英语阅读/翻译之朝花夕拾（27）

1. I like the idea that there were actual human beings who lived their lives according to inspirational quotes.

我喜欢这种想法：还真有人按照励志语录的指引来过日子的。

2. Forty was the age at which I thought I'd have a house full of oak shelves spiling over with hardcover books. Cabinets loaded with china. Carpets brought home from exotic trips abroad. The age at which I'd have a piano substantial enough to cripple the back of each member of the moving team that finally gets it into the upstairs parlor. Forty was supposed to be the age at which I'd have a gigantic flat-screen TV, one that sinks into the wall like a corrugated iron anchor. A wife. Kids. Peace, too. The kind that rises like mist from a settled life, the life of a man who's figured out the cologne that suits him and the channels he wants programmed into his car radio. With all that in order, I'd be ready to do one of those Russian leg-kicking dances straight towards my grave with a smile on my face.

人到四十这个岁数，我想应该是拥有这样一所房子：橡木书架上塞满精装本书籍，橱柜里摆满瓷器。地毯是从国外买了带回来的。到这个岁数，我还得有一架钢琴，沉重的可以压坏搬运组里每一位工人的腰椎，但他们还是有办法把它抬进楼上的琴房。人到四十，我应该拥有一台大平板电视，像船锚一样嵌进墙壁里。有太太，孩子。还有平和宁静，那种超越安定生活之上如薄雾般的宁静。而安定的生活，就是搞明白那种香水适合他，汽车收音机该设定哪个频道。这一切到位以后，我就可以面带微笑，一路跳着那种俄国踢脚舞进坟墓。

3. Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.

老爸总是以为“笑是最佳良药”，我猜测这可能就是我们好几个都死于肺炎的肇因吧。

4. I'm a fat,little jewish girl growing up in Mormon Utah with chronically broke, disappointed parents who warned their daughter that if she didn't cut down on the calories and the wiseass comments, she would end up a poor, fat, lonely, bitter old spinster. Man, am I glad they were wrong about the poor part!

我是在摩门教盛行的犹他州长大的一名犹太胖丫头，我的父母常年身无分文，对我失望透顶，老警告他们的女儿如果她不减少卡路里的摄入量和停止那些自鸣得意的胡诌，她最终将成为一名又穷又肥又孤苦伶仃的老处女。好家伙！在“穷”这一点上他们说错了，我太高兴了！

5. I worried her brain might explode from the sudden flood of dopamine.

（我担心她的脑瓜会因为多巴胺突然泛滥而爆炸。）