新視野大學(xué)英語(yǔ)第四冊(cè)u(píng)nit6ATheweightmencarry

Theweightmencarry男人背負(fù)的重任WhenIwasaboygrowingupoffthegridintheCommonwealthofVirginia,themenIknewlaboredwiththeirbodiesfromthefirstroostercrowinthemorningtosundown.Theyweremarginalfarmers，shepherds，justscrapingby，orwelders，steelworkers,carpenters；theybuiltcabinets，dugditches,minedcoal,ordrovetrucks，theirforearmsthickwithmuscle.Theytrainedhorses,stockedfurnaces，madetires，stoodonassemblylines，weldingpartsontorefrigeratorsorlubricatingcarengines。Intheeveningsandonweekends，theylaboredequallyhard,workingontheirownsmalltractofland,fixingbroken—downcars，repairingbrokenshuttersanddraftywindows。Intheirlittlefreetime，theydrownedtheirliversinbeerfromcheapcoppermugsatabarnearthelocalbreweryorracecourse.當(dāng)我仍是個(gè)小男孩時(shí),我住在弗吉尼亞州一個(gè)偏僻的地域，那時(shí)我所認(rèn)識(shí)的男人們從清早的第一聲公雞啼鳴向來(lái)勞作到日落.他們都是些不起眼的農(nóng)民、牧羊人，牽強(qiáng)度日，或是焊接工、鋼鐵工或木工；他們制作櫥柜、發(fā)掘水渠、開(kāi)采煤炭，或駕駛卡車(chē)，這使他們擁有肌肉結(jié)實(shí)的上臂.他們訓(xùn)練馬匹、填塞爐膛、制造輪胎，站在裝置線大將部件焊接到冰箱，或是給汽車(chē)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)上潤(rùn)滑劑.到了夜晚或周末，他們也要相同辛苦地勞作，在自己的一小片土地上耕種，維修出了問(wèn)題的汽車(chē)，修復(fù)壞掉的百頁(yè)窗和漏風(fēng)的窗戶.在僅剩的空暇時(shí)間里，他們會(huì)在當(dāng)?shù)氐钠【谱鞣换蛸愸R場(chǎng)鄰近的酒館里用盛在低價(jià)銅杯中的啤酒將自己灌得大醉。ThebodiesofthemenIknewweretwistedandwoundedinwaysvisibleandinvisible。Heavyliftinghadgivenmanyofthemspinalproblemsandappallinginjuries.Somehadbrokenribsandlostfingers。Racingagainstconveyorbeltshadgivensomeulcers.Theiranklesandkneesachedfromyearsofstandingonconcrete.Somehadpartialvisionlossastheglowoftheweldingflamedamagedtheiropticreceptors。Thereweretimes,studyingthem，whenIdreadedgrowingup.Allaroundus,thefathersalwaysseemedolderthanthemothers.Menworeoutsooner,beingmartyrsofconstantwork。Onlywomenlivedintooldage.我所認(rèn)識(shí)的那些男人的身軀遭到著各種看得見(jiàn)或看不也的歪曲和傷痛。搬運(yùn)深重的物件給他們好多人造成了脊柱病和可怕的傷痛。有些人斷了肋骨，掉了手指。在傳輸帶上不斷地工作使他們有些人患了潰瘍。他們的腳踝和膝蓋因?yàn)槿站锰扉L(zhǎng)站立在水泥地上痛苦不已。有些人因?yàn)楹附踊鸸鈸p傷視覺(jué)感官而遭到部分視覺(jué)缺失的摧殘。有些時(shí)候,端詳著他們，我會(huì)懼怕長(zhǎng)大.在我們四周的人中,父親們看上去老是比母親們要老。男人衰老得更早，長(zhǎng)久遭到著因連續(xù)勞作帶來(lái)的病痛.只有女人材活到年邁。Therewerealsosoldiers，andsofarasIcouldtell,theyscarcelyworkedatall。Butwhentheshootingstarted,manyofthemwoulddiefortheirpatriotisminfieldsandfortsofforeignoutposts。Thiswaswhatsoldierswerefor—theyweretoolslikeawrench，ahammerorascrew.還有士兵也是男人的工作。據(jù)我所知，他們幾乎不工作，但當(dāng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)一打響，他們好多人都會(huì)出于愛(ài)國(guó)熱忱而戰(zhàn)死在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)或異域前哨的碉堡前。這就是士兵的作用——他們就像工具,好像扳鉗、錘子或螺絲相同.Theseweren’ttheonlydestiniesofmen,asIlearnedfromhavingafewmaleteachers，fromreadingbooksandfromwatchingtelevision.Butthemenontelevision—thenewscommentators,thelawyers，thedoctors,thepoliticianswholeviedthetaxesandthebosseswhogaveorders—seemedasremoteandunrealtomeasthefiguresinoldpaintings。IcouldnomoreimaginegrowinguptobecomeoneofthesesophisticatedpeoplethanIcouldimaginebecomingasovereignprince。這些并不是男人們獨(dú)一的歸宿，我從以前有過(guò)的幾位男教師、從看書(shū)及看電視中認(rèn)識(shí)到了這一點(diǎn)。但是，那些上電視的男人們-—新聞議論員、律師、醫(yī)生、課收稅款的政治家及發(fā)號(hào)布令的老板們-—在我看來(lái)就像古老繪畫(huà)上的人像，遙遠(yuǎn)而不真切。我不可以想象自己長(zhǎng)大會(huì)變?yōu)檫@些聰明世故的人中的一員，就像我沒(méi)法想象自己能變?yōu)橐粋€(gè)權(quán)益至高無(wú)上的國(guó)君相同.Ascholarshipenabledmenotonlytoattendcollege，arareenoughfeatinmysocialcircle,buteventotraversethehallsofahistoricuniversitymeantforthechildrenoftherich。HereforthefirsttimeImetwomenwhotoldmethatmenwereguiltyofhavingkeptallthejoysandprivilegesoftheearthforthemselves.Iwaspuzzled，anddemandedclarification。Whatprivileges？Whatjoys？Ithoughtaboutthegrim，woundedlivesofmostofthemenbackhome。Whathadtheyallegedlystolenfromtheirwivesanddaughters?Therighttoworkfivedaysaweek，12monthsayear,for30or40years,wedgedintightspacesinthetextilemills,orinthecoalmines，strugglingtoextracteverylastbitofcoalfromtherock—hardearth？Therighttodieinwar？Therighttofixeveryleakintheroof,everygapinthefence？Therighttopilebanknoteshighforarichcorporationinacityfaraway?Therighttofeel,whenthelay—offcameortheminesshutdown，notonlyafraidbutalsoashamed?一份獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金使我得以上大學(xué)，這但是我交際圈子里極其難得的光榮.不單這樣，它還讓我能夠穿行于為富人家的孩子打造的史上有名的大學(xué)殿堂里。就在這里,我平生頭一次碰到女人告訴我說(shuō)男人是有罪的,因?yàn)樗麄儼训厍蛏先康臍g喜和特權(quán)都據(jù)為己有。我被弄糊涂了，要求她們予以解釋.什么特權(quán)？什么歡喜？我想到家鄉(xiāng)大部分男人那種困難嚴(yán)酷、傷痛累累的生活。人們所說(shuō)的他們從老婆和女兒那邊偷走的東西又能是些什么呢?莫非是每周五天、每年十二個(gè)月，這樣三四十年里擠縮在紡織廠狹窄的空間里，或是在煤礦下掙扎著從巖石般堅(jiān)硬的泥土中挖出最后一點(diǎn)煤的勞作的權(quán)益?戰(zhàn)死戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)的權(quán)益？修葺屋頂上每條裂痕和圍欄上每個(gè)斷欄的權(quán)益？為一個(gè)遙遠(yuǎn)的城市某個(gè)富饒財(cái)團(tuán)壘積錢(qián)鈔的權(quán)益？在遭受辭退或煤礦倒閉時(shí)感覺(jué)既懼怕又羞愧的權(quán)益？Inthisalienworldoftherich，Iwasslowtounderstandthedeepgrievancesofwomen。Thiswasbecause，asaboy,Ihadenviedthem.Beforecollege,theonlypeopleIhadeverknownwhowereinterestedinartormusicorliterature，theonlyoneswhoeverseemedtoenjoyasenseofeasewerethemothersanddaughters。What’smore,theydidnothavetogotowar。Bycomparisonwiththenarrow,compartmentalizeddaysoffathers，thecomparativelylightweightworkofmothersseemedexpansive。Theyclippedcoupons，wenttoseeneighbors，orranerrandsatschooloratchurch.Isawtheirlivesasthroughatelescope,alltwinklingstarsandshaftsoflight,missingthedetailsthattrulydefinedtheirdays.Nodoubt,hadItakenamoredeductivelookattheirlives，Iwouldhaveenviedthemless。Ididn’tsee,then,whataprisonahousecouldbe，sincehousesseemedtomebrighter，handsomerplacesthananyfactory。Assuchthingswereneverspokenof，Ididnotrealizehowoftenwomensufferedfrommen’sbullying。EventhenIcouldseehowexhaustingitwasforamothertocateralldaytotheneedsofyoungchildren.But,asaboy，ifIhadtochoosebetweentendingababyandtendingamachine,IthinkIwouldhavechosenthebaby.在這樣一個(gè)盡是富人的陌生世界里，我在理解女人們深深的怨怒方面非常愚鈍。這是因?yàn)椋?dāng)我仍是一個(gè)小男孩時(shí),我就妒忌過(guò)她們.在上大學(xué)從前,我所認(rèn)識(shí)的獨(dú)一對(duì)藝術(shù)、音樂(lè)或文學(xué)有興趣的人，獨(dú)一看上去能夠享受一絲自在的一群人就是那些做母親和女兒的人.并且，她們也不用去參加戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)。與父親們所遭到的狹小的、關(guān)閉的日子對(duì)比，母親們所擔(dān)當(dāng)?shù)南鄬?duì)較輕的工作顯得更為廣泛一些。她們剪用購(gòu)物券,探望街坊，在學(xué)?；蚪烫门芘芡?我憂如是透過(guò)望遠(yuǎn)鏡看到她們的生活，盡是閃耀的星星和一縷縷光線,而遺漏了她們生活光陰的真切細(xì)節(jié)。無(wú)須置疑，假如我用更具理性的方式審察她們的生活,我就不會(huì)那么妒忌她們了.可在那時(shí)，我實(shí)在看不出一幢房屋能成為何樣的牢獄，因?yàn)榉课菰谖铱磥?lái)比任何廠房都更亮堂、更風(fēng)光。我也沒(méi)存心識(shí)到女人是多么屢次地遭到男人的欺辱，因?yàn)檫@樣的事情從未被說(shuō)起過(guò)。即便在那時(shí),我也能夠看出一個(gè)母親整天繁忙著對(duì)付年幼孩子們的需假如多么地辛苦。但是，作為男孩,假如我那時(shí)一定在照料嬰兒和照看機(jī)器之間作選擇,我想我會(huì)選擇照料嬰兒。SoIwasbaffledwhenthewomenatcollegemadearacketaccusingmeandmysexofhavingcorneredtheworld'spleasures。Theydemandedtobeemancipatedfromthebondsofsexism.Ithinkmybafflementhasbeenfeltbyotherboys（andbygirlsaswell）whogrewupindirt—poorfarmcountry，bythedocks,intheshadowsoffactories—anyplacewherethefatesofmenandwomenaresymmetricallybleakandgrim。因此,當(dāng)學(xué)校里的女性大吵大囔，斥責(zé)我和我所屬的性別，說(shuō)我們侵占著人間的歡喜時(shí),我很疑惑。她們要求從性別鄙視的約束中解放出來(lái)。我認(rèn)為其他男孩(女孩也相同）也會(huì)有我這樣的誘惑,只需他們成擅長(zhǎng)一無(wú)全部的鄉(xiāng)村，成擅長(zhǎng)碼頭邊或工廠鄰近——成擅長(zhǎng)任何讓男人和女人的命運(yùn)同樣蒼白和嚴(yán)酷的地方。WhenthewomenImetatcollegethoughtaboutthejoysandprivilegesofmen，theydidn’tseethesortofmenIhadknown。Thesedaughtersofprivileged，Republicanmenwantedtoinherittheirfathers’powerandlordshipovertheworl