had got my feet wet, because there were holes in my shoes. ④My father cut insoles out of cardboard, and I wore those in my shoes. ⑤As long as I had to stay in the house anyway, they were all right.
①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。
①I stayed cooped up in the house, without any companionship. ②We 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。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。
①There was a calendar in the kitchen. ②The red days were Sundays and
holidays; and that red was Christmas. ③I 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。
①But there was something queer! ②My father and mother didn?t say a word about Christmas. ③And once when I spoke of it, there was a strange, embarrassed silence; so I didn?t say anything more about it. ④But I wondered, and was troubled.
⑤Why didn?t they say anything about it? ⑥Was 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？
①I wasn?t arrogant and talkative now. ②I was silent and frightened. ③What
was the matter? ④Why didn?t my father and mother say anything about Christmas?
⑤As 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。
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①Now it was the day before Christmas. ②I couldn?t be mistaken. ③But not a
word about it from my father and mother. ④I waited in painful bewilderment all day.
⑤I had supper with them, and was allowed to sit up for an hour. ⑥I was waiting for
them to say something. ⑦“It?s time for you to go to bed,” my mother said gently. ⑧I 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。
①My father and mother looked at one another. ②Then my mother looked away. ③Her face was pale and stony. ④My father cleared his throat, and his face took on a
joking look. ⑤He pretended he hadn?t known it was Christmas Eve, because he hadn?t been reading the papers. ⑥He 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。
①My mother got up and walked out of the room. ②I didn?t want my father to
have to keep on being funny about it, so I got up and went to bed. ③I went by myself without having a light. ④I 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。③没有开灯，我在黑暗中脱了衣服，爬到了被窝里。
①I was numb. ②As if I had been hit by something. ③It was hard to breathe. ④I
ached all through. ⑤I 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。
①My body knew before my mind quite did. ②In a minute, when I could think,
my mind would know. ③And as the pain in my body ebbed, the pain in my mind began. ④I knew. ⑤I couldn?t put it into words yet. ⑥But I knew why I had taken
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only a little bag of potatoes to Sunday school that fall. ⑦I knew why there had been only pennies in my little yellow envelope. ⑧I 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. ⑨All 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；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。
①Then 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！”
①That was it. ②I was one of those poor children I had been sorry for, when I
heard about them in Sunday school. ③My mother hadn?t told me. ④My father was out of work, and we hadn?t any money. ⑤That 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. ②I 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。
①It wasn?t so bad, now that I knew, I just hadn?t known! ②I 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. ③Now 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
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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。
①I had wanted (something) for Christmas, I didn?t want it, now. ②I 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。
①I 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。）
①It hurt. ②But nothing would ever hurt again. ③I 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。 ①I 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。 ①In the morning it had been like a nightmare that is not clearly remembered —
that one wishes to forget. ②Though I hadn?t hung up any stocking there was one hanging at the foot of my bed. ③A bag of popcorn, and a lead pencil, for me.
④They had done the best they could, now they realized that I knew about Christmas. ⑤But they needn?t have thought they had to. ⑥I 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
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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）
①The policeman on the beat moved up the avenue impressively. ②The
impressiveness was habitual and not for show, for spectators were few. ③The time
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