1、Unit 6 Section A The TrashmanSaturday, April 7Steve and I hauled trash for four solid hours continuously,except for about five minutes when we stopped to talk.My shoulder hurt wickedly each time I put another full barrel on it,and my legs occasionally trembled as I was heading to the street.But the
2、rest of me said,“Go,trashman,go.“I could not have imaged there would be joy in this.Dump.Lift.Walk.Lift.Walk.The hours flew by.Saturday meant most adults were at home on the route.So were school-age children.I thought this might mean more exchanges as I made the rounds today.Many people were out-doo
3、rs working in their gardens or greenhouses.Most looked approachable enough.There wasnt time for lengthy talks but enough to exchange greetings that go with civilized ways.That is where I got my shock.I said hello in quite a few yards before the message registered that this wasnt normally done.Occasi
4、onally,I got a direct reply from someone who looked me in the eye,smiled,and asked “How are you?“or “Isnt this a nice day?“ I felt human then.But most often the response was either nothing at all,or a surprised stare because I had spoken. One woman in a housecoat was startled as I came around the co
5、rner of her house.At the sound of my greeting, she gathered her housecoat tightly about her and retreated quickly indoors.I heard the lock click.Another woman had a huge, peculiar animal in her yard.I asked what it was. She stared at me.I thought she was deaf and spoke louder.She seemed frightened a
6、s she turned coldly away.Steve raged spontaneously about these things on the long ride to the dump.“The way most people look at you,youd think a trashman was a monster.Say hello and they stare at you in surprise.They dont realize were human.“ “One lady put ashes in her trashcan.I said we couldnt tak
7、e them.She said,Who are you to say what goes?Youre nothing but a trashman.I told her,Listen,lady,Ive got an I.Q.of 137,and I graduated near the top of my high school class.I do this for the money, not because its the only work I can do.“ “I want to tell them,Look,I am as clean as you are,but it woul
8、dnt help.I dont tell anyone Im a garbageman.I say Im a truck driver.My family knows, but my wifes folks dont.If someone comes right out and asks,Do you drive for a garbage company?I say yes.I believe were doing a service people need, like being a police officer or a fire fighter.Im not ashamed of it
9、,but I dont go around boasting about it either.“ “A friend of my wife yelled at her kids one daywhen they ran out to meet a trash truck.Stay away from those trashmen. Theyre dirty. I was angry with her. Theyre as good as we are, I told her. You seem to have a lot of sympathy for them, she said.Yes,
10、I do. But I never told her why.“I had originally planned to stay at this employment for only two daysbut now Im going to continue.The exercise is great;the lifting gets easier with every load,even if my shoulder muscle is sore.I become faster and neater each day.Im outdoors in clean air.And, contrar
11、y to what people think, I dont get dirty on the job.I have decided, too, to keep saying hello in peoples yards.It doesnt do any harm, and it still feels right.Frankly, Im proud.Im doing an essential task.I left this country a little cleaner than I found it this morning.Not many people can say that t
12、onight.John Gardner wrote that a society which praises its philosophersand looks down on its plumbers is in for trouble.“Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water,“ he warns.He might have gone a step further and called for respect for both our economists and our trashmen;otherwise, theyll b
13、oth leave garbage behind.Unit6-A4 月 7 日，星期六 我和史蒂夫已拖运垃圾整整四个小时了，中间只停下来说了约五分钟的话。每次我将满满的一桶垃圾扛上肩，肩膀就痛得厉害，有时候扛着垃圾朝街上走，腿都打颤，可我心里却对自己说：“挺住，垃圾工，要挺住。 ”我原本就没有想过这工作会有什么快乐可言。倒、扛、走、扛、走。时间过得飞快。星期六意味着一路上大多数成年人会呆在家里。上学的孩子也一样。我心里琢磨，这可能意味着我挨家挨户收垃圾时可以和人们多搭上几句话了。很多人在花园里或花房里干活儿。多数人看上去是可以说说话的。虽没有工夫聊很久，但问候几句以示礼貌还是有时间的。但我吃惊
14、地发现并不是这么回事。直到我在几家院子里问候了几次以后，才意识到这么做是不常见的。偶尔，有人也会看着我，微笑一下，对我说一声“你好” ，或者 “今天天气真好”。这时，我还是感到有人情味儿。可多数情况下，人们的反应要么是不理我，要么是因为我这个垃圾工竟然也和他们说话而惊讶地盯着我看。一个身着家常便服的妇女见我绕过她家的拐角，脸上露出惊讶之色。听到我向她打招呼，她就赶紧用衣服把自己严严实实地遮了起来，并匆忙退回屋里。我还听到咔嗒一声门被锁上了。另一个妇女，院子里养了一只巨大古怪的动物。我问她那是什么动物，她两眼盯着我。我以为她耳背，所以提高了声音。她好像给吓着了似的，冷冷地转身走了。这儿离垃圾场有
15、很长一段路，在驾车去垃圾场的路上，史蒂夫气愤地叙说着这些事情。“从多数人看你的那种眼光，就知道在他们眼里垃圾工是怪物。如果你对他们问声好，他们就惊奇地看着你。他们根本没想到我们也是人。 ”“有个女人往垃圾箱里倒烟灰。我说，我们这样没法装运。她说， 我倒什么你管得着吗，你算什么东西? 你不过是个垃圾工罢了。 我说， 听着，太太，我的智商是 137，高中毕业时是班上的尖子生。我干这活是为了挣钱，不是因为我只能干这个。 ”“我真想对他们说， 你瞧瞧，我跟你们一样干净。 可这没用。我从不对任何人说我是垃圾工。我说我是卡车司机。我家里人知道，可我妻子的家人不知道。如果有人正好碰到，问你是给垃圾公司开车吗
16、? 我就说是。我相信我们做的事是人们所需要的，就像当警察或者消防队员一样。我并不为此而感到见不得人，可我也不会到处去吹嘘自己的工作。 ”“有一天，我妻子的一个朋友见到她孩子从家里跑出来看垃圾车，她就大声叫嚷起来， 离那些垃圾工远点，他们身上脏。我很生她的气。我说， 那些垃圾工和我们一样干净。 你好像很同情他们似的， 她说。 是的，我是很同情他们。 可我从没有告诉她这是为什么。 ”这活儿我原先只打算干两天，可现在我要干下去。这可锻炼人呢，虽然肩部肌肉酸痛，可我扛垃圾桶越扛越得心应手了。我越干越快，越干越利索。在室外干活还可以呼吸新鲜空气，而且完全不像人们认为的那样，我干的活儿其实很干净。我还决定
17、继续在人家的院子里向人们说“你好” 。这不会有什么坏处，而且感觉依旧不错。说实话，我感到骄傲，我在做一项必不可少的工作。每晚工作结束时，我发现这个国家比早上更干净了。并不是许多人每晚都能这样说的。约翰?加德纳曾写道，一个只赞扬哲学家而蔑视管道工的社会必定会出现麻烦。他警告说：“ 这个社会的管道和理论都会出问题。 ”他也许应该进一步要求人们既尊重经济学家又尊重垃圾工；不然的话，他们都会在身后留下垃圾。He worked himself to death, finally and precisely, at 3:00 A.M. Sunday morning. 最终，他于星期天凌晨 3 点工作致死。
18、The obituary didnt say that, of course. 当然，讣告上没有这样写。It said that he died of a coronary thrombosis-I think that was it-but everyone among his friends and acquaintances knew it instantly. 讣告上写的是死于冠状动脉血栓证，但他的好友和熟识的人都心知肚明。He was a perfect Type A, a workaholic, a classic, they said to each other and shoo
19、k their heads-and thought for five or ten minutes about the way they lived. 他们互相握着手，摇头叹息地说他是一个追求完美的 A 型血人，一个典型的工作狂，然后用几分钟时间来反思自己的生活方式。This man who worked himself to death finally and precisely at 3:00 A.M. 这个男人最终在星期天凌晨三点整工作致死。Sunday morning-on his day off-was fifty-one years old and a vice-president
20、.星期天的早上，这天刚好是这个 51 岁的副总裁的休息日。 He was, however, one of six vice-presidents, and one of three who might conceivably-if the president died or retired soon enough-have moved to the top spot. Phil knew that. 他是公司六位副总裁之一，也是副总裁中三位最让人信任的人之一，如果总裁已经逝世或者退休的话，他已经成为了最高职位。菲尔清楚这一点。He worked six days a week, five o
21、f them until eight or nine at night, during a time when his own company had begun the four-day week for everyone but the executives.他一周工作六天，其中五天工作到夜里八九点，他的公司里除了高级官员，其他人都已经开始四天工作制。 He worked like the Important People. 他工作起来像一个重要人物。 He had no outside “extracurricular interests,“ unless, of course, you
22、 think about a monthly golf game that way. 当然，就像你想象中那样，他每月打一次高尔夫球，他没有其他的爱好。To Phil, it was work.对菲尔而言，高尔夫是工作。 He always ate egg salad sandwiches at his desk. He was, of course, overweight, by 20 or 25 pounds. 他总是在他的桌前吃着吃鸡蛋沙拉三明治，他难免有点发福，超重了 20-25 磅。He thought it was okay, though, because he didnt smo
23、ke. 他想这没什么关系，因为他从不抽烟。On Saturdays, Phil wore a sports jacket to the office instead of a suit, because it was the weekend. 星期六，菲尔换下西服，穿着运动衫去上班，因为这是周末。He had a lot of people working for him, maybe sixty, and most of them liked him most of the time.他有大约 60 个人为他效力，大部分人在大部分时候觉得他很不错。Three of them will be
24、seriously considered for his job.其中三位紧盯着他的职位。The obituary didnt mention that. 讣告上没有提及这些。But it did list his “survivors“ quite accurately. 但是讣告详细地介绍了他的遗孀。He is survived by his wife, Helen, forty-eight years old, a good woman of no particular marketable skills, who worked in an office before marrying
25、and mothering.他的妻子，海伦，一个 48 岁的好女人，没有什么特别的市场能力，在结婚生子之前在一家公司上班。 She had, according to her daughter, given up trying to compete with his work years ago, when the children were small. 她说，在女儿的记忆里，她很多年前，当孩子们还很小的时候，就放弃了和他工作的抗争。A company friend said, “I know how much you will miss him.“ And she answered, “I
26、 already have.“ 一个工作伙伴说，“我知道你将对他有多思念”，她回答到，“ 我一直都很想他。”“Missing him all these years,“ she must have given up part of herself which had cared too much for the man. She would be “well taken care of.“ “想了他这么多年了，”她如此在乎的这个男人，必须放弃她，以后她将会被“ 好好的照顾 ”。His “dearly beloved“ eldest of the “dearly beloved“ childre
27、n is a hard-working executive in a manufacturing firm down South. 他的“最爱的”孩子们中“最爱的” 长子是南方某制造公司努力工作的经理。 In the day and a half before the funeral, he went around the neighborhood researching his father, asking the neighbors what he was like. They were embarrassed. 在葬礼前的一天半里，他走访邻居询问邻居们询问邻居对他的印象。他们很尴尬。Hi
28、s second child is a girl, who is twenty-four and newly married.他的第二个孩子是一个女孩，24 岁了，刚刚结婚。She lives near her mother and they are close, but whenever she was alone with her father, in a car driving somewhere, they had nothing to say to each other. 她和妈妈住的很近，很亲密，但是无论什么时候，当她和爸爸独处的时候，哪怕是在一辆车中，他们互相没有什么言语。The
29、 youngest is twenty, a boy, a high-school graduate who has spent the last couple of years, like a lot of his friends, doing enough odd jobs to stay in grass and food. 最小的是一个男孩，20 岁，高中毕业生，像很多他的朋友一样，做一些零工，吃喝玩乐。He was the one who tried to grab at his father, and tried to mean enough to him to keep the
30、man at home.他是唯一一个能够抓住父亲的人，尝试把父亲留到家里。 He was his fathers favorite. Over the last two years, Phil stayed up nights worrying about the boy.他是他父亲最喜欢的儿子，在生命的最后两年里，菲尔整夜担心这个孩子。The boy once said, “My father and I only board here.“ 他曾说过，“父亲和我只是在这里寄宿”At the funeral, the sixty-year-old company president told
31、the forty-eight-year-old widow that the fifty-one-year-old deceased had meant much to the company and would be missed and would be hard to replace.在葬礼上，60 岁的总裁安慰 48 岁的遗孀说，这位 51 岁的死者对公司的贡献巨大，没有人可以替代他的位置。 The widow didnt look him in the eye. 这位遗孀不敢直视他眼睛。She was afraid he would read her bitterness and,
32、 after all, she would need him to straighten out the finances-the stock options and all that. 她害怕他可以读出她的苦痛，毕竟，她需要他帮忙清理丈夫的财政股票什么的。Phil was overweight and nervous and worked too hard.菲尔超重、焦虑、工作强度太大。If he wasnt at the office he was worried about it. 如果他不在公司，就会担心公司的工作。Phil was a Type A, heart-attack nat
33、ural. You could have picked him out in a minute from a lineup. 菲尔是一个 A 型血，先天易发心脏病。在人群中，你可以一眼就把他认出来。So when he finally worked himself to death, at precisely 3:00 A.M. Sunday morning, no one was really surprised. 所以当他最终因工作死于星期天凌晨三点整，没人感到意外。By 5:00 P.M. the afternoon of the funeral, the company preside
34、nt had begun, discreetly of course, with care and taste, to make inquiries about his replacement. One of three men. He asked around: “Whos been working the hardest?“ 葬礼过后的下午 5 点，公司总裁已经开始谨慎地，带着小心和鉴赏，审视着三位可以代替他职位的人。他问到“谁工作最努力？ ”Unit6-B星期天凌晨三点整，他终于把自己累死了。当然，讣告并没有这么说，只说他死于心脏病。但是他的朋友和熟人很快就明白了是怎么回事。他是个典型的
35、 A 型人，工作成瘾。相互间他们这么说，摇着头，并且沉思五或十分钟，反思他们的生活方式。此君叫菲尔，星期天凌晨三点整，把自己累死了。那天是他的休息日，可他却在工作。他把自己生命中的最后 18 年献给了那项工作。他 51 岁，是公司的一位副总裁。更确切地说，他是六位副总裁之一，而且，假如公司总裁去世或者很快退休的话，他是有可能升至最高职位的三位副总裁之一。菲尔是休息不起的。他每周工作六天，其中五天每天工作到晚上八点或九点，而此时他的公司除了当官的，其他人都已开始每周工作四天。他拨不出时间来做户外活动，除非你把他每月打一次高尔夫球也算在内。对于菲尔来说，那也是工作。他总是在办公桌上吃鸡蛋色拉三明治
36、。当然，他比较胖，患有高血压。每逢星期六，菲尔就穿运动茄克衫而不是西服去办公室，因为是周末。他手下有很多人，大约 60 个，多数时候大多数人都喜欢他，敬慕他。其中三人将被认真考虑来接替他的工作。讣告对此避而不谈。然而讣告却一一列出了被他“留下的人” 。在他身后有妻子海伦，她 48 岁，心地善良，但却没有特别的职业技能，结婚生子之前曾做过办公室工作。据她女儿说，多年前孩子们还小时，她就放弃了与他的工作竞争。公司的一位朋友说：“我知道你将多么思念他。 ”而她回答道：“我早已这样了。 ”“这些年来思念着他， ”她已经放弃了自己的一部分，这部分的她太关心这个男人了。从此她将“ 得到很好的关照 ” 。他
37、“亲爱的孩子 ”中“亲爱的长子”在南方的一家制造公司当经理，工作很努力。在安葬父亲的前一天，他走访了邻居，试图多了解他的父亲。邻居们很尴尬，只能装作比事实上更了解他的父亲。他的第二个孩子是个女儿，今年 24 岁，刚刚结婚。她住在她母亲附近，两人关系亲密。但是，以前每当她和父亲单独在一起时，比如开车去什么地方时，两人几乎无话可说。最小的是个男孩，今年 20 岁，是个高中毕业生。和他的许多朋友一样，他满足于打零工，以维持吃饭和吸大麻。他父亲的工作不适合他。虽然如此，他依然努力理解他父亲，努力表明自己对他很重要，以此将他拴在家里。他是他父亲的最爱。在过去的两年里，菲尔常为担心这个男孩而睡不着觉。这男孩有一次说道：“ 我和我父亲只住在这里。 ”在葬礼上，60 岁的公司总裁告诉 48 岁的寡妇，51 岁的死者对公司非常重要，公司会思念他，很难找到人来代替他。寡妇不敢正面看他。她担心他会看出她的不快。毕竟，她需要他来理清他们之间的财务优先认股权等等之类。菲尔身体胖，弦总是绷得紧紧的，工作太卖力。如果他不在办公室，他就放心不下。他是容易患心脏病的那种人。在一大群人中，你一眼就能将他辨认出来。因此，当他星期天凌晨三点整终于把自己累死时，没有人真正感到吃惊。安葬的那天下午五点，公司总裁开始（当然非常谨慎地）向他的左右询问接替菲尔的人选（三者之一）的情况。他问大家：“ 谁工作最卖力？”
