5154Unit 8 A Magician at Stretching a Dollar课文翻译大学英语一

2021年1月19日发(作者：找碴)

Unit 8 A Magician at Stretching a Dollar

The boy was at first delighted to discover the present his mother had hidden away
as his Christmas gift. But then he began to worry that his mother would now no longer
have the pleasure of giving him a surprise. What was he to do?

1.





That December, with Christmas approaching, she was out at work and Doris was
in the kitchen when I let myself into her bedroom one afternoon in search of a safety
pin. Since her bedroom opened onto a community hallway, she kept the door locked,
but
needing
the
pin,
I
took
the
key
from
its
hiking
place,
unlocked
the
door
and
stepped
in.
Standing
against
the
wall
was
a
big,
black
bicycle
with
balloon
tires.
I
recognized
it
instantly.
It
was
the
same
second-hand
bike
I'd
been
admiring
in
a
Baltimore
Street
shop
window.
I'd
even
asked
about
the
price.
It
was
a
shock.
Something like $$15. Somehow my mother had scraped together enough for a down
payment and meant to surprise me with the bicycle on Christmas morning.
2.





I
was
deeply
moved
by
the
discovery
and
yet
sickened
by
the
knowledge
that,
bursting
into
her
room
like
this,
I
had
robbed
her
of
the
pleasure
of
seeing
me
astonished
and
delighted
on
Christmas
day.
I
hadn't
wanted
to
know
her
lovely
secret; still coming upon it like this made me feel as though I'd struck a blow against
her happiness. I backed out, put the key back in its hiding place, and thought over
what to do.
3.





I decided that between now and Christmas I must do nothing, absolutely nothing,
to reveal the slightest hint of my terrible knowledge. I must avoid the least word that
night
reveal my
possession
of
her
secret. Nothing must
deny
her
the
happiness
of
seeing me completely amazed on Christmas day.
4.





In
the
privacy
of
my
bedroom
I
began
composing
and
testing
exclamations
of
delight: ―Wow!‖ ―A bike with balloon tires! I don't believe it!‖ ―I'm the luckiest boy
alive!‖ And so on. They all owed a lot to movies in which boys like Mickey Rooney
had seen their wildest dreams come true. I soon realized that, with my lack of acting
talent, all of them were going to sound false at the critical moment when I wanted to
cry
out
my
love
spontaneously
from
the
heart.
Maybe
it
would
be
better
to
say
nothing but appear to be shocked into such deep pleasure that speech had escaped


me/
I
wasn't
sure,
though.
I'd
seen
speechless
gratitude
in
the
movies
too,
and
it
never
really worked
until
the
actors managed
to
cry
a
few
quiet
tears.
I doubted
I
could
cry
on
cue,
so
I
began
thinking
about
other
expressions
of
speechless
amazement. In front of a hand-held mirror in my bedroom I tried the whole range of
expressions; mouth open and eyes wide; hands slapped firmly against both cheeks to
keep
the
jaw
from
falling
off;
ear-to-ear
grin
with
all
teeth
fully
exposed
while
hugging myself with both arms. These and more I practiced for several days without
acquiring confidence in any of them. I decided to wait until Christmas morning and
see if anything came naturally...
5.





That Christmas morning she woke up early, ―to see what Santa Claus brought,‖
she said with just the right tone of voice to indicate we were all old enough to know
who Santa Claus was. I came out of my bedroom with my present for her and Doris,
and Doris

came with hers. My mother's has been placed under the tree during the
night. There were a few small brightly wrapped packages, a big doll for Doris, but no
bicycle. I must have looked disappointed.
6.





―It looks like Santa Claus didn't do too well by you this year, Buddy,‖ she said, as
I
opened
packages.
A
shirt.
A
necktie.
I
said
someth
ing
halfhearted
like,
―It's
the
thought
that
counts,‖
but
what
I
felt
was
bitter
disappointment.
I
supposed
she'd
found the bike just too expensive and sent it back.
7.





―Wait
a
minute!‖
she
cried,
snapping
her
fingers.
―There's
something
in
my
bedroom I f
orgot all about.‖

8.





She went out, and a moment later came back wheeling the big black two-wheeler
with
balloon
tires.
I
didn't
have
to
pretend,
after
all.
The
three
of
us
—
Doris,
my
mother, and I
–
were people bred to hold back emotional expressions of love, but I
did something that startled both my mother and me. I threw my arms around her
spontaneously and kissed her.
9.





―All right now, don't carry on about it. It's only a bicycle,‖ she said.

10.





Still, I knew that she was as happy as I was to see her so happy.