Unit 1
Unit 1
Table of Contents
Audio
Text&Translation
Nothing in life is more exciting and rewarding than the sudden flash of insight that leaves you a changed person—not only changed, but changed for the better. Such moments are rare, certainly, but they come to all of us. Sometimes from a book, a sermon, a line of poetry. Sometimes from a friend. ...
人生再也没有什么比灵光乍现，令人茅塞顿开、脱胎换骨，更激动人心、更值得回味了——不仅仅是改变，更是向好的方向升华。这样的时刻固然稀有，却会降临你我。或许来自一本好书，一篇布道，一行诗句，亦或是一位益友……
That wintry afternoon in Manhattan, waiting in the little French restaurant, I was feeling frustrated and depressed. Because of several miscalculations on my part, a project of considerable importance in my life had fallen through. Even the prospect of seeing a dear friend (the Old Man, as I privately and affectionately thought of him) failed to cheer me as it usually did. I sat there frowning at the checkered tablecloth, chewing the bitter cud of hindsight.
曼哈顿那个冬日的午后，我在一家小小的法式餐馆里等人，心中郁结，沮丧不已。皆因我几处失算，人生中一个颇为重要的项目付诸东流。即便是与一位挚友（我私下里亲切地称他为“老先生”）相见的期盼，也未能像往常那样令我心头一振。我枯坐桌前，对着格纹桌布蹙眉，细细咀嚼着事后懊悔的苦涩。
He came across the street, finally, muffled in his ancient overcoat, shapeless felt hat pulled down over his bald head, looking more like an energetic gnome than an eminent psychiatrist. His offices were nearby; I knew he had just left his last patient of the day. He was close to 80, but he still carried a full case load, still acted as director of a large foundation, still loved to escape to the golf course whenever he could.
他终于从街对面走来，裹着他那件陈旧的大衣，变形的毡帽低低地压在光头上，与其说像位德高望重的精神病学家，倒不如说更像个精力旺盛的林中老翁。他的诊所就在附近；我知道他刚送走今天最后一位病人。老先生年近八旬，却依然日程满满地接诊，仍旧管理着一个大型基金会，且一有空闲便乐此不疲地溜去高尔夫球场。
By the time he came over and sat beside me, the waiter had brought his invariable bottle of ale. I had not seen him for several months, but he seemed as indestructible as ever. "Well, young man," he said without preliminary, "what's troubling you?"
待他走过来在我身边坐下，侍者已端上了他雷打不动的那瓶艾尔啤酒。我已有数月未见他，但他看上去依然矍铄如故。“哦，年轻人，”他开门见山地问道，“什么事让你这般烦恼？”
I had long since ceased to be surprised at his perceptiveness. So I proceeded to tell him, at some length, just what was bothering me. With a kind of melancholy pride, I tried to be very honest. I blamed no one else for my disappointment, only myself. I analyzed the whole thing, all the bad judgments, the false moves. I went on for perhaps 15 minutes, while the Old Man sipped his ale in silence.
我对他的洞察入微早已习以为常。于是，我便将烦心之事一五一十、详详细细地向他倾诉。带着几分忧郁的自尊，我力求坦诚。我未将失望归咎于旁人，只怪自己。我剖析了整件事情的来龙去脉，所有错误的判断，所有失策的举动。我大约讲了十五分钟，老先生则始终沉默地呷着他的艾尔啤酒。
When I finished, he put down his glass. "Come on," he said. "Let's go back to my office."
我说完后，他放下酒杯。“走吧，”他说，“回我办公室去。”
"Your office? Did you forget something?"
“您办公室？是忘了什么东西吗？”
“No," he said mildly. "I want your reaction to something. That's all.”
“不，”他温和地说，“我想让你对一些东西做点反应。仅此而已。”
A chill rain was beginning to fall outside, but his office was warm and comfortable and familiar: book-lined walls, long leather couch, signed photograph of Sigmund Freud, tape recorder by the window. His secretary had gone home. We were alone.
窗外开始飘起寒冷的细雨，他的办公室里却温暖舒适，一如既往地熟悉：四壁书香，长长的皮质沙发，弗洛伊德的签名照，窗边放着一台录音机。他的秘书已经下班回家，屋里只有我们两人。
The Old Man took a tape from a flat cardboard box and fitted it onto the machine. “On this tape," he said, "are three short recordings made by three persons who came to me for help. They are not identified, of course. I want you to listen to the recordings and see if you can pick out the two-word phrase that is the common denominator in all three cases." He smiled. "Don't look so puzzled. I have my reasons."
老先生从一个扁平的纸盒里取出一盘磁带，装到机器上。“这盘磁带上，”他说，“有三段简短的录音，来自三位曾向我求助的人。当然，他们的身份是保密的。我想让你听听这些录音，看看你能否找出这三个案例中共同出现的那个两个字的短语。”他笑了笑。“别那么困惑。我这么做，自有我的道理。”
What the owners of the voices on the tape had in common, it seemed to me, was unhappiness. The man who spoke first evidently had suffered some kind of business loss or failure; he berated himself for not having worked harder, for not having looked ahead. The woman who spoke next had never married because of a sense of obligation to her widowed mother; she recalled bitterly all the marital chances she had let go by." The third voice belonged to a mother whose teenage son was in trouble with the police; she blamed herself endlessly.
在我听来，磁带里那些声音的主人，他们共通之处便是郁郁寡欢。第一个说话的男人显然遭遇了某种生意上的亏损或失败；他痛斥自己不够勤奋，未能深谋远虑。接下来说话的女人，因自觉对寡母负有责任而终身未嫁；她痛苦万分地回忆起自己错失的所有姻缘。第三个声音来自一位母亲，她十几岁的儿子与警方发生了纠葛；她为此无休止地自责。
The Old Man switched off the machine and leaned back in his chair. "Six times in those recordings a phrase is used that's full of subtle poison. Did you spot it? No? Well, perhaps that's because you used it three times yourself down in the restaurant a little while ago." He picked up the box that had held the tape and tossed it over to me. "There they are, right on the label. The two saddest words in any language."
老先生关掉机器，往椅背上一靠。“这些录音里，有一个暗藏毒素的短语出现了六次。你留意到了吗？没有？唔，或许是因为不久前在餐厅，你自己就用了三次。”他拿起装磁带的盒子，抛给我。“喏，就在标签上。任何语言中最令人悲伤的两个字。”
I looked down. Printed neatly in red ink were the words: If only.
我低下头。红墨水清晰地印着两个词：“要是……”
"You'd be amazed," said the Old Man, "if you knew how many thousands of times I've sat in this chair and listened to woeful sentences beginning with those two words. 'If only,' they say to me, 'I had done it differently—or not done it at all. If only I hadn't lost my temper, said the cruel thing, made that dishonest move, told that foolish lie. If only I had been wiser, or more unselfish, or more self-controlled.' They go on and on until I stop them. Sometimes I make them listen to the recordings you just heard. 'If only,' I say to them, 'you'd stop saying if only, we might begin to get somewhere!'"
“你若是知道，”老先生说，“我曾多少次坐在这把椅子上，听过成千上万个以这两个字开头的悲叹语句，定会惊讶不已。‘要是……’他们对我说，‘我当初做得不一样——或者压根儿没做就好了。要是我没有发脾气，没有说那伤人的话，没有做那不诚实的事，没有撒那个愚蠢的谎就好了。要是我当初更睿智些，或更无私些，或更能自制些就好了。’他们絮絮叨叨，没完没了，直到我出声制止。有时，我会让他们听听你刚才听过的那些录音。‘要是……’我对他们说，‘你们能别再说“要是”了，我们或许就能有所进展！’”
The Old Man stretched out his legs. "The trouble with 'if only'," he said, "is that it doesn't change anything. It keeps the person facing the wrong way—backward instead of forward. It wastes time. In the end, if you let it become a habit, it can become a real roadblock, an excuse for not trying any more.
老先生伸了伸腿。“‘要是……’这句口头禅的症结在于，”他说，“它什么也改变不了。它让人总是背向未来——沉湎过往，而非展望将来。它虚耗光阴。最终，倘若你任其成为积习，它便会化作真正的拦路石，成为你不再尝试的托词。”
“Now take your own case: your plans didn't work out. Why? Because you made certain mistakes. Well, that's all right: everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes are what we learn from. But when you were telling me about them, lamenting this, regretting that, you weren't really learning from them."
“就拿你自己的事来说吧：你的计划未能如愿。为何？因为你犯了某些错误。嗯，这没什么：人非圣贤，孰能无过。错误本是我们成长的阶梯。但是，当你向我诉说那些事，哀叹这个，懊悔那个时，你并未真正从中汲取教训。”
"How do you know?" I said, a bit defensively.
“您怎么知道？”我略带戒备地问。
“Because," said the Old Man, "you never got out of the past tense. Not once did you mention the future. And in a way—be honest, now!—you were enjoying it. There's a perverse streak in all of us that makes us like to hash over old mistakes. After all, when you relate the story of some disaster or disappointment that has happened to you, you're still the chief character, still in the center of the stage."
“因为，”老先生说，“你始终没有跳出过去的窠臼。你一次也未曾提及将来。而且，在某种程度上——老实说！——你其实有点沉溺其中。我们每个人骨子里都潜藏着一丝执拗，使我们乐于反复咀嚼旧日的失误。毕竟，当你叙述发生在自己身上的不幸或失意时，你依然是故事的主角，依然是舞台的中心。”
I shook my head ruefully. "Well, what's the remedy?"
我懊丧地摇了摇头。“那么，有何良方可以补救呢？”
“Shift the focus," said the Old Man promptly. "Change the key words and substitute a phrase that supplies lift instead of creating drag.”
“转移焦点，”老先生不假思索地答道。“改变那几个关键词，用一个能予人助力而非徒增负累的短语取而代之。”
"Do you have such a phrase to recommend?"
“您可有这样的妙语推荐？”
“Certainly. Strike out the words 'if only'; substitute the phrase 'next time.'”
“当然。划掉‘要是……’这几个字；代之以‘下一次’这个短语。”
"Next time?"
“下一次？”
“That's right. I've seen it work minor miracles right here in this room. As long as a patient keeps saying ‘if only' to me, he's in trouble. But when he looks me in the eye and says 'next time,' I know he's on his way to overcoming his problem. It means he has decided to apply the lessons he has learned from his experience, however grim or painful it may have been. It means he's going to push aside the roadblock of regret, move forward, take action, resume living. Try it yourself. You'll see."
“正是。我曾亲眼目睹它在这个房间里创造出不大不小的奇迹。只要病人不停地对我说‘要是……’，他就深陷困境。可当他直视我的眼睛，说出‘下一次’时，我便知道他已踏上了克服难题的征途。这意味着他已决心汲取过往经验的教训，无论那经历曾多么不堪或痛苦。这意味着他将要推开悔恨这块绊脚石，勇往直前，采取行动，重焕生机。你不妨一试，便知分晓。”
My old friend stopped speaking. Outside, I could hear the rain whispering against the windowpane. I tried sliding one phrase out of my mind and replacing it with the other. It was fanciful, of course, but I could hear the new words lock into place with an audible click...
我的老友言尽于此。窗外，雨声淅沥，轻叩窗格。我试着将那个短语从脑海中抹去，换上另一个。这自然有些异想天开，但我仿佛听见新的词语“咔哒”一声，清晰地嵌入了它应有的位置……
The Old Man stood up a bit stiffly. "Well, class dismissed. It has been good to see you, young man. Always is. Now, if you will help me find a taxi, I probably should be getting on home."
老先生略显僵硬地站起身。“好了，今日课毕。见到你很高兴，年轻人。向来如此。现在，劳驾你帮我叫辆出租车，我差不多也该回去了。”
We came out of the building into the rainy night. I spotted a cruising cab and ran toward it, but another pedestrian was quicker.
我们走出大楼，融入了雨夜。我瞥见一辆空驶的出租车，便拔腿追去，无奈另一位路人已捷足先登。
"My, my," said the Old Man slyly. "If only we had come down ten seconds sooner, we'd have caught that cab, wouldn't we?"
“哎呀呀，”老先生狡黠一笑，“要是我们早下来十秒钟，就能截住那辆车了，不是吗？”
I laughed and picked up the cue. "Next time I'll run faster."
我笑了，心领神会地接道：“下一次我会跑快点。”
“That's it," cried the Old Man, pulling his absurd hat down around his ears. "That's it exactly!"
“正是此意！”老先生大声说道，把他那顶滑稽的帽子往下拉了拉，直盖到耳际。“一点不差！”
Another taxi slowed. I opened the door for him. He smiled and waved as it moved away. I never saw him again. A month later, he died of a sudden heart attack, in full stride, so to speak.
又一辆出租车缓缓停下。我为他拉开车门。车子驶离时，他微笑着挥了挥手。自此，我再未见过他。一个月后，他突发心脏病与世长辞，可以说，他是在人生步履依然矫健之际，溘然长逝。
More than a year has passed since that rainy afternoon in Manhattan. But to this day, whenever I find myself thinking "if only", I change it to "next time". Then I wait for that almost-perceptible mental 'click'. And when I hear it, I think of the Old Man.
自曼哈顿那个下雨的午后至今，已逾一年。但时至今日，每当我察觉自己又在默念“要是……”时，我都会将其替换为“下一次”。而后，静待脑海中那几乎可以感知到的“咔哒”一响。每当此时，我便会忆起那位老先生。
A small fragment of immortality, to be sure. But it's the kind he would have wanted. From: James I. Brown, pp. 146-148
诚然，这仅是一缕微不足道的永恒。但这，恰是他所期冀的那种不朽。 选自：詹姆斯·布朗，第146-148页
Summary&Mindmap
English Summary The story follows a narrator, despondent over a professional setback, who meets his elderly psychiatrist friend, whom he affectionately calls the "Old Man." The Old Man, through a clever demonstration involving tape recordings of other patients, reveals how the common phrase "if only" traps individuals in a cycle of regret and prevents them from moving forward. He then introduces "next time" as a powerful, constructive alternative, emphasizing a shift from dwelling on past mistakes to learning from them and focusing on future actions. This profound yet simple advice becomes a lasting mental habit for the narrator, serving as a meaningful tribute to his friend after his passing.
中文概括 本文讲述了叙述者因一次重要项目的失败而深感沮丧和懊悔，在他年迈的精神科医生朋友（“老人”）的引导下，通过聆听病人录音，认识到“要是……就好了”（if only）这种思维方式的危害性。老人进而教导他用“下一次”（next time）来取代这种消极念头，从而将注意力从对过去的悔恨转向从经验中学习并积极面对未来。这个教诲在老人去世后，成为了叙述者宝贵的精神财富。
Analysis
Analysis of Difficult Sentences
Sentence: "I sat there frowning at the checkered tablecloth, chewing the bitter cud of hindsight."
- 中文解释： 我坐在那里，对着格子桌布皱着眉头，反刍着事后懊悔的苦涩滋味。
- "frowning at the checkered tablecloth": “对着格子桌布皱着眉头”是字面意思，描绘了叙述者沮丧的神态。
- "chewing the bitter cud of hindsight": 这是理解的难点。"Cud" 原指反刍动物（如牛）倒嚼的食物。"Chewing the cud" 是一个习语，意思是“反复琢磨，沉思”。这里加上 "bitter" (苦涩的) 和 "hindsight" (事后聪明，后见之明)，形象地表达了叙述者不断回想过去的失误，并为此感到痛苦和懊悔，就像牛反复咀嚼苦涩的食物一样。整个短语生动地描绘了他沉浸在对过去失误的悔恨和自责中无法自拔的状态。
- 中文解释： 我坐在那里，对着格子桌布皱着眉头，反刍着事后懊悔的苦涩滋味。
Sentence: "He came across the street, finally, muffled in his ancient overcoat, shapeless felt hat pulled down over his bald head, looking more like an energetic gnome than an eminent psychiatrist."
- 中文解释： 他终于从街对面走过来了，裹在他那件旧大衣里，不成形的毡帽拉得很低，盖住了他的秃头，看起来与其说是一位著名的精神科医生，不如说更像一个精力充沛的小矮人（或土地神）。
- "muffled in his ancient overcoat": “muffled” 指被包裹得很严实，声音也会因此变得低沉模糊。“ancient overcoat” 指非常旧的大衣。合起来是“裹在他那件老旧的大衣里”。
- "shapeless felt hat pulled down over his bald head": “不成形的毡帽拉得很低，盖住了他的秃头”。这进一步描绘了他不修边幅的外表。
- "looking more like an energetic gnome than an eminent psychiatrist": 这是句子的核心对比。“gnome” 指神话中的（通常是年老、矮小、守护宝藏的）地精、小矮人，这里取其“精力充沛但外形奇特”的意味。“eminent psychiatrist” 指“杰出的精神科医生”。这句话通过外貌的对比，反衬出老人虽然外表普通甚至有些古怪，但内在充满活力，并且与他受人尊敬的职业身份形成一种有趣的张力。
- 中文解释： 他终于从街对面走过来了，裹在他那件旧大衣里，不成形的毡帽拉得很低，盖住了他的秃头，看起来与其说是一位著名的精神科医生，不如说更像一个精力充沛的小矮人（或土地神）。
Sentence: "With a kind of melancholy pride, I tried to be very honest."
- 中文解释： 我带着一种忧郁的自豪感，努力做到非常诚实。
- "melancholy pride": 这是理解的难点，因为它是一个看似矛盾的组合。“Melancholy” 指忧郁、悲伤。“Pride” 指自豪、骄傲。这里的“忧郁的自豪感”指的是叙述者在承认自己的错误和失败时，虽然心情是沮丧的（melancholy），但同时他也为自己能够坦诚面对错误、不推卸责任（I blamed no one else for my disappointment, only myself）而感到一种复杂的自豪感（pride）。这种自豪并非来源于成功，而是来源于对自身错误的诚实剖析。
- 中文解释： 我带着一种忧郁的自豪感，努力做到非常诚实。
Sentence: "Six times in those recordings a phrase is used that's full of subtle poison."
- 中文解释： 在那些录音里，有一个充满了潜在毒害的短语被使用了六次。
- "a phrase is used that's full of subtle poison": 这是句子的核心部分。"Subtle poison" 是一个隐喻。“Subtle” 指不易察觉的、微妙的、潜在的。“Poison” 指毒药。这个短语并不是说这个词组本身有物理毒性，而是指它对人的精神、心态会产生潜移默化的、不易察觉的负面影响，像慢性毒药一样侵蚀人的积极性。老人用这个比喻来强调“if only”这个短语的危害性。
- 中文解释： 在那些录音里，有一个充满了潜在毒害的短语被使用了六次。
Sentence: "There's a perverse streak in all of us that makes us like to hash over old mistakes."
- 中文解释： 我们每个人身上都有一种执拗古怪的倾向，让我们喜欢反复琢磨过去的错误。
- "a perverse streak": “perverse” 指故意做作对的、不正当的、执拗的、古怪的。“Streak” 在这里指（性格中不良的）倾向、一点点特性。所以 "a perverse streak" 指的是一种“有点反常的、不合常理的”性格倾向。
- "hash over old mistakes": “hash over” 是一个习语，意思是“反复讨论、重提（尤指令人不快或已解决的旧事）”。这里指反复琢磨、咀嚼过去的错误。
- 整句话的意思是：我们人性中都存在一种有些“拧巴”或“自虐”的倾向，使得我们反而喜欢沉溺于反复回味和检讨过去的失误，即使这会带来不快。
- 中文解释： 我们每个人身上都有一种执拗古怪的倾向，让我们喜欢反复琢磨过去的错误。
Sentence: "It means he has decided to apply the lessons he has learned from his experience, however grim or painful it may have been."
- 中文解释： 这意味着他已经决定应用他从经验中学到的教训，无论那些经验曾经是多么严峻或痛苦。
- "apply the lessons he has learned from his experience": “应用他从经验中学到的教训”，指将过去的经历（尤其是失败和错误）转化为有价值的认知，并用于指导未来的行动。
- "however grim or painful it may have been": 这是一个让步状语从句，修饰 "his experience"。“However” 在这里引导让步，意为“无论多么……”。“Grim” 指严峻的、令人沮丧的。“Painful” 指痛苦的。这部分强调了即使过去的经历非常糟糕和痛苦，人们仍然可以从中学习并汲取教训。这句话点出了从错误中学习的重要性，而不论错误本身有多么令人不快。
- 中文解释： 这意味着他已经决定应用他从经验中学到的教训，无论那些经验曾经是多么严峻或痛苦。