I told my father how much I loved him.
Dad
The first memory I have of him—of anything, really—is his strength. It was in the late afternoon in a house under construction near ours. The unfinished wood floor had large, terrifying holes whose yawning darkness I knew led to nowhere good. His powerful hands, then age 33, wrapped all the way around my tiny arms, then age 4, and easily swung me up to his shoulders to command all I surveyed.
我告诉父亲我多么爱他。
父亲
对于父亲的记忆——事实上没有别的,就只有——他的力气。一天傍晚,在一所离我家不远地方,正在修建一所房子,尚未完工的地板上有一个个巨大可怕的洞,那些张着大口的黑洞在我看来是通向不祥之处的通道。那时父亲33岁,有一双厚实而有力的大手,对于当时只有4岁的我来说,他毫不费力地把我举上他的肩头,让我把一切都尽收眼底。
The relationship between a son and his father changes over time. It may grow and flourish in mutual mutual adj.相互的, 共有的 maturity maturity n.成热, 完备, (票据)到期, 成熟 . It may sour in resented dependence or independence. With many children living in singleparent homes today, it may not even exist.
But to a little boy right after World War II,a father seemed a god with strange strengths and uncanny uncanny adj.离奇的 powers enabling him to do and know things that no mortal could do or know.
Amazing things, like putting a bicycle chain back on, just like that. Or building a hamsterhamster n.东欧或亚洲产的大颊的鼠类 cage.Or guiding a jigsawjigsaw n.竖锯 so it forms the letter F; I learned the alphabet alphabet n.字母表 that way in those pretelevision days.
父子关系随着岁月的流逝而发生着变化,它会在彼此成熟的过程中成长兴盛并日渐亲密起来,也会在充满不悦的依赖或独立的关系中产生冲突。如今,许多孩子都生活在单亲家庭,这种关系可能根本就不存在。
然而,对于一个生活在二战刚刚结束时期的小男孩来说,父亲就如同一个有着神奇力量的神,他无所不能,无所不知。
许多奇妙的事情,如给自行车上链条,或是制作一个鼠笼,或是教我玩拼图玩具,拼出个字母“F”来等之类的事情,在电视机还未诞生的年代,我就学会了字母表。
There were, of course, rules to learn. First came the handshake handshake n.握手 . None of those fishy little finger grips, but a good firm squeeze accompanied by an equally strong gaze into the others eyes. “The first thing anyone knows about you is your handshake,” he would say.
And wed practice it each night on his return from work, the serious toddler toddler n.初学走路的孩子 in the battered Cleveland Indians cap running up to the giant father to shake hands again and again until it was firm enough.
As time passed, there were other rules to learn. “Always do your best.”“Do it now.”“Never lie!” And most importantly,“You can do whatever you have to do.”
By my teens, he wasnt telling me what to do anymore, which was scary and heady at the same time. He provided perspective, not telling me what was around the great corner of life but letting me know there was a lot more than just today and the next, which I hadnt thought of.
当然还要学习一些做人的道理。首先就是握手。这不是那种流于形式的握手,而是一种非常坚定有力的紧握,同时还要给对方一种坚定的目光。父亲常说:“人们认识你,首先就是从与你握手开始的。”
每晚他下班回家,我们就练习相互握手。年幼的我,戴着顶破克利夫兰印第安帽,一本正经地跌跌撞撞地跑向巨人般的父亲,与他握手。一次次,直到握得坚定有力。
随着时间的流逝,还要学习更多的东西。比如:“尽力而为”,“从现在做起”,“永不撒谎”,而最重要的是“凡是你必须做的事你都能做到”。
当我十几岁时,父亲不再教如何去做,这让我既害怕又高兴。他教会我判断事物的方法,但却没有告诉我在人生的重大转折点上会发生什么样的事情,只是让我知道除了今天和明天,还有很长的路要走,而这是我从未想过的。
One day, I realize now, there was a change. I wasnt trying to please him so much as I was trying to impress him.
I never asked him to come to my football games. He had a highpressure career, and it meant driving through most of Friday night. But for all the big games, when I looked over at the sideline, there was that familiar fedora. And by God, did the opposing team captain ever get a firm handshake and a gazegaze n.凝视 he would remember.