生活充满乐趣

曲永华

Every morning my daughter and I go for a twenty-minute walk to my workplace. For me， in those twenty minutes， I’m in transit（通过）. For my daughter， it’s nothing less than a parade（游行）of flowers， fire trucks， pebbles（鹅卵石）， and friendly folk.

One morning， ①I noticed that a sweet old man， amused by my toddler（学步的幼儿）， was watching her with a smile on his face. As we crossed his path， he chuckled（轻声地笑）to himself， “Children have all the fun！”

He’s right. They do. And clearly， I’m missing out！ My age is no good reason for me to miss out on this street party！

Now， I try to remember that fun is a perspective（洞察力）. It’s not a force bound within the walls of amusement parks. The days that I remember this， it makes all the difference.

②We are born with a complete understanding of fun， which seems to fade（逐渐消逝）over time and conditioning. I say we should learn from children.

First of all， Kids are really good at enjoying the moment. ③Adults are addicted（上瘾的）to thinking about all the things we have to do tonight， tomorrow， next week. Where you are is where the fun is. Nowhere else.

Second， we should learn something new. From new words to new facial expressions， kids are constantly（不断地）mastering new skills. Make it a point to continuously be learning something， anything. Aren’t we the ones who tell our kids that“learning is fun”？

Next， use your imagination（想象力）. ④ A child can get lost in her make-believe world for hours. Imagine riding an elephant in Thailand. Or running a marathon on the Great Wall of China. ⑤You’ll have so much fun pretending that you might want to make it a reality（现实）—which leads to more fun than you can imagine.

[精彩译文]

每天早上我和女儿走20分钟的路程去我上班的地方。对我来说，这20分钟的路程上我是行路者。对于我的女儿来说，这不亚于一场热闹的游行，队伍中有鲜花、消防车、鹅卵石和友好的人们。

一天早上，我注意到一位和蔼的老人被我的女儿逗乐了，他看着她脸上露出了微笑。当我们走过他的身边，他自言自语：“孩子们总是那么快乐。”

他说对了。孩子们确实如此。而且很明显，我错过这些快乐。就算我年纪大了，我也没有理由错过这街头派对。

现在我努力记住：我们需要发现乐趣的洞察力。乐趣并没被束缚在游乐园里。只要我们有了发现乐趣的心态，我们的生活就会充满乐趣。我记住了这一点，我的生活变得完全不同。

我们生来就具备完全理解乐趣的能力，它似乎随着时间和条件的变化而逐渐消逝。我认为我们应该向孩子们学习。

第一，孩子们真的善于享受眼下这一刻，而成人则沉溺于考虑那些在今晚、明天、下周，所有我们不得不做的事情。当下就是快乐所在，不在今晚、明天、下周。

第二，我们应该学习一些新事物。从新单词到新表情，孩子在不断掌握新的技能。努力做到持续不断地学习，学习任何事物，这是生活的意义所在。难道不是我们告诉孩子们“学习很有趣”的吗？

除此之外，发挥你的想象力。孩子会沉浸在虚幻的世界里好几个小时。想象着在泰国骑上一头大象，或是在中国长城跑马拉松。设想你或许要把它变成现实，你会感到非常多的乐趣——这会带来比你想象的更多的乐趣。

[难点解读]

①本句中amused by my toddler，過去分词短语作定语，和所修饰名词a sweet old man是被动关系。

例如：The vegetables sold in this shop are grown without chemicals.

这家商店卖的蔬菜不含化学物质。

②本句中which引导非限制性定语从句。

例如：Some of the roads were flooded， which made our journey more difficult.

一些道路被洪水冲毁了，这导致我们的旅程更加困难。

③be addicted to 沉溺于做某事

例如：Some people may be addicted to net surfing， which impairs their and mental health.

有些人可能沉溺于网上冲浪， 这会危害他们的身心健康。

④ get lost in 迷失在，沉浸在

例如：She stared out of the window， getting lost in a daydream.

她凝视窗外，沉浸在幻想之中。

⑤have fun doing sth.开心做某事

例如：I have fun playing with my friends.我和朋友们玩得很开心。