英語美文:Oliver Bascom

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　　Oliver Bascom

　　師從天降

　　By Kathleen Pimentel

　　It is a mystery how I grew to be such a tall girl, but I learned at an early age to cope with my size by trying to be as unremarkable as possible. At school, I wore drab colors and low heel shoes. I always chose a seat in the back of the room, never raised my hand in class and with my head down and shoulders stooped, I virtually slouched my way through junior high school.

　　我是如何長成這么高的一個女孩還真是個謎。不過，從很小的時候起，我就學(xué)會了怎樣應(yīng)對自己的個頭問題，那就是盡量讓自己不起眼。在學(xué)校里，我穿顏色灰暗的衣服和低跟鞋。我總挑教室后排的位子坐，在課堂上也從不舉手發(fā)言。低頭垂肩，我?guī)缀蹙瓦@樣度過了初中時代。

　　When I was 16, we moved to a small town. I was relatively happy in my new school although still very self-conscious about my height. Our teachers were caring and conscientious , and I especially liked the old maid English teacher because she loved to discuss Greek mythology, and she always cried when she read poetry to us. The first day of classes in my senior year, however, the school was abuzz with the news that the old maid had left to get married and that we were going to have a new English teacher, Oliver Bascom.

　　16歲時，我家搬到了一個小鎮(zhèn)上。我雖然仍會因自己的身高感到局促不安，但在新學(xué)校里相對還是比較開心的。我們的老師都很關(guān)心我們，對工作也很認(rèn)真負(fù)責(zé)。我尤其喜歡英語老師“老姑娘”，因為她愛講希臘神話，而且總會在為我們朗誦詩歌時掉眼淚。然而，在我升入高三的第一天，校園里一片嘈雜，大家都在傳一條消息——“老姑娘”已經(jīng)離開學(xué)校去結(jié)婚了，我們將會有一位新的英語老師，名叫奧利弗·巴斯科姆。

　　Oliver Bascom! He had to be a close relative of Mr. Peepers with a name like that! My girlfriends and I doubled over with laughter as we collaborated in conjuring up visions of a short, bald, skinny, prune-faced Caspar Milquetoast wearing horn rimmed glasses and plaid pants. The situation wasn't really funny because we were going to have to endure this man for the entire year. As we lethargically made our way to class, each of us determined silently to find a seat as far back in the room as possible.

　　奧利弗·巴斯科姆！叫這樣的名字，他一定是皮伯斯先生的近親吧！我和女友們一起幻想這個人的樣子：身材矮小、腦門謝頂、瘦骨嶙峋，長著一張西梅干似的皺巴巴的臉，活脫脫一個戴著角制邊框眼鏡、身穿格子褲的卡斯帕·米爾克托斯特（編注：H.T.韋伯斯特在其連環(huán)漫畫《膽小鬼》中所塑造的人物，天性溫順、敏感、膽小懦弱、猶豫不決，常被人輕視）。想到這兒，我們都笑彎了腰。其實這種狀況并不是真的好笑，因為我們將忍受這個人一整年。我們沒精打采地走向教室時，每個人都在心中默默地決定找盡可能靠后的座位坐。

　　We arrived just before the tardy bell, opened the door and there, in front of the blackboard, descended directly from Mount Olympus, stood Adonis. He was tall and young and handsome and had the classic chiseled features of a Greek statue.

　　我們走到門口，姍姍來遲的上課鈴聲恰好響起。推開教室門，我們看到黑板前面站著從奧林匹斯山直接下凡而來的“阿多尼斯”（譯注：希臘神話中的美男子）。他高大、年輕、英俊，有著希臘雕塑般精雕細(xì)琢的古典味道。

　　What ensued was sheer pandemonium , a melee of seventeen-year-old girls, flying elbows and feet, scrambling to get to seats in the front of the room. With my long legs and arms, I managed to secure the front row center desk.

　　接下來教室里一片混亂，一群17歲的女孩展開混戰(zhàn)，手腳并用地爭奪著教室前排的座位。出于手長腿長的優(yōu)勢，我成功搶到了教室前排正中間的位置。

　　I was desperate to make a good impression on my new teacher, but kept quiet because I didn't have anything interesting to say. The day that directions were given for our first major writing assignment, I arrived late to class. A friend later gave me the guidelines and I thought I understood them. I worked the entire weekend on the essay, turned it in on time and waited anxiously for Mr. Bascom's evaluation.

　　我極度渴望給新老師留下好印象，可因為沒什么有趣的事兒可講，只好緘口不言。有一天，新老師給我們布置了第一個重要的寫作任務(wù)，可我那天遲到了。一位朋友后來將寫作要求告訴了我，我以為自己都懂了。我花了整個周末寫完這篇文章，并按時交了上去，接著便焦急地等待著巴斯科姆老師的評價。

　　After three or four days, he arrived in class bearing a stack of the corrected papers, which he put on the desk in two piles.

　　三四天之后，巴斯科姆老師帶著一摞改好的作業(yè)本走進(jìn)教室，并把它們分成兩疊放在講桌上。

　　I've selected the ten best essays for class comment and discussion, he said.

　　“我挑了十篇最好的文章供大家評論和討論。”他說。

　　Twenty minutes later, my heart sank when he got to the last composition in the pile, and I realized that mine had not made the top ten. Oh, where to hide? Why had I ever chosen the most exposed desk in the room?

　　20分鐘后，當(dāng)他進(jìn)行到那一疊中的最后一篇作文時，我意識到自己的文章并沒有進(jìn)入前十名，我的心沉到了谷底。哎，要躲去哪里呢？當(dāng)初自己為什么要選擇坐在教室里最顯眼的座位上??？

　　These are all outstanding efforts, Mr. Bascom continued, "however, I am now going to read you the most successful of all, a composition which is completely different from the rest and which is remarkable for its originality and creativity." He pulled a paper out of his briefcase and began to read. We all dropped our jaws as it dawned on us that I was the author of this unusual work.

　　“這些文章都很出色，”巴斯科姆老師接著說，“不過，我現(xiàn)在要給大家讀讀所有作文中最成功的一篇，它與其他作文完全不同，因其原創(chuàng)性和創(chuàng)意性而顯得非同尋常。”他從公文包里拿出一篇作文，開始讀起來。當(dāng)知道是我寫了這篇獨特的作文時，同學(xué)們個個都驚訝得不得了。

　　I never told anyone that the reason my composition was so different was because I had totally misunderstood the assignment. Nevertheless, a different girl walked out of the classroom that day. I knew that I had a new set of standards to live up to and that anything was possible in the future.On my way to my next class, I could actually feel my spine stretch as I raised my head and straightened my shoulders.

　　我從未告訴過任何人，我的作文之所以如此與眾不同，是因為我當(dāng)時完全把作業(yè)要求理解錯了。盡管如此，在那一天，一個女孩以嶄新的面貌走出了教室。我知道自己有了一套新的準(zhǔn)則可以踐行，而且未來一切皆有可能。在去上下一節(jié)課的路上，我昂首挺胸，真正感覺到自己直起了腰板。