哈佛大學校園英語情景對話32：林語堂之“哈佛”煙云

Han Meimei is immersed in reading a book on the playground when John comes out of nowhere and pats on her shoulder.

H： Oh, it’s you, John, you just freaked me out.

H：哦，是你呀，約翰，嚇壞我了。

J: Sorry. Are you reading a thriller?

J：對不起，你在看驚險小說嗎?

H: No, I never read or watch a thriller. I’m chicken hearted. I’ll be scared to death.

H:不是，我從來不看驚險小說。我膽子很小，會被嚇死的。

J: Why were you so frightened? What are you reading?

J：那你為什么嚇一跳呀?你在看什么?

H： Moment in Peking.

H: <京華煙云》。

J： I’ve never heard of it.

J：我從來沒聽說過。

H: It’s no surprise that you don’t know, The novel mainly tells a story of a family which went through the turbulent events in China from 1900 to 1938. But you may have heard about the author, Lin Yutang.

H:這不奮怪。這本小說主要說的是1900 ~ 1938年一個中國家庭經(jīng)歷的動亂。但是 你可能聽說過這本書的作者，林語堂。

J: I’m afraid I don’t know him.

J：恐怕我不知道。

H： He’s a famous Chinese writer. I thought you knew him because he was in a sense Harvard alumnus.

他是著名的中國作家。我以為你知道他，因為在某種意義上他是哈佛畢業(yè)的。

J： Han，I’m not Mr. Know-It-All, but I’d like to learn and know as much as possible. Tell me something about him.

韓，我不是萬能先生。但我喜歡學習更多的東西。跟我說說他的事。

H： I guess perhaps you’re most interested in his life at Harvard.

我猜你對他在哈佛的生活更感興趣。

J： Yes. You can read my mind now.

J：是的。你都知道我在想什么。

H： Lin had many ups and downs in his life. He met with many challenges and obstacles. His life at Harvard was no exception.

H:林語堂的一生經(jīng)歷了很多起伏，遇到了很多挑戰(zhàn)和障礙。在哈佛的生活也不例外。

J: I like this kind of people. Usually they are men of backbone.

J：我喜歡這種人。通常他們更有毅力和骨氣。

H: He only received a half-scholarship. Worse still，even the half-scholarship was cancelled one year later.

H:他只獲得一半的獎學金。更糟的是，一年后就連半數(shù)獎 學金也被取消了。

J: Why? Didn’t he deserve the scholarship?

J：為什么?他不應(yīng)該得嗎?

H: On the contrary, he got all A’s. No one knows why. Anyway, he became even poorer. He said he even had no money to buy a ticket for the Games.

H:相反，他的成績?nèi)渴茿。沒人知道為什么。不管怎樣，他變得更窮了。他說甚至設(shè)有錢買票去看哈佛一耶魯橄欖球賽。

J: That poor? What did he do in his spare time?

j：那么窮?他業(yè)余時間做什么?

H： He loved reading. For him, Harvard was Widener Library and Widener Library was Harvard. When he was in the Library, he felt he was like a monkey in a jungle.

H:他喜愛讀書。對他來說，哈佛是威德納圖書館，威德納圖書館就是哈佛。當他在 圖書館的時候，感覺就像是一只在叢林里的猴子。

J: Why?

J:為什么這么說?

H: A monkey in a jungle is free to search for any nuts and fruits. The jungle offers the monkey a feast of nuts and fruits.

H:叢林里的猴子可以免費獲得任何堅果和水果。叢材v給猴子提供豐富的堅果和水果。

J: Oh, I see. When he was in the Library, he could find any book he’d like to read. The Library was just like the jungle and offered him a feast of books.

J：哦，我明白了。當他在圖書館的時候，能夠找到任何他想要的書。圖書館就像叢林， 給他提供豐富的書籍。

H: You’re smart. He indulged himself in reading in the Library. As long as there，s no class，he would go to the Library. Even when his wife was having an operation, he was studying Anglo-Saxon grammar.

H:你太聰明了。他沉浸在圖書館里讀書。只要一設(shè)有課，他就會去圖書館。甚至他 妻子做手術(shù)時，他還在研究盤格魯撒克遜語法。

J： That’s a little impersonal.

J：那有點設(shè)有人情味了。

H： He thought appendectomy was not a big operation. It only turned out that his wife was subjected to infection. She needed another operation.

H:他覺得闌尾切除術(shù)只是一個小手術(shù)。結(jié)果是他的妻子受到了感染，需要再次手術(shù)。

J: Disaster comes one after another in succession. That’s adding insult to injury.

J：災(zāi)難總是接二連三發(fā)生。真是雪上加霜呀。

H: So, they only had one tin of oatmeal for a week.

H:所以，他們一固只靠一罐燕麥粥維持生活。

J : If I were him, I would go back to China.

J：如果我是他的話，我會回中國去。

H： Life is hard. Sometimes, we have to bow down to others. Lin borrowed some money from his brother-in-law.

H:生活是艱難的。有時我們必須向他人所低頭。林語堂向他的姐夫借了些錢。

J： Did they feel ashamed?

J：他們覺得羞愧嗎?

H: No, at least his wife believed that he showed the utmost fortitude to go through such a difficult period.

H:沒有，至少他妻子認為他表現(xiàn)出了最大的毅力來渡過這個難關(guān)。

J: Was this amount of money enough to sustain life?

J：他借的錢能維持生活嗎?

H: No. So he had to leave Harvard early and go to France and Germany where the cost of living was not so high.

H:不能。所以他不得不提前離開哈佛去了法國和德國，那里生活成本沒有那么高。

J: Sometimes life is really hard for an oversea student. Han, if you have any problem, you can turn to me. You can count on me.

J：有時對海外學生來說生活確實很艱難。韓，如果你有任何困難就踉我說。你可以 信得過我。

H: Oh, John，thank you. I’m so lucky to have you as a friend. You’ve helped me a lot.

H:哦，約翰，謝謝你。有你這樣的朋友很幸運。你已經(jīng)幫了我很多了。