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1、经典美文英汉互译：梦寐以求的礼物Christmas Eve, 1994. I was a sailor in the U.S. Navy, on a one-day leave in San Francisco. I had won 300 at poker that ordinarily would have burned a hole in my pocket, but I couldnt shake an overwhelming sadness.1944年圣诞夜。当时我是美国海军士兵，到旧金山休假一天。在 那以前，我玩扑克游戏，赢了 300 元。通常，钱烧口袋滑，一有就不 留。可我当时
2、极为忧愁烦闷，怎么也无法摆脱那种恶劣的心境。Scuttlebutt had it wed be pulling out before the New Year for the South Pacific. Id just received word that another friend had been killed in Europe. And here I was, an 18-year-old alone in a strange city. Nothing seemed to make any kind of sense.What was I going to be fighting
3、 for, anyway传闻部队在新年前要开赴南太平洋，而且刚刚听说又有一位朋友 在欧洲阵亡。我年仅 18，如今在一个陌生的城市里，单身无靠。干什 么都没有意思。我究竟为什么打仗来着I spent most of the day in a mental fog, wandering aimlessly through crowds of laughing, happy people. Then, late in the afternoon, my vision suddenly focused, and for the first time a scene registered.我精神迷惘，在
4、欢笑的人群中毫无目的地逛荡，消磨了差不多一 整天。后来，在黄昏的时候，视线突然集中，第一次有一个情景引起 了我的注意。There in a department-store window were two electric trains chugging through a miniature, snow-covered town. In front of the window was a skinny boy around nine years old, his nose pressed against the glass. He just stood there, fixed on tho
5、se trains.在一家百货商店的橱窗里，有两列电动火车正在一座白雪覆盖的 微型城市里嘎嚓嘎嚓地行驶。在橱窗前，一个约莫 9 岁光景的瘦小男 孩，鼻子紧贴玻璃，一动不动地站在那里，目不转睛地注视着那两列 火车。Suddenly the boy was me nine short years before, and the store was Macys in New York City, my home town. I could see, could feel the same longing, the same desperate hoping. I could hear the sig
6、h of resignation - the frail attempt to hide the disappointment that Dad could not afford those trains. And I saw the reluctant turning away and then the one last look.那男孩忽地成了短短的 9 年前的我，那商店成了我的家乡纽约市 的梅西商店。我看得见，也感觉得到那同样的渴望和急切的期待。我 听得见那无可奈何的叹息爸爸买不起那种火车只好这么强憋住失 望的心情。那恋恋不舍地转身走开，最后又看上一眼，恍如就在眼前。Not this t
7、ime l I dont know what came over me, but I grabbed the boy by the arm, scaring him half to death.不能再这样了 ! 我至今弄不明白是中的什么邪，反正我一把抓住男 孩的胳臂，把他吓得半死。My name is George, I told him.“我叫乔治，”我告诉他。Jeffrey Hollis Jr., he managed to reply.“我叫小杰弗里霍利斯，”他好不容易答了一声。Well, Jeff Hollis Jr., I said in my best grown-up voice
8、,we are going to get us those trains. “这样吧，小杰弗，霍利斯，”我尽量说得像大人，“咱们去把 那火车买下来。”His eyes grew wide, and he let me lead him into the store.I knew it was crazy, but I didnt care. Suddenly I wanted to be nine again and have a kids dream come true. The salesclerk looked at us suspiciously, a scruffy black bo
9、y and a black sailor in ill-fitting dress blues.他睁大了眼睛，随我进了商店。我知道这真荒唐，可我不管我忽 然想再回到 9 岁，实现孩时的梦想。售货员心怀疑虑望着我们：一个 是衣衫槛楼的黑孩子，一个是黑人水兵，穿着一套不合身的海军制服。Those trains in the window, I blurted before he couldspeak. The whole setup. How much is it“橱窗里那套火车，”不等售货员说话我就脱口而出。“要整套。 多少钱？”His snorting response was interru
10、pted by the arrival of a much older man wearing a warm Christmas smile. One hundred and sixty-five dollars and sixty-three cents, the elder man replied, delivery included.他刚露出一副不屑搭理的模样，过来一位年纪大得多的人，满脸 喜气洋洋的过节神情。“ 165元 6角3分，”他回答，“包送到家。Well take it, I said. Right now if we can.“我们要了，”我说，“能够现买现送吧。”Jeff Hollis Sr.s reaction reminded me of what my own fathers would have been if I had shown up with a stranger
