大學英語精讀第一冊第三版 unit8 課文英漢翻譯.doc

The boy was at first delighted to discover the present his mother had hidden away as his Christmas gift. But then he began to worry that his mother would now no longer have the pleasure of giving him a surprise. What was he to do?發(fā)現(xiàn)了母親為他藏好的圣誕禮物男孩起先很高興。但接著他就開始擔心，媽媽將因此失去給他一個驚喜的喜悅。他該怎么辦呢？Magician at Stretching a Dollar Russell Baker 1RT That December, with Christmas approaching, she was out at work and Doris was in the kitchen when I let myself into her bedroom one afternoon in search of a safety pin. Since her bedroom opened onto a community hallway, she kept the door locked, but needing the pin, I took the key from its hiding place, unlocked the door and stepped in. Standing against the wall was a big, black bicycle with balloon tires. I recognized it instantly. It was the same second-hand bike Id been admiring in a Baltimore Street shop window. Id even asked about the price. It was a shock. Something like $15. Somehow my mother had scraped together enough for a down payment and meant to surprise me with the bicycle on Christmas morning.那年的十二月，圣誕節(jié)臨近了。一天下午，媽媽在外面上班，妹妹多麗絲在廚房里，我為了找一枚安全別針而開門走進了媽媽的臥室。因為她的臥室門正對著共用的走廊，她總是把門鎖著，但我因為需要別針，便從藏鑰匙的地方取出鑰匙，打開門，走了進去。只見靠墻立著一輛低壓輪胎的、大的黑色自行車。我一下子就認出了它。這正是那擺在巴爾的摩大街一家商店櫥窗里一直讓我羨慕不已的二手車。我甚至還問過這輛車的價錢。簡直貴得嚇人。差不多要十五塊錢。媽媽想辦法湊足了首付款，打算在圣誕節(jié)早晨拿這輛自行車給我一個驚喜。I was deeply moved by the discovery and yet sickened by the knowledge that, bursting into her room like this, I had robbed her of the pleasure of seeing me astonished and delighted on Christmas day. I hadnt wanted to know her lovely secret; still coming upon it like this made me feel as though Id struck a blow against her happiness. I backed out, put the key back in its hiding place, and thought over what to do.這一發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我深為感動，然而想到這樣闖進她的臥室，從而剝奪了她在圣誕節(jié)那天見到我又驚又喜時的歡樂，我又感到厭惡。我本不想知道她這個可愛的秘密；但像這樣偶然地發(fā)現(xiàn)了它仍然使我覺得好像重重地打擊了她的歡樂一樣。我從她的臥室退了出來，把鑰匙放回原處，認真考慮著該怎么辦才好。I decided that between now and Christmas I must do nothing, absolutely nothing, to reveal the slightest hint of my terrible knowledge. I must avoid the least word that might reveal my possession of her secret. Nothing must deny her the happiness of seeing me completely amazed on Christmas day.我決定，在現(xiàn)在和圣誕節(jié)之前這段時間里，我必須不動聲色，絕對不可露出一點蛛絲馬跡暗示我已令人討厭地知道了此事。我必須謹言慎行，不能讓她知道我已掌握了她的秘密。必須想盡一切辦法讓她在圣誕節(jié)那天享受到看見我極為驚訝時的快樂。In the privacy of my bedroom I began composing and testing exclamations of delight: Wow! A bike with balloon tires! I dont believe it! Im the luckiest boy alive! And so on. They all owed a lot to movies in which boys like Mickey Rooney had seen their wildest dreams come true. I soon realized that, with my lack of acting talent, all of them were going to sound false at the critical moment when I wanted to cry out my love spontaneously from the heart. Maybe it would be better to say nothing but appear to be shocked into such deep pleasure that speech had escaped me. I wasnt sure, though. Id seen speechless gratitude in the movies too, and it never really worked until the actors managed to cry a few quiet tears. I doubted I could cry on cue, so I began thinking about other expressions of speechless amazement. In front of a hand-held mirror in my bedroom I tried the whole range of expressions; mouth open and eyes wide; hands slapped firmly against both cheeks to keep the jaw from falling off; ear-to-ear grin with all teeth fully exposed while hugging myself with both arms. These and more I practiced for several days without acquiring confidence in any of them. I decided to wait until Christmas morning and see if anything came naturally .在我不受干擾的臥室里，我開始構(gòu)思并試驗種種表示喜悅的驚叫：“哇噢！”“一輛低壓輪胎的自行車！我真不敢相信！”“我是世界上最最幸運的男孩！”等等。這些話都大大歸功于比如由米基魯尼主演的電影，片中男孩子看到他們最不著邊際的夢想得以實現(xiàn)時都這么說。我很快便意識到，因為我缺乏演戲的天才，在我不由自主地想大聲喊出發(fā)自肺腑的愛時，所有這些話聽上去都會顯得很虛假?；蛟S最好是什么也不說，而是看上去驚喜得連話也說不出來了。不過，我也沒有把握。我在電影里也看到過說不出話來的感激，但直到演員們設(shè)法哭出幾滴無聲的眼淚時才真正起到作用。我懷疑自己能否適時地哭出來，于是便開始思考別的表示無言驚訝的方式。在臥室里，我手拿鏡子，試著做出各種各樣的表情，嘴巴張得大大的，眼睛瞪得圓圓的；雙手猛地捂住臉頰使下巴不至于落下來，雙臂抱著自己，咧開嘴大笑，把全部牙齒都露出來。這些動作和一些別的動作我練了好幾天，但對任何一個動作都沒有把握。我決定等到圣誕節(jié)早晨再說，看能不能自然而然地做出什么動作來 That Christmas morning she woke us early, to see what Santa Claus brought, she said with just the right tone of voice to indicate we were all old enough to know who Santa Claus was. I came out of my bedroom with my present for her and Doris, and Doris came with hers. My mothers has been placed under the tree during the night. There were a few small brightly wrapped packages, a big doll for Doris, but no bicycle. I must have looked disappointed.那年的圣誕節(jié)早晨，媽媽一早就把我們叫醒了，“看看圣誕老人帶來了什么，”她只是用一般的口吻說，借以表明我們都不小了，知道圣誕老人是誰了。我?guī)е徒o她和多麗絲的禮物從我的臥室里走了出來，多麗絲也帶著她送給我們的禮物走了出來。媽媽送給我們的禮物已在夜里放在了圣誕樹下。有幾個用彩紙包好的小包，一個給多麗絲的大玩具娃娃，但卻沒有自行車。我當時看上去一定很失望。It looks like Santa Claus didnt do too well by you this year, Buddy, she said, as I opened packages. A shirt. A necktie. I said something halfhearted like, Its the thought that counts, but what I felt was bitter disappointment. I supposed shed found the bike just too expensive and sent it back.在我打開包的時候，媽媽說：“看來圣誕老人今年對你不太好嗎，老弟?！惫贿@里只有一件襯衫和一根領(lǐng)帶。我嘴上說了些半心半意的話，什么“重要的是這番情意”等等，但心里感到的卻是極度的失望。我猜想也許是她發(fā)覺自行車太貴，又把它送了回去。Wait a minute! she cried, snapping her fingers. Theres something in my bedroom I forgot all about.“等一下！”她大聲喊道，一邊還打了個榧子。“我睡房里還有樣?xùn)|西我竟忘了個一干二凈。”She went out, and a moment later came back wheeling the big black two-wheeler with balloon tires. I didnt have to pretend, after all. The three of us Doris, my mother, and I were people bred to hold back emotional expressions of love, but I did something that startled both my mother and me. I threw my arms around her spontaneously and kissed her.她出去了，不一會兒就推著那輛低壓輪胎的大