were surprised,
“Ah!
I see we
have some
nourishing potato soup today!”

⑨
It was so good that we had it every day.
⑩
My father
was at home all day long
and
every day, now
;

and
I liked that.
⑾
I had my parents all
to
myself,
too
;

the
others
were
away.
⑿
My
oldest
brother
was
in
Quincy,
and

memory does not reveal where the others were
:
perhaps with relatives in the country.

①
另外，给所有班的学生都分发了小信封，要所有小朋友下个礼 拜日再来
上学时给那些贫困的孩子带些钱。
②
主日学校里那位非常美丽的老师解释说我 们
都要在小信封的左上角写下自己的名字，或者由父母来写。
③
回到家后，我把这一切都告诉了妈妈。
④
到了下个礼拜日，
妈妈给了我一小包土豆，
让我带 到学校。
⑤
我猜想那些贫困小朋友们的妈妈会用这些土豆做成土豆汤。
……
⑥
土豆汤很好
喝。
⑦
我爸爸很爱开玩笑，总是会说
“
啊，我看 见了，我们今天有美味的土豆汤
喝，
”

⑧
说这些时，他往往显得非 常惊喜。
⑨
土豆汤很好喝，我们每天都吃。
⑩
那时爸爸早晚都在家，
天天都在家，
我非常喜欢这样，
因为爸爸妈妈属于我一个
人，
其他的兄弟姐妹 都不在家。
⑾
大哥在马萨诸塞州波士顿市的郊区小镇
Quincy
，
我记不得了其他兄弟姐妹在什么地方了，也许在乡下的亲戚家里吧。

①
Taking
my
small
bag
of
potatoes
to
Sunday
school,
I
looked
around
for
the
poor children
;
I was disappointed not to see them.
②
I had heard about poor children

4

in stories.
③
But
I was told just to put my contribution with the others on the big table
in the side room.

①
到了下个礼拜日，
我带着那小包土豆到了学校。
②
到处寻找那些贫 困的孩
子，却找不到他们，我很失望。
③
以前我只是在故事里听说过贫困的孩子，我和
其他的小朋友被告知将捐赠物放到隔壁房间的大桌子上。

①
I had brought with me the little yellow envelope, with some money in it for the
poor children.
②
My mother had put the money in it
and
sealed it up.
③
She wouldn’t
tell me how much money she had put in it,
but
it felt like several dimes.
④
Only
she
wouldn’t l
et me write my name on the envelope.
⑤
I had learned to write my name,
and
I was proud of being able to do it.
⑥
But
my mother said firmly, no, I must not
write
my
name
on
the
envelope
;

she
didn’t
tell
me
why.
⑦
On
the
way
to
Sunday
school I had pressed the envelope against the coins
until
I could tell what they were
;

they weren’t dimes
but
pennies.

①
我还随身带来了那个黄色的小信封，里面装有捐给贫困小朋友 的一些钱。
②
妈妈把钱放到信封里后，就密封了起来。
③
她不告诉我她往里边 究竟放了多少
钱，但是感觉像是有几毛。
④
妈妈还不让我在信封上写自己的名字，但是 我已经
学会写自己的名字了，
这让我感到很骄傲，
但是妈妈坚持说不可以写，
绝不可以
在信封上写自己的名字。
⑤
但是，
妈妈不告诉我为什么不可以。⑥
去学校的路上，
我不停地用手隔着信封挤压着那些硬币，直到我能判断出里面究竟装的是 什么；
里边装的不是几角，而是几个美分。

①
When
I
handed
in
my
envelope,
my
Sunday
school
teacher
noticed
that

my
name wasn’t on it, and she gave me a pencil
;
I could write my own name, she said.
②
So
I did.
③
But
I was confused
because
my mother had said not to
; and when
I
came home, I confessed what I had done.
④
She looked distressed.
⑤
“I told you not
to!” she said.
⑥
But

she didn’t explain why. ...

①
我把信封 交给老师时，老师注意到我的信封上没有写名字，于是给了我
一支笔，
她说我可以把自己的名字 写上去，
我照做了。
②
但是，
我心里很是困惑，
因为妈妈说过不可以 写名字的。
③
回家后，我把这一切都告诉给了妈妈，她很不
高兴。
④
“
我对你说过不可以写的！
”
她说，但是她没有解释为什么不可以写。



①
I didn’t go back to school that fall.
②
My mother said it was
because
I was sick.
③
I did have a cold the week that school opened
;
I had been playing in the gutters
and


5

had got my feet wet,
because
there were holes in my shoes.
④
My father cut insoles
out
of cardboard,
and

I
wore those in
my shoes.
⑤
As
long
as

I had to
stay in the
house anyway, they were all right.

①< br>那年秋天，我再也没有回到主日学校，妈妈说是因为我生病了。
②
学校开
学那周 ，我的确感冒了，我一直在路边的排水沟里玩，因为鞋底有洞，脚都弄湿
了。
③
爸爸用 硬纸板给我剪了鞋垫，我把鞋垫放在鞋子里，只要我待在家里，不
乱跑，这些鞋垫就没有问题。

①
I stayed cooped up in the house, without any companionship.
②
We didn’t take
a Sunday paper any more,
and though
I did not read small print, I could see the Santa
Clauses
and
holly wreaths in the advertisements.

①
我整天待在家里，
没有一个伙伴。< br>②
我们没有星期日报可以读，
虽然我并
不读那些小号字，但是我可以看到广告中 的圣诞老人和圣诞冬青花环。

①
There
was
a
calendar
in
the
kitchen.
②
The
red
days
were
Sundays
and
holidays;
and
that red was Christmas.
③
I knew just when Christmas was going to be.

①
厨房里有一个日历，上边红色的日子是礼拜日和节假 日，那个红色的
25
号就是圣诞节，我知道圣诞节就快要到了。

①
But

there
was
something
queer!
②
My
father
and
mother
didn’t
say
a
word
about Christmas.
③
And

once when
I spoke of it, there was a strange, embarrassed
silence
;

so

I didn’t say anything more about it.
④
But
I wondered,
and
was troubled.
⑤
Why
didn’t
they
s
ay
anything
about
it?
⑥
Was
what
I
had
said
I
wanted
too
expensive?

①
但是 ，家里的气氛却怪怪的，爸爸妈妈对于圣诞节只字不提。
②
有一次我
提到圣诞节时，他 们没有说话，很尴尬，这让我觉得很奇怪，所以我也就没有再
说什么。
③
但是，我好奇 怪，也很苦恼，为什么他们对于圣诞节只字不提呢？难
道是我要的圣诞礼物太贵了吗？

①
I
wasn’t
arrogant
and

talkative
now.
②
I
was
silent
and

frightened.
③
What
was the matter?
④
Why didn’t my father
and
mother say anything about Christmas?
⑤
As
the day approached, my chest grew tighter with anxiety.

①
我没有蛮不讲理，话也不多，事实上，我很沉默，也很害怕。
②
到底发生
了什么事？
③
为什么爸爸妈妈对于圣诞节只字不提？
④
圣诞 节一天天临近，
而我
变得愈加紧张。


6

①
Now it was the day before Christmas.
②
I couldn’t be mistaken.
③
But
not a
word about it from my father and mother.
④
I waited in painful bewilderment all day.
⑤
I had supper with them,
and
was allowed to sit up for an hour.
⑥
I was waiting for
them to say something.
⑦
“It’s time for you to go to bed,” my mother said gently.
⑧
I
had to say something.

①
到了圣诞节的前一天，我确信就是圣诞节前一天 ，不可能搞错。
②
但是，
爸爸妈妈对于圣诞节仍是只字不提。
③
一整 天，我都是在痛苦和困惑中等待。
④
我和爸爸妈妈一起吃晚饭，
我获准可以晚睡一个小 时。
⑤
我一直等着他们说点关
于圣诞节的事情。
⑥
“你该上床睡觉了 ，”妈妈轻轻地说。
⑦
我知道我必须得开
口了。


①
“This is Christmas Eve, isn’t it?” I asked, as if I didn’t know.

“
现在是圣诞夜，对吗？
”
我问，就好像不知道似的。

①
My father and mother looked at one another.
②
Then
my mother looked away.
③
Her face was pale and stony.
④
My father cleared his throat,
and
his face took on a
joking
look.
⑤
He
pretended
he
hadn’t
known
it
was
Christmas
Eve,
because

he
hadn’t been reading the papers.
⑥
He said he would go downtown
and
find out.

①
爸爸妈妈互相看着对方，然后妈妈转过脸去，脸色苍白，没 有表情。
②
爸
爸清了清嗓子，
他脸上带着像开玩笑的神情，
好像并不 知道是圣诞夜，
他很长时
间没有读报纸了。
④
他说要到市中心去看一看。

①
My mother got up
and
walked out of the room.
②
I didn’t want my father to
have to keep on being funny about it,
so
I got up
and
went to bed.
③
I went by myself
without having a light.
④
I undressed in the dark
and
crawled into bed.

①
妈妈站起来， 走出了房间。
②
我不想让爸爸再难为自己，滑稽下去，所以
我也站了起来去睡觉了。< br>③
没有开灯，我在黑暗中脱了衣服，爬到了被窝里。

①
I was numb.
②
As if I had been hit by something.
③
It was hard to breathe.
④
I
ached all through.
⑤
I was stunned
—
with finding out the truth.

①我身心麻木，就好像收到了某种伤害，难以呼吸，全身疼痛。
②
我极为震
惊，因为 我发现了真相。


①
My body knew
before
my mind quite did.
②
In a minute, when I could think,
my mind would know.
③
And as
the pain
in
my
body
ebbed, the pain
in
my mind
began.
④
I
knew
.
⑤
I couldn’t
put
it into
words yet.
⑥
But

I knew why
I had taken

7

only a little bag of potatoes to Sunday school that fall.
⑦
I knew why there had been
only pennies in my little yellow envelope.
⑧
I knew why I hadn’t gone to school that
fall
—

why
I
hadn’t
any
new
shoes
—

why
we
had
been
living
on
potato
soup
all
winter.
⑨
All these things, and others, many others
fitted themselves together in my
mind,
and
meant something.

①
我的身躯先于灵 魂恢复了知觉。
②
过了一会儿，
我又能思考了，
我的灵魂
也恢复了知 觉。
③
身体的痛苦开始减轻，
而灵魂却开始痛了起来。
④
我全明白了 ，
只是还无法用语言来表达。
⑤
我终于明白了为什么秋天我只能带小包土豆到学校；< br>我明白了为什么那个黄色的小信封里只有几个美分；
我明白了我为什么不能再上
学了———
为什么我没有新鞋穿
——
为什么我们家冬天只能喝土豆汤。
⑥所有这
一切，还有其他的全部，一起涌进我的大脑，让我明白了一些事情。


①
Then
the words came into my mind
and
I whispered them into the darkness.

①
然后有几个词出现在我的脑中，我在黑暗中小声默念。

“We’re poor!”

“
我们是穷人！
”

①
That was it.
②
I was one of those poor children I had been sorry for,
when
I
heard about them in Sunday school.
③
My mother hadn’t told me.
④
My father was
out of work,
and

we hadn’t any money.
⑤
That was why there wasn’t going to be
any Christmas at our house.

①
事 实就是这样。
②
我就是那些贫困孩子中的一个，
但是我居然在学校听说
之后还 去可怜人家呢。
③
妈妈一直没有告诉我说爸爸失业了，我们家没有钱。
④
这就 是为什么我们家不打算过圣诞节的原因。

①
“We’re
poor.”
There
in
bed
in
the
dark,
I
whispered
it
over
and
over
to
myself.
②
I was making myself get used to it.

①
“
我们是穷人。”
我在黑暗中，躺在床上，不断对自己小声重复这句话。
②
我要让自己逐渐适应这 种状况。

①
It wasn’t so bad, now that I knew, I just hadn’t known!
②
I had thought all
sorts of foolish things:
that
I was going to Ann Arbor
—
going to be a lawyer
—

going to make speeches in the Square, going to be President.
③
Now I know better.

①
还不算太糟糕，我现在知道了，我以前就不知道，我还曾经有过 各种各
样的愚蠢想法：我要到安娜堡（
Ann
Arbor
）读密歇根大学（
the
University
of

8

Michigan
）；我要做律师；到广场上去发表演说； 我要当总统。
②
而现在，我更
加清醒了。

①
I
had
wanted
(something)
for
Christmas,
I
didn’t
want
it,
now.
②
I
didn’t
want anything.

①
我曾经想过要圣诞节礼物，而现在我不想要圣诞节礼物了。
②
我 什么都
不想要了。

①
I lay there in the dark, feeling the cold emotion of renunciation. (The tendrils
of
desire
unfold
their
clasp
on
the
outer
world
of
objects,
withdraw,
shrivel
up.
Wishes shrivel up, turn black, die. It is like that.)

①
黑暗中，我躺在床上，感受着放弃所有这一切时 我内心冰冷的感觉（欲望
的卷须紧紧吸附在外部世界上，然后又凋谢，最后枯萎。人的心愿也是这样，枯
萎，变黑，直至死亡。）

①
It hurt.
②
But
nothing would ever hurt again.
③
I would never let myself want
anything again.

①
很痛，但是以后不会再痛了，因为我绝不会再让自己要任何东西了。

①
I lay there stretched out straight
and
stiff in the dark, my fists clenched hard
upon Nothing...

①
黑暗中，我僵硬地躺在床上，四肢分开，拳头紧握，却空无一物。

①
In the morning it had been like a nightmare
that
is not clearly remembered
—

that
one wishes to forget.
②
Though

I hadn’t hung up any stocking there was one
hanging
at
the
foot
of
my
bed.
③
A
bag
of
popcorn,
and
a
lead
pencil,
for
me.
④
They had done the best they could, now they realized
that
I knew about Christmas.
⑤
But

they needn’t have thought they had to.
⑥
I didn't want anything.

①
第二天早上醒来，感觉这就像是一场恶梦，只是现在还依稀记得，却又
不想保留在记 忆中。
②
虽然睡前我没有挂圣诞袜，
但是起床后发现床头挂着一包
爆米花和一 支铅笔，是送给我的。
③
爸爸妈妈已经尽了他们的最大努力，他们已
经发现我知道有圣 诞节了。
④
事实上，他们本不需要这么做的，因为我已经什么
都不想要了。









































































From Homecoming
—
An Autobiography by Floyd Dell
摘自：
Floyd Dell
的自传：
Homecoming


9


结束






















Unit 14[
见教材
P174]

After Twenty Years



二十年后

O. Henry (the U.S.)

欧
.
亨利（美国）


①
The
policeman
on
the
beat
moved
up
the
avenue
impressively.
②
The
impressiveness was habitual
and
not for show,
for
spectators were few.
③
The time

10