十九. Jane Came Home Too Late

Jane got home late at night. She was going to knock at the door. Just then it opened. Her father was standing by the door. He was a tall man with white hair.“Come in,”he said“I am getting cold.”Jane went in. Her mother was waiting in the room. Her mother was a short woman. She was sitting on the sofa, and looked pale. Her father closed the door.

“Well,”he said,“Where have you been? You promised not to stay out beyond 11 o'clock. It's one o'clock now.”

“It's only a quarter to one.”

“That doesn't make any difference. You should have come home earlier”her father replied angrily.

“We've been very worried about you,”said her mother.

“I'm sorry,”Jane said，“I was at a party. I didn't notice the time.”

“You've got a watch, ”said her father，“Your mother and I have waited for a long time. We didn't know where you were.”

“I can look after myself,”replied Jane，“I'm not a baby any more.”

That is a situation that we often see in our life. Please do not let your parents worry about you again!

【漢語翻譯】

簡回家太晚

簡在深夜(late at night)才回家。她正要敲門，門開(open)了。她的父親正站在門旁。他是高(tall)個子，頭發(fā)(hair)都白了?！斑M來吧，”他說，“我都覺得冷了。”簡進了家。她的母親正在房間(room)里等她。她母親個子很小，正坐在沙發(fā)(sofa)上，看上去臉色蒼白(pale)。簡的父親把門關(guān)上了。

“那么，你上哪去了？”父親悶道，“你答應(yīng)(promise)在外面不超過(beyond)11點的．現(xiàn)在都1點了?！?/span>

“差一刻鐘(quarter)到1點”。

“那沒什么差別(it doesn't make any difference)．你應(yīng)該早(early)點回家的”，父親生氣的說。

“我們都非常擔(dān)心(worried)你.”母親說。

“我很抱歉，”簡回答，“我參加了一個聚會(party)。我沒有注意到(notice)時間?！?/span>

“可你戴著手表(watch)”，父親說，“你媽媽和我等了那么長時間。我們不知道你在哪里?！?/span>

“我可以照顧(look after)自己”，簡回答道，“我又不是小孩了。”

這是在我們生活中經(jīng)?？吹降囊粋€情形(situation)。請不要再讓你的父母為你擔(dān)心(worry about you)了！?     

二十. My Son's Questions

Since my son was three years old, he's kept asking me“why?”about everything. Why is the sky blue? Why are there clouds? Why can't I go outside? Why do I have to be nice? Anyway, I always try my best to answer his questions.

Now my son is ten years old. At this age, the boy is interested in all kinds of things, and he’s got more questions to trouble me. Do people in prison celebrate festivals? Why are dogs'noses always wet? Why are women and men's shoe sizesdifferent? ...

These days, the boy shows interest in the facts of life, so I borrowed books from the library and prepared myself for any questions he might ask. At the end of our long talk, he still looked confused(迷惑的).“If you have any questions,”I said,“please ask them. There are no stupid questions.”

“Well. suppose I was married,”he said with shame,“my wife was going to give birth to a baby, and I had to rush her to the hospital, okay?”

“Yes,”I smiled and encouraged him to continue his question.

Then he asked,“Can go through red lights?”

【漢語翻譯】

我兒子的問題

自從我兒子三歲起，他就一直在問我“為什么”，他要對一切事情刨根問底。為什么天空(sky)是藍色的(blue)?為什么會有云朵(cloud)?為什么我不能去外面？為什么我必須要對人友好？無論如何(anyway)，我總會盡一切努力回答他的問題。

如今我兒子十歲了。在這個年齡，他對各種事情都感興趣(be interested in)，他有更?多的問題要麻煩我了。在監(jiān)獄(prison)里的人慶祝(celebrate)節(jié)日(festival)嗎？狗的鼻子(nose)為什么總是濕潤的(wet)? 女人和男人的鞋碼(shoe size)為什么不一樣呢？……

這幾天，這個孩子對生命是怎么回事感興趣了，因此我從圖書館(library)借(borrow)書并準(zhǔn)備(prepare)了他可能(might)會問到的所有的問題。在我們的長談結(jié)束時，他看上去仍然很迷惑?！叭绻阌惺裁磫栴}，盡管問好了，”我說，“沒有愚蠢的(stupid)問題（問什么都行）。”

“好吧，假設(shè)(suppose)我結(jié)婚了(married)，”他帶著羞愧(with shame)說，“我的妻子要生小孩了，我必須趕緊(rush)將她送到醫(yī)院，對嗎？”

“是的，”我微笑著說，并鼓勵(encourage)他繼續(xù)問他的問題。

然后他問道，“那我能闖紅燈(go through)嗎？”