Unit 4 Fun. Oh Boy. Fun. You Could Die from It.课文翻译综合教程三

Unit 4

Fun, Oh Boy. Fun. You Could Die from it

Suzanne Britt Jordan

1Fun is hard to have.

2Fun is a rare jewel.

3Somewhere along the line people got the modern idea that fun was there for the asking, that people deserved fun, that if we didn’t have a litt le fun every day we would turn into (sakes alive!) puritans.

4 “Was it fun?” became the question that overshadowed all other questions: good questions like: Was it moral? Was it kind? Was it honest? Was it beneficial? Was it generous? Was it necessary? And (my favorite) was it selfless?

5 When the pleasures got to be the main thing, the fun fetish was sure to follow. Everything was supposed to be fun. If it wasn’t fun, then by Jove, we were going to make it fun, or else.

6 Think of all the things that got the reputation of being fun. Family outings were supposed to be fun. Sex was supposed to be fun. Education was supposed to be fun. Work was supposed to be fun. Walt Disney was supposed to be fun. Church was supposed to be fun. Staying fit was supposed to be fun.

7 Just to make sure that everybody knew how much fun we were having, we put happy faces on flunking test papers, dirty bumpers, sticky refrigerator doors, bathroom mirrors.

8 If a kid, looking at his very happy parents traipsing through that very happy Disney World, said, “This ain’t fun, ma,” his ma’s heart sank. She wondered where she had gone wrong. Everybody told her what fun family outings to Disney World would be. Golly gee, what was the matter?

9 Fun got to be such a big thing that everybody started to look for more and more thrilling ways to supply it. One way was to step up the level of danger or licentiousness or alcohol or drug consumption so that you could be sure that, no matter what, you would manage to have a little fun.

10 Television commercials brought a lot of fun and fun-loving folks into the picture. Everything that people in those commercials did looked like fun: taking Polaroid snapshots, swilling beer, buying insurance, mopping the floor, bowling, taking aspirin. We all wished, I’m sure, that we could have half as much fun as those rough-and-ready guys around the locker room, flicking each other with towels and pouring champagne.

The more commercials people watched, the more they wondered when the fun would start in their own lives. It was pretty depressing.

11 Big occasions were supposed to be fun. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter were obviously supposed to be fun. Your wedding day was supposed to be fun. Your wedding night was supposed to be a whole lot of fun. Your honeymoon was supposed to be the epitome of fundom. And so we ended up going through every Big Event we ever celebrated, waiting for the fun to start.

12 It occurred to me, while I was sitting around waiting for the fun to start, that not mu ch is, and that I should tell you just in case you’re worried about your fun capacity.

13 I don’t mean to put a damper on things. I just mean we ought to treat fun reverently. It is a mystery. It cannot be caught like a virus. It cannot be trapped like an animal. The god of mirth is paying us back for all those years of thinking fun was everywhere by refusing to come to our party. I don’t want to blaspheme fun anymore. When fun comes in on little dancing feet, you probably won’t be expecting it. In f act, I bet it comes when you’re doing your duty, your job, or your work. It may even come on

a Tuesday.

14 I remember one day, long ago, on which I had an especially good time. Pam Davis and I walked to the College Village drug store one Saturday morning to buy some candy. We were about 12 years old (fun ages). She got her Bit-O-Honey. I got my malted milk balls, chocolate stars, Chunkys, and a small bag of M & M’s. We started back to her house. I was going to spend the night. We had the whole day to look forward to. We had plenty of candy. It was a long way to Pam’s house but every time we got weary Pam would put her hand over her eyes, scan the horizon like a sailor and say, “Oughta reach home by nightfall,” at which point the two of us would laug h until we thought we couldn’t stand it another minute. Then after we got calm, she’d say it again. You should have been there. It was the kind of day and friendship and occasion that made me deeply regretful that I had to grow up.

15 It was fun.

乐趣，啊，乐趣。乐趣会要了你的命

苏珊娜·布丽特·乔丹

1．乐趣不易得。

2．乐趣是珍宝。

3．不知从何时起，人们有了这样一种时髦的想法：乐趣唾手可得，人们应该拥有乐趣，如果我们每天不给自己找点乐子，就会变成清教徒。(天哪!)

4．“有趣吗?”这个问题让其他所有的好问题黯然失色。这些好问题包括：道德吗?友好吗?诚实吗?有益吗?大方吗?必要吗?无私吗?(这是我最喜欢的问题。)

5．一旦欢愉成为主要的事情，对乐趣的迷恋必将紧随而至。凡事皆应有趣。如果无趣的话，哎呀，要不然，我们就让它们变得有趣吧。

6. 想想那些称之为有趣的事情吧。全家出游应该有趣。做爱应该有趣。教育应该有趣。工作应该有趣。迪斯尼乐园应该有趣。教堂应该有趣。身体健康应该有趣。

7．正是为了保证让大家知道我们是多么快乐，即使面对不及格的考卷、脏兮兮的汽车保险杠、粘乎于的冰箱门和厕所里的镜子，我们仍然笑容满面。

8．如果一个孩子看着自己的父母快乐地漫步在满是欢声笑语的迪斯尼乐园，突然说："妈妈, 这儿不好玩儿。”妈妈的心会顿时沉了下去。她不明白到底哪儿做错了。所有人都告诉她全家人一起去迪斯尼乐园是多么有趣。哦，天哪，这到底是怎么回事?

9．找乐子成了生活中的一件大事，以至于每个人都开始用越来越刺激的方式寻求乐趣。方法之一便是提高危险、放荡、酗酒和吸毒的程度。这样一来，人们就可以确信，无论如何都可以设法获得一点儿乐趣。

10. 电视广告把许多乐趣和喜爱乐趣的人搬上荧屏：在那些广告中，人们所做的每一件事看起来确实有趣：用宝丽莱相机拍照、豪饮啤酒、买保险、拖地板、打保龄球还有服用阿司匹林。我确定，我们都希望自己能像那些在更衣室里用毛巾相互嬉闹、泼洒香槟的粗俗家伙一样，哪怕只有他们一半的快乐就足够了。人们看的广告越多，越爱琢磨自己什么时候才会得到乐趣。这是。何等悲哀啊。

11. 重大时刻应该是充满乐趣的。很明显，圣诞节、感恩节和复活节应该有趣。婚礼应该有趣。新婚之夜应该有趣，蜜月更应该是快乐的典范。因此，我们发现自己一次又一次地庆祝所有重要的日子，等待乐趣的到来。

12. 我坐着等待乐趣的到来，突然明白乐趣其实很少，而且我应该把自己的感受告诉你，以免你担心自己获得乐趣的能力不够强。

13. 我不是故意泼冷水，我只是说我们应该虔诚地对待乐趣。它很神秘。获得乐趣并不像感染病毒或设陷阱猎捕动物一样容易。这些年来，人们认为乐趣俯拾皆是，结果，欢乐之神为了惩罚我们拒绝我们的聚会。我不想再亵渎乐趣了。可能在你还没有想到乐趣的时候，它却已经迈着轻盈的舞步来到你身边。事实上，我敢打赌乐趣会在你值班、劳动、工作的时候到来。它甚至能在一个普通的星期二到来。

14. 记得很久以前的一天，我玩儿得特别开心。那是一个星期六的早晨，我和帕姆．戴维斯一起去大学城的杂货店买糖果。那时，我们大概12岁(正是开心的年纪)。她买了自己喜欢的Bit-O-Honey牌糖果，我买了麦乳糖球儿、星形巧克力、大块糖和一小包M&M巧克力豆。我们开始往她家走。我要在那儿住一个晚上。一整天我们都在盼望着这件事。而且我们有很多糖果。帕姆家很远，每次我累得走不动时，帕姆就会把一只手搭在眼睛上方，像水手一样仔细观察一下地平线，然后说：“天黑之前应该可以到家了。”每当这个时候，我们俩

就开始放声大笑，直到笑得一分钟也坚持不了才停下来。我们平静以后，她又会那样说一遍。当时你在那儿就好了。那样的日子，那样的友谊，那样的情景让我非常后悔自己必须长大。15．那就是乐趣。