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学 海 无 涯 unit 1 Mr Doherty Builds His Dream Life Mr Doherty Builds His Dream Life Jim Doherty 1 There are two things I have always wanted to do write and live on a farm Today I m doing both I am not in E B White s class as a writer or in my neighbors league as a farmer but I m getting by And after years of frustration with city and suburban living my wife Sandy and I have finally found contentment here in the country 多尔蒂先生创建自己的理想生活 吉姆 多尔蒂 有两件事是我一直想做的 写作与务农 如今我同时做着这两件事 作为作家 我 和 E B 怀特不属同一等级 作为农场主 我和乡邻也不是同一类人 不过我应付得还行 在城市以及郊区历经多年的怅惘失望之后 我和妻子桑迪终于在这里的乡村寻觅到心灵的满 足 2 It s a self reliant sort of life We grow nearly all of our fruits and vegetables Our hens keep us in eggs with several dozen left over to sell each week Our bees provide us with honey and we cut enough wood to just about make it through the heating season 这是一种自力更生的生活 我们食用的果蔬几乎都是自己种的 自家饲养的鸡提供鸡 蛋 每星期还能剩余几十个出售 自家养殖的蜜蜂提供蜂蜜 我们还自己动手砍柴 足可供 过冬取暖之用 3 It s a satisfying life too In the summer we canoe on the river go picnicking in the woods and take long bicycle rides In the winter we ski and skate We get excited about sunsets We love the smell of the earth warming and the sound of cattle lowing We watch for hawks in the sky and deer in the cornfields 这也是一种令人满足的生活 夏日里我们在河上荡舟 在林子里野餐 骑着自行车长 时间漫游 冬日里我们滑雪溜冰 我们为落日的余辉而激动 我们爱闻大地回暖的气息 爱 听牛群哞叫 我们守着看鹰儿飞过上空 看玉米田间鹿群嬉跃 4 But the good life can get pretty tough Three months ago when it was 30 below we spent two miserable days hauling firewood up the river on a sled Three months from now it will be 95 above and we will be cultivating corn weeding strawberries and killing chickens Recently Sandy and I had to retile the back roof Soon Jim 16 and Emily 13 the youngest of our four children will help me make some long overdue improvements on the outdoor toilet that supplements our indoor plumbing when we are working outside Later this month we ll spray the orchard paint the barn plant the garden and clean the hen house before the new chicks arrive 但如此美妙的生活有时会变得相当艰苦 就在三个月前 气温降到华氏零下 30 度 我们辛苦劳作了整整两天 用一个雪橇沿着河边拖运木柴 再过三个月 气温会升到 95 度 我们就要给玉米松土 在草莓地除草 还要宰杀家禽 前一阵子我和桑迪不得不翻修后屋顶 过些时候 四个孩子中的两个小的 16 岁的吉米和 13 岁的埃米莉 会帮着我一起把拖了很 学 海 无 涯 久没修的室外厕所修葺一下 那是专为室外干活修建的 这个月晚些时候 我们要给果树喷 洒药水 要油漆谷仓 要给菜园播种 要赶在新的小鸡运到之前清扫鸡舍 5 In between such chores I manage to spend 50 to 60 hours a week at the typewriter or doing reporting for the freelance articles I sell to magazines and newspapers Sandy meanwhile pursues her own demanding schedule Besides the usual household routine she oversees the garden and beehives bakes bread cans and freezes drives the kids to their music lessons practices with them takes organ lessons on her own does research and typing for me writes an article herself now and then tends the flower beds stacks a little wood and delivers the eggs There is as the old saying goes no rest for the wicked on a place like this and not much for the virtuous either 在 这些活计之间 我每周要抽空花五 六十个小时 不是打字撰文 就是为作为自由撰稿人投 给报刊的文章进行采访 桑迪则有她自己繁忙的工作日程 除了日常的家务 她还照管菜园 和蜂房 烘烤面包 将食品装罐 冷藏 开车送孩子学音乐 和他们一起练习 自己还要上 风琴课 为我做些研究工作并打字 自己有时也写写文章 还要侍弄花圃 堆摞木柴 运送 鸡蛋 正如老话说的那样 在这种情形之下 坏人不得闲 贤德之人也歇不了 6 None of us will ever forget our first winter We were buried under five feet of snow from December through March While one storm after another blasted huge drifts up against the house and barn we kept warm inside burning our own wood eating our own apples and loving every minute of it 我们谁也不会忘记第一年的冬天 从 12 月一直到 3 月底 我们都被深达 5 英尺的积 雪困着 暴风雪肆虐 一场接着一场 积雪厚厚地覆盖着屋子和谷仓 而室内 我们用自己 砍伐的木柴烧火取暖 吃着自家种植的苹果 温馨快乐每一分钟 7 When spring came it brought two floods First the river overflowed covering much of our land for weeks Then the growing season began swamping us under wave after wave of produce Our freezer filled up with cherries raspberries strawberries asparagus peas beans and corn Then our canned goods shelves and cupboards began to grow with preserves tomato juice grape juice plums jams and jellies Eventually the basement floor disappeared under piles of potatoes squash and pumpkins and the barn began to fill with apples and pears It was amazing 开春后 有过两次泛滥 一次是河水外溢 我们不少田地被淹了几个星期 接着一次 是生长季节到了 一波又一波的农产品潮涌而来 弄得我们应接不暇 我们的冰箱里塞满了 樱桃 蓝莓 草莓 芦笋 豌豆 青豆和玉米 接着我们存放食品罐的架子上 柜橱里也开 始堆满一罐罐的腌渍食品 有番茄汁 葡萄汁 李子 果酱和果冻 最后 地窖里遍地是大 堆大堆的土豆 西葫芦 南瓜 谷仓里也储满了苹果和梨 真是太美妙了 8 The next year we grew even more food and managed to get through the winter on firewood that was mostly from our own trees and only 100 gallons of heating oil At that point I began thinking seriously about quitting my job and starting to freelance The timing was terrible By then Shawn and Amy our oldest girls were attending expensive Ivy League schools and we had only a few thousand dollars in the bank Yet we kept coming back to the same question Will there ever be a better time The answer decidedly was no and so with my employer s blessings and half a year s pay in accumulated benefits in my pocket off I went 第二年我们种了更多的作物 差不多就靠着从自家树林砍斫的木柴以及仅仅 100 加仑 学 海 无 涯 的燃油过了冬 其时 我开始认真考虑起辞了职去从事自由撰稿的事来 时机选得实在太差 当时 两个大的女儿肖恩和埃米正在费用很高的常春藤学校上学 而我们只有几千美金的银 行存款 但我们一再回到一个老问题上来 真的会有更好的时机吗 答案无疑是否定的 于 是 带着老板的祝福 口
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