双语美文：即使囊中羞涩，也要倾尽全力

 　　双语美文欣赏

　　I grew up very poor anaaad with a single mom in the throws of addiction¹. Often there was no money for food, and I was hungry a lot.

　　我从小家境贫寒，只有一个吸毒成瘾的妈妈。我们经常没钱买吃的，我总是饥肠辘辘。

　　On my fifth birthday (1986), a couple close family members were invited to go to a park to celebrate my birthday. No cake, no presents, not a problem. Except for my auntie². She had an envelope in her hand.

　　在我5岁生日时(1986年)，几个亲戚被邀请到一个公园给我过生日。没有蛋糕、没有礼物、也没有任何问题。只有我的姑姑是个例外，她手里拿着一个信封。

　　Before everyone sang happy birthday, I saw a little boy, probably my age, and a woman, digging³ in the park dumpster for food. Something happened to me. I begged my mom to invite them to my party but my mother was not a fan of strangers. She said no.

　　在大家唱生日快乐歌之前，我看到一个小男孩，年纪大概和我相仿，还有一个女的，他们在公园的垃圾箱里找吃的。我突发奇想，请求妈妈邀请他们来我的生日聚会，但妈妈不喜欢陌生人，她没同意。

　　I was intrigued⁴, I didn't know others struggled like me, it hurt my heart. I watched them as everyone sang. I watched them when my auntie handed me an envelope. I watched them as I opened it until I saw the contents, a crisp⁵ 100 dollar bill. My mother was enraged⁶ that my auntie would give me such a large amount of money. I think my auntie trusted me more than my mother with cash.

　　我被他们吸引了，我不知道还有人跟我一样挣扎着过日子，这使我的心很疼。大家唱歌时我看着他们，姑姑递给我信封时我看着他们，我打开信封时依旧看着他们，突然我发信封里装着一张褶皱的100美元纸币。妈妈很生气姑姑竟然给我这么多钱，我觉着在花钱方面姑姑比妈妈更信任我。

　　We were poor, I didn't eat 3 days a week, I had a very hard childhood. But I had never dug⁷ in a dumpster for food.

　　我们很穷，一个星期里有3天吃不上饭，我的童年过得很苦，但从来没有翻垃圾箱找吃的。

　　My auntie kept talking over my mother, telling me, I can do ANYTHING I want with that money. So I did. I walked to the dumpster to the boy and his mother. I explained to the boy that it was my birthday and my one present was a $100, and I wanted to give it to them. There were so many tears and thank yous.

　　姑姑一直在说服妈妈，她告诉我我能随意支配这笔钱，所以我就自己拿主意了。我朝垃圾箱旁边的男孩和他妈妈走过去，我向男孩解释说那天是我的生日，我收到了$100的礼物，我想把钱给他们。他们感动得痛哭流涕，说了很多感谢的话。

　　I, and my auntie, understood how powerful⁸ it was to give the only money I've ever seen away. My mother never did. I paid dearly for the action that night. But it was worth it.

　　我和姑姑理解把自己见过的唯一的钱给别人对自己有多大影响，妈妈却从未有过这种感觉。那天晚上我为自己的行为付出了巨大的代价，但一切都值得。

　　I think about that boy and his mother often.

　　我经常会想起那个男孩和他的妈妈。

1 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

2 auntie   

n.对aunt的亲热称呼

参考例句：

• She's staying with her auntie for the time being.她暂时住在她姨妈那里。
• My auntie brought up four children.我姑姑养了四个孩子。

3 digging   

n.挖掘v.挖，掘( dig的现在分词 )；（如用铲、锨或推土机等）挖掘；挖得；寻找

参考例句：

• They were digging up worms to use for bait. 他们正在挖蚯蚓作鱼饵。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade. 在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

5 crisp   

adj.脆的；清新的；扼要的；n.[pl.]油炸土豆片

参考例句：

• What a crisp voice she has!听她的嗓音多脆！
• These pears are sweet and crisp.这种梨又甜又脆。

6 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

7 dug   

n.动物的乳房[乳头]v.挖，掘( dig的过去式和过去分词 )；（如用铲、锨或推土机等）挖掘；挖得；寻找

参考例句：

• He dug a deep hole in the garden. 他在花园里挖了个深坑。
• We dug a deep pit in the yard. 我们在院子中挖了个深洞。

8 powerful   

adj.有力的，有权力的，强大的

参考例句：

• The UN began to get more and more powerful.联合国开始变得越来越强大了。
• Such are the most powerful voices of our times!这些就是我们时代的最有力的声音！