雙語(yǔ)散文閱讀:綠色的靴子
穿著這雙綠色靴子的人一定是能照顧好自己,并知道什么時(shí)候什么事情是值得為之去奮斗的人。下面是學(xué)習(xí)啦小編為大家?guī)?lái)經(jīng)典雙語(yǔ)散文閱讀:綠色的靴子,希望大家喜歡!
On Monday morning I wore my green platform boots to school for the first time since I had started at Edison Middle School.
星期一早晨,我穿上了那雙綠色的厚底坡跟靴去上學(xué)。自從到愛(ài)迪生中學(xué)上學(xué)以來(lái),今天還是我第一次穿這雙靴子。
It was the day of the poetry festival, and I was excited. At my old school, I had won the poetry ribbon every year. I’m horrible at sports, too shy to be popular and I’m not cute—but I do write good poetry.
那天正好是詩(shī)歌節(jié),我非常興奮。在我原來(lái)的學(xué)校,我每年都能獲得學(xué)校的詩(shī)歌獎(jiǎng)。我害怕體育,也怯于參加集體活動(dòng),還不漂亮可愛(ài),但是——我卻能寫(xiě)得一手好詩(shī)。
The poem I wrote for the Edison Roetry Festival was about my dad. I had a good feeling about sharing how special he was to me, even if it was just with the fifth grade and Mrs. Baker.
這次,我為愛(ài)迪生詩(shī)歌節(jié)寫(xiě)的詩(shī)是關(guān)于我爸爸的。我很高興能讓別人知道爸爸對(duì)我是多么特別,盡管只有我所在的五年級(jí)的全體同學(xué)和我的老師貝克太太分享我的感覺(jué)。
English class was not until after lunch period on Mondays, so by the time we started poetry, I was so nervous my mouth was dry as toast. When Mrs. Baker called on me, I had to clear my throat, take a breath and swallow about ten times before I could speak. I didn’t even bother to look at my paper. I’d spent so much time perfecting the rhymes, and counting the beats, that I knew the poem by heart.
星期一的英語(yǔ)課總是在午餐過(guò)后才開(kāi)始上。那天我們開(kāi)始研究詩(shī)歌的時(shí)候,我感到很緊張,嘴巴里干得就像吃的烤面包干一樣。當(dāng)貝克太太叫到我的時(shí)候,我不得不清了清嗓子,深深地吸一口氣,并咽了大約十口唾沫,才開(kāi)始朗誦。我甚至不必費(fèi)神看我的詩(shī)稿,因?yàn)檫@首詩(shī)我花了很多時(shí)間完善韻律、對(duì)齊音步,所以我對(duì)這首詩(shī)了熟于胸。
I had just started the third verse when I noticed Mrs. Baker was glaring furiously at me. I stopped in the middle of a word and waited for her to say something.
當(dāng)我正準(zhǔn)備朗誦第三節(jié)的時(shí)候,我突然注意到貝克太太正憤怒地瞪著我。我一個(gè)詞說(shuō)到一半就停了下來(lái),等待她說(shuō)些什么。
“Linda, you are supposed to be reading an original work, a poem you made up yourself, not reciting something you learned. That is called plagiarism!”
“琳達(dá),你應(yīng)該為我們朗誦原創(chuàng)的作品,你自己寫(xiě)的詩(shī),而不是去背誦你學(xué)到的詩(shī)。這叫剽竊!”
“Oh, but it’s not. I mean... I did make it up, it’s about my dad.” I heard a “Yeah, right!” from somewhere behind me, and someone else giggled.
“哦,這不是的。我的意思是……這首詩(shī)就是我自己寫(xiě)的,是我寫(xiě)我爸爸的。”我聽(tīng)到身后有人起哄道:“是的,沒(méi)錯(cuò)!”其他人則都“咯咯”地笑了起來(lái)。
I felt as if I’d somersaulted off the high dive and then, in midair, realized that there was no water in the pool. I opened my mouth to explain, but no words came out.
頓時(shí),我感覺(jué)自己像是從高臺(tái)翻騰而下跳水,卻在半空中發(fā)現(xiàn)水池沒(méi)有水。我張著嘴想解釋?zhuān)珔s一個(gè)詞兒也說(shuō)不出來(lái)。
“You will leave the room and will not return until you are ready to apologize,” said Mrs. Baker. “Now. Go!”
“現(xiàn)在請(qǐng)你離開(kāi)教室,在你準(zhǔn)備道歉之前不許回來(lái),”貝克太太厲聲說(shuō),“現(xiàn)在,出去!”
My last thought was a flash of understanding as to why the kids had nicknamed her“Battle-Ax Baker”—then my brain just fizzled out, and I turned and left the room.
就在那一刻,一閃念間我突然明白了為什么孩子們私下里給她起了個(gè)綽號(hào)“貝克戰(zhàn)斧”——接著,我的大腦好像就停止了運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn),我轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身走出了教室。
I’d been standing outside for about half an hour when Joseph, the school janitor, came over to ask me what heinous crime I’d committed to be banished for so long. He loved using unusual words.
就這樣,我站在教室外面,大約半小時(shí)后,學(xué)校的大樓管理員約瑟夫看到了我,就問(wèn)我究竟犯了什么彌天大罪要被驅(qū)逐出教室這么長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。他說(shuō)話的時(shí)候總喜歡用些不同尋常的詞。
We’d made friends one morning before school, when he saw me sitting alone, pretending to do homework. He invited me to help open up the classrooms, and after that, it sort of became my job. He always talked to me as we wiped down the chalkboards and turned on the heat. Just that morning he’d been telling me that Mark Twain once said that the difference between the right word and the almost right word is like the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. I liked that. My dad would have liked it, too.
我和他成為朋友是在一天早晨上課之前。那天,我一個(gè)人坐在教室里裝模作樣地做作業(yè),約瑟夫看到了,就邀請(qǐng)我?guī)退ゴ蜷_(kāi)其他教室的門(mén)。從那之后,這好像就成了我的一項(xiàng)工作。每次當(dāng)我們一起擦黑板開(kāi)暖氣的時(shí)候,他總是滔滔不絕地跟我說(shuō)個(gè)沒(méi)完。就在那天早晨,他還對(duì)我談起馬克.吐溫曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)的一句話:正確的話和差不多正確的話之間的差別就像是閃電和螢火蟲(chóng)之間的差別一樣。我很喜歡這句話,我相信我爸爸也會(huì)喜歡這句話的。
Now as Joseph waited for me to answer, he looked so kind and sympathetic that I poured out the whole story, trying not to cry. A tightness flashed over his face, and he jerked an enormous yellow duster out of the pocket of his gray overalls. “So what are you going to do?” he asked, rolling up the duster into a tight ball.
現(xiàn)在約瑟夫正在等待我回答他的問(wèn)題,他和藹地注視著我,目光中充滿了同情。于是,我忍住淚水,把整件事的來(lái)龍去脈一股腦兒地全告訴了他。他聽(tīng)著我的講述,眉頭皺了一下,然后,從他那件灰色工作服的口袋里拽出一塊巨大的黃色抹布,問(wèn)道:“那你打算怎么辦?”一邊把抹布緊緊地卷成—個(gè)圓球。
I shrugged, feeling helpless and sad.“I don’t know.”
“我不知道,”我聳了聳肩,感到好無(wú)助,好難過(guò)。
“Well, you are not going to stand here all day, are you?”
“那你難道打算一整天都站在這兒,是不是?”
I sighed. “I suppose I’ll do what she said. You know... say I’m sorry.”
我嘆了口氣說(shuō),“我想我只能照她說(shuō)的去做了。你知道的……說(shuō)對(duì)不起。”
“You’ll apologize?”
“你要去向她道歉?”
I nodded. “What else can I do? It’s no big deal. I’ll just never write anything good in herclass again.”
我點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭,說(shuō):“我還能怎么樣呢?這沒(méi)什么大不了的。今后,上她的課我只有再也不寫(xiě)這么好的詩(shī)了。”
He looked disappointed with my response, so I shrugged once more and turned away from him.
聽(tīng)了我的回答,他失望地注視著我。我再次聳了聳肩,轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身去。
“Linda.” The tone of his voice forced me to look back. “Accepting defeat, when you should stand up for yourself, can become a very dangerous habit.” He twisted the duster around his fingers. “Believe me. I know!”
“琳達(dá),”他的語(yǔ)氣迫使我不得不又轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭來(lái)。“當(dāng)你應(yīng)該勇敢地站出來(lái)為自己辯護(hù)的時(shí)候,你卻接受失敗,這會(huì)成為一個(gè)非常危險(xiǎn)的習(xí)慣,”那塊抹布在他手指上纏繞著,他說(shuō),“相信我。我知道的!”
He was staring right into my eyes. I blinked and looked down. His eyes followed mine, and we both noticed my green boots at the same time. Suddenly his face relaxed and creased into a huge smile. He chuckled and said, “You’re going to be just fine. I don’t have to worry about you. When you put on those boots this morning, you knew you were the only Linda Brown in the whole world.” As if he didn’t need it anymore, he cheerfully dropped the duster back into his pocket and folded his arms across his chest. “Those are the boots of someone who can take care of herself and knows when something is worth fighting for.”
看著他那逼人的目光,我眨了眨眼,然后低下了頭。他的目光也跟著我看向地面。幾乎就在同一時(shí)刻,我們都注意到了我腳上穿的那雙綠靴子。突然,他那原本嚴(yán)肅的神情一下子放松下來(lái),臉上也綻開(kāi)了笑容。“你一定會(huì)很快好起來(lái)的,我根本就不需要為你擔(dān)心的,其實(shí),當(dāng)你今天早上穿上這雙靴子的時(shí)候,你就知道,世界上只有你才是唯一的。”琳達(dá)·布朗說(shuō)到這,他興沖沖地收起那塊抹布,把它放回口袋里,就好像不再需要它似的。然后,雙手交叉抱在胸前,微笑地注視著我說(shuō):“穿這雙靴子的人一定是能照顧好自己,并知道什么時(shí)候什么事情是值得為之去奮斗的人!”
His eyes, smiling into mine, woke up a part of me that had been asleep since I’d come to this school, and I knew that he was right about me. I’d just lost direction for a while. I took a deep breath and knocked on the classroom door, ready to face Mrs. Baker—ready to recite my poem.
他的眼睛微笑地看著我,喚醒了我心靈深處的一種東西,自從我來(lái)到這所學(xué)校以后這些東西就一直沉睡不醒。我知道,約瑟夫?qū)ξ业目捶ㄊ钦_的,我差一點(diǎn)兒就迷失了方向。然后,我深深地吸了一口氣,敲響了教室的門(mén),我要面對(duì)貝克太太——繼續(xù)背誦我自己寫(xiě)的詩(shī)。