文字难度：★★☆
Another Mother’s Day has come and gone, and I have not followed through on my promise of a Cadillac. Since I was young, I have read about how athletes, the ink barely dry on their multi-million-dollar contracts, buy their mothers shiny 1)Cadillacs so they can “cruise to the games” 2)in style. So, long ago, I promised mama that one day, when I made it to the big leagues, she too would get her own Cadillacs. She would always laugh and talk about how ridiculous she would look rolling by in a candy-paint 3)Coupe De Ville. She never mentioned how ludicrous it was to imagine her 4)scrawny, slow-footed son playing pro ball.
又一个母亲节匆匆过去了，我还是没能实现买一辆凯迪拉克的承诺。从小我就读过许多关于运动员的文章，他们刚签完几百万美元的合同，转身就给妈妈买辆崭新的凯迪拉克，这样，妈妈就可以风光地开车去现场助阵了。所以，很久以前，我就向妈妈许诺，当我也进入大型球队的那一天，我也给她买一辆凯迪拉克。她总会笑着说，如果她在大街上开一辆糖果色的凯迪拉克威乐，看上去一定会很滑稽。可是，她从来没有说过，想象一下自己那个骨瘦如柴、磨磨蹭蹭的儿子打职业赛的场面，就会觉得滑稽可笑。
My mother has taught me many things over my 22 years, but there are two for which I will be forever grateful. One was to read. The other was that I wasn’t going to be the next Michael Jordan.
在过去的22年里，妈妈教会了我很多事情，其中最让我感激不尽的两件事是：一是教我喜欢上阅读，二是使我懂得自己永远成为不了第二个迈克尔·乔丹。
One slow dog of a day in mid-August of my sixth summer, after she had grown tired of listening to me whine about how I wanted a Super 5)Nintendo like the rest of my friends, she retrieved a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird and placed it on the table in front of me.
我6岁那年的八月中旬，在某个漫长的一天里，我向妈妈哭闹着要她给我买一部超级任天堂游戏机，因为我所有的朋友都人手一部，最后她实在受不了了，就找出一本小说《杀死一只知更鸟》，放在我前面的桌子上。
“We don’t play video games here,” she told me. “We read. That book will keep you company. You can never be bored when you have a book.”
“我们家不玩游戏机，”她对我说，“我们读书。那本书就是你的伙伴。只要手上有一本书，你就不会觉得无聊。”
“I’ll do anything but read,” I replied boldly.
“干什么都好，我就是不读书！”我粗鲁地回答。
“Then you can go play outside,” she replied calmly. “Those are your two options.”
“那么你就出去玩吧，”她镇定地回答，“你只有这两个选择。”
Enraged as only a six-year-old 6)hellion can be, I turned defiantly and ran out the back door into the triple-digit heat and humidity stewing in our back yard.
当时只有6岁的我还是个淘气鬼，听完妈妈的话后，我生气极了，叛逆地转身从后门跑了出去，那时外面的温度超过了37度（编者注：摄氏37度相当于华氏99度，这里三位数的温度是指超过了37摄氏度），溽热的空气在后院弥散。
I returned a few hours later, after two dozen laps around the block, 300 jump shots and a half-hour of tossing the football to myself. Too exhausted to gripe about how I wanted to play Tetris, I grabbed the tattered hardcover book that my mother had placed in front of the sofa.
我绕着街区跑了24圈，跳起投篮300下，抛接橄榄球30分钟，就这样一直玩了几个小时才回家。我已经累得没力气抱怨多么想玩俄罗斯方块了，于是拿起妈妈放在沙发前面的封皮破旧的精装版小说读了起来。
As soon as I read about Jem’s 7)affinity for passing and 8)punting, my fears were assuaged. I read on. I did not stop until one long summer had ended, a fall had taken its place, and Boo Radley had come out.
当我读到杰姆很喜欢带球过人和踢悬空球的时候，我的烦躁感减弱了。我读啊读，一直读到漫漫长夏结束，秋天慢慢来临，读到书中的另一个主角布•拉德力出场。
I had learned to love to read.
我喜欢上了阅读。
The subscription to 9)Sports Illustrated followed later that year on my birthday. My mother knew her firstborn was sports-crazed before I could even tell her in words. She suspected as much when, at 18 months, I lined up my stuffed animals in the 10)wishbone offense. But I doubt she envisioned the obsession that would grow over the coming years. I read every page—the stories of spoiled, overpaid underachievers and the sagas of 11)gritty, hard-fought success; the accounts of thrilling overtime upsets and heartbreaking collapses on the back nine. When I wasn’t reading SI, I was 12)honing my skills, certain that one day I would grace its cover.
那一年年底我生日的时候，我家开始订阅《体育画报》。在我还不会说话之前，妈妈就知道自己的大儿子是一个超级体育迷。因为在我18个月大时，居然把毛绒动物玩具排成了Y字形的进攻阵型。但是我怀疑，这种在之后多年不断高涨的体育热情，最初是不是她自己想象出来的。《体育画报》的每一页我都认真阅读——被溺爱的孩子的故事、零用钱过多的学校差生的故事、通过坚忍不拔和不懈努力而换来成功的传奇故事，还有关于经过长时间的激烈比拼却在最后九个洞伤心落败的叙述。没有读《体育画报》的时候，我就磨练技术，信心十足地认为总有一天自己也可以风风光光地登上杂志封面。
It must have been hard for my mother that day—after making sure Santa brought me the football uniforms I had asked for each Christmas, after watching me re-create 13)Super Bowls in the front yard every day after school, after addressing and stamping all those 14)illegible letters I wrote to the University of Texas football coaches telling them how to do their job—to tell me that I wasn’t going to be a pro football player. It must have been hard for her to tell the awkward, freckle-faced first grader the truth.
当妈妈“确认”那些我每年圣诞节都许愿想要的球服的确都是圣诞老人送的时候；当妈妈看着我每天放学后都在前院模仿打超级杯球赛的时候；当我多次向德克萨斯州大学的橄榄球教练写信，歪歪斜斜地写道他们应该怎样教好球员，然后妈妈替我写上地址和贴上邮票的时候；当妈妈告诉我我不是职业橄榄球员的料的时候，她一定非常难过。对妈妈来说，把真相告诉这么一个笨手笨脚、满脸雀斑的一年级小学生，肯定很痛苦。
“You weren’t made to be a great athlete,” she told me. “You weren’t born big enough or fast enough to play football. If you want to play, you’re going to have to work really hard at it.”
“你天生就不具备做一个优秀运动员的资质，”她告诉我，“你天生个头不够大，速度不够快，所以不适合打橄榄球。如果你真想打橄榄球，那你就真的要在那方面下苦功了。”
I took her words and ran with them. And lifted weights. And rehabbed injuries. And lifted. And ran some more. I wasn’t 15)Rudy, but I was damn close.
我听取了她的意见，每次跑步的时候都铭记于心。我还练习举重。受伤后积极恢复伤患。然后继续举重。再增加跑步锻炼。我不是电影《追梦赤子心》里的鲁迪，但是我下的苦功绝对不比他少。
My mother is the kind of person who can’t tell you how the 16)Redskins did last night. She can’t even tell you what they were trying to accomplish. But, from early 17)Pop Warner Saturday mornings to lazy 18)Little League afternoons to Friday night’s bright lights, she never missed a game. Were it not for her telling me the truth that day, I would have never seen the field.
即使看了昨天晚上的球赛，妈妈也说不出华盛顿印第安人的表现怎样，甚至说不出他们的目标是什么，她就是这样的人。然而，从每个星期六早上开赛的早期的波普•华纳少年橄榄球赛，到下午让人懒洋洋的少年棒球联赛，再到星期五晚上的大型赛事（编者注：文中的“lazy”描述的是“妈妈”看球赛时的状态，“bright lights”指晚上进行的赛事）她每场必看。如果那天她没有告诉我事实真相，我就不可能成为球员。
I should have thanked her after every 19)touchdown I ever scored in high school. I should have run up into the stands and hugged her with each jump shot that fell through the net. I should have thanked her after every track meet and 20)rugby match and baseball game.
高中时的每次达阵得分，我都应该好好感谢她。每次跳射入网后，我都应该跑到观众席给她一个拥抱。每次田径运动会后，每次橄榄球赛后，每次棒球赛后，我都应该衷心感谢她。
I should thank her every time I reach the end of a great book. I should thank her every Thursday when I race home to pluck my Sports Illustrated from the mail slot. She gave me all of this.
每次我读完一本伟大的著作，我要感谢她。每个星期四我跑回家迫不及待地从信箱里抽出《体育画报》时，我要感谢她。是她给予了我这一切。
My mother gave me a perspective that allowed me to see why and the ability to articulate that passion. For that, I owe her more than a gleaming 21)Escalade, more than a dream house, more anything else I can possibly give back.
妈妈教会了我洞察事情缘由，和表达对体育的热忱的能力。所以，我欠她的远不止一辆崭新的凯迪拉克凯雷德，或者一座理想的房子，我欠她的今生今世都无法偿还。
