双语读物：1000个弹珠（英汉对照）.doc

探讨翻译——编译——原创的外媒评论之路，实现智本家价值。

1000 Marbles
1000颗弹珠

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, of maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

年龄越大，我越喜欢星期六早上。也许是全家第一个起床的安静与孤单，也许是由于无需上班工作的无限喜悦。不管怎样，星期六早晨的头几个小时最令人愉快。

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen, with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.
      几周前，我一手端着热气腾腾的咖啡，另一手拿着晨报，慢慢地移进厨房。这看似平常的周六清晨，却让我学到了生命中最重要的一课，至今仍时常回味。

Let me tell you about it. I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business himself.

      让我告诉你吧。我把收音机的音量调大，收听周六早上的脱口秀节目。我听到一个音色明亮的老人声音。你知道那种感觉，似乎他自己就是干广播这一行的。

He was talking about "a thousand marbles" to someone named "Tom". I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say. "Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital. " He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

      他正在与一个叫“汤姆”的人聊到“1000颗弹珠”。这激起了我的兴趣，坐下来听他怎么说。“哦，汤姆，听上去你一直工作很忙。我肯定他们给你的薪水很高，但是，很可惜你必须远离家乡和亲人。年轻人每月要工作六十或七十小时，才能勉强过活，这实在难以置信。你错过了女儿的舞蹈演出，太糟糕了！”他继续说，“让我告诉你点儿事，汤姆，你就能更清楚地知道，什么是生命中最优先的。”此时，他开始解释“弹珠理论”。

"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years." "Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime.

      “你看，有一天我坐下来，算了笔账。人平均活到七十五岁。我知道，有些人活得长，有些人活得短，但是平均下来，人们大约能活七十五年。”那么现在，我用52乘以75，得到3900，这是一般人在整个一生中星期六的天数。

"Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting to the important part. "It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. "I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. "So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. "I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.

      “汤姆，现在跟着我的思路，到最关键的部分了。直到五十五年岁，我才想到这些细节，”他接着说，“到那时，我已经过了2800个星期六。”我想，如果我活到七十五岁，大概只能再享受一千个星期六了。“于是，我去了玩具店，买下店里的每个弹珠。我最后不得不去了三家玩具店，才凑足了1000个弹珠。我把它们带回家，放进一个透明的大塑料罐里，紧挨着收音机，放在工作室。从那时起每逢星期六，我都拿出一枚弹珠，扔掉。

"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. "Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones...... "It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!"

      “随着弹珠的减少，我发现，自己开始更关注生活中真正重要的东西。没有什么能与看着你的生命逐日流逝相比，这有助于你对生活做出优先安排。在我离开与爱妻出去吃早餐之前，要跟你说最后一件事。今天早上，我取出罐子里最后一颗弹珠。我感觉自己能活到下个周六，这样的话，上帝就是额外给了我一些时间，与亲人们在一起……很高兴和你谈谈，汤姆，我希望你有更多的时间跟亲人共处，希望以后再见。祝你有个愉快的早晨！”

You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show's moderator didn't have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special," I said. " It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

      他离开时，全场鸦雀无声。甚至连节目的主持人都很久没有说话。我猜，他的话让大家想了很多。我本来计划早晨做些工作，然后去健身房。而现在，我上楼，吻醒我的妻子。“来吧，亲爱的，我带你和孩子们去吃早餐。”“出什么事儿了？”她笑着问。“哦，没有什么特别，”我说。“我们很久没跟孩子们一起度过周六了。嘿，我们出去时，在玩具店停一下如何？我需要买一些弹珠。”

How many marbles do you have? 

     你有多少弹珠呢？

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