聊一聊林語(yǔ)堂在哈佛大學(xué)上學(xué)的經(jīng)歷

今天的這段對(duì)話，在討論林語(yǔ)堂，
 
聊一聊林語(yǔ)堂在哈佛大學(xué)上學(xué)的經(jīng)歷
 
來(lái)聽(tīng)今天的講解:
 
A: Oh, it’s you, John, you just freaked me out.
 
哦，是你呀，約翰，嚇壞我了。
 
B: Sorry. Are you reading a thriller?
 
對(duì)不起，你在看驚險(xiǎn)小說(shuō)嗎？
 
A: No, I never read or watch a thriller. I’m chicken hearted. I’ll be scared to death.
 
不是，我從來(lái)不看驚險(xiǎn)小說(shuō)。我膽子很小，會(huì)被嚇?biāo)赖摹?br />  
B: Why were you so frightened? What are you reading?
 
那你為什么嚇一跳呀？你在看什么？
 
A: Moment in Peking.
 
《京華煙云》。
 
B: I’ve never heard of it.
 
我從來(lái)沒(méi)聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)。
 
A: It’s no surprise that you don’t know, The novel mainly tells a story of a family which  went through the turbulent events in China from 1900 to 1938. But you may have heard about the author, Lin Yutang.
 
這不奇怪。這本小說(shuō)主要說(shuō)的是1900 ~ 1938年一個(gè)中國(guó)家庭經(jīng)歷的動(dòng)亂。但是你可能聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)這本書(shū)的作者，林語(yǔ)堂。
 
B: I’m afraid I don’t know him.
 
恐怕我不知道。
 
A: He’s a famous Chinese writer. I thought you knew him because he was in a sense Harvard alumnus.
 
他是著名的中國(guó)作家。我以為你知道他，因?yàn)樵谀撤N意義上他是哈佛畢業(yè)的。
 
B: Han，I’m not Mr. Know-It-All, but I’d like to learn and know as much as possible. Tell me something about him.
 
韓，我不是萬(wàn)能先生。但我喜歡學(xué)習(xí)更多的東西。跟我說(shuō)說(shuō)他的事。
 
A: I guess perhaps you’re most interested in his life at Harvard.
 
我猜你對(duì)他在哈佛的生活更感興趣。
 
B: Yes. You can read my mind now.
 
是的。你都知道我在想什么。
 
A: Lin had many ups and downs in his life. He met with many challenges and obstacles. His life at Harvard was no exception.
 
林語(yǔ)堂的一生經(jīng)歷了很多起伏，遇到了很多挑戰(zhàn)和障礙。在哈佛的生活也不例外。
 
B: I like this kind of people. Usually they are men of backbone.
 
我喜歡這種人。通常他們更有毅力和骨氣。
 
A: He only received a half-scholarship. Worse still，even the half-scholarship was cancelled one year later.
 
他只獲得一半的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。更糟的是，一年后就連半數(shù)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金也被取消了。
 
B: Why? Didn’t he deserve the scholarship?
 
為什么？他不應(yīng)該得嗎？
 
A: On the contrary, he got all A’s. No one knows why. Anyway, he became even poorer. He said he even had no money to buy a ticket for the Games.
 
相反，他的成績(jī)?nèi)渴茿。沒(méi)人知道為什么。不管怎樣，他變得更窮了。他說(shuō)甚至沒(méi)有錢(qián)買(mǎi)票去看哈佛一耶魯橄欖球賽。
 
B: That poor? What did he do in his spare time?
 
那么窮？他業(yè)余時(shí)間做什么？
 
A: He loved reading. For him, Harvard was Widener Library and Widener Library was Harvard. When he was in the Library, he felt he was like a monkey in a jungle.
 
他喜愛(ài)讀書(shū)。對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)，哈佛是威德納圖書(shū)館，威德納圖書(shū)館就是哈佛。當(dāng)他在圖書(shū)館的時(shí)候，感覺(jué)就像是一只在叢林里的猴子。
 
B: Why?
 
為什么？
 
A: A monkey in a jungle is free to search for any nuts and fruits. The jungle offers the monkey a feast of nuts and fruits.
 
叢林里的猴子可以免費(fèi)獲得任何堅(jiān)果和水果。叢材給猴子提供豐富的堅(jiān)果和水果。
 
B: Oh, I see. When he was in the Library, he could find any book he’d like to read. The Library was just like the jungle and offered him a feast of books.
 
哦，我明白了。當(dāng)他在圖書(shū)館的時(shí)候，能夠找到任何他想要的書(shū)。圖書(shū)館就像叢林，給他提供豐富的書(shū)籍。
 
A: You’re smart. He indulged himself in reading in the Library. As long as there，s no class，he would go to the Library. Even when his wife was having an operation, he was studying Anglo-Saxon grammar.
 
你太聰明了。他沉浸在圖書(shū)館里讀書(shū)。只要一沒(méi)有課，他就會(huì)去圖書(shū)館。甚至他妻子做手術(shù)時(shí)，他還在研究盤(pán)格魯撒克遜語(yǔ)法。
 
B: That’s a little impersonal.
 
那有點(diǎn)沒(méi)有人情味了。
 
A: He thought appendectomy was not a big operation. It only turned out that his wife was subjected to infection. She needed another operation.
 
他覺(jué)得闌尾切除術(shù)只是一個(gè)小手術(shù)。結(jié)果是他的妻子受到了感染，需要再次手術(shù)。
 
B: Disaster comes one after another in succession. That’s adding insult to injury.
 
災(zāi)難總是接二連三發(fā)生。真是雪上加霜呀。
 
A: So, they only had one tin of oatmeal for a week.
 
所以，他們一周只靠一罐燕麥粥維持生活。
 
B:If I were him, I would go back to China.
 
如果我是他的話，我會(huì)回中國(guó)去。
 
A: Life is hard. Sometimes, we have to bow down to others. Lin borrowed some money from his brother-in-law.
 
生活是艱難的。有時(shí)我們必須向他人所低頭。林語(yǔ)堂向他的姐夫借了些錢(qián)。
 
B: Did they feel ashamed?
 
他們覺(jué)得羞愧嗎？
 
A: No, at least his wife believed that he showed the utmost fortitude to go through such a difficult period.
 
沒(méi)有，至少他妻子認(rèn)為他表現(xiàn)出了最大的毅力來(lái)渡過(guò)這個(gè)難關(guān)。
 
B: Was this amount of money enough to sustain life?
 
他借的錢(qián)能維持生活嗎？
 
A: No. So he had to leave Harvard early and go to France and Germany where the cost of living was not so high.
 
不能。所以他不得不提前離開(kāi)哈佛去了法國(guó)和德國(guó)，那里生活成本沒(méi)有那么高。
 
B: Sometimes life is really hard for an oversea student. Han, if you have any problem, you can turn to me. You can count on me.
 
有時(shí)對(duì)海外學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)生活確實(shí)很艱難。韓，如果你有任何困難就踉我說(shuō)。你可以信得過(guò)我。
 
A: Oh, John，thank you. I’m so lucky to have you as a friend. You’ve helped me a lot.
 
哦，約翰，謝謝你。有你這樣的朋友很幸運(yùn)。你已經(jīng)幫了我很多了。