做你自己 Do something for yourself

As a little boy, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday aftemoons at my grandfather's farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding stonewalls, the house and barn provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me. I was used to parlors neat as a pin that seemed to whisper, "Not to be touched!"

我小时候最喜欢在爷爷的农场里度过每个星期天的下午。爷爷的农场在宾夕法尼亚州西部。农场四周都围上了绵延几英里的石墙。房子和谷仓给我这个城市男孩带来了无穷的快乐时光。我习惯了城里整洁的客厅，似乎在低声说：“不要摸！”。

I can still remember one afternoon when I was eight years old. Since my first visit to the farm, I'd wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stonewalls surrounding the property. My parents would never approve. The walls were old; some stones were missing, others loose and crumbling. Still, my yearning to scramble across those walls grew so strong. One spring afternoon, I summoned all my courage and entered the living room, where the adults had gathered after dinner.

我仍能记得我8岁那年一天下午的情景。因为我第一次去农场，所以我很想上那农场四周的那些石墙。可我的父母是绝不会同意的。这些墙年深日　，有的石头不见了，有的石头松动倒塌了。然而，我渴望这些墙的欲望非常强烈。一个春天的下午，我鼓足勇气，走进客厅，大人们午饭后都聚在这里。

"I, uh, I want to climb the stonewalls," I said hesitantly. Everyone looked up. "Can I climb the stonewalls?" Instantly a chorus went up from the women in the room. "Heavens, no!" they cried in dismay. "You'll hurt yourself!" I wasn't too disappointed; the response was just as I'd expected. But before I could leave the room, I was stopped by my grandfather' s booming voice. "Hold on just a minute," I heard him say, "Let the boy climb the stonewalls. He has to learn to do things for himself."

“我，呃，我想爬那石墙，”我犹豫地说道。大家都抬起头。“我能去爬那些石墙吗？”屋里的女人们马上齐声叫了起来。“天哪，不能！”她们惊慌地叫首，“你会伤着自己的！”我并没有太失望，我早就预料会是这样的回答。但还没等我离开客厅，爷爷低沉的声音拦住了我。“等一会儿，”我听到他说“让孩子爬那些石墙吧。他必须学会自己做一些事。”