Unit-6-A-French-Fourth課文翻譯綜合教程四

1、Unit6AFrenchFourthCharlesTrueheart1 Alongaboutthistimeeveryyear,asIndependenceDayapproaches,IpullanoldAmericanflagoutofabottomdrawerwhereitisfoldedawayfoldedinasquare,Iadmit,nottheregulationtriangle.I'vehaditalongtimeandhavealwaysflownitoutsideonJuly4.HereinParisithangsfromafourth-floorbalconyvi

2、siblefromthestreet.I'veneverseenanyonelookup,butinmymind'seyeanAmericantouristmaynoticeitandsmile,andaFrenchpasserbymayberemindedofthedateandtheoccasionthatpromptitsappearance.Ihopeso.2 Formyexpatriatedfamily,too,theflagismeaningful,inpartbecausewedon'tdoanythingelsetocelebratetheFourth.

3、Peopledon'thavebarbecuesinParisapartments,andmostotherAmericansIknowwhohavesettledheresuppresssuchoutwardsignsoftheirheritageortheygobackhomeforthesummertorefuel.3 Ourchildrenthinktheflag-hangingisacoolthing,andIlikeitbecauseitgivesusafewmomentsoffamilyQ&Aaboutourcitizenship.MywifeandIhavebe

4、enawayfromtheUnitedStatesfornineyears,andourchildrenareelevenandnine,soAmericanhistoryismostlysomethingtheyhavelearnedorhaven'tlearnedfromtheirparents.July4isoneofthetimeswhentheAmericaninmefeelsatwingeofuneaseaboutthegreatlacunaeinourchildren'sunderstandingofwhotheyareandispromptedtotrytofi

5、llthegaps.It'salsoatime,oneamongmany,whenmythoughtsturnmoregenerallytothecostsandbenefitsofraisingchildreninaforeignculture.4 LouiseandHenryspeakFrenchfluently;theyaretaughtinFrenchatschool,andmostoftheirfriendsareFrench.Theymovefromlanguagetolanguage,seldommixingthemup,withouteffortorevenawaren

6、ess.Thisisawonderfulthing,ofcourse.Andourphysicalseparationfromournativelandisnotmuchofanissue.MywifeandIaregratefuleverydayforallthatourchildrenarenotexposedto.Americanschoolshootingsareagoodobjectlessonforourchildreninthefolliesofthesocietyweholdatadistance.5 Naturally,wealsowanttoremindthemofreas

7、onstotakeprideinbeingAmericanandtotrytoconveytothemwhatthatmeans.Itisadifficultthingtodofromafar,andthedistanceseemsmorethanjustamatterofmiles.IsometimesthinkthatthestorieswetellthemmustseemlikeAesop's(orLaFontaine's)fables,mythswithnofixedplaceinspaceortime.Still,connectionscanbemade,lesson

8、slearned.6 Lastsummerwespentaweekwithmybrotherandhisfamily,wholiveinConcord,Massachusetts,andwetookthechildrentotheNorthBridgetogivethemaglimpseoftheAmericanRevolution.Wehappenedtorunacrossareenactmentoftheskirmishthatlaunchedthewar,witheveryonedressedupinthree-corneredhatsandcottonbonnets.Thisproba

9、blyonlyconfirmedtoourgoggle-eyedkidsthemake-believequalityofAmericanhistory.7 Sixmonthslater,whenwewererecallingtheexperienceatthefamilydinnertablehere,IaskedLouisewhattheRevolutionhadbeenabout.Shethoughtthatithadsomethingtodowiththemanwhorodehishorsefromtowntotown.“Ah”,Isaid,satisfactionswellinginm

10、ybreast,“andwhatwasthatman'sname?”“Gulliver?”Louisereplied.Henry,forhispart,knewthattheRevolutionwasbetweentheBritishandtheAmericans,andthoughtthatitwasprobablyaboutslavery.8 Aswepursuedthisconversation,though,welearnedwhatthechildrenknewinstead.LouisetoldusthattheFrenchRevolutioncameattheendoft

11、heEnlightenment,whenpeoplelearnedalotofideas,andonewasthattheydidn'tneedkingstotellthemwhattothinkordo.Onanotheroccasion,whenHenryaskedwhatmakesapersona“junior”ora“II”ora“III”,LouisehelpedmeanswerbybringingupkingslikeLouisQuatorzeandQuinzeandSeize;HenryripostedwithHenryVIII.9 Ican'tsayIworry

12、muchaboutourchildren'sEuropeanframeofreference.TherewillbeplentyoftimeforthemtolearnAmerica'spitifullybriefhistoryandtofindoutwhoThomasJeffersonandFranklinRooseveltwere.AlreadytheyknowagreatdealmorethanIwouldhavewishedaboutBillClinton.10 Ifallofthisresonateswithme,itmaybebecausemyfamilymoved

13、toParisin1954,whenIwasthree,andIwasenrolledinFrenchschoolsformostofmygrade-schoolyears.Idon'tremembermuchinstructioninAmericanstudiesatschoolorathome.IdorememberthatmymothertookmeoutofschooloneafternoontoseethemovieOklahoma!Icanrecallwhatafarawayplaceitseemed:allthatsunshineandsquaredancingandsu

14、rreyswithfringeontop.ThesinisterJudFrypersonifiedevilforquitesometimeafterward.CowboysandIndianswereanAmericanclichethathadalreadyreachedParisthroughthemovies,andIaskedagrandparenttosendmeaDavyCrocketthatsothatIcouldliveoutthatfairytaleagainstthebackdropofgraypostwarMontparnasse.11 Althoughmychildre

15、narelivinginthesameplaceatroughlythesametimeintheirlives,theirexperienceasexpatriatesisverydifferentfrommine.TheparticularnarrativesofAmericanhistoryaside,AmericancultureisnottheirsalonebutthatoftheirFrenchclassmates,too.Themusictheylistentoiseither“American”or“European,”butitisoftenhardtotellthedif

16、ference.InmydaylittleFrenchkidslookedlikenothingotherthanlittleFrenchkids;butLouiseandHenryandtheirclassmatesdressmuchastheirpeersintheUnitedStatesdo,thoughwithperhapslessLands'Endfleeciness.WhenIreturnedtovisittheUnitedStatesinthe1950s,itwasafive-dayoceancrossingforamonth'shomeleaveeverytwo

17、years;nowweflyoverforaweekortwo,althoughnotveryoften.Virtuallyeveryimaginableproductavailabletomychildren'sAmericancousinsisnowobtainablehere.12 IftimeandglobalizationhavemadeFrancemuchmoreliketheUnitedStatesthanitwasinmyyouth,thenIcanconcludeacoupleofthings.Ontheonehand,ourchildrenareconfrontin

18、gamuchlessjarringculturaldividethanIdid,andtheyhavemoreaccesstotheirnativeculture.Re-entry,whenitcomes,islikelytobesmoother.Ontheotherhand,theyarelessthanfullyimmersedinatrulyforeignworld.ThatexperiencenolongerseemspossibleinWesterncountriesasaddevelopment,inmyview.在法國慶祝美國獨(dú)立日查爾斯特魯哈特1 每年差不多到了獨(dú)立日日益臨近的

19、時(shí)候，我都會(huì)把一面折疊好的舊的美國國旗從底層抽屜里取出我承認(rèn)我折疊國旗不是官方規(guī)定的三角形，而是正方形。我擁有這面國旗很長時(shí)間了，每年到了7月4日我總是把它掛出來。身處巴黎的我把它掛在四樓的陽臺(tái)上，在馬路上都看得到。雖然我沒見過有人抬頭看它一眼，但在我腦海中，我想象著美國游客或許會(huì)注意到它并莞爾一笑，而法國路人會(huì)從中想起促使這面國旗出現(xiàn)的相關(guān)日期和原因。誠愿如此。2 對(duì)我們這個(gè)旅居國外的家庭來說，這面國旗之所以意義深遠(yuǎn)，部分是因?yàn)槲覀儧]有其他任何活動(dòng)來慶祝獨(dú)立日。巴黎人不在公寓里燒烤，我認(rèn)識(shí)的大多數(shù)在此定居的美國人并不揚(yáng)他們的這種傳統(tǒng)，他們寧可回國消夏來為自己加油打氣。3 我的孩子們覺得懸掛國

20、旗很酷，我也喜歡這種做法，因?yàn)樗屛覀兗矣袡C(jī)會(huì)就我們的公民身份問答一番。我們夫妻離開美國長達(dá)9年，兩個(gè)孩子一個(gè)11歲一個(gè)9歲，所以美國歷史對(duì)他們來說，很大程度上要么是從父母那里已經(jīng)學(xué)到的知識(shí)，要么是還沒學(xué)到的知識(shí)。每到類似7月4日這樣的日子，我的美國心便感到忐忑不安，因?yàn)楹⒆觽儗?duì)他們身份的認(rèn)同存在巨大的空白，所以我想盡力填補(bǔ)這些空白。這也是很多場合中的一個(gè)，讓我的思想更全面地考慮在異國文化氛圍中養(yǎng)育子女的利與弊。4 路易絲和亨利法語都說得很流利。學(xué)校里使用法語教學(xué)，他們的朋友大多數(shù)是法國人。他們?cè)诜ㄕZ和英語之間切換自如，不費(fèi)吹灰之力，極少把兩種語言搞混。這當(dāng)然很棒。我們遠(yuǎn)離故國，相隔千山萬水，

21、也不是什么問題。每天我們夫妻倆都為兒女不用面對(duì)的一切壞事而心懷感激。美國校園槍戰(zhàn)對(duì)我們孩子來說是避之不及的社會(huì)愚蠢行為的極好反面教材。5 當(dāng)然了，我們也希望能提醒他們身為美國人而自豪的原因，想方設(shè)法告訴他們這樣做意義何在。在遠(yuǎn)離祖國的情況下這樣做不容易，距離并不是和祖國相隔有多遠(yuǎn)的問題。有時(shí)我想我們給孩子們講的故事聽起來一定很像伊索寓言或拉封丹寓言，都是些沒有確鑿時(shí)間地點(diǎn)的神話。但無論如何，畢竟還能做點(diǎn)聯(lián)系，學(xué)點(diǎn)東西。6 去年夏天，我們和我弟弟一家在一起度過了一周，他們住在馬薩諸塞州的康科德城。我們帶孩子們參觀北橋，讓他們看一眼美國獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭的遺址。我們碰巧趕上了一個(gè)表演，表演重現(xiàn)了觸發(fā)大戰(zhàn)的小

22、規(guī)模戰(zhàn)斗的情景。演出中男士都戴著三角帽，而女士戴著有帶子的帽子。這也許恰恰讓這些瞪大眼睛的孩子們加深了美國歷史虛幻性的印象。7 6個(gè)月后，我們吃飯時(shí)在飯桌上回憶起參觀的情景，我問路易絲美國獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭是怎么一回事。她認(rèn)為這和一個(gè)人騎著馬從一個(gè)鎮(zhèn)子跑到另一個(gè)鎮(zhèn)子有關(guān)?！鞍。蔽一卮鸬?，滿意之情在心中油然而生，接著問道：“這個(gè)人叫什么名字？”“格列佛？”路易絲答道。至于亨利，他知道獨(dú)立戰(zhàn)爭是英國人和美國人打仗，而且打仗也許是為了奴隸制。8 然而當(dāng)我們進(jìn)一步討論這個(gè)話題，我們知道小孩子們都掌握了哪些知識(shí)。路易絲告訴我們法國大革命發(fā)生在啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)末期，那時(shí)人們已經(jīng)懂得很多道理，其中一個(gè)道理就是人們不需要國王告訴大家該想什么、該做什么。還有一次，亨利問為什么要在一個(gè)人名字后面加上“小”，或者加上“二世”，或者“三世"，路易絲幫我回答了這個(gè)問題，舉了路易十四、路易十五和路易十六幾位國王的例子，亨利立刻機(jī)敏地回以亨利八世的例子。9 我不能說我很擔(dān)心對(duì)孩子們凡事都以歐洲作為參照系有多少擔(dān)憂。讓他們學(xué)習(xí)美國短得可憐的歷史，了解托馬斯杰斐遜、富蘭克林羅斯福是誰來日方長。他們現(xiàn)在對(duì)比爾克林頓的了解已經(jīng)比我希望的要多了。10 如果說我對(duì)這