英语小达人 419 A Good Heart to Lean On(1)

 A Good Heart to Lean On 善心可依

When I was growing up,  在我成长的过程中，

I was embarrassed to be seen with my father.  我一直羞于让别人看见的和父亲在一起。

He was severely¹ crippled and very short,  我的父亲身材矮小，腿上有严重的残疾。

and when we would walk together,  当我们一起走路时，

his hand on my arm for balance,  他总是挽着我以保持身体平衡，

people would stare.  这时总招来一些异样的目光，

I would inwardly squirm at the unwanted attention.  令我无地自容。

If he ever noticed or was bothered, he never let on.  可是如果他注意到了这些，不管他内心多么痛苦，也从不表现出来。 

It was difficult to coordinate² our steps--his halting, mine impatient-- 走路时，我们很难相互协调起来----他的步子慢慢腾腾，我的步子焦燥不安。

and because of that, we didn't say much as we went along.  所以一路上我们交谈得很少。

But as we started out, he always said,  但是每次出行前，他总是说，

You set the pace. I will try to adjust to you.  你走你的，我想法儿跟上你。 

Our usual walk was to or from the subway, which was how he got to work.  我们常常往返于从家到他上班乘坐的地铁站的那段路上。

He went to work sick, and despite nasty weather.  他有病也要上班，哪怕天气恶劣。

He almost never missed a day,  他几乎从未误过一天工，

and would make it to the office even if others could not.  就是在别人不能去的情况下，他也要设法去上班。

A matter of pride. 实在值得骄傲！

1 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

2 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。