英語隨筆散文

我的父親

My father was a self-taught mandolin player. He was one of the best string instrument players in our town. He could not read music, but if he heard a tune a few times, he could play it. When he was younger, he was a member of a small country music band. They would play at local dances and on a few occasions would play for the local radio station. He often told us how he had auditioned and earned a position in a band that featured Patsy Cline as their lead singer. He told the family that after he was hired he never went back. Dad was a very religious man. He stated that there was a lot of drinking and cursing the day of his audition and he did not want to be around that type of environment.

Occasionally, Dad would get out his mandolin and play for the family. We three children: Trisha, Monte and I, George Jr., would often sing along. Songs such as the Tennessee Waltz, Harbor Lights and around Christmas time, the well-known rendition of Silver Bells. "Silver Bells, Silver Bells, its Christmas time in the city" would ring throughout the house. One of Dad's favorite hymns was "The Old Rugged Cross". We learned the words to the hymn when we were very young, and would sing it with Dad when he would play and sing. Another song that was often shared in our house was a song that accompanied the Walt Disney series: Davey Crockett. Dad only had to hear the song twice before he learned it well enough to play it. "Davey, Davey Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" was a favorite song for the family. He knew we enjoyed the song and the program and would often get out the mandolin after the program was over. I could never get over how he could play the songs so well after only hearing them a few times. I loved to sing, but I never learned how to play the mandolin. This is something I regret to this day.

Dad loved to play the mandolin for his family he knew we enjoyed singing, and hearing him play. He was like that. If he could give pleasure to others, he would, especially his family. He was always there, sacrificing his time and efforts to see that his family had enough in their life. I had to mature into a man and have children of my own before I realized how much he had sacrificed.

I joined the United States Air Force in January of 1962. Whenever I would come home on leave, I would ask Dad to play the mandolin. Nobody played the mandolin like my father. He could touch your soul with the tones that came out of that old mandolin. He seemed to shine when he was playing. You could see his pride in his ability to play so well for his family.

When Dad was younger, he worked for his father on the farm. His father was a farmer and sharecropped a farm for the man who owned the property. In 1950, our family moved from the farm. Dad had gained employment at the local limestone quarry. When the quarry closed in August of 1957, he had to seek other employment. He worked for Owens Yacht company in Dundalk, Maryland and for Todd Steel in Point of Rocks, Maryland. While working at Todd Steel, he was involved in an accident. His job was to roll angle iron onto a conveyor so that the welders farther up the production line would have it to complete their job. On this particular day Dad got the third index finger of his left hand mashed between two pieces of steel. The doctor who operated on the finger could not save it, and Dad ended up having the tip of the finger amputated. He didn't lose enough of the finger where it would stop him picking up anything, but it did impact his ability to play the mandolin.

After the accident, Dad was reluctant to play the mandolin. He felt that he could not play as well as he had before the accident. When I came home on leave and asked him to play he would make excuses for why he couldn't play. Eventually, we would wear him down and he would say "Okay, but remember, I can't hold down on the strings the way I used to" or "Since the accident to this finger I can't play as good". For the family it didn't make any difference that Dad couldn't play as well. We were just glad that he would play. When he played the old mandolin it would carry us back to a cheerful, happier time in our lives. "Davey, Davey Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier", would again be heard in the little town of Bakerton, West Virginia.

In August of 1993 my father was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He chose not to receive chemotherapy treatments so that he could live out the rest of his life in dignity. About a week before his death, we asked Dad if he would play the mandolin for us. He made excuses but said "okay". He knew it would probably be the last time he would play for us. He tuned up the old mandolin and played a few notes. When I looked around, there was not a dry eye in the family. We saw before us a quiet humble man with an inner strength that comes from knowing God, and living with him in one's life. Dad would never play the mandolin for us again. We felt at the time that he wouldn't have enough strength to play, and that makes the memory of that day even stronger. Dad was doing something he had done all his life, giving. As sick as he was, he was still pleasing others. Dad sure could play that Mandolin!

我父親是個自學成才的曼陀林琴手，他是我們鎮最優秀的絃樂演奏者之一。他看不懂樂譜，但是如果聽幾次曲子，他就能演奏出來。當他年輕一點的時候，他是一個小鄉村樂隊的成員。他們在當地舞廳演奏，有幾次還爲當地廣播電臺演奏。他經常告訴我們，自己如何試演，如何在佩茜?克萊恩作爲主唱的樂隊裏佔一席之位。他告訴家人，一旦被聘用就永不回頭。父親是一個很嚴謹的人，他講述了他試演的那天，很多人在喝酒，咒罵，他不想呆在那種環境裏。

有時候，父親會拿出曼陀林，爲家人彈奏。我們三個小孩：翠莎、蒙蒂和我，還有喬治通常會伴唱。唱的有：《田納西華爾茲》和《海港之光》，到了聖誕節，就唱膾炙人口的《銀鈴》："銀鈴，銀鈴，城裏來了聖誕節。"歌聲充滿了整個房子。父親最愛的其中一首讚歌是《古老的十字架》。我們很小的時候就學會歌詞了，而且在父親彈唱的時候，我們也跟着唱。我們經常一起唱的另外一首歌來自沃特?迪斯尼的系列片：《戴維?克羅克特》。父親只要聽了兩遍就彈起來了，"戴維，戴維?克羅克特，荒野邊疆的國王。"那是我們家最喜歡的歌曲。他知道我們喜歡那首歌和那個節目，所以每次節目結束後，他就拿出曼陀林彈奏。我永遠不能明白他如何能聽完幾遍後就能把一首曲子彈得那麼好。我熱愛唱歌，但我沒有學會如何彈奏曼陀林，這是我遺憾至今的事情。

父親喜歡爲家人彈奏曼陀林，他知道我們喜歡唱歌，喜歡聽他彈奏。他就是那樣，如果他能把快樂奉獻給別人，他從不吝嗇，尤其是對他的家人。他總是那樣，犧牲自己的時間和精力讓家人生活得滿足。父親的這種付出是隻有當我長大成人，而且是有了自己的孩子後才能體會到的。

我在1962年1月加入了美國空軍基地。每當我休假回家，我都請求父親彈奏曼陀林。沒有人彈奏曼陀林能達到像我父親那樣的境界，他在那古老的曼陀林上撫出的旋律能夠觸及你的靈魂。他彈奏的時候，身上似乎能發出四射的光芒。你可以看出，父親爲能給家人彈奏出如此美妙的旋律，他是多麼的自豪。

父親年輕的時候，曾在農場爲爺爺工作。爺爺是農場使用者，要向農場所有人交納穀物抵租。1950年，我們全家搬離農場，父親在當地石灰石採石場謀得職位。採石場在1957年倒閉，他只好另覓工作。他曾在馬里蘭州登多克的歐文斯遊艇公司上班，還在馬里蘭州的洛斯的託德鋼鐵公司上過班。在託德鋼鐵公司上班期間，他遇到了意外。他的工作是把有棱角的鐵滾到搬運臺上，這樣焊接工才能作進一步加工來完成整個工序。在那個特殊的日子裏，父親的

左手第三個手指被纏在兩片鋼鐵中。醫生對手指施手術，但未能保住那隻手指，最後父親只好讓醫生把那手指的指尖給切除了。那個手指並沒有完全喪失拿東西的能力，但是卻影響了他彈奏曼陀林的能力。

事故後，父親不太願意彈奏曼陀林了，他覺得再也不能像以前彈得那麼好了。我休假回家請求他彈奏曼陀林，他以種種藉口解釋不能彈奏的原因。最後，我們軟硬兼施逼他就範，他終於說："好吧，但是記住，我撥絃再也不能像過去一樣了。"或者會說："這個手指出意外後，我再也不能彈得像過去那樣好了。"對於家人來說，父親彈得好不好並沒有分別，我們很高興他終於彈奏了。當他彈起那把陳舊的曼陀林，就會把我們帶回昔日那些無憂無慮的幸福時光。"戴維，戴維?克羅克特，荒野邊疆的國王"就會再次響徹西弗吉尼亞州的貝克頓小鎮。

1993年8月，父親診斷得了不宜動手術的肺癌。他不想接受化療，因爲他想體面地過完他生命最後的時光。大約在父親去世的一週前，我們請求他能否爲我們彈奏曼陀林，他說了很多借口，最後還是答應了。他知道這可能是他最後一次爲我們彈奏了，他爲老曼陀林調絃，彈了幾個音。我環顧四周，家人個個都淚水滿眶。我們看見在我們面前是一個安靜的、謙虛的人，以生命最後的力量，用愛的力量支撐着。父親再也沒有足夠的力量彈奏，這使我們對那天的記憶更加強烈。父親做着他一生都在做的事情：奉獻。即使生命已走到了盡頭，他卻仍盡力爲他人創造歡樂。沒錯，父親一定還能彈奏曼陀林的。

　就爲了今天

Just for today I will try to live through this day only and not tackle my whole life problem at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said, that "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Just for today I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my "luck" as it comes.

Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.

Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways. I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out: If anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don‘t want to do—just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt: they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.

Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, talk low, act courteously, criticize not one bit, and try not to improve or regulate anybody but myself.

Just for today I will have a program, I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.

Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.

Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful, and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.

就爲了今天，我將盡力只度過今天而不立刻去解決終身的問題。對一件令我沮喪而又必須堅持一輩子的事，我只能堅持十二個小時。

就爲了今天，我會很快樂。亞伯拉罕-林肯說過，“大多數人都是決定想怎麼高興就怎麼高興。”這已經被認爲是真理。

就爲了今天，我會做自我調整適應事物本來的面目，而不是想方設法使每一件事滿足自己的慾望。當機會來臨的時候我會抓住它。

就爲了今天，我會盡力心強志堅。我會學習，學一些有用的東西。我不會做一個精神上的流浪漢。我會讀一些需要努力、思考和注意力集中的東西。

就爲了今天，我會用三種方法來磨鍊我的靈魂。我會做對某人有利的事但不能被發現，若有人發現了就不算數。我將會做至少兩件我不願做的事情——只爲了磨練。我不會讓任何人感到我的感情受到了傷害：它們可能受到了傷害，但今天我不想表現出來。

就爲了今天，我會過得很愜意。看起來我達到了最佳狀態，穿着得體、講話謙虛、行爲禮貌、一點不吹毛求疵，儘量改進和調節自己而不是別人。

就爲了今天，我會制定一個計劃，我也許不會嚴格地遵守它，但我一定要有計劃。我會避免兩種錯誤：倉促行事和優柔寡斷。

就爲了今天，我將會獨自靜靜地呆上半小時放鬆。在這半小時裏，某個時刻，我會日後對我的生活有個更好的看法。

就爲了今天，我將不再害怕。尤其我不會再害怕享受美麗的事物，並且相信我給予世界的，世界也會給予我。

爸爸的道別之吻

The Board Meeting had come to an end. Bob starred to stand up and jostled the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. "How embarrassing. I am getting so clumsy in my old age."

Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank who sat quietly listening to the others. Someone said," Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing moment."

Frank began," I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed he family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still and home." He looked at us and said," I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled the ocean."

Frank's voice dropped a bit." When the weather was bad he would drive me to school. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me good-bye!"

He paused and then went on," I remember the day I thought I was too old for a good-bye kiss. When we got the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said,' No, Dad.' It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised looked on his face.

I said,' Dad, I'm too old for a good-bye kiss. I'm too old for any kind of kiss.' My Dad looked at me for the longest tine, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked our the windshield.' You're right,' he said.' You are a big boy…… a man. I won't kiss you anymore.'"

For the moment, Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes. "It wasn't long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back."

I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again." Guys, you don't know what I woud give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek…… to feel his rough old face…… to smell the ocean on him…… to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a good-bye kiss."

董事會議結束了，鮑勃站起身時不小心撞到了桌子，把咖啡灑到了筆記本上。“真丟臉啊，這把年級了還毛毛糙糙的。”他不好意思地說。

所有人都哈哈大笑起來，然後我們都開始講述自己經歷的最尷尬的時刻。一圈過來，輪到一直默默坐在那兒聽別人講的弗蘭克了。有人說：“來吧，弗蘭克，給大家講講你最難爲情的時刻。”

弗蘭克開始了他的講述。“我是在桑派德羅長大的。我爸爸是一位漁夫，他非常熱愛大海。他有自己的小船，但是靠在海上捕魚爲生太艱難了。他辛勤的勞動着，一直待在海上直到捕到足以養活全家的魚爲止。他不僅要養活我們的小家，還要養活爺爺奶奶以及還未成遠的弟弟妹妹，”弗蘭克看着我們，繼續說，“我真希望你們見過我的爸爸，他是一個身材高大的男人。因長期拉網捕魚，與大海搏鬥的緣故，他十分強壯。走進他時，你能夠聞到他身上散發出來的大海的氣息。”

弗蘭克的聲音低了一點：“天氣不好的時候，爸爸會開車送我們去學校。他會把車停在學校正門口，好像每個人都能站在一旁旁觀看。然後，他彎下身子在我臉上重重的親了一口，告訴我要做一個好孩子。這讓我覺得很難爲情。那時我已經12歲看，而爸爸還俯身給我一個道別的親吻。”

弗蘭克停頓了一下，又繼續說道：“我還記得那天。我認爲自己已經長大到不再合適一個道別親吻了。當我們到了學校停下來的時候，像往常一樣爸爸露出了燦爛的笑容，他開始向我俯下身來，然後我擡手擋住了他，‘不，爸爸。’那是我第一次那樣對他說話，他十分吃驚。”

“我說道：‘爸爸，我已經長大了，大到不再適合接受一個道別親吻了。也不再適合任何的親吻了。’爸爸盯着我看了好長時間，潸然淚下。我從來未見過他哭泣。他轉過身子，透過擋風玻璃向外望去：“沒錯，你已經是一個大男孩兒……一個男子漢了。我以後再也不這樣親吻你了。”

講到這兒，弗蘭克臉上露出了古怪的表情，淚水還是在眼眶裏打轉。“從那之後沒多久，爸爸出海後就再也沒回來了。”

我看着弗蘭克，眼淚正順着他的臉頰流下來。弗蘭克又開口了：“夥計們，你們不知道，如果我爸爸能在我臉上親一下……讓我感覺一下他那粗糙了臉……聞一聞他身上海洋的氣息……享受他摟着我脖子的感覺，那麼我付出什麼都願意。我真希望那時候我是一個真正的男子漢。如果我是，我絕不會告訴爸爸我已經長大到不再適合一個道別的親吻了。”

以書爲伴

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.

A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time have been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive e but what is really good.

Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see the as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.

The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which on still listens.

通常看一個讀些什麼書就可知道他的爲人，就像看他同什麼人交往就可知道他的爲人一樣，因爲有人以人爲伴，也有人以書爲伴。無論是書友還是朋友，我們都應該以最好的爲伴。

好書就像是你最好的朋友。它始終不渝，過去如此，現在如此，將來也永遠不變。它是最有耐心，最令人愉悅的伴侶。在我們窮愁潦倒，臨危遭難時，它也不會拋棄我們，對我們總是一如既往地親切。在我們年輕時，好書陶冶我們的性情，增長我們的知識;到我們年老時，它又給我們以慰藉和勉勵。

人們常常因爲喜歡同一本書而結爲知已，就像有時兩個人因爲敬慕同一個人而成爲朋友一樣。有句古諺說道：“愛屋及屋。”其實“愛我及書”這句話蘊涵更多的哲理。書是更爲真誠而高尚的情誼紐帶。人們可以通過共同喜愛的作家溝通思想，交流感情，彼此息息相通，並與自己喜歡的作家思想相通，情感相融。

好書常如最精美的寶器，珍藏着人生的思想的精華，因爲人生的境界主要就在於其思想的境界。因此，最好的書是金玉良言和崇高思想的寶庫，這些良言和思想若銘記於心並多加珍視，就會成爲我們忠實的伴侶和永恆的慰藉。

書籍具有不朽的本質，是爲人類努力創造的最爲持久的成果。寺廟會倒坍，神像會朽爛，而書卻經久長存。對於偉大的思想來說，時間是無關緊要的。多年前初次閃現於作者腦海的偉大思想今日依然清新如故。時間惟一的作用是淘汰不好的作品，因爲只有真正的佳作才能經世長存。

書籍介紹我們與最優秀的人爲伍，使我們置身於歷代偉人巨匠之間，如聞其聲，如觀其行，如見其人，同他們情感交融，悲喜與共，感同身受。我們覺得自己彷彿在作者所描繪的舞臺上和他們一起粉墨登場。

即使在人世間，偉大傑出的人物也永生不來。他們的精神被載入書冊，傳於四海。書是人生至今仍在聆聽的智慧之聲，永遠充滿着活力。

　那些年那些天我們要做的事

Age has reached the end of the beginning of a word. May be guilty in his seems to passing a lot of different life became the appearance of the same day; May be back in the past, to oneself the paranoid weird belief disillusionment, these days, my mind has been very messy, in my mind constantly. Always feel oneself should go to do something, or write something. Twenty years of life trajectory deeply shallow, suddenly feel something, do it.

一字開頭的年齡已經到了尾聲。或許是愧疚於自己似乎把轉瞬即逝的很多個不同的日子過成了同一天的樣子;或許是追溯過去，對自己那些近乎偏執的怪異信念的醒悟，這些天以來，思緒一直很凌亂，在腦海中不斷糾纏。總覺得自己自己似乎應該去做點什麼，或者寫點什麼。二十年的人生軌跡深深淺淺，突然就感覺到有些事情，非做不可了。

The end of our life, and can meet many things really do?

而窮盡我們的一生，又能遇到多少事情是真正地非做不可?

During my childhood, think lucky money and new clothes are necessary for New Year, but as the advance of the age, will be more and more found that those things are optional; Junior high school, thought to have a crush on just means that the real growth, but over the past three years later, his writing of alumni in peace, suddenly found that isn't really grow up, it seems is not so important; Then in high school, think don't want to give vent to out your inner voice can be in the high school children of the feelings in a period, but was eventually infarction when graduation party in the throat, later again stood on the pitch he has sweat profusely, looked at his thrown a basketball hoops, suddenly found himself has already can't remember his appearance.

童年時，覺得壓歲錢和新衣服是過年必備，但是隨着年齡的推進，會越來越發現，那些東西根本就可有可無;初中時，以爲要有一場暗戀才意味着真正的成長，但三年過去後，自己心平氣和的寫同學錄的時候，突然就發現是不是真正的成長了，好像並沒有那麼重要了;然後到了高中，覺得非要吐露出自己的心聲才能爲高中生涯裏的懵懂情愫劃上一個句點，但畢業晚會的時候最終還是被梗塞在了咽喉，後來再次站在他曾經揮汗如雨的球場，看着他投過籃球的球框時，突然間發現自己已經想不起他的容顏。

Originally, this world, can produce a chemical reaction to an event, in addition to resolutely, have to do, and time.

原來，這個世界上，對某個事件能產生化學反應的，除了非做不可的堅決，還有，時間。

A person's time, your ideas are always special to clear. Want, want, line is clear, as if nothing could shake his. Also once seemed to be determined to do something, but more often is he backed out at last. Dislike his cowardice, finally found that there are a lot of love, there are a lot of miss, like shadow really have been doomed. Those who do, just green years oneself give oneself an arm injection, or is a self-righteous spiritual.

一個人的時候，自己的想法總是特別地清晰。想要的，不想要的，界限明確，好像沒有什麼可以撼動自己。也曾經好像已經下定了決心去做某件事，但更多的時候是最後又打起了退堂鼓。嫌惡過自己的怯懦，最終卻發現有很多緣分，有很多錯過，好像冥冥之中真的已經註定。那些曾經所謂的非做不可，只是青蔥年華里自己給自己注射的一支強心劑，或者說，是自以爲是的精神寄託罷了。

At the moment, the sky is dark, the air is fresh factor after just rained. Suddenly thought of blue plaid shirt; Those were broken into various shapes of stationery; From the corner at the beginning of deep friendship; Have declared the end of the encounter that haven't start planning... Those years, those days of do, finally, like youth, will end in our life.

此刻，天空是陰暗的，空氣裏有着剛下過雨之後的清新因子。突然想到那件藍格子襯衫;那些被折成各種各樣形狀的信紙;那段從街角深巷伊始的友誼;還有那場還沒有開始就宣告了終結的邂逅計劃……那些年那些天的非做不可，終於和青春一樣，都將在我們的人生中謝幕。