透過李家同簡潔而寓意深遠的文章,來領略用英文表達中文故事的妙趣。
附文章朗讀及句型解析。
收錄〈讓高牆倒下〉〈我的盲人恩師〉〈我的媽媽來看我〉〈荒原之旅〉〈吳師傅的盛宴〉〈十全十美的一天〉6篇
〈讓高牆倒下吧!〉Let the Wall Fall
我曾在加爾各答的街道上,親眼看到一個小孩子,用一只杯子在陰溝裡盛水洗臉、漱口,最後索性盛了一大杯,痛痛快快地將水喝了下去。
就在我旅館門口,兩個小男孩每天晚上會躺下睡覺,他們合蓋一塊布,哥哥最多只有三歲大,弟弟恐怕三歲不到,兩人永遠占據同一個地方,也永遠幾乎相擁在一起。
One time I saw a small child scooping water from the gutter in the streets of Calcutta. First he washed his face, then he rinsed out his mouth, and finally he filled a big cupful and gulped it down heartily.
At the entrance of my hotel, two boys lied down to sleep each night, sharing a single piece of cloth as a quilt. The bigger one could not have been more than three years old, and the smaller one was younger still. The two of them always occupied the same spot, and were almost always huddled together.
許多台灣人學英文,用的方法是死記硬背,今天背文法、明天背單字。我並不否認背是很重要的技巧,可是那絕不是閱讀這本書的理想方式。
當你閱讀本書時,我建議你注意以下幾個重點:
1. 你不需要看得懂每個字或徹底了解每個句子的文法。
2. 要注意動詞的時態。
3. 請注意冠詞的用法。
4. 留意中文的慣用說法,以英文怎麼表達。
5. 如何用文法和標點符號來創造戲劇效果。
Nick Hawkins(郝凱揚)〈閱讀本書的理想方式〉
〈我的盲人恩師 My Blind Mentor〉
我的博士論文指導教授是一個完完全全的盲人,對外界任何的亮光,都已沒有反應,經年生活在黑暗之中。
My former Ph.D. thesis adviser is totally blind—no form of external light produces any reaction in him. He has lived in darkness for years.
〈我的媽媽來看我My Mom Came to See Me〉
孩子們在風雨中等待媽媽,大家可以想像得到。我卻要在這裡講一個成人在困境中想念媽媽的故事。其實這不是故事,這是我親身經歷的事實。
Anyone can imagine children waiting for their mother in the rain, but the story I have to tell is of a grown man in dire straits who missed his mother. Actually, this isn’t just a mere story—this is a real experience that I myself went through.
〈荒原之旅 Journey to the Moorland〉
到英國去看荒原,似乎是個荒唐的主意。
It seems like a crazy idea, going to Britain to see the moorland.
〈吳師傅的盛宴Chef Wu’s Feast〉
有一位新竹跑社會新聞的記者告訴我一個他的經驗,他說他的職業使他常常覺得非常沮喪,而他應付的辦法很簡單……
A social news reporter in Hsinchu related an experience of his to me. He said his job often made him feel depressed, but he had a very simple way of coping…
〈十全十美的一天 A Perfect Day〉
結婚以後,我就告訴我老婆,人家貴為英國首相的柴契爾夫人,都會替她老公每天早上做早飯,妳也應該如此。我老婆一口拒絕,她說……
After I got married, I told my wife that even Margaret Thatcher, the venerable British prime minister, made breakfast for her husband every morning, so she ought to do the same. But my wife flatly refused. She said…