1、Unit one Discovering oneself Catching Crabs 1 In the fall of our final year, our mood changed. the relaxed atmosphere of the preceding summer semester, the impromptu ball games, the boating on the Charles River, the late-night parties had disappeared, and we all started to get our heads down, studyi

2、ng late, and attendance at classes rose steeply again. We all sensed we were coming to the end of our stay here, that we would never get a chance like this again, and we became determined not to waste it. Most important of course were the final exams in April and May in the following year. No one wa

3、nted the humiliation of finishing last in class, so the peer group pressure to work hard was strong. Libraries which were once empty after five o'clock in the afternoon were standing room only until the early hours of the morning, and guys wore the bags under their eyes and their pale, sleepy fa

4、ces with pride, like medals proving their diligence. 大學(xué)最后一年的秋天，我們的心情變了。剛剛過去的夏季學(xué)期的輕松氛圍、即興球賽、查爾斯河上的泛舟以及深夜晚會(huì)都不見了蹤影，我們開始埋頭學(xué)習(xí)，苦讀到深夜，課堂出勤率再次急劇上升。我們都覺得在校時(shí)間不多了，以后再也不會(huì)有這樣的學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)了，所以都下定決心不再虛度光陰。當(dāng)然，下一年四五月份的期末考試最為重要。我們誰都不想考全班倒數(shù)第一，那太丟人了，因此同學(xué)們之間的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)壓力特別大。以前每天下午五點(diǎn)以后，圖書館就空無一人了，現(xiàn)在卻要等到天快亮?xí)r才會(huì)有空座，小伙子們熬夜熬出了眼袋，他們臉色蒼白，睡眼惺忪，卻

5、很自豪，好像這些都是表彰他們勤奮好學(xué)的獎(jiǎng)?wù)隆?2 But there was something else. At the back of everyone's mind was what we would do next, when we left university in a few months' time. It wasn't always the high flyers with the top grades who knew what they were going to do. Quite often it was the quieter, less i

6、mpressive students who had the next stages of their life mapped out. One had landed a job in his brother's advertising firm in Madison Avenue, another had got a script under provisional acceptance in Hollywood. The most ambitious student among us was going to work as a party activist at a local

7、level. We all saw him ending up in the Senate or in Congress one day. But most people were either looking to continue their studies, or to make a living with a white-collar job in a bank, local government, or anything which would pay them enough to have a comfortable time in their early twenties, an

8、d then settle down with a family, a mortgage and some hope of promotion. 還有別的事情讓大家心情焦慮。每個(gè)人都在心里盤算著過幾個(gè)月畢業(yè)離校之后該找份什么樣的工作。并不總是那些心懷抱負(fù)、成績(jī)拔尖的高材生才清楚自己將來要做什么，常常是那些平日里默默無聞的同學(xué)早早為自己下幾個(gè)階段的人生做好了規(guī)劃。有位同學(xué)在位于麥迪遜大道他哥哥的廣告公司得到了一份工作，另一位同學(xué)寫的電影腳本已經(jīng)與好萊塢草簽了合約。我們當(dāng)中野心最大的一位同學(xué)準(zhǔn)備到地方上當(dāng)一個(gè)政黨活動(dòng)家，我們都預(yù)料他最終會(huì)當(dāng)上參議員或國(guó)會(huì)議員。但大多數(shù)同學(xué)不是準(zhǔn)備繼續(xù)深造，就是想在

9、銀行、地方政府或其他單位當(dāng)個(gè)白領(lǐng)，希望在20出頭的時(shí)候能掙到足夠多的薪水，過上舒適的生活，然后就娶妻生子，貸款買房，期望升職，過安穩(wěn)日子。 3 I went home at Thanksgiving, and inevitably, mybrothers and sisters kept asking me what I was planning to do. I didn't know what to say. Actually, I did know what to say, but I thought they'd probably criticize me, so I

10、told them what everyone else was thinking of doing. 感恩節(jié)的時(shí)候我回了一趟家，兄弟姐妹們免不了不停地問我畢業(yè)后有什么打算，我不知道該 1 Unit one Discovering oneself 說什么。實(shí)際上，我知道該說什么，但我怕他們批評(píng)我，所以只對(duì)他們說了別人都準(zhǔn)備干什么。 4 My father was watching me but saying nothing. Late in the evening, he invited me to his study. We sat down and he poured us a drink

11、. 父親看著我，什么也沒說。夜深時(shí)，他叫我去他的書房。我們坐了下來，他給我們倆各倒了杯飲料。 5 So? he said “怎么樣？”他問。 6 Er so what? “啊，什么怎么樣？” 7 So what do you really want to do? he asked. “你畢業(yè)后到底想做什么？”他問道。 8 My father was a lawyer, and I had always assumed he wanted me to go to law school, and follow his path through life. So I hesitated. 父親是一名

12、律師，我一直都認(rèn)為他想讓我去法學(xué)院深造，追隨他的人生足跡，所以我有點(diǎn)兒猶豫。 9 Then I replied, “I want to travel, and I want to be a writer.” 過了會(huì)兒我回答說：“我想旅行，我想當(dāng)個(gè)作家?！?10 This was not the answer I thought he would expect. Travel? Where? A writer? About what? I braced myself for some resistance to the idea. 我想這不是他所期待的答案。旅行？去哪兒旅行？當(dāng)作家？寫什么呀？我

13、做好了遭到他反對(duì)的心理準(zhǔn)備。 11 There was a long silence. 接著是一段長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的沉默。 12 Interesting idea, he said finally. “這想法有點(diǎn)意思，”他最后說。 13 There was another long silence. 接著又是一段長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的沉默。 14 I kind of wish I'd done that when I was your age. “我真有點(diǎn)希望自己在你這個(gè)年紀(jì)時(shí)能做這些事兒?！?15 I waited. 我在等他把話說完。 16 You have plenty of time. You don&#

14、39;t need to go into a career which pays well just at the moment. You need to find out what you really enjoy now, because if you don't, you won't be successful later. “你還有很多時(shí)間，不必急于進(jìn)一個(gè)暫時(shí)報(bào)酬高的行業(yè)。你現(xiàn)在要搞清楚自己真正喜歡什么，如果你弄不清楚，以后就不可能成功。” 17 So how do I do this?”那我該怎么辦呢？ 18 He thought for a moment. Then

15、 he said, Look, it's late. Let's take the boat out tomorrow morning, just you and me. Maybe we can catch some crabs for dinner, and we can talk more. 他想了一會(huì)兒。然后他說道：“瞧，現(xiàn)在太晚了。我們明天早晨乘船出海去，就我們兩個(gè)。也許我們能抓點(diǎn)螃蟹當(dāng)晚餐，我們還可以再談?wù)??！?19 It was a small motor boat, moored ten minutes away, and my father had owned

16、 it for years. Early next morning we set off along the estuary. We didn't talk much, but enjoyed the sound of the 2 Unit one Discovering oneself seagulls and the sight of the estuary coastline and the sea beyond. 那是一艘小小的機(jī)動(dòng)船，停泊在離我們家約十分鐘路程的地方，是好些年前父親買的。次日清晨，我們沿著港灣出發(fā)，一路上沒說多少話，只是默默地欣賞著海鷗的叫聲，還有港灣沿岸和遠(yuǎn)

17、處大海的景色。 20 There was no surf on the coastal waters at that time of day, so it was a smooth half-hour ride until my father switched off the motor. Let's see if we get lucky, he said, picked up a rusty, mesh basket with a rope attached and threw it into the sea. 在這個(gè)時(shí)候沿海水域沒什么風(fēng)浪，船平穩(wěn)地航行了半個(gè)小時(shí)之后父親把船停了下

18、來。他說：“咱們?cè)谶@兒試試運(yùn)氣吧，”然后抓起一個(gè)系上繩子的生了銹的網(wǎng)狀簍子拋到海里。 21 We waited a while, then my father stood up and said, Give me a hand with this, and we hauled up the crab cage onto the deck. 我們等了一會(huì)兒，父親站起來說，“來幫我一把?！庇谑俏覀円黄饘⑿泛t子拽上了甲板。 22 Crabs fascinated me. They were so easy to catch. It wasn't just that they crawled

19、into such an obvious trap, through a small hole in the lid of the basket, but it seemed as if they couldn't be bothered to crawl out again even when you took the lid off. They just sat there, waving their claws at you. 螃蟹讓我著迷，它們太容易抓了。不僅僅是因?yàn)樗鼈冺樦t蓋上的小孔爬進(jìn)一個(gè)再明顯不過的陷阱，更因?yàn)榧幢闵w子打開了，它們似乎也懶得從里面爬出來，只會(huì)趴在那兒沖你

20、揮動(dòng)著蟹鉗。 23 The cage was brimming with dozens of soft shell crabs, piled high on top of each other. Why don't they try to escape? I wondered aloud to my father. 簍子里擠滿了幾十只軟殼螃蟹，一只壓著一只，堆得老高。“它們?yōu)槭裁床惶幼甙?？”我滿腹狐疑地問父親。 24 Just watch them for a moment. Look at that one, there! He's trying to climb out,

21、but every time the other crabs pull him back in, said my father “你先觀察一下，看那只螃蟹，那兒！它想爬出去，但每次都被同伴拽了回去，”父親說。 25 And we watched. The crab climbed up the mesh towards the lid, and sure enough, just as it reached the top, one of its fellow crabs reached out, clamped its claw onto any available leg, and pul

22、led it back. Several times the crab tried to defy his fellow captives, without luck. 我們接著觀察。那只螃蟹順著網(wǎng)眼向頂蓋攀援，每當(dāng)它爬到頂蓋時(shí)，果然就會(huì)有另一只螃蟹舉起蟹鉗夾住它的腿把它拽下來。這只螃蟹嘗試了好幾次想掙脫它的獄中同伴，但都沒能成功。 26 Now watch! said my father. He's starting to get bored with this game. “快看！”父親說?！八_始對(duì)這種游戲感到不耐煩了?！?27 Not only did the crab giv

23、e up its lengthy struggle to escape, but it actually began to help stop other crabs trying to escape. He'd finally chosen an easy way of life. 那只螃蟹不僅放棄了漫長(zhǎng)的逃亡之戰(zhàn)，而且還幫著把其他想逃跑的螃蟹拽下來。它最終選擇了一種輕松的活法。 28 Suddenly I understood why my father had suggested catching crabs that morning. He looked at me. Don&

24、#39;t get pulled back by the others, he said. Spend some time figuring out who you are and what you want in life. Look back at the classes you're taking, and think aboutwhich ones were most productive for you personally.Then think about what's really important to you, what really interests you, what skills you have. Try to figure