新視野大學(xué)英語第四冊(cè)-unit8B-A-turning-point-of-my-life

Aturningpointofmylife我人生的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)Iwasn'tyet30yearsoldandwasworkingasafirefighterinNewYorkCity,inafirehousecompletelyswampedwithcalls.Intheraremomentswhenweweren'tbusy,IwouldmakecallsonourcordlessphonehandsetorrushtoourofficetoreadCaptainGray'ssubscriptionoftheSundayNewYorkTimes.LateoneafternoonwhenIfinallyreadtheBookReviewsection,mybloodbegantoboil.AnarticlestatedathesisItooktobeanoffensiveinsult:WilliamButlerYeats,theNobelPrize-winninglightoftheIrishLiteraryRenaissance,hadrisenabovehisIrishnessandwasnowauniversalpoet.Igrewindignantsuddenly,andadeep-seatedpassionwithinmewasactivated.我那時(shí)還不到30歲，是紐約市的一名消防員，我工作的消防站總是不斷有求助電話進(jìn)來。偶爾在我們不忙的時(shí)候，我會(huì)打打無繩電話，或是到辦公室，看看格雷隊(duì)長(zhǎng)訂的《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》周日版。一天下午晚些時(shí)候，當(dāng)我最后讀到書評(píng)欄時(shí)，我開始血液沸騰。一篇文章提出了一個(gè)在我看來帶有侮辱性的觀點(diǎn)：它說諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)獲得者威廉.巴特勒.葉芝，即點(diǎn)亮愛爾蘭文學(xué)復(fù)興之光的人，已經(jīng)超越了其愛爾蘭身份，是一名世界性的詩人。我突然感到憤怒，內(nèi)心深處一種激情也被激發(fā)起來。TherewerefewthingsIwasmoreproudofthanmyIrishheritage.MyancestorswereCatholicIrishfarmers,fishermenandblue-collarworkers,allofwhomwerepatronsofliterature.FromthetimemyfamilycameashoreonEllisIslandandfacedthethreatofbeingdeported,wehavefoughtdiscriminationagainstIrishimmigrants.EversinceIfirstpickedupabookofhispoems,Yeatshadbeenmyfavoritewriter.HewrotehispoetryincloseadherencetohisIrishsensibilities.Hislifewas,inessence,atributetohishomeland.很少有什么事情比我是愛爾蘭后裔更讓我感到驕傲的了。我的祖先是信仰天主教的愛爾蘭人，他們做過農(nóng)夫、漁民和藍(lán)領(lǐng)工人，但是他們所有人都熱愛文學(xué)。從我的家族登上埃利斯島、面臨被驅(qū)逐的威脅那一刻起，我們就一直在反抗對(duì)愛爾蘭移民的歧視。自從我第一次拿起葉芝的詩集開始，他就一直是我最喜歡的作家。他創(chuàng)作的詩中有著深深的愛爾蘭情懷。實(shí)際上，他的一生都在贊頌祖國(guó)。所以，不管是從心理的、社會(huì)的還是文學(xué)的角度，認(rèn)為愛爾蘭的身份是能夠超越的，都是一種侮辱。我感覺自己繼承的身份就像是成了法庭上的被告，我別無選擇，只能保護(hù)它并譴責(zé)這樣一種過時(shí)的偏見。So,itwasoffensivetothinkIrishness,nomatterifitwaspsychological,socialorliterary,wassomethingtoriseabove.Ifeltlikemyheritagewasadefendantatatribunal,andIhadnochoicebuttoprotectitanddenouncesuchanoutdatedprejudice.我焦躁不安，全身顫動(dòng)，于是抓起了一張干凈的紙，那張紙的頂部印有紐約市消防局的標(biāo)志。我開始給《周日書評(píng)》欄目的編輯寫信，表達(dá)我的憤怒。我把葉芝描述為他本來的樣子，即無論從行為還是從作品來看，他都是地地道道的愛爾蘭作家。Vibratingwithagitation,Igrabbedapieceofcleanpaper,onethathadthelogooftheFireDepartmentoftheCityofNewYorkacrossthetop.Ibeganaletter,trumpetingmyindignationtotheeditoroftheSundayBookReview,describingYeatsashewas:awriterfundamentallyIrishinallhedidandwrote.我不知道為什么我覺得自己必須捍衛(wèi)這位世界上最偉大的詩人（至少是僅次于荷馬和莎士比亞的詩人），使其免于被“起訴”，或者為什么我要撰文捍衛(wèi)愛爾蘭文學(xué)。我只知道我必須寫那封信，就像牧師必須禱告，或者音樂家必須演奏樂器一樣。UntilthatpointinmylifeIhadn'twrittenmuchofvalue-afewpoemsandshortstories.But,likeabeginningartistwholongstoseehisworkcometolife,becomingananimatedDisneyfilm,Iunderstoodthatthemoreonedraws,orwrites,thebettertheendresultwillbecome.Realistically,Iapproachedwritinglikewaxingacar,thoroughlyandrepeatedly.SoIwroteoftentoimprovemywritingskills.Itentativelysentmaterialtovariousmagazinesandreviews,butnoonehadeverbeenwillingtopublishme.所以，當(dāng)《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》發(fā)表了我的評(píng)論，我欣喜若狂。我想編輯決定發(fā)表它，可能是因?yàn)樗紫缺晃宜玫男偶埖恼叫晕?。其次，一名arightdecision,butyourpassio