我的单车时代
It’s wonderful to be back in my boyhood hometown again to visit with my now elderly mother. It seems like centuries ago when I was growing up here. Back then, this ,small town was just a backdrop that formed the unremarkable environment in which I lived my everyday life.
与年迈的母亲一起重游童年的故乡是一件美妙的事情，我在这里的成长过程就像是发生在几个世纪前一样。回想当初，这个小镇仅仅是我童年生活一个丝毫不起眼的背景。
Mom’s doing great for her age, but she's moving slower these days. After a lengthy but heartwarming talk in the den about my wife, the kids and how well work is going back in the big city far from here, we have reached the point of being all talked out for now.
在她的年纪看来，母亲的身体还不错，但这些天行动却迟缓了一些。我们在书房里进行了一次温馨长谈，说起我的妻子、孩子和离这里很遥远的、即将返回的大城市里工作的事情。我们把现有的一切都谈了个遍。
What a perfect time to go for a walk and get some fresh air. The outside loudly calls for a look around the neighborhood to see how things have changed,and how things have stayed the same. As I walk down the street, it's like!’m on my trusted bicycle riding around as a young boy. I’m on yet another grand mission on my bike again. Oh, the places my bike could take me, and did,
这可是出门散步和呼吸新鲜空气的最佳时刻，窗外的世界在大声地召唤着我去看周遭的一切，去看世事如何变迁，又是如何保持原样的。当我走过街道，一切似乎又回到了我的少年时代，我又骑上了我心爱的单车，又要在单车上开始另一段庄严的旅程了。噢，那些单车载我去过的地方!
There’s the small corner store, just a quick bike ride down one street and up another, where!can get an ice-cold soda in a glass bottle with the red metal cap.Inside is the long candy aisle where I must carefully consider my choices; will it be a candy bar, or pack of football cards with the bonus flat piece of bubble gum, or a handful of fireball jawbreakers? The freedom to decide continues unabated only the stakes are higher with time, requiring proportionally greater wisdom.
在骑车从一条街转进另一条街的拐角地方，有一间小商店，在那儿我能买到一玻璃瓶、有着红色金属盖子的冰冻汽水。商店里面是条长长的糖果长廊，站在这儿，我得谨慎考虑我的选择:是买一个糖果块，一套附赠泡泡糖的足球卡，还是一把火球样的硬球糖?这种决定接下来怎么做的自由从未消减，只是随着时间推移，事情愈加复杂，相应的需要更多的智慧。
There's the bridge over the lazy river where I love to park my bike, and just sit on the tail ledge to think penetrating thoughts, as I look down the river into the expansive horizon. How far does this river go, and what is beyond the river, and even what is beyond that? Maybe someday I can travel to experience it on my own when I get older. Many are the places I've since traveled, only to enlarge my curiosity further, as my awareness of the unknown has grown.
在一条静静的河上有一座桥，我喜欢将单车停在那里，然后坐在高高的桥栏上，一边俯视着河边广阔的地平线，一边思考着头脑中千奇百怪的想法。这条河会流多远?河的前面是什么?前面的前面呢?或许有一天，当我长大了，我可以独自前行，去探索这一切……从踏出第一步起，我已去过很多很多地方，只是为了扩大好奇心，我越来越意识到自己的无知。
It's only a quick ride to reach the old retired doctor’s house, whose lawn I mow weekly. He pays me a modest wage to help maintain his large yard. We always enjoy talking as we work together. I don't remember exactly all that we talked about, but I do remember that he always listened and I felt appreciated. He sure did know a lot about what fifie has in store that is common to every man. His example of deliberate kindness and thoughtful wisdom showed me how to pass on the same to others younger than myself, many times over the years.
骑车到那个退休的老医生家里仅需很短的时间，我每周都去给他家修剪草坪。他会给予我适当的报酬，让我帮忙打理他的大庭院。我们很享受一起工作时的聊天时光。我已经不能确切地忆起我们到底说了些什么，但我却记得他总是在聆听，这让我感觉自己倍受尊重。他当然知道对每个普通人来说，即将面对的生活会是什么样子……这些年来，有多少次，我将他传递给我的善意与智慧继续传递给比我年轻的人。
Up ahead is her house, just three houses down from that corner. I sure do have a crush on her. She is so lovely with pretty blond hair. I need to ride past her house yet again to see if I might find her outside where I could maybe, just maybe,have the chance to talk with her after school. I'm not sure what to say given the chance, but it’s worth the risk. Too bad she never really noticed me at school,even though we shared the same classes; I wonder where she is now.
前方是她的家，只需拐角过去再走过三所房子就到了。我确信自己疯狂迷恋上她了。她有着美丽的金发，十分可爱。我骑着车一次次地经过她家门前，幻想着或许能碰见她出门，或许一月又仅是或许，能在放学后有跟她说话的机会。我不知道老天能否赐予这个机会，但值得冒险一试。很不幸，在学校里她从来没留意过我，即使我们在同一个班里上课。现在我很想知道她身在何方……
Years later in college, it was just as awkward when I first met my future bride and struggled to start a conversation, but those moments surprisingly became the initial spark that turned into the real communication of our now 25-year marriage.
几年后，当在大学里遇见我未来的新娘时，我还是那样笨拙地，尽力去开始一段谈话。然而那些时刻，很意外地，成为燃起我们如今25年婚姻的星星之火。
Where is that special tree? I know it's somewhere around here between these two houses, or is it the next house? l guess the tree is now long gone. Having packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich lunch in my bicycle basket, I'm set to spend almost the entire day climbing around in it, where i can think and dream unrestrrained. It is here I have found a glorious refuge; each large branch is its own lavish room comprising my expansive estate. What a rich man I am to have found such an interesting place that I can call my own!
那棵特别的树在哪呢?我知道它就在附近的某个地方，不过是在这两所房子之间，还是在下一座房子旁边?我猜那棵树已经消失很久了。那时我常把做午餐的花生酱和果冻三明治装好，放进车筐里，然后来到这里。我会爬到树上，不着边际地肆意幻想，几乎能在这消磨一整天的时光。我在这)L找到了华丽的庇护所:每一根粗壮的树枝都是一个宽大的房间，共同构筑成我的豪华庄园。能够找到如此有趣的独属于我的领地，我是多么的富有啊!
I love to climb to the very top where the highest branch is so narrow, I must hold on tight as I sway widely with it in the wind, because the higher I go, the more I can see. I can even see past the supermarket, with a glimpse of the ocean a mile beyond that.I'm glad my mother never knew how high I dared to climb. Ever since then, I have always found it well worth paying the price to reach the vantage point that affords life's best perspective.
我喜欢爬上最高的地方，因为只有我上得越高，才能看得越远。不过最高处的树枝太细，我必须得紧紧抓住它，随风摇摆。我的目光甚至可以越过商场，瞥见一英里外的海洋。我很高兴母亲从来不知道我敢爬到多高……从那时起，我一直都觉得为了看见生活的光明远景，付出代价爬上有利位置是十分值得的。
My bicycle enabled so much adventure along the safe sidewalks and sleepy streets of my town. It offered great freedom to explore. There were so many places to ride my bike, including special places that only I knew about. There were seemingly endless opportunities for discovery, compelling experiences, and even the thrill of imagined danger.
沿着安全人行道和安静的长街，我的单车载着我在这个小镇经历了许多冒险，它为我提供了足够的自由去探索。骑上我的单车，可以去的地方实在太多了，包括很多只有我一个人知道的地方。似乎总有无尽的机会去寻求发现、扣人心弦的历险，以及可以想象到的令人发抖的危险。
My life then had space wide enough to ride but secure enough with all its well-defined boundaries, where I purposed to set my course towards creating an engaging life to enjoy.This was a place that couldn't have been more adventurous.
然后，我的生活中就有了足够广阔的空间等待我去行驶，但已有定义分明的安全界限。无论去哪，我都计划好我的步伐，去创造、享受我充实的生活。这里已是一个没有任何冒险性的地方。
It's been decades since those days of boyhood exploration, and I’m sure that rust has long since consumed my old bike. But even though everything is different now, nothing has changed. bife remains an adventure that continually beckons. Although I am more established now, I still fashion the places I call my own so that I may live large. I still must plan to set a direction and be careful to navigate a wise path.
少年时代的探险已经过去了几十年了，我确信旧单车上也早已生满了锈。然而，虽然现在一切都不一样了，其实却什么都没有改变。生活总是存在着一场冒险，它在不停地召唤着我们。尽管我现在被越来越多的人肯定，但我依然在不停地构筑属于自己的领地，以获得更大的生活空间。我仍要计划前进的方向，小心地在智慧的道路上航行。
This wonderful little town-this special appointed place-provided a significant time of preparation which was a microcosm of my life, where ! learned,without realizing I was learning, the most important things before I ever lived them.
这个奇妙的小镇，这个特别的地方，为我提供了一段意义深远的准备时间。这里曾是我人生中的小小世界，我在这里接受润物无声的教育，学会了那些我此后生活中最重要的事情。
