新視野大學(xué)英語第四冊(cè)-unit6A-The-weight-men-carry

Theweightmencarry男人背負(fù)的重?fù)?dān)WhenIwasaboygrowingupoffthegridintheCommonwealthofVirginia,themenIknewlaboredwiththeirbodiesfromthefirstroostercrowinthemorningtosundown.Theyweremarginalfarmers,shepherds,justscrapingby,orwelders,steelworkers,carpenters;theybuiltcabinets,dugditches,minedcoal,ordrovetrucks,theirforearmsthickwithmuscle.Theytrainedhorses,stockedfurnaces,madetires,stoodonassemblylines,weldingpartsontorefrigeratorsorlubricatingcarengines.Intheeveningsandonweekends,theylaboredequallyhard,workingontheirownsmalltractofland,fixingbroken-downcars,repairingbrokenshuttersanddraftywindows.Intheirlittlefreetime,theydrownedtheirliversinbeerfromcheapcoppermugsatabarnearthelocalbreweryorracecourse.當(dāng)我還是個(gè)小男孩時(shí)，我住在弗吉尼亞州一個(gè)偏遠(yuǎn)的地區(qū)，那時(shí)我所認(rèn)識(shí)的男人們從清晨的第一聲公雞啼鳴一直勞作到日落。他們都是些不起眼的農(nóng)民、牧羊人，勉強(qiáng)度日，或是焊接工、鋼鐵工或木匠；他們制作櫥柜、挖掘溝渠、開采煤炭，或駕駛卡車，這使他們擁有肌肉結(jié)實(shí)的上臂。他們訓(xùn)練馬匹、填塞爐膛、制造輪胎，站在裝配線上將零件焊接到冰箱，或是給汽車發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)上潤滑劑。到了傍晚或周末，他們也要同樣辛苦地勞作，在自己的一小片土地上耕作，修理出了問題的汽車，修復(fù)壞掉的百葉窗和漏風(fēng)的窗戶。在僅剩的閑暇時(shí)間里，他們會(huì)在當(dāng)?shù)氐钠【谱鞣换蛸愸R場附近的酒館里用盛在廉價(jià)銅杯中的啤酒將自己灌得爛醉。ThebodiesofthemenIknewweretwistedandwoundedinwaysvisibleandinvisible.Heavyliftinghadgivenmanyofthemspinalproblemsandappallinginjuries.Somehadbrokenribsandlostfingers.Racingagainstconveyorbeltshadgivensomeulcers.Theiranklesandkneesachedfromyearsofstandingonconcrete.Somehadpartialvisionlossastheglowoftheweldingflamedamagedtheiropticreceptors.Thereweretimes,studyingthem,whenIdreadedgrowingup.Allaroundus,thefathersalwaysseemedolderthanthemothers.Menworeoutsooner,beingmartyrsofconstantwork.Onlywomenlivedintooldage.我所認(rèn)識(shí)的那些男人的身軀遭受著種種看得見或看不也的扭曲和傷痛。搬運(yùn)沉重的物品給他們很多人造成了脊柱病和可怕的傷痛。有些人斷了肋骨，掉了手指。在傳輸帶上不停地工作使他們有些人患了潰瘍。他們的腳踝和膝蓋由于經(jīng)年累月站立在水泥地上疼痛不已。有些人由于焊接火光損傷視覺感官而遭受部分視覺缺失的折磨。有些時(shí)候，打量著他們，我會(huì)害怕長大。在我們周圍的人中，父親們看上去總是比母親們要老。男人衰老得更早，長期遭受著因持續(xù)勞作帶來的病痛。只有女人才活到年老。Therewerealsosoldiers,andsofarasIcouldtell,theyscarcelyworkedatall.Butwhentheshootingstarted,manyofthemwoulddiefortheirpatriotisminfieldsandfortsofforeignoutposts.Thiswaswhatsoldierswerefor-theyweretoolslikeawrench,ahammerorascrew.還有士兵也是男人的工作。據(jù)我所知，他們幾乎不工作，但當(dāng)戰(zhàn)爭一打響，他們很多人都會(huì)出于愛國熱情而戰(zhàn)死在疆場或異域前哨的堡壘前。這就是士兵的作用——他們就像工具，如同扳鉗、錘子或螺絲一樣。Theseweren'ttheonlydestiniesofmen,asIlearnedfromhavingafewmaleteachers,fromreadingbooksandfromwatchingtelevision.Butthemenontelevision-thenewscommentators,thelawyers,thedoctors,thepoliticianswholeviedthetaxesandthebosseswhogaveorders-seemedasremoteandunrealtomeasthefiguresinoldpaintings.IcouldnomoreimaginegrowinguptobecomeoneofthesesophisticatedpeoplethanIcouldimaginebecomingasovereignprince.這些并非男人們唯一的歸宿，我從曾經(jīng)有過的幾位男教師、從看書及看電視中認(rèn)識(shí)到了這一點(diǎn)。但是，那些上電視的男人們——新聞評(píng)論員、律師、醫(yī)生、課征稅款的政治家及發(fā)號(hào)施令的老板們——在我看來就像古老繪畫上的人像，遙遠(yuǎn)而不真實(shí)。我不能想象自己長大會(huì)變成這些精明世故的人中的一員，就像我無法想象自己能變成一個(gè)權(quán)力至高無上的國君一樣。placewherethefatesofmenandwomenaresymmetricallybleakandgrim.所以，當(dāng)學(xué)校里的女性大吵大囔，譴責(zé)我和我所屬的性別，說我們霸占著世間的歡樂時(shí)，我很困惑。她們要求從性別歧視的束縛中解放出來。我認(rèn)為別的男孩（女孩也一樣）也會(huì)有我這樣的迷惑，只要他們成長于一貧如洗的農(nóng)村，成長于碼頭邊或工廠附近——成長于任何讓男人和女人的命運(yùn)同樣蒼白和嚴(yán)酷的地方。WhenthewomenImetatcollegethoughtaboutthejoysandprivilegesofmen,theydidn'tseethesortofmenIhadknown.Thesedaughtersofprivileged,Republicanmenwantedtoinherittheirfathers'powerandlordshipovertheworld.Theylongedforasayovertheirfuture.ButsodidI.Thedifferencebetweenmeandthesedaughterswasthattheysawme,becauseofmysex,asdestinedfrombirthtobecomeliketheirfathers,andthereforeasanenemytotheirdesires.ButIknewbetter.Iwasn'tanenemytotheirdesires,infactorinfeeling.Iwasanallyintheirrebellion.IfIhadknown,then,howtotellthemso,orhowtobeamediator,wouldtheyhavebelievedme?Wouldtheyhaveknown?當(dāng)我在大學(xué)里遇到的那些女子們想到男人的享樂和特權(quán)時(shí)，她們并沒有見過我以前認(rèn)識(shí)的那些男人。這些特權(quán)階層的、共和黨男人的女兒們渴望繼承