My Favorite Shirt

Track 10

by M. Stanley Bubien

翻譯：范婕

有沒有過這樣的經歷：當你與朋友的關系不如以前親密時，對方的一點點示好都會讓你高興半天。如果這種情況出現在孩子和父母之間會發生什么呢？來聽聽一位父親的自述吧！

“No!” my daughter shouted. “I don’t want to!”

“Come on, Victoria,” I said gently with arms1)outstretched, “just one hug.”

“No!” she said, and shook her head wildly.

I knew it was a2)stage, but it still hurt. Sheused tohug me. I guess Itookthatfor granted, never thinking it would stop—my only real3)intimacywith her.

“Maybe she doesn’t feel good,” my wife offered.

I shook my head.

The next morning I heard my wife shouting, “Victoriathrew upin her bed.”We both knew who was going to stay home—my wife had an early meeting.

Even if she refused to hug me, I stillenjoyedbeing with my daughter. Ispentthe morning reading her stories and listening to music while she played with dolls. Around noon, she became4)anxious.

“Daddy, my stomach hurts,” she finally said.

Ipickedherup. When her head touched my shirt, I heard a horrible5)retching.Turning to the side, I saw yellow6)fluid rolling offmy shoulder. Running into the bathroom, Ileaned overthe7)counteras Victoria threw up again. This time, I let it roll down my arm and into the8)sink.

“It’s okay, honey. I have you,” I9)whispered,10)swallowingagainst tears of my own.

“I11)ruinedyour shirt, Daddy,” Victoria cried.

“Oh, it’llwash off,” I comfort her.

But I was wrong. It didn’t wash off.However, I still wore the shirt for years afterward.

1) outstretched [,a?t'stret?t] adj. 伸展的

2) stage [steId?] n. 階段

3) intimacy ['IntIm?sI] n. 親密，親近

4) anxious ['??k??s] adj. 焦急的，流露出憂慮的

5) retching ['ret?I?] n. 干嘔

6) fluid ['flu?Id] n. 液體

7) counter ['ka?nt?] n. 工作臺

8) sink [sI?k] n. 水池，洗滌槽

9) whisper ['wIsp?] v. 低聲說

10) swallow ['sw?l??] v. 吞，忍住

11) ruin ['ru?In] v. 破壞，毀滅

參考譯文

“不！”女兒大喊道，“我不想擁抱！”

“來嘛，維多利亞，”我張開雙臂，溫柔地說，“就抱一下。”

“不要！”她答道，使勁搖頭。

我知道這是女兒成長過程中的一個階段，不過心里還是覺得不好受。她過去還常常和我擁抱，那是我和她唯一實實在在的親密接觸，現在想想那時候自己把和女兒的擁抱當成了理所當然的事情，從沒想過有一天這種親密接觸會不復存在。

“也許她身體不太舒服。”妻子這樣安慰我。

我搖了搖頭。

第二天早上，我聽見妻子喊著：“維多利亞在

詞組加油站

take…for granted認為……是理所當然的

throw up嘔吐

pick up接起

roll off滾落下來

lean over彎下身子

wash off洗掉，洗去她床上吐了。”我和妻子都知道兩人中誰將留在家里——妻子上午有個早會要開。

雖然女兒不愿意和我擁抱，我還是非常享受和她待在一起。一整個早上，我讀了讀她的故事書，聽了聽音樂，她就在一邊玩娃娃。快到中午的時候，她變得焦躁不安起來。

“爸爸，我肚子痛。”她終于說道。

我把女兒抱了起來。她的頭剛一碰到我的襯衫，我就聽到猛烈的嘔吐聲。扭頭一看，只見黃色的液體從我的肩膀上流了下來。我抱著女兒趕緊跑進洗手間，朝洗手臺靠過去，維多利亞又吐了起來。這次，我讓嘔吐物順著我的手臂流進了池子里。

“沒事，親愛的，爸爸抱著你。”我輕聲說，自己卻在強忍淚水。

“爸爸，我把你的襯衫毀了。”維多利亞哭著說道。

“哦，能洗干凈的。”我安慰她道。

但是我錯了。上面的痕跡沒有洗掉。可是那件襯衫我后來仍然穿了很多年。

名師考點小結

1.used to do sth.意為“過去常常做某事”，表示過去習慣性、經常性的動作或狀態，側重于過去與現在的對比，暗指現在已經不存在。used無人稱和時態的變化。例如：

I used to go there on Saturday, but now I seldom do so. 過去我經常星期六去那兒，但現在我很少去了。

拓展：

(1) used to的否定式可為“used not to”，也可為“didn’t use to”。例如：

I didn’t use to eat meat.

=I used not to eat meat. 我過去不常吃肉。

(2) used to的疑問句式也有兩種：“ Did...use to?”或“Used...to?”例如：

Did he use to be good at study?

=Used he to be good at study? 他過去成績不錯嗎？

2.enjoy意為“喜歡，享受……的樂趣”，其后可接名詞、代詞或動名詞作賓語，但不可以接不定式作賓語。例如：

Did you enjoy your summer holiday?

你暑假過得好嗎？

We both enjoy listening to light music.

我們倆都喜歡聽輕音樂。

拓展：enjoy oneself意為“玩得高興”，相當于have a good time/have fun。其中oneself與主語在數上保持一致。例如：

We enjoyed ourselves in the park yesterday.

昨天我們在公園玩得很愉快。

3.spend意為“花費，度過”，其過去式為spent。后接動詞時要用動名詞形式。“spend...on sth.”（在某方面花費時間或金錢），“spend...(in) doing sth.”（做某事花費多長時間或多少金錢）。例如：

I spent all my money on books.

我把所有的錢都花在了買書上。

She spent all her time in playing the piano.

她把她所有的時間都花在了彈鋼琴上。