unit 2

T The Doctor's Son

Harold Eppley with Rochelle Melander This article is excerpted and adapted from "Chicken Soup". The Chicken Soup Series, compiled by Jack Canfield and Victor Hansen, has become a household name for its touching stories and its impact on the lives of a lot of people. The series has been translated into 37 different languages. Chicken Soup of the Soul is a collection among the Chicken Soup Series. The main themes are on coping with relationships and emotions. The series include Chicken Soup for Teenager's Soul, Chicken Soup for Girls' Soul, Chicken Soup for Mother and Daughter's Soul, Chicken Soup for Father and Daughter's Soul, Chicken Soup for Grandma's Soul, etc.

close1RT My parents moved to Vermont when I was still an infant. A soft-spoken man, my father settled quietly into his medical practice in a small town called Enosburg. Soon the local people accepted him as one of their own. Word passes quickly in small Vermont towns. They know good people when they meet them. Around town the neighbors greeted my father as "Doc Eppley." And I soon learned that as long as I lived in Enosburg I would always be known as "Doctor Eppley's son".

醫(yī)生的兒子

哈羅德·埃普利、羅謝爾·梅蘭德合寫

我還是個嬰兒的時候，我的父母親搬到了佛蒙特州。我那溫文爾雅的父親在一個名叫伊諾斯堡的小鎮(zhèn)上毫不張揚(yáng)地開業(yè)行醫(yī)了。很快，當(dāng)?shù)厝司桶阉?dāng)成了自己人。在佛蒙特州的小鎮(zhèn)上，消息傳播得很快。人們分得清誰是好人。鄰居們都稱我的父親為埃普利醫(yī)生。我很快意識到，只要我住在伊諾斯堡鎮(zhèn)，我就永遠(yuǎn)只是"埃普利醫(yī)生的兒子"。close2RT On the first day of school, my classmates crowded around me because I was the doctor's son. "If you're anything like your father, you'll be a smart boy," my first-grade teacher said. I couldn't stop beaming.

入學(xué)的第一天，同學(xué)們就簇?fù)碇?，因?yàn)槲沂轻t(yī)生的兒子。"要是你多少有點(diǎn)像你父親的話，你就會是個聰明的孩子。"我的一年級老師這么說。我忍不住眉開眼笑。close3RT Somewhere in the midst of my teenage years, however, something changed. I was sixteen years old and the neighbors still called me "Doctor Eppley's son." They said that I was growing up to be an honorable and industrious young man, living an honest life just like my father. I groaned whenever I heard their compliments.

可是在我十幾歲的時候，事情起了變化。 我都十六歲了，鄰居們還是稱呼我"埃普利醫(yī)生的兒子"。他們說我長大了一定會是一個可敬又勤勞的年輕人，會像我父親那樣過著體面的生活。每當(dāng)我聽到這些贊美，我都很不以為然地哼哼幾聲。close4RT I wondered how I would ever fit in with my teenage friends. I hated being followed by my father's good name. And so when strangers asked me if I was Doctor Eppley's son, I replied emphatically, "My name is Harold. And I can manage quite well on my own." As an act of rebellion, I began to call my father by his first name, Sam.

我不知道自己怎樣才能融入我那些少年朋友的圈子。我討厭父親的好名聲像影子一樣跟著我。所以當(dāng)陌生人問起我是不是埃普利醫(yī)生的兒子時，我會帶著強(qiáng)調(diào)的口氣說："我叫哈羅德。我自己能管好自己的事。"出于反叛，我開始對父親直呼其名，不叫他"爸爸"，而叫他"薩姆"。close5RT "Why are you acting so stubborn lately?" my father asked me one day in the midst of an argument.

"你最近為什么這么犟？"有次爭吵時，我父親這樣問我。close6RT "Well, Sam," I replied, "I suppose that bothers you."

"哼，薩姆。我想你難過了吧！"close7RT "You know it hurts me when you call me Sam," my father shouted.

"你知道的，你叫我薩姆讓我很傷心。"我父親大聲地說。close8RT "Well, it hurts me when everybody expects me to be just like you. I don't want to be perfect. I want to be myself."

"哦，那人人都指望我像你一樣，也很讓我傷心呢。我不要完美，我只想做我自己。"close9RT I survived my last years of high school until finally I turned eighteen. The next fall I enrolled in college. I chose to attend a school far from Enosburg, a place where nobody called me "Doctor Eppley's son."

我好不容易挨完高中，總算滿了十八歲。第二年秋天我上了大學(xué)。我選中了一所遠(yuǎn)離伊諾斯堡的學(xué)校，一個沒人管我叫"埃普利醫(yī)生的兒子"的地方。close10RT One night at college I sat with a group of students in the dormitory as we shared stories about our lives. We began to talk about the things we hated most about our childhoods. "That's easy," I said. "I couldn't stand growing up in a town where everybody always compared me with my father."

在大學(xué)里，有天晚上我和一幫學(xué)生在宿舍聊起我們的生活。我們開始談起我們童年最討厭的事情。"想都不用想，"我說，"我受不了在一個每個人都拿我跟我父親比的地方生活。"close11RT The girl sitting next to me frowned. "I don't understand," she said. "I'd be proud to have a father who's so well respected." Her eyes filled with tears as she continued, "I'd give anything to be called my father's child. But I don't know where he is. He left my mother when I was only four."

坐在我身邊的女孩皺起眉頭說："這我就不理解了。要是有這么個令人尊敬的父親我一定會很驕傲的。"她的眼里噙著淚繼續(xù)說，"要是有人把我叫做我父親的孩子，那我會不惜一切地珍重這榮譽(yù)！但我不知道他在哪里。他拋棄了我的母親,那時我才四歲。"close12RT There was an awkward silence, and then I changed the subject. I wasn't ready to hear her words.

大家陷入了尷尬的沉默，然后我轉(zhuǎn)開了話題。她的話我當(dāng)時還聽不進(jìn)去。close13RT I returned home for winter break that year, feeling proud of myself. In four months at college, I had made a number of new friends. I had become popular in my own right, without my father's help.

那年寒假我回了家，心中充滿了自豪感。在大學(xué)的四個月中，我交了好些朋友。我沒有靠父親，而是靠自己的本事贏得了眾人的歡心。close14RT For two weeks I enjoyed being back in Enosburg. The main topic of interest at home was my father's new car.

回到伊諾斯堡的兩個星期里，我一直都很高興。父親的新車成了家里人感興趣的話題。close15RT "Let me take it out for a drive," I said.

"讓我開出去轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)。"我說。close16RT My father agreed, but not without his usual warning, "Be careful."

父親同意了，但跟往常一樣提醒我，"小心點(diǎn)。"close17RT I glared at him. "Sam, I'm sick of being treated like a child. I'm in college now. Don't you think I know how to drive?"

我瞪了他一眼，"薩姆，我討厭你老把我當(dāng)成個孩子。我都上大學(xué)了。你以為我不會開車??？"close18RT I could see the hurt in my father's face, and I remembered how much he hated it whenever I called him "Sam."

從父親的臉上看得出我傷了他的心，也想起每次直呼"薩姆"時他是多么不高興。close19RT "All right then," he replied.

"那去吧。"他說。close20RT I hopped into the car and headed down the road, savoring the beauty of the Vermont countryside. My mind was wandering. At a busy intersection, I hit the car right in front of mine before I knew it.

我跳進(jìn)車?yán)铮?/span> 沿路開去， 享受著佛蒙特鄉(xiāng)間的美麗風(fēng)景。我有點(diǎn)心神不定。在一個繁忙的十字路口，不知怎么地就跟我前面的車撞了個正著。close21RT The woman in the car jumped out screaming: "You idiot! Why didn't you look where you were going?"

車?yán)锏膵D人跳出來尖叫，"你這個白癡！你開車難道不看路嗎？"close22RT I surveyed the damage. Both cars had sustained serious dents.

我看了一眼，兩輛車都被撞癟了。close23RT I sat there like a guilty child as the woman continued complaining. "It's your fault," she shouted. I couldn't protest. My knees began to shake. I choked back my tears.

我像個犯了錯的孩子一樣，坐在那兒聽著那婦人不停地抱怨。"全怪你！"她尖叫道。我無法反駁，雙腿發(fā)抖，淚水在眼眶里轉(zhuǎn)。close24RT "Do you have insurance? Can you pay for this? Who are you?" she kept asking. "Who are you?"

"你有保險(xiǎn)嗎？你賠得起嗎？你是誰？"她不停地問，"你是誰？"close25RT I panicked and, without thinking, shouted, "I'm Doctor Eppley's son."

我害怕起來， 想也沒想就叫道， "我是埃普利醫(yī)生的兒子。"close26RT I sat there stunned. I couldn't believe what I had just said. Almost immediately, the woman's frown became a smile of recognition. "I'm sorry," she replied, "I didn't realize who you were."

我坐在那里驚呆了。我簡直不相信我自己會這么說。幾乎同時， 婦人皺起的眉頭變成了似曾相識的笑容。 "對不起。"她答道，"我剛才不知道你是誰。"close27RT An hour later, I drove my father's battered new car back home. With my head down and my knees still shaking, I trudged into the house. I explained what had happened.

一小時后，我開著被撞破了的車回了家。我低著頭，邁著發(fā)顫的雙腿， 拖著步子走進(jìn)家門。 我解釋了所發(fā)生的一切。close28RT "Are you hurt?" he asked.

"受傷了嗎？"他問。close29RT "No," I replied.

"沒有。"我回答。close30RT "Good," he answered. Then he turned and headed toward the door. "Harold," he said as he was leaving, "Hold your head up."

"那就好。"他答道，然后轉(zhuǎn)身向門口走去。"哈羅德，抬起頭來。"他邊走邊說。close31RT That night was New Year's Eve, and my family attended a small party with friends to celebrate the beginning of another year. When midnight arrived, people cheered and greeted each other. Across the room I saw my father. I stepped toward him. My father and I rarely hug. But recalling the day's events, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. And I spoke his real name for the first time in years. I said, "Thank you, Dad. Happy New Year."

那晚是除夕之夜，我們?nèi)遗c朋友參加了一個小型晚會慶祝新年。午夜來臨，每個人都?xì)g呼并互相祝福。我看到父親在房間的另一頭，我向他走去。父親與我很少擁抱，但我想起了白天的事，我用雙臂摟著他的肩膀，很多年來第一次用他"真實(shí)的"名字來稱呼他。我說，"謝謝你，爸爸。新年快樂！"

2

The Needs of Teenagers

This text is adapted from New Expressway English 4 by Colin W. Davis & Andrew J. Watts. FEP International. 1989.

close1RT While we're still children, most of us live at home with our parents more or less peacefully, but as we become teenagers, things change, and we all know the sort of difficulties we're likely to have. What's happening is that we're beginning to grow apart from our parents. We're a new generation that's almost ready to be independent, to leave the home where we grew up and make a new home of our own.

青少年的需求

小的時候，絕大多數(shù)人和父母住在一起大抵能相安無事。但進(jìn)入青少年時代，一切就起了變化。我們大家也都知道大概會碰到一些什么困難：我們跟父母越來越疏遠(yuǎn)。我們是即將獨(dú)立的新一代。我們即將離開我們長大成人的家庭，建立自己的小家庭。close2RT All human beings must grow up, but we don't all do it in the same way. Suppose, for instance, we belonged to a primitive tribe (部落). There, as we grew up, we'd learn the skills we needed as adults — how to hunt or fish, how to keep house and look after children. In our early teens, we'd be ready to marry and set up house near our family in the village we knew.

人人都要長大，但我們成長的方式各有不同。比如說，假如我們生長在一個原始部落里，我們就會在成長的過程中學(xué)會長大成人后所需具備的技能：如何狩獵捕魚，如何持家和養(yǎng)育孩子。十幾歲時就可以結(jié)婚并在我們父母家附近，我們熟知的村莊里建立家庭。close3RT We call this a primitive way of life but it's what human beings have adapted to through hundreds of thousands of years. And it's what we are still adapted to in the 21st century; for man hasn't changed much in the short time since he became civilized.

我們把這種生活稱作原始的生活方式，但成千上萬年來人們適應(yīng)了這種方式。二十一世紀(jì)我們依然習(xí)慣這種生活方式。人在進(jìn)入文明之后的短時間內(nèi)實(shí)在是沒有太大的變化呀！close4RT However, could we leave home and look after ourselves at puberty (發(fā)育期，青春期)? Most people in the so-called civilized countries wouldn't do very well. For, even if man hasn't changed, the society he lives in has changed enormously (巨大地), and we've more and more to learn before we're ready to leave our parents' shelter.

但是，進(jìn)入青春期后我們就可以離家自立了嗎？很多在所謂文明國家中的人并不見得能完全做到。因?yàn)榧词谷说淖兓淮?，他賴以生存的這個社會卻已經(jīng)發(fā)生了很大的變化，我們在離開父母的庇護(hù)前要學(xué)會的東西也越來越多。close5RT Think what we've learnt by puberty. We've learnt to read and write. We've learnt to use figures, to use money to buy things we need. We've learnt to use such things as radios, cooking-stoves (烹飪用的爐子), buses, trains.

想一想我們到了青春期時學(xué)到了什么？我們學(xué)會了讀書和寫字。我們學(xué)會了使用數(shù)字計(jì)算，用錢買我們所需的東西。我們也學(xué)會了使用收音機(jī)、灶具，學(xué)會了搭乘公共汽車還有火車。close6RT All the same, at puberty we still don't know enough. We may be very nearly adult human beings, but we're certainly not adult members of society. We've still a lot to learn, and while we learn it, we still need shelter — so we usually live on in our parents' home.

不過，到了青春期我們所學(xué)到的東西仍然是遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠的。我們也許接近成年，但我們顯然還不是社會的成年成員。我們還有很多東西要學(xué)。當(dāng)我們學(xué)習(xí)的時候，我們?nèi)孕枰幼o(hù)所，所以我們一般還與父母同住。close7RT No wonder, then, there are difficulties. Physically, we become adults younger and younger. Socially, we become adults older and older. And the more ambitious we are about what we want to do in life, the more we must learn, and the longer we need support.

這樣就理所當(dāng)然地出現(xiàn)了問題。從身體發(fā)育的角度來看，我們成熟得越來越早，而從適應(yīng)社會的角度來說，我們成熟得越來越晚。我們的人生抱負(fù)越大，我們要學(xué)得的就越多，我們依賴父母的時間就更長。close8RT No wonder teenagers feel frustrated, restless, rebellious.

怪不得青少年常感到沮喪和不安，常存有叛逆心理。close9RT Here is what a teenaged girl, Marjorie, said about this time in her life: "I suppose it all began in the usual way. My parents weren't any worse or any better than most parents. When I was about fourteen, my parents would let me go round to a girlfriend's house and get home late, or stay up to watch a midnight movie on television, but if I wanted to go to a dance or a party, they made me return home by ten o'clock.

一個名叫瑪喬麗的少女是這樣描述她自己這一人生階段的："我想一開始一切還算正常。我的父母跟其他大多數(shù)的父母差不多。我十四歲左右時，我的父母會讓我去女性朋友的家，晚回家或者熬夜看電視上的午夜節(jié)目。但如果我去舞會或晚會，他們規(guī)定我在十點(diǎn)前必須回家。"close10RT "I was scared of them being annoyed with me, so I used to try and be in on time, but sometimes things didn't always work out like that and if I was later than they said, they were furious. My mother would sit up with a furious expression on her face whatever time of the night it was and she'd terrify me so much that it wouldn't happen again for ages."

"我非常怕他們生我的氣，所以我盡量準(zhǔn)時回家，但有時做不到。假如我比他們規(guī)定的時間晚了，他們會很生氣。不管幾點(diǎn)媽媽都不上床睡覺，怒氣沖沖地坐在那里。我實(shí)在怕死了，所以好久都不敢再很晚回家。"close11RT Most of Marjorie's girlfriends were going through the same sort of thing, but as she got older, things became worse. Her parents refused to give her the house-key and she had to wake them at whatever time she got home. Once, her father came to a dance and dragged her out while she was dancing.

瑪喬麗的大多數(shù)朋友都有過類似的經(jīng)歷。但她長大些以后，情況變得更糟。她的父母不給她房門的鑰匙，她什么時候回家都必須叫醒他們。有一次，她的父親竟到一個舞會上，把正在跳舞的她拖了出來。close12RT "... My mother had such an unnaturally (違反常規(guī)的，反常的) tight rein (韁繩) on me. She was always very possessive and, whereas my girlfriends' parents treated them as friends, I was never allowed to think for myself. My mother would tell me when to have a bath, what to wear, when to wear it. She was over-protective (過于愛護(hù)備至的). When I started going out with Jim, she didn't trust me an inch. She wanted to know where we were going, when we were coming back and where she could get hold of me.

"…我媽媽對我的管束實(shí)在嚴(yán)得不行。她非常專制。我那些朋友的父母將兒女當(dāng)朋友，而我的父母從來就不讓我獨(dú)立思考。我媽媽規(guī)定我什么時候洗澡，穿什么衣服以及什么時候穿。她對我過度保護(hù)。當(dāng)我開始和吉姆約會的時候，她壓根兒就對我沒有一丁點(diǎn)兒的信任。她要知道我們?nèi)ツ睦?，幾時回來，在哪里可以找到我。"close13RT "The ironic (具有諷刺意味的) thing, of course, is that my friends' parents were more lenient (寬厚的，仁慈的), and yet it was me who ended up in trouble."