一）Letting Go of Yesterday 让昨日随风
On Saturday, February 12 two thousand, two things happened that changed everything in my life. The first was that on this day my baby sister was married. She was twenty-six this day, and yet to me she was still my baby sister. I suppose that I pictured her as a little girl, and treated her like one in order to hold onto and 1)preserve my own youth. Until I saw her in her wedding dress I still had a vision of her with 2)chubby little cheeks and long, dark-brown 3)pigtails blowing in the wind, perhaps even a 4)permanent 5)smudge of chocolate around her pink lips. I guess it's true that you see only what you want to see. Where did this beautiful woman with the glowing 6)complexion and gentle curves come from?
2000年2月12日，星期六，那天发生的两件事改变了我的此后的生活。第一件是小妹妹那天结婚了。当时她已经26岁了，但对我来说，她还是我的小妹妹。我总是把她看作小女孩，也把她当一个小女孩来对待。我想这是因为我希望通过这种方式来永葆青春。直到看到她身着婚纱的那一刻，浮现在我脑海的还是那个小圆脸蛋，长长的褐色马尾巴在风中摆动的小女孩；也许还有一块巧克力总是粘在她那粉红色的嘴唇上。我想人总是看见自己想看的东西。眼前这位容光焕发、线条优美的女人是谁呢？
I was happy that day, and also sad. Gone were the days of me bossing her around and telling her what she should do with her life. My bossy behavior had earned me the nickname Lucy. If you are a Peanuts fan then you can clearly imagine my behavior as an older sister. To me it wasn't an 7)insult; I rather like the nickname Lucy. I happen to think that Lucy is strong and has incredible self-confidence, although she is a little 8)overbearing at times. I did my best to 9)live up to the standards 10)set forth by this dynamic cartoon character.
那天我既高兴又伤心。过去我对她呼来唤去，告诉她生活应该怎样过的日子已经一去不回了。因为独断蛮横我得到了露西这个外号。如果你也喜欢看《花生》这部动画片，那你一定可以想象我作为一个大姐姐的样子。我不觉得这个外号是一种侮辱，反倒很喜欢它。我有时还想，强大的露西自信得令人难以置信，虽然她有时也让人难以忍受。我努力向这个生气勃勃的卡通形象看齐。
I left the reception to get some air because suddenly I was overcome with grief at the realization that I was no longer a child. I went outside and walked to a nearby playground where there were children playing on the slide, the swings and digging in the dirt. There was a little girl 11)twirling around on a bar, one knee wrapped tightly around the bar and fashioned behind her knee. It was all I could do to sit there and just watch, for I too wanted to get on that bar with her and see if I could still hold the all-time twirling record (ninety-nine times in fifth grade). Somewhere inside I knew that I would break my neck, and I was wearing a 12)bridesmaid dress. Not exactly play ground material. And so I sat watching the children play. I'm not sure how long I sat there before my sister came and joined me. We talked about how we are grown up now and shed a few tears for our childhood days gone by. As she wiped a tear from my eye she lovingly said, "you'll always be Lucy to me." We hugged.
我离开了婚礼现场，到外面去呼吸些新鲜空气。我突然伤感不已，因为自己已经不再是个孩子了。我走到外面，来到附近的一个运动场边，小孩子正在那里玩滑梯、荡秋千、玩泥沙。有个小女孩正在一个杠上快速地转动，一条腿紧紧地勾在杠上。而我所能做的只是坐在那里看看，我也想跟她一起玩，看看能否再重现当年自己转圈的最高记录（五年级时一次达到99次）。但我很清楚，这样我可能会扭断脖子。再说我正穿着伴娘服，不适合运动。于是我只好坐在那里看孩子们玩耍。不知过了多久，妹妹来到我身边。我们谈起自己已经长大了，并为逝去的孩童时光流下了泪。她替我擦干眼泪，充满爱意地说：“你永远都是我的露西。” 我们拥抱在了一起。
My cousin Mike walked over and told my sister that it was time to cut the cake. And then he dropped bomb number two on me. "Hey, did you guys hear that Charles Schultz died today?" He said it like it was no big deal. He took my sister's arm and turned to head back for the reception hall. "Coming?" They asked. "In a minute." I replied, and sat back down on the bench, 13)dizzy from what he had just told me.
表弟迈克走过来告诉妹妹该切蛋糕了。接着他给我扔下了第二颗炸弹。“嘿，你们知道查尔斯·舒尔兹今天去世了吗？”他说得很轻松，然后挽着妹妹的手臂向婚礼现场走去。“来吗？”他们问道。“等会儿，”我回答说，又在椅子上坐了下来，他刚刚告诉我的消息让我眩晕。
Dead? How could Charles Schultz be dead? He was my creator! And though I have never met the man personally, he has always been like an invisible father to me. He did, after all, fashion a famous character after me. I lost so many things on this day. Innocence slipped away from me like a thief in the night: come and gone before I could do anything about it, taking with it all the treasures that I held most valuable in my heart. I felt myself grow up, all in one moment. Reality rushed in around me like a hurricane tide. There was nowhere to run to. All I could do was sit there and watch it destroy and reshape what had existed only a moment before. I was no longer a child. I was no longer Lucy who knew what was best for everyone else. I saw, for the first time, what I really was—a thirty-year old woman with a husband of my own, and soon, a child of my own.
去世了？查尔斯·舒尔兹怎么可能会去世呢？是他创造了我！虽然我从来没和他见过面，但对于我来说，他一直都像是一位看不见的父亲一样。他毕竟为我创造了一个有名的角色。就在那一天，我失去了那么多东西，童真就像一个在夜里行窃的小偷一样，无声无息地溜走了：在我还来不及做点什么的时候就已经走了，带走了我心底深处最宝贵的财富。就在那一刻，我意识到自己已经长大了。现实像暴风浪一样向我袭来。我无处可逃。我只能坐在那里，看着它把刚刚还存在的东西毁掉，接着又重塑。我不再是个孩子。我不再是知道那个神通广大的露西了。我第一次意识到真正的我——一个有自己的丈夫，很快会有我们的孩子的三十岁的女人。
I allowed the tide to carry my sadness out with it. Take it out to sea, for it serves no purpose in my life. I stood up from the bench; a little taller than I was when I sat down. I turned and headed back to the hall, hoping I didn't miss the cutting of the cake. It was the day my sister grew wings of her own and left the nest. It was the day that Lucy died, and I was born.
我任由巨浪带走我的悲伤，送到大海中去。因为它对于我的生命来说再没什么意义了。我从椅子上站了起来，比我坐着时高了一些。我转身向婚礼现场走去，希望没错过切蛋糕的场面。今天是妹妹展翅出巢一天，也是露西死去，我得到新生的一天。
二）Keep Your Direction 坚持你的方向
What would you do if you failed? Many people may choose to give up. However, the surest way to success is to keep your direction and stick to your goal.
On your way to success, you must keep your direction. It is just like a lamp, guiding you in darkness and helping you overcome obstacles on your way. Otherwise, you will easily get lost or hesitate to go ahead.
Direction means objectives. You can get nowhere without an objective in life.
You can try to write your objective on paper and make some plans to achieve it. In this way, you will know how to arrange your time and to spend your time properly. And you should also have a belief that you are sure to succeed as long as you keep your direction all the time.
如果失败了你会怎么做？很多人可能会选择放弃。然而，要想成功，最可靠的方法就是坚持你的方向和目标。
在通往成功的路上，你必须坚持你的方向。它就像一盏灯，在黑暗中为你指路，帮助你度过难关。否则，你很容易就会迷失方向或犹豫不前。
方向意味着目标。人生如果没有目标，将一事无成。
你可以试着把你的目标写在纸上，并制定实现目标的计划。这样，你就会懂得如何合理安排时间，如何正确地支配时间。而且你还要有这样的信念：只要你一直坚持自己的方向，你就一定可以成功。
三）The Little Match-Girl
It was dreadfully cold, it was snowing fast, and almost dark； the evening----the last evening of the old year was drawing in. But, cold and dark as it was, a poor little girl, with bare head and feet, was still wandering about the streets. When she left her home she had slippers on, but they were much too large for her； indeed, properly, they belonged to her mother, and had dropped off her feet whilst she was running very fast across the road, to get out of the way of two carriages. One of the slippers was not to be found, the other had been snatched up by a little boy, who ran off with it thinking it might serve him as a doll's cradle.
天气非常非常冷，雪下得很大，夜幕已降临。这是旧年最后的一夜——除夕之夜。尽管天气是那么的寒冷和黑暗，一个贫穷的小女孩，光头赤脚仍在大街上徘徊。当她离家出门的时候，脚上穿着一双拖鞋，那是一双相当大的拖鞋——的确太大了，那是她妈妈穿着合适的一双拖鞋。当她匆忙横穿马路的时候，两辆马车飞快地闯过来，吓得她把拖鞋跑丢了。一只怎么也找不到，另一只被一个小男孩抢跑了。他想，这只鞋可以当做玩具娃娃睡觉的摇篮。
So the little girl now walked on, her bare feet quite red and blue with the cold. She carried a small bundle of matches in her hand, and a good many more in her tattered apron. No one had bought any of them the live long day； no one had given her a single penny. Trembling with cold and hunger crept she on, the picture of sorrow: poor little child!
现在这小女孩只好光着脚在街上行走，一双脚步冻得又红又青。她那破旧的围裙兜着许多火柴，手里还拿着一小捆。可整整一天谁也没有向她买过一根——谁也没有给她一个铜板。她又饿又冷，哆哆嗦嗦地向前走着，这是一幅非常凄惨的景象：可怜的小姑娘！
The snow-flakes fell on her long, fair hair, which curled in such pretty ringlets over her shoulders； but she thought not of her own beauty, or of the cold. Lights were glimmering through every window, and the savor of roast goose reached her from several houses； it was New Year's eve, and it was of this that she thought.
雪花落在她那金黄色的头发上——长长的卷发披散在肩上，看起来十分美丽，可她想不到自己的漂亮。从每扇窗子透出的亮光和飘出的烤鹅肉香味，使她想起的只是今天是除夕之夜。In a corner formed by two houses, one of which projected beyond the other. She sat down, drawing her little feet close under her, but in vain, she could not warm them. She dared not go home, she had sold no matches, earned not a single penny, and perhaps her father would beat her， besides her home was almost as cold as the street， it was an attic； and although the larger of the many chinks in the roof were stopped up with straw and rags. the wind and snow often penetrated through. Her hands were nearly dead with cold； one little match from her bundle would warm them. Perhaps, if she dared light it, she drew one out, and struck it against the wall, bravo! it was a bright, warm flame, and she held her hands over it. It was quite an illumination for that poor little girl； nay,1 call it rather a magic taper, for it seemed to her as though she was sitting before a large iron-stove with brass ornaments, so beautifully blazed the fire within! The child stretched out her feet to warm them also； alas, in an instant the flame had died away, the stove vanished, the little girl sat cold and comfortless, with the burnt match in her hand.
街边一前一后坐落着两座房子，形成一个小墙角，她蹲在墙角里，把一双小脚卷缩到身下坐了下来，可是没有用，她还是不觉得暖和。她不敢回家，因为她还没有卖掉一根火柴，没有挣到一个铜板，她的父亲也许会因此打她，况且她家几乎和大街上一样冷。那是一间阁楼，虽然屋顶上几个较大的裂口用草和破布堵住了，可风和雪还是不时地灌进来，她那双小手差不多冻僵了。她想，只要她敢抽出一根火柴，在墙上擦燃，就可以暖手，终于她抽出了一根。哧！火柴燃起来了，冒出了火苗。当她双手覆在上面时，它变成了一朵光明、温暖的火焰，象一根奇妙的小蜡烛。小姑娘觉得自己象坐在一个大火炉旁边一样，铁炉镶有铮亮的黄铜花边和底座。火烧得多么旺，多么好啊！小姑娘刚刚伸出她的一双脚，打算暖一下的时候，哎呀！这是怎么样一回事儿？火焰忽然熄灭了！火炉也不见了。她坐在那儿，手里捏着那烧过的火柴，又回到了寒冷和孤单之中。
A second match was struck against the wall； it kindles and blazed, and wherever its light fell the wall became transparent as a veil. The little girl could see into the room within. She saw the table spread with a snow-white damask cloth, whereon were ranged shining china-dishes； the roast goose stuffed with apples and dried plums stood at one end, smoking hot, and which was pleasantest of all to see；the goose, with knife and fork still in her breast, jumped down from the dish, and waddled along the floor right up to the poor child. The match was burnt out, and only the thick, hard wall was beside her.
她又擦着一根火柴，火柴燃起来了，发出了明亮的光。墙上那块被火光照着的地方，忽然变得透明，象一块薄纱。小女孩可以看到房间的东西，桌上铺着雪白的台布，上面放着精致的瓷碟，还有填满梅子和苹果、冒着热气、香喷喷的烤鹅。最美妙的是看见了——这只背上插着刀叉的鹅从盘里跳了出来，摇摇摆摆地在地板上走着，一直向这个可怜的小姑娘走来。就在这时，火柴熄灭了，留在她面前的，只是一堵又厚又冷的墙。
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