文字难度：★★☆
You can have them,” my friend offered.
“No, that’s OK,” I replied.
“I’m serious,” he said. “They’re yours.”
“We’ll be fine,” I said. “We already have tickets.”
“But these are 20 rows behind 1)home plate. They’re perfect.”
“I know, but like I said, we already have tickets.”
“Did you hear what I said?” my friend asked. “Twenty. Rows. Behind. Home. Plate. It doesn’t get better.”
你可以拿去。”我朋友提议道。
“不用了,没关系的。”我回答道。
“我是认真的。”他说,“它们归你了。”
“行了。”我说道,“我们已经有票了。”
“但这些票的座位在本垒后面的二十排,很棒。”
“我知道,但我说过了,我们已经有票了。”
“你听到我说的话了吗?”我朋友问道,“本垒——后面——二十——排。位置再好不过了。”
And so the conversation went the day I decided to take my 2)volunteer Little Brother to his first-ever professional baseball game.
这场对话发生的当天,我决定要带和我这个“志愿”哥哥认亲的小兄弟去看他出生以来现场观看的第一场职业棒球赛。
It was a perfect night. The peanuts were fresh, the grass was recently mowed, the hot dog buns were soft. Ryan was 10 years old; I was almost 30. Without a doubt, going to the game was a big deal. Why? I wasn’t sure—I wasn’t even that big a baseball fan myself. But surely every kid should have a chance to go to a real baseball game.
那一夜堪称完美。花生米很新鲜,草地刚修剪过,热狗面包香软。瑞恩那时十岁,而我差不多三十岁了。毫无疑问,到现场去观看比赛是件大事。理由?我也说不准——我自己也说不上是个狂热的棒球迷。但可以确定的是,每个孩子都应该拥有一次现场观看棒球比赛的机会。
To commemorate the event, we even went to the local sporting goods store earlier in the week to try on some baseball 3)mitts.
为了庆祝那件事,我们甚至在那周的早些时候就跑到本地的运动用品店试戴了一些棒球手套。
So now it’s the night of the game. The sun is about to set at 4)Camden Yards, the home of 5)Maryland’s beloved 6)Baltimore Orioles, and I’m ready to show Ryan how real baseball is enjoyed. I buy a hot dog, grab a program and even pick up a bag of peanuts. Sure, I want to give him the full experience, but I also don’t want to spoil him—which is why I 7)cringe when Ryan asks me the 8)all-important question: “Where are our seats?”
到了比赛当晚,太阳快挨着卡姆登球场落下。(卡姆登球场是马里兰州最受人喜爱的巴尔的摩金莺队的主场。)而我准备让瑞恩见识一下该怎么在现场欣赏棒球比赛。我买了一根热狗,抓起一张赛程表,甚至还抓了一包花生米。当然,我想给他带来一次完整的体验,但同时又不想宠坏他——这就是为什么当瑞恩问我“我们的座位在哪” 这个非常重要的问题时,我畏缩的原因了。
It’s a simple question. Where are we sitting? Are we in the 9)outfield? Along the 10)first base line? Back in the upper 11)decks? In many ways, where you sit affects your whole view of the game. Indeed, I thought the same thing myself when my friend offered me his 12)season tickets a few days earlier.
那是个简单的问题。我们坐哪?我们的座位在外场吗?在一垒那块地方?还是在球场上层那些露天看台?从很多方面来说,你的座位会影响你观看球赛的整个视野。当我朋友早几天向我提供他的季票时,我确实有想过同样的问题。
It was an incredibly thoughtful offer; Chuck’s seats were 20 rows behind home plate. As he said, they don’t get much better. But as I prepared for our visit to the 13)ballpark, all I kept thinking was: “If I take Ryan to those incredible seats, won’t I be sending him the wrong message? Won’t I be spoiling him, potentially ruining all of his subsequent ballpark visits?” Sure, I obviously was overthinking it, but I made my decision: It’s better to take him to seats in the14)bleachers, then slowly—after a few games—work our way up to the good seats in front. Teach him to appreciate the world.
那是个相当体贴的提议。恰克那些票的座位在本垒后面二十排。如他所说,那座位再好不过了。但当我为我们的棒球场之行做准备时,我满脑子想的是“如果我把瑞恩带去坐在那么有利的位置,会不会是给他一种错误信息?我会不会宠坏他,潜在地毁坏他之后所有的棒球场之行?”我确实明显有些多虑了,但我决定了:最好还是把他带到露天看台上的座位,然后慢慢地——几场比赛后——往前面那些好座位坐,为的是让他感受生活。
That’s the better life lesson.
那是更有益的人生一课。
So there we are, walking up to our seats in far 15)left field. In truth, they are bad seats. We can barely see home plate, much less the infield. The only thing we are close to is the scoreboard, and even then, it’s on our far left. But as we find our aisle and make our way over to our seats, Ryan studies the view and 16)takes it all in. He looks at the bright-green grass—the glare of the lights—and all the people surrounding us. And then, this 10-year-old boy who never has been to a ballpark in his entire life turns to me and says, “These are the best seats in the whole place.”
于是我们去了那里,走向我们那位于左外野很后的座位。事实上,那是很差劲的座位。我们连本垒都几乎看不到,更别提内野。我们唯一靠近的是记分板。虽说近,它也是在我们左手边很远处的地方。我们找到自己那排座位前面的过道,走向座位,瑞恩研究了一下四周景观,一切尽收眼底。他看着绿油油的草地——映照着眩目的灯光——以及所有坐在我们周围的人。然后,这个平生从未去过棒球场的十岁男孩转身对我说道:“这里是全场最好的位置。”
I almost fall over right there. A wide smile takes his face. And mine. As I said, it was a perfect night. But somehow, it just got better.
我差点跌倒在那里。我们俩的脸上都露出了灿烂笑容。正如我所说的,那一夜堪称完美。但无论如何,生活越过越好了。
