Three 0' Cat Is Still a Game

                     Three O' Cat Is Still a Game/沒(méi)有我世界照常運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)
                          Lillian Bueno Mccue/莉蓮·比諾·麥丘

What do I believe? What laws do I live by? There are so many answers - work, beauty, truth, love - and I hope I do live by them.

什么是我所信仰的？什么是我生活的準(zhǔn)則？答案很多，比如工作、美麗、真理、愛(ài)心，但愿我能以它們?yōu)闇?zhǔn)則。

But in everyday things I live by the light of a supplementary set of laws. I'd better call them rules of thumb. Rules of thumb aren't very grand, but they do make the wheels go round.

然而，生活中的我還履行著另外一套附加的法則，即經(jīng)驗(yàn)法則。這一法則雖然簡(jiǎn)單，但卻能使事情順利地進(jìn)行下去。


My father and mother sent me to good schools, but the finest thing they did for my education was to have seven children. I was the oldest, and my brothers and sisters were my best teachers.

父母把我送到一所很好的學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)，但養(yǎng)育了7個(gè)孩子，才是他們?yōu)槲业慕逃龅淖詈玫氖隆Ｎ沂羌抑虚L(zhǎng)女，而弟弟妹妹就是我最好的老師。

I learned first to pull my own weight in the boat. Kids making a bob-sled have no use for the loafer who wants a free ride. Neither has the world. I learned to make the bed I slept in, and wash the glass I used, and mend what I broke, and mop up where I spilled. And if I was too lazy or too dainty or too busy, and left it for someone else, somebody else soon taught me different.

我最先學(xué)會(huì)了身為長(zhǎng)女的責(zé)任。對(duì)一個(gè)想搭順風(fēng)車的流浪者來(lái)說(shuō)，會(huì)做雪橇的孩子毫無(wú)用處。對(duì)這些孩子而言，世界也是如此。我學(xué)會(huì)了睡覺(jué)前自己鋪床，洗自己用過(guò)的杯子，修補(bǔ)自己弄壞的東西，用拖布拖干自己濺到地上的水。如果我過(guò)于懶惰、挑剔或忙碌，而讓別人來(lái)做這些事，馬上就會(huì)有人教我不能這么做。

Then, the same way, I learned that anger is a waste. It hurts nobody but me. A fit of the sullens got short shrift in our house. It wasn't pulling my weight in the boat. It was spoiling sport. And among seven children it got me nowhere. It might reduce four o'cat to three o'cat, but the game went on just the same, and where was I? Out of it. Better go in and join the group around the piano and forget my grievance. Better still, next time don't fling down my bat in a tantrum; keep my temper, and stay in the game.

于是，我同樣也明白了生氣于事無(wú)補(bǔ)。除了我自己，它傷害不了任何人。在我們家里，悶悶不樂(lè)是不會(huì)有人搭理你的。盡管不是我的責(zé)任，但卻會(huì)讓人覺(jué)得掃興。何況在7個(gè)孩子中間生悶氣對(duì)我并沒(méi)有好處。沒(méi)有我，“4只小貓”的游戲變成“3只小貓”，一樣可以玩得很好。而我呢？只能被排除在外了。最好的辦法就是，忘掉自己的委屈，加入他們，和大家一起圍著鋼琴玩。還有，最好下次不要再亂發(fā)脾氣；控制好自己的情緒，繼續(xù)玩游戲。

Here's a rule thumb that's important, and the older I get, the more important I think it is. When I can do something, and somebody wants me to do it, I have to do it. The great tragedy of life is not to be needed. As long as you are able and willing to do things for people, you will be needed. Of course you are able; and if so, you can't say no. My mother is seventy-seven. In seventy-seven years she has never said no. Today she is so much in demand by thirteen grandchildren and countless neighbors that her presence is eagerly contended for. When I want to see her I have to pretend emergency.

此外，還有一條經(jīng)驗(yàn)法則同樣重要。隨著慢慢長(zhǎng)大，我也越來(lái)越認(rèn)識(shí)到它的重要性。當(dāng)我有能力做一件事，有人也希望我做時(shí)，我就必須去做。不為人所需是人生中最大的悲劇。只要你有能力并愿意為人們做一些事，人們就會(huì)需要你。你肯定能夠做到，那就不要推辭。我的母親已經(jīng)77歲了。但77年來(lái)她從未說(shuō)過(guò)“不”字。如今，她的13個(gè)孫兒和無(wú)數(shù)的鄰居依然很需要她，希望她能在身邊。因此當(dāng)我想見(jiàn)她時(shí)，不得不假裝有緊急的事情。

Then there's the rule of curiosity. Your body would die if you stopped feeling hunger and thirst, and your mind will die if you lose your curiosity. This I learned from my father. My father was a naturalist. He could see the beetle under the bark, and draw it forth unharmed for us to squint at through the magnifying glass. He sampled the taste of thirty-three different caterpillars. Fired by his example, once, my sister ate an ant. In case you are wondering, caterpillars taste like the green leaves they eat, and ants taste of lemon. I personally haven't tasted any entomological specimens lately, but I am still rejoicing in the limitless curiosity, the draws me to books and people and places.I hope I never lose it. It would be like pulling down the blind.

除此之外，還有好奇法則。當(dāng)你感覺(jué)不到饑餓和干渴時(shí)，你的身體就停止運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)了；如果你失去了好奇心，那你的思想就不再工作了。這是父親傳授給我的。他是一位博物學(xué)家。他能看到樹(shù)皮下的甲蟲(chóng)，并把它毫發(fā)無(wú)傷地捉下來(lái)，放在放大鏡下讓我們看。他嘗過(guò)33種不同毛蟲(chóng)的味道。有一次，在父親的示范與鼓勵(lì)下，妹妹吃了一只螞蟻。假如你對(duì)它們的味道感到好奇，我會(huì)告訴你，毛蟲(chóng)的味道就像它們所吃的樹(shù)葉，而螞蟻的味道像檸檬。我個(gè)人最近并未品嘗任何昆蟲(chóng)的標(biāo)本，但我仍欣喜于自己無(wú)限的好奇心，它促使我博覽群書、樂(lè)于與人交往和四處旅行。我希望永遠(yuǎn)擁有好奇心。沒(méi)有它，就仿佛放下了窗簾，讓我無(wú)法欣賞到窗外的美景。

Finally, there is the rule of happiness. Happiness is a habit. I was taught to cultivate it. A big stomach-ache, or a big heart-ache, can interrupt happiness, but neither can destroy it unless I permit. My mother simply wouldn't have unhappy faces moping about the place. If it was stomach-ache, she does it. If it was heart-ache, she administered love and understanding and lots of interesting things to do, and soon the sun came out again. Even the heartbreaks that can't really be mended, even those seem to yield to the habit of finding happiness in doing things, in love and in the memory of love. I hope I never lose that habit either. It would be like putting out the light.

最后，還有幸福法則。幸福是一種習(xí)慣。我學(xué)會(huì)了去養(yǎng)成這種習(xí)慣。劇烈的胃痛與心痛都會(huì)阻礙幸福，但沒(méi)有我的允許，它們絕對(duì)無(wú)法破壞幸福。母親不愿意看到家中有人悶悶不樂(lè)。如果有人胃痛，母親會(huì)給他吃藥；如果是心痛，她會(huì)給予愛(ài)和理解，并做很多有趣的事讓他忘記痛苦，重新展露笑顏。即使心碎了，無(wú)法再修補(bǔ)，即使有人習(xí)慣在工作、愛(ài)與愛(ài)的回憶中尋找幸福，我也希望我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)將這一習(xí)慣丟棄。擁有它，就仿佛點(diǎn)亮了生命的明燈。

So I learned to live, by the great laws, and these little rules of thumb. I wouldn't take a million dollars for any one of them, or a million times that for the years at home that taught them to me.

因此，我學(xué)會(huì)了生活，并遵循著偉大的定律與這些瑣碎的經(jīng)驗(yàn)法則。即使給我100萬(wàn)美元，也換不去它們中的任何一個(gè)；或者即使給我無(wú)盡的時(shí)間，也無(wú)法交換那些讓我懂得這些法則的家中歲月。
 

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