Ha y　Holidays　节日快乐

文章作者 100test 发表时间 2007:10:24 13:44:05
来源 100Test.Com百考试题网

　　所有的节日总离不开吃喝玩乐，离不开喜气洋洋，离不开亲朋相聚。久而久之，不免让人觉得节日只不过是一个吃饭或者聚会的借口，没有实际意义。实际上，节日是对于一般时间的中断和区分，这个时间的特别性更在于它提供了感受心灵的机会。

　 In prison, holidays are the worst. Birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, Christmas, even Valentines Day can be a "bummer." Its difficult and painful to be away from those we love — to be left out of the celebrations and the memory making. Many times, we feel a little forgotten or overlooked.

　 Birthdays in prison come and go without the comfort of cake with candles and the magic of blowing them out. Christmas mornings are without a fancy tree or presents. Thanksgivings are hard to feel thankful for, with dinner served on a cold, metal cafeteria tray.

　 My first Thanksgiving in prison, I refused to eat. My first birthday I spent alternating between rage and feeling more sorry for myself than ever before. On Christmas, I wouldnt even get out of bed. I stayed under the covers to hide the tears I cried all day.

　 So holidays in here are the worst — at least I thought they were until I realized a few things. Once I stripped away all the commercialism and hype, I saw what holidays were all about. Theyre elaborate excuses we use to take a look at our lives, our successes and failures, and to spend quality time with our loved ones.

　 In here or out there, we can still take stock of ourselves and make plans, dream dreams, examine our behavior to see what we like and dont like. Even in here, we have the power to change what falls short of our ideal self-image.

　 Not being able to spend quality time with those we love is a little tougher — until we realize that the people we care for are always with us. And just as theyre with us, we are with them in spirit.

　 The days we cant spend together physically, we can still take time to remember them fondly… making phone calls, sending cards or letters helps ourselves and our loved ones.

　 Other people dont make us happy. Special places and people might help the mood, but the celebration and love comes from within. The challenge is to find it there — a state of mind, a positive attitude. Its easy to use a holiday as an excuse to be sad or edgy. Ive been there. Our challenge is to celebrate every day as special. Life is a precious gift, whether were in jail or not.

　 Im planning a celebration every day this year — a celebration of life. Youre invited. Happy Holidays!　

精美译文：
　　在监狱里，节日是最糟糕的时光。生日、周年纪念、感恩节、圣诞节，甚至情人节都让人不爽。远离那些我们所爱的人--被排除在节日庆祝和记忆产生的过程之外，这是艰难而痛苦的。很多时候，我们有点被人遗忘、受到忽视的感觉。

　　监狱里过生日，没有蛋糕和蜡烛的慰籍，更没有吹蜡烛这样的仪式；圣诞节的早晨并没有装饰精美的圣诞树和礼物；感恩节吃的是自助食堂里用金属餐具盛装的晚餐，很难让人产生感恩之心。

　　在监狱里的第一个感恩节，我绝食了。第一个生日，我在忽而愤怒，忽而无限地自怨自艾中度过。圣诞节呢，我甚至都没有起床，哭了一整天，就呆在被子里以免别人看到我的泪水。

　　所以说监狱里的节日是最糟糕的--至少我是这么想的，直到有一天我意识到了什么。一旦把节日从所有的商业化和大肆宣扬中剥离，我看到了节日的实质。节日是我们精心编制的借口，用来观察我们自己的生活和成败，用来与我们所爱的人度过最有质量的时光。

　　不论在监狱里，或是外面的世界，我们仍然能估价自己、制定计划、追逐梦想，审视我们的行为，明白自己的好恶。甚至在监狱里，我们也有能力改变与理想中的自我形象相去甚远的部分。

　　不能与所爱的人共度有质量的时光更加痛苦一些--但想到我们关心的人是一直与我们一起的就不会再痛苦。正如他们和我们在一起，我们在精神上也与他们一起。

　　我们的身体不能在一起的那些日子，可以花些时间充满柔情地想起他们…打打电话，发发贺卡或信件，这既能帮我们自己，对我们所爱的人也有帮助。

　　旁人不能使我们快乐。特别的地方、特别的人可能有助于改善我们的心情，但是喜庆和爱是来自内心的。我们面临的挑战是在心里找到它--一种心境、一种积极的态度。把节日当作悲哀或者愤怒的借口是很容易的，我就这么干过。而我们面临的挑战是把每一天都当作特别的日子去庆祝。生命是一份珍贵的礼物，不管我们是否身陷囹圄。

　　我正计划着今年的每一天都要庆祝，庆祝新生。你也在受邀之列，祝你节日快乐！

注释：
1. anniversary n. 周年纪念日　　　　　 2. bummer n. 令人不愉快的人、事或经历

3. overlook vt. 忽视　　　　　　　　　4. cafeteria n. 自助食堂，自助餐厅

5. alternate v. 交替, 轮流　　　　　　　6. rage n. 愤怒, 情绪激动

7. strip vt. 剥去　　　　　　　　　　　8. commercialism n. 商业主义，商业性

9. hype n. 大肆宣传　　　　　　　　　10. elaborate adj. 精心制作的

11. take stock of估计, 观察　　　　　　12. fondly adv. 怜爱地, 柔情地

13. edgy adj. 易怒的