文字難度:★★☆
For 52 years my father would get up every morning at 5:30 a.m., except on Sundays, and went to work. For 52 years he would return home at 5:30 p.m., 1)like clockwork, and would have dinner at 6:00 p.m. I never remember my father taking a “night out with the 2)boys,” nor do I ever recall my father drinking. All he asked from me as his daughter, was to hold his hammer while he repaired something, just so we could have some time to talk to each other.
52年來,除了周日,我父親每天早上都是5點半起床去上班。52年來,他下午總是準(zhǔn)時五點半回到家,六點吃晚飯。在我的記憶里,父親從未和他的哥們在外過夜,他也從來不喝酒。對于我這個女兒,他唯一的要求就是在他修理東西的時候,我可以幫忙拿錘子。這樣我們就有時間交談。
I never saw my father home from work ill, nor did I ever see my father lay down to take a nap. He had no hobbies, other than taking care of his family.
我從未看見過父親抱病下班,也不曾看見他躺下打個盹兒。除了照顧家人,他沒有別的愛好。
For the 22 years after I left home to attend college, my father called me every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. He was always interested in my life, how my family was doing, and I never once heard him 3)lament about his lot in life. The calls came even when he and my mother were in Australia, England or Florida.
自從我離開家去念大學(xué),這22年來,父親每個周日早上9點都會給我打電話。他總是對我和我的家庭生活很感興趣,我從未聽他抱怨過自己的命運。當(dāng)他和我母親在澳大利亞、英格蘭或者佛羅里達州旅行時,他依然會給我打電話。
9 years ago, when I purchased my first house, my father, who was 67 years old at the time, spent 8 hours a day, for three days, in the 80-degree 4)Kansas heat, painting my house. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All he asked, was a glass of iced tea, and that I held the paint brush and talked with him. But, I was too busy. I had a 5)law practice to run, and I could not take the time to hold paint brushes, or talk with my father.
9年前,我買下了平生第一所房子,那年67歲的父親在堪薩斯州80華氏度(約26.7攝氏度)的高溫下幫我粉刷房子,連刷3天,每天8小時。他不允許我出錢請人粉刷。他僅僅要求我給他一杯冰茶,幫他拿一下漆刷,和他交談。但我太忙了,我有一家律師事務(wù)所要料理,騰不出時間拿漆刷,或者和他交談。
5 years ago, and at the age of 71, again in the 6)sweltering Kansas heat, my father spent 5 hours putting together a 7)swing set for my daughter. Once more, all he asked was that I get him a glass of iced tea, and talk with him. Yet again, I had laundry to do and a house to clean.
5年前,71歲的父親再次在堪薩斯州的酷熱里花了5個小時幫我女兒制作一個秋千。這次,同樣地,他依然只要求我給他拿一杯冰茶,和他交談。但我同樣沒空,我要洗衣服,打掃房子。
4 years ago, my father drove all the way from 8)Denver to 9)Topeka, with an 8-foot 10)Colorado Blue Spruce in his trunk, so that my husband and I could have a part of Colorado growing on our land. I was preparing for a trip that weekend, and couldn’t spend much time talking to daddy.
4年前,我父親從丹佛一路開車到托皮卡,車尾箱里裝著一棵八英尺高(約2.44米)的科羅拉多藍云杉,好讓我和丈夫可以在我們的地里種上科羅拉多州的一部分(編者注:作者在此用種樹的方式來緩解思鄉(xiāng)之苦)。當(dāng)時我正在為周末的旅行做準(zhǔn)備,無法和父親好好相敘。
Then, on the morning of Sunday, January 16, 1996, my father telephoned me as usual, but this time it was from my sister’s home in Florida. We conversed about the tree he had brought me—“Fat Albert” he had named it, but that morning he called it “Fat Oscar”—and he seemed to have forgotten some things we had discussed the previous week. I had to get to church, and so I cut the conversation short.
1996年1月16日那個周日的早上,父親像往常一樣打電話給我,這次他是從我姐姐位于佛羅里達州的家中打過來的。我們談?wù)摿四强盟徒o我的樹——“胖子艾伯特”,他曾這樣命名它。但那個早上,他把它的名字說成了“胖子奧斯卡”——并且他還似乎忘了我們上周談過的一些事。我趕著去教堂,于是匆匆結(jié)束了交談。
The call came at 4:40 p.m. on that day that my father was in the hospital in Florida with an 11)aneurysm. I got on an airplane immediately, and on the way I thought of all the occasions when I had not taken the time to talk with him. I realized that I had no idea who he was, or what his deepest thoughts were. I vowed that when I arrived, I would make up for the lost time, and have a nice long talk with him and really get to know him.
那天下午4:40分,我接到電話通知——由于動脈瘤,父親住進了佛羅里達州的一間醫(yī)院。我立刻坐飛機趕去。途中,我想起了那些我無暇和他交談的日子。我意識到自己并不了解他,不知道他內(nèi)心深處的想法。我發(fā)誓一到醫(yī)院就要彌補從前,好好和父親長談一次,并真正深入地了解他。
I arrived in Florida at 1:00 a.m. My father had passed away at 9:12 p.m. This time it was he who did not have time to talk or wait for me.
我凌晨1點到達佛羅里達州,父親已經(jīng)在前一晚的9:12分去世了。這一次是他沒有時間和我交談,或者說沒有時間等我來到。
In the years following his death, I have learned much about my father, and even more about myself. As a father, he never asked me for anything but my time. Now, he has all my attention— every single day!
父親去世后這些年來,我對他的了解深入多了,甚至也更加深入地了解了自己。作為我父親,他除了我的時間以外對我一無所求,而現(xiàn)在,他成為了我每天無以釋懷的內(nèi)容。