第559期:英語美文 上帝創造的第一位母親

英語美文-上帝創造的第一位母親

在《聖經》中，相傳創世之前，一片混沌，地球在黑暗、沉寂無聲的太空飄浮，沒有陸地，只有滿滿的海水。上帝耶和華用六天時間創造了世界。第一天創造了白天和黑夜、第二天創造空氣和天；第三天創造了地、海，山川平原，花、草、樹木；第四天創造了天上要佈滿星辰，用來劃分季節和年，夜晚是休息的時間，就讓寧靜的月亮給那些穿越沙漠的漂泊者指明方向，幫他們找到棲身之處；第五天上帝創造了魚、鳥等各種動物；第六天上帝創造了人；第七天上帝休息了。今天這篇文章，講述的是上帝在第六天造人的時候，和天使的一段對話。這段對話是針對於上帝手中的“母親”展開的。

New Words:

elastic adj. 有彈力的; 可伸縮的;
replaceable adj. 可代替的;
standard n. 標準，規格; errant
protest n. 抗議; 反對; 申明;
endure vt. 忍耐; 容忍;
negotiate vi. 談判，協商，交涉;

By the time the Lord made the first mother, he was into the sixth day working overtime. An Angel appeared and said, "Why are you spending so much time on this one?"
等到上帝創造第一位母親之時,他已經超時工作到第六天。這時一位天使出現了,問道："您爲什麼要花這麼長時間造這個人呢?"

And the Lord answered and said, "Have you read the spec sheet on her? She has to be completely washable, but not elastic, have 200 movable parts, all replaceable, run on black coffee and leftovers, have a lap that can hold three children at one time and that disappears when she stands up, have a kiss that can cure anything from a scraped knee to a broken heart and have six pairs of hands."
上帝回答說："你有沒有讀過說明書?她必須是可洗的,但又不像橡膠；她有二百個可活動的零件,全部可以更換；她靠咖啡和剩飯剩菜運轉；她的腿上可以同時坐上三個孩子,而當她站起來時,這腿又得恢復正常長度；她的吻能治癒一切,不管是擦傷的膝蓋還是破碎的心,都能治癒；她還有六雙手."

The Angel was astounded at the requirements for this one. "Six pairs of hands? No way!" said the Angel.
天使聽到這些要求感到十分驚訝,說道："六雙手?不可能呀!"

The Lord replied, "Oh, it’s not the hands that are the problem. It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers must have."
上帝回答："造六雙手並不是難題，最難的在於母親必須有三雙眼睛!"

"And that's on the standard model?" , the Angel asked.
"那這就是最標準的模型了吧?"天使問道.

The Lord nodded in agreement, "Yep, one pair of eyes are to see through the closed door as she asks her children what they are doing even though she already knows. Another pair in the back of her head is to see what she needs to know even though no one thinks she can. And the third pair is here in the front of her head. They are for looking at an errant child and saying that she understands and loves him or her without even saying a single word."
上帝點點頭表示同意,"是的。一雙眼睛能看穿緊閉的房門,儘管她已經知道,但她還是要問孩子們在做什麼。另一雙眼睛長在後腦勺兒上面, 能看到她需要知道但在別人看來她不可能知道的事情。最後一雙眼睛在頭前邊, 用來關注一個偏離正道的孩子, 即使沒有隻言片語,也能讓孩子從她的眼神中看到她的理解與關愛."

The Angel tried to stop the Lord. "This is too much work for one day. Wait until tomorrow to finish."
天使試圖讓上帝停下手中的活兒, "一天怎麼能幹這麼多活兒?等明天再完成吧。"

"But I can't," the Lord protested, "I am so close to finishing this creation that is so close to my own heart. She always heals herself when she is sick and can feed a family of six on a pound of hamburger and can get a nine-year-old boy to stand in the shower."
"不行!"上帝抗議道,"我這就要完成我的作品了,它是那麼貼近我的心。 她生病的時候總能不藥而癒,而且,她能只用一磅的漢堡包就餵飽一家六口人,還能讓一個九歲男孩乖乖地站着洗澡。”

The Angel moved closer and touched the woman, "But you have made her so soft, Lord."
天使靠近並撫摸那女人, ”但是,上帝,您把她做得如此柔軟。"

"She is soft," the Lord agreed, "but I have also made her tough. You have no idea what she can endure or accomplish."
"她是柔軟,"上帝表示同意,"但是我也讓她堅強.你想象不到她能夠忍受多少,能夠成就多少."

"Will she be able to think?", asked the Angel.
"她能思考嗎?"天使問.

The Lord replied, "Not only Will she be able to think, she Will be able to reason, and negotiate."
上帝回答："她不僅能夠思考,還能夠推理和交涉."

The Angel then noticed something and reached out and touched the woman's cheek. "Oops, it looks like there's a leak in her face. You were trying to put too much into this one."
這時天使注意到了什麼,伸出手觸摸女人的面頰。"哎呀,她臉上好像有一個洞。您是不是在這件作品中注入了太多的東西啊."

"That's not a leak," the Lord objected. "That's a tear."
"那不是洞,"上帝說,"那是一滴眼淚!"

"What's the tear for?", the Angel asked.
"要眼淚做什麼呢?"天使問。

The Lord said, "The tear is her way of expressing her joy, her sorrow, her disappointment, her pain, her loneliness, her grief, and her pride."
上帝說："眼淚是她表達喜悅、悲哀、失望、痛苦、孤獨、憂傷和驕傲的方式。"

The Angel was impressed. "You are a genius, Lord. You thought of everything for this one. You even created the tear."
天使深受感動,說道："上帝,您真是個天才! 您考慮到了一切,甚至造出了眼淚!"

The Lord looked at the Angel and smiled and said, "I'm afraid you are wrong again. I created the woman, but she created the tear."
上帝看着天使,微笑着說道："恐怕你又錯了。我的確創造了這個女人, 但眼淚卻是她自己創造的。"

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