2017年职称英语模拟题,2017年中石油职称英语新版选读文章系列(23)

A Sandpiper to Bring You Joy 矶鹞带来快乐

　　She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live.I drive to this beach,a distance of three or four miles,whenever the world begins to close in on me.She was building a sandcastle or something and looked up,her eyes as blue as the sea.

　　我第一次和她在那个海滩上相遇时，她整六岁。这个海滩离我的住处约有三、四英里。每当我心情压抑，感到烦恼时，就驱车上哪儿去。当时她正在用沙子堆积一个城堡似的东西。看到我来，她抬起头来望着我，那双眼睛像大海般深邃、湛蓝。

　　“Hello,”she said.I answered with a nod,not really in the mood to bother with a small child.

　　“您好!”她说。我点了点头作为回答，说实在的，我没有心思跟一个小女孩费神。

　　“I'm building,”she said.

　　“我在盖房子呢!”她又说。

　　“I see that.What is it?”I asked,not caring.

　　“我看见了。这盖的是什么房子呢?”我心不在焉地问道。

　　“Oh,I don't know,I just like the feel of sand.”

　　“噢，我不知道，我就是喜欢摸沙子的感觉。”

　　That sounds good,I thought,and slipped off my shoes.A sandpiper glided by.

　　这倒有意思，我边想边脱掉鞋子。蓦地，一只矶鹞从一旁滑翔而过。

　　“That's a joy,”the child said.

　　孩子见了说：“那是快乐。”

　　“It's a what?”

　　“是什么?”

　　“It's a joy.My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy.”

　　“是快乐，矶鹞能给人们带来快乐，妈妈说的。”

　　The bird went glissading down the beach.“Good-bye joy,”I muttered to myself,“hello pain,”and turned to walk on.I was depressed; my life seemed completely out of balance.

　　那只矶鹞顺着海滨飞走了。“再见了，快乐，”我自言自语道，“痛苦来临了。”并转身走开。我很沮丧，因为我现在的生活一团糟。

　　“What's your name?”She wouldn't give up.

　　“您叫什么名字啊?”她还不罢休。

　　“Ruth,”I answered.“I'm Ruth Peterson.”

　　“鲁思，”我回答，“我叫鲁思?彼得森。”

　　“Mine's Wendy...I'm six.”

　　“我叫温迪，我六岁了。”

　　“Hi,Wendy.”

　　“你好，温迪。”我叫到。

　　She giggled.“You're funny,”she said.

　　“您真逗!”她咯咯地笑了。

　　In spite of my gloom I laughed too and walked on.

　　尽管心绪不佳，我也不由得笑了起来，一边往前走着。

　　Her musical giggle followed me.

　　她那清脆悦耳的笑声依然追随着我。

　　“Come again,Mrs.P,”she called.“We'll have another happy day.”

　　“您下次再来，彼太太。咱们再快乐地玩一天!”她喊着。

　　The days and weeks that followed belong to others: a group of unruly Boy Scouts,PTA meetings,and ailing mother.

　　那以后的好几个星期，我忙得不可开交，没有一点闲暇：负责一群调皮捣蛋的童子军，参加家长教师联谊会，还要照顾生病的母亲。

　　The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater.“I need a sandpiper,”I said to myself,gathering up my coat.The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me.The breeze was chilly,but I strode along,trying to recapture the serenity I needed.I had forgotten the child and was startled when she appeared.

　　一个阳光光明媚的上午，我洗完碗碟，心想：“我需要一只矶鹞。”于是穿上外套向海滩走去。海岸不断变化的芳香依然在等着我。微风有些刺骨，但是我依然大步走着，我多么渴望重新处于安静宁谧之中啊!我早已忘掉了那个孩子，所以当她出现在我面前时，不免吃了一惊。

　　“Hello,Mrs.P,”she said.“Do you want to play?”

　　“您好，彼太太!”她说，“你想玩吗?”

　　“What did you have in mind?”I asked,with a twinge of annoyance.

　　“你想玩什么?”带着一丝厌烦，我反问她。

　　“I don't know,you say.”“我不知道，您说吧。”“How about charades?”I asked sarcastically.

　　“猜字谜怎么样?”我挖苦地问。

　　The tinkling laughter burst forth again.“I don't know what that is.”

　　“我不知道那是什么，”她说着，又发出一阵银铃般的笑声。

　　“Then let's just walk.”Looking at her,I noticed the delicate fairness of her face.

　　“那么，咱们一块儿走走吧。”我望着她，看到了娇嫩而皙白的脸。

　　“Where do you live?”I asked.

　　“你住在哪儿?”我问她。

　　“Over there.”She pointed toward a row of summer cottages.Strange,I thought,in winter.

　　“那边!”她用小手指着远处一排夏季避暑的小别墅。我感到纳闷，现在是冬天啊。

　　“Where do you go to school?”

　　“你在哪儿上学呢?”

　　“I don't go to school.Mommy says we're on vacation.”

　　“我不上学，妈妈说我们在度假。”

　　She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach,but my mind was on other things.When I left for home,Wendy said it had been a happy day.Feeling surprisingly better,I smiled at her and agreed.

　　我们漫步走上海滩，她一路上叽叽喳喳地说着小姑娘们的话。可是，我却心事重重。当我要回家时，温迪说这是快乐的一天。奇怪的是，我的心情也感到舒坦多了。于是，我同意地报以一笑。

　　Three weeks later,I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic.I was in no mood to even greet Wendy.I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding she keep her child at home.

　　三个星期后，我在近乎慌乱的心境下直奔海滩。我甚至没心情跟温迪打招呼。看见她妈妈在走廊上，我有一种去命令她让她的小孩呆在家里的冲动。

　　“Look,if you don't mind,”I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me,“I'd rather be alone today.”

　　温迪赶上了我，我气呼呼地对她说：“要是你不介意，我今天想一个人待着。”She seems unusually pale and out of breath.

　　她的脸看上去异常苍白，还有点喘不过气来。

　　“Why?”she asked.

　　“为什么?”她问。

　　I turned to her and shouted,“Because my mother died!”-and thought,my God,why was I saying this to a little child?

　　我转身对她吼道：“因为我妈妈死了!”然后我又想：天啊，我为什么跟一个小孩讲这些?

　　“Oh,”she said quietly,“then this is a bad day.”“哦，”她轻轻地说，“这么说今天是个糟糕的日子。”

　　“Yes,and yesterday and the day before and-oh,go away!”

　　“是，”我说，“昨天也是，前天也是--唉。你走开!”

　　“Did it hurt?”“很痛吗?”她问。

　　“Did what hurt?”I was exasperated with her,with myself.

　　“什么?”我对她，对我自己都很恼火。

　　“When she died?”“她死的时候?”

　　“Of course it hurt!”I snapped,misunderstanding,wrapped up in myself.I strode off.

　　“当然痛了!!!!”我怒气冲冲地说，完全沉浸在自己的思绪中。我误会了她的意思。我大步走开了。

　　A month or so after that,when I next went to the beach,she wasn't there.Feeling guilty,ashamed and admitting to myself I missed her,I went up to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door.A drawn looking young woman with honey-colored hair opened the door.

　　大约一个月以后，我再次到海滩上去，她却不在那儿。我感到自责和羞愧，同时也承认我有点想她了，于是就在散步之后走到那所房子前，敲了敲门。一个有着蜜色头发、看上去很憔悴的女人把门打开了。

　　“Hello,”I said.“I'm Ruth Peterson.I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was.”

　　“你好。”我说，“我是鲁思?彼得森。我很想念你的女儿，她在哪儿呢?”

　　“Oh yes,Mrs.Peterson,please come in.Wendy talked of you so much.I'm afraid I allowed her to bother you.If she was a nuisance,please,accept my apologies.”

　　“哦，是，彼得森太太，请进。温迪经常说起你。恐怕她给你添麻烦了。如果她打扰到了你，我向你道歉。”

　　“Not at all-she's a delightful child,”I said,suddenly realizing that I meant it.“Where is she?”

　　“哪儿的话!她很可爱的。”我说着，突然意识到自己也真的是这么想的。“她在哪儿呢?”

　　“Wendy died last week,Mrs.Peterson.She had leukemia.Maybe she didn't tell you.”

　　“温迪上周去世了，彼得森太太。她有白血病，可能她没告诉你。”

　　Struck dumb,I groped for a chair.My breath caught.

　　我目瞪口呆，摸索着找了一把椅子，感觉自己透不过气来。

　　“She loved this beach; so when she asked to come,we couldn't say no.She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days.But the last few weeks,she declined rapidly...”her voice faltered,“She left something for you...if only I can find it.Could you wait a moment while I look?”

　　“她喜欢这片海滩，所以当她请求我们到这儿来的时候，我们没法说不。在这儿，她的情形好像改善了许多，她还说她过得很开心。但是上几周，她的情况急剧恶化……”她的声音颤抖起来，“她给你留了一样东西。要是我能找到它就好了。你能稍等一下吗?我这就去找。”

　　I nodded stupidly,my mind racing for something,anything,to say to this lovely young woman.

　　我呆呆地点点头，心中急切地搜寻着此刻可以跟这位可爱的年轻女士讲的词句。

　　She handed me a smeared envelope,with MRS.P printed in bold,childish letters.Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues-a yellow beach,a blue sea,and a brown bird.Underneath was carefully printed:

　　她把一个自己模糊的信封递给了我。信封上“彼太太”这几个字用得是孩子气的黑体字。信封里是一张用亮色蜡笔画的画--黄色的海滩，蓝色的海，还有一只棕色的鸟。下方认真地写着：

　　A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY

　　矶鹞带给你快乐。

　　Tears welled up in my eyes,and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened wide.I took Wendy's mother in my arms.“I'm so sorry,I'm sorry,I'm so sorry,”I muttered over and over,and we wept together.

　　泪水涌上了我的眼睛，一颗几乎已经忘记去爱的心扉开了。我拥抱了温迪的母亲，不停地小声说道：“对不起，对不起，对不起!”我们都哭了。

　　The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my study.Six words-one for each year of her life - that speak to me of harmony,courage,undemanding love.A gift from a child with sea-blue eyes and hair the color sand-who taught me the gift of love.

　　我把这张宝贵的画裱了框，挂在我的书房里。六个字，每一个字代表她生命里的一年。这六个字对我诉说着和谐、勇气、无私的爱。这个礼物来自一个眼睛碧蓝似海、发色如沙的小女孩，是她教给了我爱的意义。

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