255: Our Holiday Gift-Giving Guide - This American Life
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00:00 00:00 Transcript Share This American Life Life Partners How to Listen Episodes Recommended About Overview Staff Announcements Fellowships Jobs Music Make Radio On The Road FAQ Submissions Merch Contact Us Our Other Shows Merch Follow Us Life Partners Subscribe to our newsletter Full episode Toggle Audio and Transcript Sync Transcript | Episode #255 | December 12, 2025 255: Our Holiday Gift-Giving Guide Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard.
00:00 00:00 文字记录 分享此 美国生活 生活伙伴 如何收听 剧集 推荐 关于 概述 员工公告 奖学金 工作 音乐 在路上制作电台 常见问题解答 提交 商品 联系我们 我们的其他节目 商品 关注我们 生活伙伴 订阅我们的时事通讯 整集 切换音频和文字记录同步 文字记录 | 内容第 255 集 | 2025 年 12 月 12 日 255：我们的节日送礼指南 注：《This American Life》是为耳朵而生，旨在让人们听到。
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Prologue: Prologue Ira Glass One week before Christmas, the Target store on Chicago's West Side.
序言：序言 Ira Glass 圣诞节前一周，芝加哥西区的 Target 商店。
Middle of the day.
中午。
People are rolling shopping carts full of toys and games through the aisles.
人们推着装满玩具和游戏的购物车穿过过道。
Teenagers and single people.
青少年和单身人士。
Parents from every income.
父母各方面收入。
And I don't really understand this, but if you talk to them, this incredibly diverse group, there's one question that always seems to get exactly the same answer.
我不太明白这一点，但如果你和他们，这个极其多元化的群体交谈，有一个问题似乎总是得到完全相同的答案。
Of all these things that you have in this basket, what do you think is the most likely to get returned?
在您这个篮子里的所有物品中，您认为最有可能被退回的是什么？
Actually, none of it.
事实上，都没有。
Woman 1 Not my stuff.
女人 1 不是我的东西。
No. I'd say, no, not mine.
不，我想说，不，不是我的。
Woman 3 Well, actually, I'm not worried at all.
女人3 嗯，事实上，我一点也不担心。
Actually, I did a pretty good job.
事实上，我做得很好。
The majority of the the stuff that I'm buying is really for my kids.
我买的大部分东西都是给我的孩子们的。
So they definitely ain't going to be returning anything.
所以他们肯定不会退回任何东西。
So, not my stuff.
所以，不是我的东西。
2: I made a list of what I was getting everyone.
2：我列出了我给每个人带来的东西。
And I'm pretty confident in it.
我对此非常有信心。
When I report their bravado, their confidence, to the store manager Lee Crumb, this is his response.
当我向商店经理 Lee Crumb 报告他们的虚张声势和自信时，他的反应是这样的。
[LAUGHTER] Well, the day after Christmas is the busiest day in refunds.
[笑声]嗯，圣诞节后的第二天是退款最繁忙的一天。
So I don't know how true that statement is, nobody ever returns my gifts.
所以我不知道这句话的真实性，没有人归还我的礼物。
Of course, everybody has sunglasses and rubber noses on that day when they're returning stuff so nobody sees them.
当然，在退货那天，每个人都戴着墨镜和橡胶鼻子，这样就没有人看到他们。
It's really funny when the media's here the day after Christmas and they're filming the return center.
当媒体在圣诞节后的第二天来到这里并拍摄返回中心时，这真的很有趣。
Everybody's kind of like--
每个人都有点像——
Like criminals.
就像罪犯一样。
If you haven't had at least one drama, one stumper, one gift that has been so difficult to figure out this year that you want to cry, then you are a very unusual person leading a very charmed life, my friend.
如果你今年没有经历过至少一出戏剧、一件难事、一件礼物，让你很难弄清楚，以至于你想哭，那么你就是一个非常不寻常的人，过着非常迷人的生活，我的朋友。
And as proof, we offer you three stories today of Christmas and Christmas presents.
作为证明，我们今天为您提供三个有关圣诞节和圣诞礼物的故事。
From WBEZ Chicago it's This American Life, distributed by Public Radio International.
这是芝加哥 WBEZ 的《This American Life》，由国际公共广播电台发行。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Our show in three gift-wrapped little acts for you today, all tied up pretty with a bow.
今天我们为您表演三场用礼物包装的小表演，所有表演都用蝴蝶结漂亮地绑起来。
Act one, Make a Joyful Noise Unto Your Mom, in which two sons try, once and for all, to give their mother a gift that she will actually enjoy.
第一幕，向你的妈妈发出快乐的声音，两个儿子一劳永逸地尝试给他们的母亲一份她真正喜欢的礼物。
Act two, A Christmas Memory.
第二幕，圣诞节记忆。
In that act, Mr. Truman Capote, recorded in 1959, sounding eerily reminiscent of our own David Sedaris.
杜鲁门·卡波特 (Truman Capote) 先生在 1959 年录制的这一幕，听起来令人毛骨悚然地让人想起我们自己的大卫·塞达里斯 (David Sedaris)。
Act three, Secret Santa.
第三幕，秘密圣诞老人。
A Very, Very Secret Santa.
一个非常非常秘密的圣诞老人。
Stay with us.
留在我们身边。
Act one, Make a Joyful Noise Unto Your Mom.
第一幕，向你的妈妈发出快乐的声音。
There was one other thing that everyone at the Target store I talked to agreed on.
还有一件事是我采访过的 Target 商店里的每个人都同意的。
And that is that parents are usually the hardest people to shop for.
也就是说，父母通常是最难购买的人。
They have everything already, they want nothing, they're used to doing the giving themselves.
他们已经拥有了一切，他们什么都不想要，他们习惯于自己付出。
In Toronto, Ian Brown has had it.
在多伦多，伊恩·布朗（Ian Brown）就经历过这种情况。
I know, I know.
我知道，我知道。
Deck the halls with bows of holly, 'tis the season to be jolly.
用冬青树装饰大厅，这是欢乐的季节。
Unfortunately, I keep having a certain conversation at this time of year with my 88 year old mother.
不幸的是，每年这个时候我都会和我 88 岁的母亲进行某些谈话。
For a Christmas present, would you like a new pressure cooker?
作为圣诞礼物，您想要一个新高压锅吗？
What about a sweater?
毛衣怎么样？
Mother I've got at least 20 sweaters.
妈妈我至少有20件毛衣。
What about some jewelry?
一些珠宝怎么样？
Mother I have more jewelry than I shall never wear.
妈妈，我拥有的珠宝比我永远不会佩戴的还要多。
I don't like jewelry.
我不喜欢珠宝。
The whole spirit of Christmas is gone.
整个圣诞节的气氛都消失了。
I hate Christmas.
我讨厌圣诞节。
Do you know that more people commit suicide at Christmas than any other time of the year?
你知道圣诞节自杀的人比一年中其他任何时候都多吗？
I didn't know that.
我不知道。
Mother Well, that's the truth.
妈妈 嗯，这就是事实。
I don't have this problem with everyone.
我对每个人都没有这个问题。
I like to think I'm actually quite good at giving gifts.
我认为我实际上很擅长送礼物。
I am.
我是。
I put a lot of effort into it.
我为此付出了很多努力。
I remember what so and so said, or he or she wanted last October.
我记得去年十月某某说过的话，或者他或她想要的。
I write it down in a notebook.
我把它写在笔记本上。
I buy things my chosen recipients will like but wouldn't buy for themselves.
我购买我选择的收件人会喜欢但不会为自己购买的东西。
But with my mother, all bets are off.
但对于我的母亲来说，所有的赌注都没有了。
She's what's known as hard to buy for.
她就是众所周知的难买的人。
I'm not sure why.
我不知道为什么。
There are a million possible reasons.
有一百万种可能的原因。
Maybe it's generational, all those depression raised mothers not wanting to be dependent on the kindness of others.
也许这是世代相传的，所有这些抑郁症都让母亲们不想依赖他人的善意。
Maybe it's a power play.
也许这就是一场权力游戏。
As long as she doesn't like what you give her, you remain properly beholden.
只要她不喜欢你给她的东西，你就仍然要负有责任。
I realize a lot of mothers are like this.
我发现很多妈妈都是这样的。
But my mother is an especially hard case.
但我母亲的情况尤其困难。
She might say in October, this Christmas, all I want is a tablecloth.
她可能会在十月说，今年圣诞节，我想要的只是一块桌布。
Then, when she unwraps said tablecloth Christmas day, she'll look at it, without even taking it out of the package, say, "very nice," and roll her eyes as if no one can see her.
然后，当她在圣诞节那天打开桌布时，她会看着它，甚至没有将其从包装中取出，说：“非常好”，然后翻白眼，好像没有人能看到她一样。
Then when you point out that she said she wanted a tablecloth, she'll say matter of factly, "I never said anything of the sort."
然后，当你指出她说她想要一块桌布时，她会实事求是地说：“我从来没有说过这样的话。”
And if, by some miracle, she manages not to totally despise what you've given her, you're still not off the hook.
如果奇迹般地，她没有完全鄙视你给予她的东西，你仍然没有摆脱困境。
Because then she likes the gift too much and feels embarrassed.
因为那样她就太喜欢这个礼物了，觉得不好意思。
My brother and I long ago decided we'd buy one gift between us.
我和我哥哥很久以前就决定买一份礼物。
That way, at least you split the pain.
这样，至少你可以分担痛苦。
We bought her a fur coat.
我们给她买了一件皮大衣。
She opened the box, sat there with her hands in the fur, and started to cry.
她打开盒子，坐在那里，双手插在毛皮里，开始哭泣。
"This is too much," she said, through her tears in a strangled voice, then ran upstairs and locked herself in her bedroom for four hours on Christmas day.
“这太过分了，”她泪流满面，声音哽咽地说，然后跑上楼，在圣诞节那天把自己锁在卧室里四个小时。
The last thing my brother-- his name is Tim-- bought my mother-- that she liked, that is-- was a wooden napkin ring.
我哥哥（他的名字叫蒂姆）给我母亲买的最后一样东西——她喜欢的——是一个木餐巾环。
It was hand painted, with flowers.
它是手绘的，上面有花。
Very pretty.
很漂亮。
That was 40 years ago.
那是40年前的事了。
He was six years old.
他六岁了。
It cost him a nickel at a fair.
在集市上他花了五分钱。
Sometimes I think the whole gift giving experience has scarred him for life.
有时我觉得整个送礼经历给他留下了终生的创伤。
I heard-- I don't know who told me, but-- you're not giving gifts this year, right?
我听说——我不知道是谁告诉我的，但是——今年你不送礼物了，对吗？
You, yourself.
你，你自己。
I'm not giving gifts, except to children.
我不会送礼物，除了孩子。
I think that giving gifts to parents in this sort of desperate search for approval, you know.
我认为，在这种绝望地寻求认可的情况下给父母送礼物，你知道。
Absolutely.
绝对地。
Yeah.
是的。
Ian Brown You think we're seeking approval?
伊恩·布朗：你认为我们正在寻求批准？
I mean, and her disdain for gifts, when you give them, is pretty bad, don't you think?
我的意思是，当你送礼物时，她对礼物的蔑视是非常糟糕的，你不觉得吗？
Here, Mom.
在这里，妈妈。
Here's a beautiful new spring hat.
这是一顶漂亮的新春帽。
I hate this.
我讨厌这个。
What sort of a gift--
什么样的礼物——
It's really horrible.
实在是太可怕了。
But do you think she's a good gift giver?
但你认为她是一个很好的送礼人吗？
I mean, here we are, sort of trying to get--
我的意思是，我们在这里，有点试图——
Yes, I think she is.
是的，我认为她是。
She is a very good gifter, very generous.
她是一位非常好的送礼者，非常慷慨。
I mean, she's almost blind.
我的意思是，她几乎瞎了。
She's got cataracts, she's knitting socks for people.
她患有白内障，却在为人们织袜子。
I told her I wanted a pair of argyle socks last year, she made a pair.
去年我告诉她我想要一双菱形图案的袜子，她做了一双。
That's very difficult, argyle socks.
这是非常困难的，菱形图案的袜子。
I like the hand-knit socks.
我喜欢手工编织的袜子。
Well, I'm sure you do.
嗯，我相信你会的。
That was on the sixth of December, and still, we had no clue what to give Mom for Christmas this year.
那是十二月六日，我们仍然不知道今年圣诞节该送妈妈什么礼物。
But then, I had this idea.
但后来，我有了这个想法。
A potentially brilliant idea.
一个潜在的绝妙主意。
Maybe, after all this time, the perfect Christmas present.
也许，经过这么长时间，这是完美的圣诞礼物。
When my brother and I were kids in school, we sang in the choir.
当我和弟弟上学的时候，我们在唱诗班唱歌。
Tim was talented.
蒂姆很有才华。
He was a treble and then a tenor.
他先是高音，然后是男高音。
I was a tenor, then a bass.
我先是男高音，然后是男低音。
And when we came home from school for the holidays, and were doing the dishes after Christmas dinner, say, we'd sing Christmas carols.
当我们放假回家，在圣诞晚餐后洗碗时，比如说，我们会唱圣诞颂歌。
We get my sisters, Maude and Daisy, to sing the melodies.
我们让我的姐妹莫德和黛西来唱旋律。
And we'd sing the harmonies.
我们会唱和声。
We liked doing it.
我们喜欢这样做。
Better still, our mother liked it.
更好的是，我们的母亲喜欢它。
She started to ask us to do it every time we came home.
她开始要求我们每次回家都这样做。
We were pretty good, too.
我们也很不错。
Our choir had even cut a record, which my mother owned about 17 copies of and played all the time.
我们的合唱团甚至还录制了一张唱片，我母亲拥有大约 17 张，并且一直播放。
And that's what gave me the idea.
这就是我产生这个想法的原因。
Instead of buying her something she'll hate, my brother and I will drive out to our parents' place-- something neither of us does enough-- and, as grown men, we will sing her some carols in harmony.
我和哥哥不会给她买她讨厌的东西，而是开车去父母家——我们俩都做得不够——而且，作为成年人，我们会和谐地给她唱一些颂歌。
The sheer sound of our soaring voices will, as they say in the Anglican hymn book, lift up her heart and transport her back to those days when we were her boys.
正如英国圣公会赞美诗书中所说，我们高亢的歌声将振奋她的心，让她回到我们还是她孩子的那些日子。
Neither my brother or I have sung in a choir in years.
我和我的兄弟已经很多年没有在合唱团唱歌了。
But we harmonize now and then.
但我们时不时会和谐相处。
We even make harmonies up.
我们甚至还编出和声。
And I've always been very impressed.
我一直印象深刻。
And how do you think the singing is going to sound?
你觉得歌声听起来怎么样？
Really?
真的吗？
I've had this impression that we sound great singing the harmonies.
我的印象是我们唱和声听起来很棒。
Yeah.
是的。
[SINGING - "O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM"]
[歌唱-“伯利恒小镇啊”]
I hear my brother, and I think, it's all up to me.
我听了我哥哥的话，我想，这一切都取决于我。
[SINGING - "O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM"]
[歌唱-“伯利恒小镇啊”]
Oh my God.
天哪。
That is hideous.
那太可怕了。
Ian Brown Was it hideous?
伊恩·布朗 很丑吗？
Does it sound bad?
听起来是不是很糟糕？
Bad?
坏的？
We sounded like people who'd been lost in the woods.
我们听起来就像在树林里迷路的人。
But how could we fix it?
但我们该如何解决呢？
24 hour emergency carol-singing repair isn't a service listed in the Yellow Pages where I live.
我住的黄页上没有列出24小时紧急颂歌维修服务。
So I did the only thing I could think of.
于是我做了我唯一能想到的事。
I called Eric Hanbury.
我给埃里克·汉伯里打了电话。
Hanbury had been at boarding school with my brother and me.
汉伯里和我哥哥以及我一起在寄宿学校读书。
He was in the choir, too.
他也是合唱团的成员。
He was an eccentric character even then.
即使在那时，他也是一个古怪的人物。
Very serious and strict, almost terrifying.
非常严肃和严格，几乎令人恐惧。
He knew how to play the organ, for starters.
首先，他知道如何演奏风琴。
And that was an unusual skill for a teenager to have back in the days when Led Zeppelin were releasing their first album.
在齐柏林飞船发行第一张专辑的时候，对于一个青少年来说，这是一项不寻常的技能。
Hanbury's musical taste stopped at Gershwin and favored Bach.
汉伯里的音乐品味停留在格什温身上，而偏爱巴赫。
Plus, he was six foot two, even then, and had full mutton chop sideburns at the age of 12.
另外，即使在那时，他身高六英尺二英寸，12 岁时就留着浓密的羊排鬓角。
I hadn't seen him in nearly 35 years.
我已经有近 35 年没见过他了。
Yeah, Ian.
是的，伊恩。
Come up, 1204.
上来吧，1204。
Ian Brown All right.
伊恩·布朗 好吧。
But by 10:30 on Saturday morning, the very day we're to sing for our mother, we are in Eric Hanbury's two bedroom apartment on the 16th floor of a high rise in the Northwest end of the city.
但到了周六早上 10:30，也就是我们要为母亲唱歌的那一天，我们来到了埃里克·汉伯里 (Eric Hanbury) 的两居室公寓，公寓位于城市西北端一栋高层建筑的 16 层。
The spare bedroom-- the one we're all packed into-- is mostly taken up by a church organ the size of a Ford Taurus, complete with foot pedals.
空余的卧室——我们都挤进的那间——大部分被一架福特金牛座大小的教堂风琴占据，配有脚踏板。
Terrible.
糟糕的。
Let's do verse three.
我们来做第三节。
And I'll just play really loudly.
我会大声地演奏。
It doesn't take long for Eric to lose hope, which is more depressing than I anticipated.
没过多久，艾瑞克就失去了希望，这比我预想的还要沮丧。
[SINGING - "O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM"]
[歌唱-“伯利恒小镇啊”]
No, no, no. How silently, how silently means that you don't yell.
不，不，不。多么安静，多么安静意味着你不喊叫。
[SINGING - "O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM"]
[歌唱-“伯利恒小镇啊”]
We're so desperate, we consult three other experts.
我们非常绝望，因此咨询了另外三位专家。
The only helpful advice we get is from the greatest of them, John Tuttle, the choir master at Saint Thomas's Anglican Church, which everyone around here knows is one of the two or three best choirs in the city.
我们得到的唯一有用的建议来自他们中最伟大的人，约翰·塔特尔（John Tuttle），他是圣托马斯圣公会教堂的唱诗班指挥，这里的每个人都知道这是该市最好的两三个唱诗班之一。
He's famous for his high standards, his hours of practice.
他以高标准和长时间的练习而闻名。
He gives us a few phrasing tips to make it sound like we actually mean the words we're singing.
他给了我们一些措辞技巧，让我们听起来像是真正唱出我们所唱的歌词。
You wouldn't say, and heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
你不会说，天堂、天堂、大自然都在歌唱。
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
天堂、天堂、大自然都在歌唱。
And it works.
它有效。
[SINGING - "JOY TO THE WORLD"]
[歌唱-“欢乐世界”]
Much better.
好多了。
John Tuttle Yeah, that's better.
约翰·塔特尔：是的，这样好多了。
But it doesn't last, because just as this thin ray of hope peeps forth, just as we feel good for the first time all day, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant, and my brother checks his cell phone for messages.
但这并不会持续太久，因为就在这一缕希望的曙光初露端倪时，就在我们一整天第一次感觉良好的时候，我们在一家餐馆停下来吃午饭，我哥哥检查了他的手机是否有消息。
And there is one from my father.
还有一封是我父亲寄来的。
He sounds pretty frosty.
他听起来很冷酷。
And this is when I find out that my brother has had a fight with my mother.
就在这时，我发现我哥哥和我母亲吵架了。
They haven't spoken in three weeks, which is why my father is making the call for my mother.
他们已经三周没有说话了，这就是我父亲打电话给我母亲的原因。
I mean, it's really bad.
我的意思是，这真的很糟糕。
You can hear my mother in the background telling my old man what to say.
你可以听到我的母亲在后台告诉我的老人该说什么。
"Timmy," my dad says.
“蒂米，”我爸爸说。
And I can hear the edge of displeasure in his voice.
我能听出他声音中的不满。
"I understand you're coming out here.
“我知道你要来这里。
We have to go out in 15 minutes.
15分钟后我们必须出去。
We don't know where you are, so there is no use you coming out.
我们不知道你在哪里，所以你出来也没用。
We're not going to be here.
我们不会在这里。
We're not going to wait around for Ian.
我们不会等待伊恩。
And incidentally, incidentally, we will not be coming to your Christmas dinner party next Sunday night." And then he hangs up.
顺便说一句，顺便说一句，我们下周日晚上不会参加你们的圣诞晚宴。”然后他就挂断了电话。
He doesn't even bother to say goodbye, but then, he never does.
他甚至懒得说再见，但他从来没有这样做过。
It's a 40 minute drive to my parents'.
开车到我父母家需要40分钟。
They live in a small house in the country beside a river.
他们住在乡下河边的一所小房子里。
All the way out, we practice trying to hone the edge we picked up from John Tuttle.
一路走来，我们不断练习磨练从约翰·塔特尔那里学到的优势。
(INTERVIEWER) IAN BROWN: [SINGING] There is no gas station over here.
（采访者） IAN BROWN：[唱歌] 这里没有加油站。
[SINGING] I apologize.
[唱歌]我道歉。
You must turn left--
你必须左转——
(INTERVIEWER) IAN BROWN: --[SINGING] to get into it.
（采访者） IAN BROWN：——[唱歌] 进入其中。
Would let me go ahead?
会让我继续吗？
Thank you very much.
非常感谢。
What a nice guy.
多么好的一个人啊。
We finally pull up to my parents' house.
我们终于到了我父母家。
It's cold outside, around zero Fahrenheit.
外面很冷，大约零华氏度。
It's one of those filing cabinet gray Canadian days that feels colder than it would if there was snow on the ground.
这是加拿大文件柜灰色的日子之一，感觉比地面下雪还要冷。
We walk up to the front door.
我们走到前门。
(INTERVIEWER) IAN BROWN: OK, wait.
（采访者） IAN BROWN： 好的，等等。
Where's the doorbell?
门铃在哪里？
There is no doorbell.
没有门铃。
They'll know we're here.
他们会知道我们在这里。
They'll know we're here.
他们会知道我们在这里。
How will they know?
他们怎么知道？
OK.
好的。
Ready?
准备好？
Wait.
等待。
OK.
好的。
Ready?
准备好？
As we sang, I thought to myself, so, it has come to this.
当我们唱歌的时候，我心里想，原来如此。
The bottom of the barrel.
桶的底部。
Two grown men in their 40s, standing outside in the sub-freezing winter, singing to a closed door.
两个 40 多岁的成年男子在寒冷的冬天站在外面，对着紧闭的门唱歌。
Begging, essentially.
本质上是乞讨。
Thank you very much.
非常感谢。
That was very nice.
那太好了。
Shall we come in?
我们进来吧？
Can we come in?
我们可以进来吗？
It's freezing outside.
外面很冷。
Can we come in?
我们可以进来吗？
What's that?
那是什么？
Mother Don't bring your germs in here.
妈妈，别把细菌带进来。
Don't bring your germs in here.
别把细菌带进来。
That's nice.
那很好。
All right, here we go.
好吧，我们开始吧。
[SINGING - "O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM"]
[歌唱-“伯利恒小镇啊”]
My mother moves from the doorway to a dining room chair and sits down.
我母亲从门口走到餐厅的椅子上坐下。
She's looking at the floor, but I think she's ever so slightly crying.
她看着地板，但我觉得她哭得很厉害。
My brother can see it, too.
我弟弟也能看到。
I don't want her to cry.
我不想让她哭。
But then, it doesn't seem to last.
但随后，这种情况似乎并没有持续多久。
Thank you very much.
非常感谢。
That was very nice.
那太好了。
Reminded me of when you were nice boys who went to school and sang in the choir.
让我想起你们小时候上学并在唱诗班唱歌的好孩子。
And?
和？
You're implying that we're not like that anymore?
你的意思是我们不再像以前那样了？
I don't know.
我不知道。
You don't even come to see me unless you want something, so.
除非你想要什么，否则你根本不会来见我，所以。
Do you want a cup of tea?
您想喝杯茶吗？
(INTERVIEWER) IAN BROWN: Yes, that would be nice.
（采访者） IAN BROWN： 是的，那就太好了。
Yes, a cup of tea.
是的，一杯茶。
We go into the kitchen.
我们走进厨房。
(INTERVIEWER) IAN BROWN: So how does that compare with other presents we've given you?
（采访者） IAN BROWN：那么这与我们送给您的其他礼物相比如何？
Very nice.
很不错。
Very exceptional.
非常特别。
Thank you very much.
非常感谢。
What's the best present we've ever given you?
我们送给你的最好的礼物是什么？
I'd ask for help.
我会寻求帮助。
(INTERVIEWER) IAN BROWN: What?
（采访者）伊恩·布朗：什么？
Help?
帮助？
Do you know what I would really like?
你知道我真正想要什么吗？
I would like you all to come in the spring, help me clean up the garden, help me clean up the house, re-paper the house.
我希望你们都在春天来，帮我打扫花园，帮我打扫房子，给房子重新铺上纸。
That would be lovely.
那太好了。
(SUBJECT) TIM BROWN: Re-paper the living room?
（主题）蒂姆·布朗：给客厅重新铺上报纸？
So this has been my problem, gift-wise, all along.
所以这一直是我在礼物方面的问题。
Here I was trying to satisfy my mother with some $60 blouse, when what she really wanted was an $8,000 wallpapering job.
在这里，我试图用 60 美元的衬衫来满足我的母亲，而她真正想要的是一份 8,000 美元的壁纸工作。
I am so distracted by this revelation that I don't notice her trying to reverse the gift giving polarity in her favor.
我被这个启示弄得心烦意乱，以至于我没有注意到她试图扭转送礼极性，以对她有利。
Even before the carol is over-- before we finish giving her our gift-- she starts reciprocating, giving us items she has harvested from all over the house.
甚至在颂歌结束之前——在我们给她送完礼物之前——她就开始回报我们，把她从房子各处收获的东西送给我们。
Not just our Christmas presents-- two envelopes of cash-- but other stuff.
不仅仅是我们的圣诞礼物——两封现金——还有其他东西。
A calendar of coupons, half a round of Swiss cheese.
优惠券日历，半圆瑞士奶酪。
And what's this?
这是什么？
A beautiful cashmere scarf.
一条漂亮的羊绒围巾。
The same one I had given to my brother at Christmas last year.
和去年圣诞节我送给弟弟的一样。
For how long?
多长时间？
That's a cashmere scarf.
那是一条羊绒围巾。
I gave you that for Christmas last year.
去年圣诞节我给了你这个。
And you left it here?
你把它留在这里了？
You haven't even-- why do I bother?
你甚至都没有——我为什么要麻烦呢？
So much for my famous gift giving abilities.
我著名的送礼能力就到此为止。
No one in my family appreciates my effort.
我家里没有人欣赏我的努力。
And this was true, it suddenly became clear, of this gift of song as well.
突然间人们清楚地意识到，这也是事实，这也是歌唱天赋的真实所在。
No, I haven't got time.
不，我没有时间。
Ian Brown You hear that?
伊恩·布朗 你听到了吗？
She hasn't got time.
她没有时间。
Go in there and do it.
进去做吧。
Tim Brown We're doing it for you.
蒂姆·布朗 我们正在为您做这件事。
It's your Christmas present.
这是你的圣诞礼物。
Mother That's enough.
妈妈这就够了。
You've done enough.
你已经做得够多了。
You don't want to hear "Blest Are The Pure in Heart"?
你不想听《清心者有福》吗？
No. She was not interested in "The Pure In Heart." And you know why?
不，她对《赤子之心》不感兴趣。你知道为什么吗？
Because she was about to miss her favorite TV program.
因为她即将错过她最喜欢的电视节目。
She was giving us the bum's rush.
她给我们带来了流浪汉的冲动。
Very nice.
很不错。
Thank you both very much indeed.
确实非常感谢你们俩。
Lovely seeing you.
很高兴见到你。
Ian Brown Yes, lovely to see you.
伊恩·布朗 是的，很高兴见到你。
What's the name of the program?
该程序的名称是什么？
Pie in the Sky.
梦想。
Ian Brown Pie in the Sky.
伊恩·布朗天空中的馅饼。
Goodbye.
再见。
See you, Dad.
再见，爸爸。
Goodbye, Ma.
再见，妈妈。
Love you.
爱你。
So we drove the 40 miles right back to the city.
于是我们驱车40英里回到了城市。
We devoted a whole day to giving our mother the perfect gift, only to get kicked out of her house after 26 minutes in favor of Pie in the Sky, an English TV series about a country detective who makes the best steak and kidney pie in the world.
我们花了一整天的时间来送给母亲一份完美的礼物，结果在 26 分钟后就被赶出了她的家，取而代之的是《天空中的馅饼》，这是一部英语电视连续剧，讲述了一位乡村侦探制作世界上最好的牛排和腰子馅饼的故事。
Actually, my mother used to make excellent steak and kidney pie herself, and give it away as Christmas presents.
事实上，我母亲过去常常亲自制作美味的牛排和腰子派，并把它们作为圣诞礼物送给别人。
Of course, no Christmas story is complete without a grand, final realization.
当然，如果没有一个宏伟的、最终的实现，圣诞节的故事就不完整。
And on the way home, I had mine.
在回家的路上，我带着我的。
We'd been going about it all wrong.
我们的做法全都错了。
We'd been trying to find the perfect Christmas present.
我们一直在努力寻找完美的圣诞礼物。
But the perfect gift was a terrible idea, because the perfect gift upsets the delicate truce of failure and imperfection that holds every family together like a trussed bridge.
但完美的礼物却是一个糟糕的主意，因为完美的礼物破坏了失败和不完美之间的微妙休战，而这种休战将每个家庭像一座桁架桥一样维系在一起。
You move one timber, the whole thing can come crashing down.
你移动一根木头，整个木头就会倒塌。
Whereas if you leave that rickety old span as it has always been-- with a little too much need over here, and a little too much eagerness to please over there, all offset by an overhang of standoffishness-- then everyone is happy.
然而，如果你像以前那样保留那个摇摇欲坠的旧跨度——这里有一点太多的需要，那里有一点太多的渴望取悦，所有这些都被一种悬而未决的冷漠所抵消——那么每个人都会开心。
The secret, obviously, is to give an imperfect gift, that lavishes enough attention on your old mom that she knows you still care, but that's also fundamentally flawed, so that no one goes home feeling indebted or beholden or lonely.
显然，秘诀就是送出一份不完美的礼物，让你的老妈妈得到足够的关注，让她知道你仍然在乎，但这也从根本上来说是有缺陷的，这样就不会有人回家时感到负债累累或孤独。
Instead, they can go home reassured.
相反，他们可以安心回家。
Nothing changes.
没有任何改变。
And that's a Christmas present even a mother could love.
这是一份连母亲都会喜欢的圣诞礼物。
Ian Brown, normally broadcast on the CBC.
伊恩·布朗 (Ian Brown)，通常在 CBC 播出。
Act Two, A Christmas Memory.
第二幕，圣诞节记忆。
We heard about this next recording because the in-laws of one of our producers play it every Christmas when the family gets together.
我们之所以听说下一张唱片，是因为我们一位制作人的姻亲每年圣诞节全家人聚在一起时都会播放它。
And every Christmas they all cry.
每年圣诞节他们都会哭泣。
It's Truman Capote's story, "A Christmas Memory," about his own childhood growing up in rural Alabama in the 1920s and '30s.
这是杜鲁门·卡波特的故事《圣诞记忆》，讲述了他自己在 20 世纪 20 年代和 30 年代在阿拉巴马州乡村长大的童年。
This is an abridged version of the story, shortened a bit for the radio.
这是故事的删节版，为广播而缩短了一点。
Imagine a morning in late November.
想象一下十一月下旬的一个早晨。
A coming of winter morning more than 20 years ago.
20多年前的一个冬天的早晨。
A woman with shorn white hair is standing at the kitchen window.
厨房的窗前站着一个白发被剪短的女人。
"Oh my," she exclaims, her breath smoking the window pane.
“天哪，”她惊呼道，她的呼吸在窗玻璃上冒着烟。
"It's fruitcake weather." The person to whom she is speaking is myself.
“现在是吃水果蛋糕的天气。”她说话的对象是我自己。
I am seven.
我七岁了。
She is sixty something.
她六十多岁了。
We are cousins, very distant ones, and we have lived together, well, as long as I can remember.
我们是表兄弟，关系很远，从我记事起我们就住在一起。
Other people inhabit the house, relatives.
其他人住在房子里，亲戚。
And though they have power over us and frequently make us cry, we are not, on the whole, too much aware of them.
尽管它们对我们有影响力，经常让我们哭泣，但总的来说，我们并没有太意识到它们。
We are each other's best friend.
我们是彼此最好的朋友。
She calls me Buddy, in memory of a boy who was formerly her best friend.
她叫我巴迪，以纪念她以前最好的朋友的一个男孩。
The other Buddy died in the 1880s when she was still a child.
另一个巴迪于 1880 年代去世，当时她还是个孩子。
She is still a child.
她还是个孩子。
"I knew it before I got out of bed," she says, turning away from the window with a purposeful excitement in her eyes.
“我在起床之前就知道了，”她说着，转身离开窗户，眼里带着刻意的兴奋。
"Help me find my hat.
“帮我找到我的帽子。
We have 30 cakes to bake." In addition to never having seen a movie, she has never eaten in a restaurant, traveled more than five miles from home, received or sent a telegram, read anything except funny papers and the Bible, worn cosmetics, cursed, wished someone harm, told a lie on purpose, let a hungry dog go hungry.
我们有 30 个蛋糕要烤。”除了从来没有看过电影之外，她从来没有在餐馆里吃过饭，没有走过离家五英里多的地方，没有收发过电报，没有读过除了有趣的报纸和《圣经》之外的任何东西，没有用过化妆品，没有咒骂过，希望别人受到伤害，故意撒过谎，让一只饥饿的狗挨饿。
Of the ingredients that go into our fruitcakes, whiskey is the most expensive, as well as the hardest to obtain.
在我们的水果蛋糕的成分中，威士忌是最昂贵的，也是最难获得的。
State laws forbid its sale.
州法律禁止其销售。
But everybody knows you can buy a bottle from Mr. Haha Jones.
但大家都知道你可以从哈哈琼斯先生那里买一瓶。
And the next day, having completed our more prosaic shopping, we set out for Mr. Haha's business address.
第二天，完成了比较平常的购物后，我们出发前往哈哈先生的营业地址。
A sinful, to quote public opinion, fish fry and dancing cafe down by the river.
引用舆论的话，这是一家罪恶的、在河边炸鱼和跳舞的咖啡馆。
We've been there before, and on the same errand.
我们以前去过那里，而且是为了同一件事。
But in previous years, our dealings have been with Haha's wife, an iodine-dark Indian woman with brassy, peroxided hair and a dead tired disposition.
但在前几年，我们的对象是哈哈的妻子，她是一位碘色深色的印度女人，有着一头经过氧化处理的黄铜色头发，性情疲惫不堪。
Actually, we've never laid eyes on her husband, but we've heard that he's an Indian, too, a giant with razor scars across his cheeks.
事实上，我们从来没有见过她的丈夫，但我们听说他也是一个印度人，一个脸颊上有剃刀疤痕的巨人。
They call him Haha because he's so gloomy, a man who never laughs.
他们叫他“哈哈”，因为他很阴郁，一个从不笑的人。
As we approach his cafe-- a large log cabin festooned inside and out with chains of garish, gay naked light bulbs, and standing by the river's muddy edge under the shade of river trees, where moss drifts through the branches like gray mist-- our steps slow down.
当我们走近他的咖啡馆时——一座大木屋，里里外外都装饰着一串串花哨、同性恋的裸露灯泡，站在河边泥泞的河边树荫下，苔藓像灰色的薄雾一样从树枝上飘过——我们的脚步放慢了。
Even Queenie stops prancing and sticks close by.
就连奎妮也停止了跳跃，紧贴在身边。
People have been murdered in Haha's cafe, cut to pieces, hit on the head.
人们在哈哈的咖啡馆里被谋杀，被切成碎片，头部被击中。
There's a case coming up in court next month.
下个月法庭将审理一桩案件。
I knock at the door, Queenie barks, my friend calls, "Mrs. Haha, ma'am?
我敲门，奎妮大叫，我的朋友喊道：“哈哈，女士？
Anyone to home?"
有人回家吗？”
Footsteps.
脚步声。
The door opens.
门打开了。
Our hearts overturn.
我们的心翻腾。
It's Mr. Haha Jones himself, and he is a giant, he does have scars, he doesn't smile.
这是哈哈琼斯先生本人，他是一个巨人，他确实有伤疤，他不笑。
No, he glowers at us through Satan-tilted eyes and demands to know, "What you want with Haha?" For a moment, we are too paralyzed to tell.
不，他用撒旦倾斜的眼睛怒视着我们，要求我们知道，“哈哈，你想要什么？”一时之间，我们都麻木了，说不出话来。
Presently, my friend half-finds her voice, a whispery voice at best.
目前，我的朋友已经找到了自己的声音，充其量只是低声耳语。
If you please, Mr. Haha, we'd like a quart of your finest whiskey.
如果您愿意的话，哈哈先生，我们想要一夸脱您最好的威士忌。
His eyes tilt more.
他的眼睛倾斜得更多。
Would you believe it?
你相信吗？
Haha is smiling, laughing too.
哈哈，笑了，也笑了。
"Which one of you is a drinking man?" "It's for making fruitcakes, Mr. Haha.
“你们谁是个酒鬼？” “这是用来做水果蛋糕的，哈哈先生。
Cooking." This sobers him.
做饭。”这让他清醒了。
He frowns.
他皱起眉头。
"That's no way to waste good whiskey." We pay him with nickels, and dimes, and pennies.
“这样才不会浪费好威士忌。”我们付给他五分钱、一角钱、一便士。
Suddenly, jangling the coins in his hand like a fist full of dice, his face softens.
突然，他手里的硬币就像装满骰子的拳头一样叮当作响，他的脸色变得柔和了。
"Tell you what," he proposes, pouring the money back into our bead purse, "just send me one of them fruitcakes instead."
“告诉你吧，”他提议道，把钱倒回我们的珠子钱包里，“就寄给我一个水果蛋糕吧。”
"Well," my friend remarks on our way home, "there's a lovely man.
“嗯，”我的朋友在回家的路上说道，“有一个可爱的男人。
We'll put an extra cup of raisins in his cake." The black stove, stoked with coal and firewood, glows like a lighted pumpkin.
我们会在他的蛋糕里多放一杯葡萄干。”黑色的炉子里充满了煤炭和木柴，像点燃的南瓜一样发光。
Egg beaters whirl, spoons spin round in bowls of butter and sugar, vanilla sweetens the air, ginger spices it.
打蛋器旋转，勺子在盛有黄油和糖的碗中旋转，香草让空气变得甜美，生姜给空气增添了香料。
Melting, nose-tingling odors saturate the kitchen, suffuse the house, drift out to the world on puffs of chimney smoke.
融化的、令人鼻子刺痛的气味充满了厨房，弥漫在整个房子里，随着烟囱的烟雾飘向世界。
In four days, our work is done.
四天后，我们的工作就完成了。
31 cakes, dampened with whiskey, bask on window sills and shelves.
31 个蛋糕，沾上威士忌，放在窗台和架子上晒太阳。
Who are they for?
它们是为谁准备的？
Friends.
朋友们。
Not necessarily neighbor friends.
不一定是邻居朋友。
Indeed, the larger share are intended for persons we've met maybe once, perhaps not at all, people who have struck our fancy, like President Roosevelt, like the Reverend and Mrs. J.
事实上，更大的份额是为那些我们可能见过一次，也许根本没有见过的人，那些引起我们兴趣的人，比如罗斯福总统，比如牧师和夫人。
C.
C.
Lucey, Baptist missionaries to Borneo who lectured here last winter.
露西是前往婆罗洲的浸信会传教士，去年冬天在这里讲学。
Or the little knife grinder who comes through town twice a year.
或者是每年两次进城的小磨刀工。
Or the young Wistons, a California couple whose car, one afternoon, broke down outside the house and who spent a pleasant hour chatting with us on the porch.
还有年轻的威斯顿夫妇，一对加州夫妇，一天下午，他们的车在屋外抛锚了，他们在门廊上和我们聊天，度过了愉快的一个小时。
Young Mr. Wiston snapped our picture, the only one we've ever had taken.
年轻的威斯顿先生给我们拍了一张照片，这是我们拍过的唯一一张照片。
Now a new December fig branch grates against the window.
现在，十二月新生的无花果枝条抵在窗户上。
The kitchen is empty, the cakes are gone.
厨房空了，蛋糕也不见了。
Yesterday we carted the last of them to the post office, where the cost of stamps turned our purse inside out.
昨天，我们把最后一批邮票送到了邮局，邮票的费用让我们的钱包翻了个底朝天。
We're broke.
我们破产了。
That rather depresses me, but my friend insists on celebrating with two inches of whisky left in Haha's bottle.
这让我很沮丧，但我的朋友坚持用哈哈瓶子里还剩下两英寸的威士忌来庆祝。
Queenie has a spoonful in a bowl of coffee.
奎妮在一碗咖啡里放了一勺。
She likes her coffee chicory-flavored and strong.
她喜欢菊苣味的浓咖啡。
The rest we divide between a pair of jelly glasses.
剩下的我们分在一副果冻眼镜里。
We're both quite awed at the prospect of drinking straight whiskey.
我们都对喝纯威士忌的前景感到非常敬畏。
The taste of it brings screwed up expressions and sour shudders.
它的味道让人表情扭曲，酸酸的颤抖。
But by and by, we begin to sing, the two of us singing different songs simultaneously.
但渐渐地，我们开始唱歌，我们两个同时唱不同的歌曲。
I don't know the words to mine, just, "Come on along, come on along, to the dark-town strutter's ball."
我不知道该怎么说，只是说：“来吧，来吧，去参加黑暗小镇的舞会。”
But I can dance.
但我会跳舞。
That's what I mean to be, a tap dancer in the movies.
这就是我的意思，电影中的踢踏舞者。
My dancing shadow rollicks on the walls.
我舞动的影子在墙上打滚。
Our voices rock the chinaware.
我们的声音震撼着瓷器。
We giggle, as if unseen hands were tickling us.
我们咯咯地笑，仿佛看不见的手在挠我们痒痒。
Queenie rolls on her back, her paws plow the air.
奎妮仰面翻滚，爪子犁地。
Something like a grin stretches her black lips.
她黑色的嘴唇舒展开来，像是在微笑。
Inside myself, I feel warm and sparky as those crumbling logs, carefree as the wind in the chimney.
在我内心，我感觉像那些摇摇欲坠的木头一样温暖而充满活力，像烟囱里的风一样无忧无虑。
My friend waltzes around the stove, the hem of her poor calico skirt pinched between her fingers as though it were a party dress.
我的朋友围着炉子跳着华尔兹，她那可怜的印花布裙子的下摆捏在手指之间，好像那是一件派对礼服。
"Show me the way to go home," she sings, her tennis shoes squeaking on the floor.
“告诉我回家的路，”她唱道，网球鞋在地板上吱吱作响。
"Show me the way to go home."
“告诉我回家的路。”
Enter two relatives.
输入两个亲戚。
Very angry.
很生气。
Potent with eyes that scold, tongues that scald.
眼神凶狠，舌头灼伤。
Listen to what they have to say, the words tumbling together into a wrathful tune.
听听他们要说的话，这些词汇成愤怒的曲调。
"A child of seven, whiskey on his breath.
“一个七岁的孩子，呼吸着威士忌。
Are you out of your mind?
你疯了吗？
Feeding a child of seven, must be loony.
喂养一个七岁的孩子，一定很疯狂。
Road to ruination.
走向毁灭之路。
Remember cousin Kate, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Charlie's brother in law?
还记得凯特表弟、查理叔叔、查理叔叔的妹夫吗？
Shame.
耻辱。
Scandal.
丑闻。
Humiliation.
羞辱。
Pray.
祈祷吧。
Beg the Lord." Queenie sneaks under the stove.
求主。”奎妮偷偷溜到炉子下面。
My friend gazes at her shoes.
我的朋友盯着她的鞋子。
Her chin quivers.
她的下巴颤抖着。
She lifts her skirt, and blows her nose, and runs to her room.
她掀起裙子，擤了擤鼻子，跑回自己的房间。
Long after the town has gone to sleep, and the house is silent except for the chimings of clocks and the sputter of fading fires, she is weeping into a pillow, already as wet as a widow's handkerchief.
小镇入睡很久之后，房子里一片寂静，只有钟声和熄灭的炉火的噼啪声，她在枕头上哭泣，枕头已经像寡妇的手帕一样湿了。
"Don't cry," I say, sitting at the bottom of her bed and shivering, despite my flannel night gown that smells of last winter's cough syrup.
“别哭，”我说，坐在她的床底，浑身发抖，尽管我的法兰绒睡衣散发着去年冬天止咳糖浆的味道。
"Don't cry," I beg, teasing her toes, tickling her feet.
“别哭，”我恳求道，逗弄她的脚趾，挠她的脚。
"You're too old for that." "It's because," she hiccups, "I am too old.
“你太老了，不适合这么做。” “这是因为，”她打嗝道，“我太老了。
Old and funny." "Not funny, fun.
又老又有趣。” “不好笑，有趣。
More fun than anybody.
比谁都好玩。
Listen, if you don't stop crying, you'll be so tired tomorrow we can't go cut a tree."
听着，如果你不停止哭泣，明天你会很累，我们就不能去砍树了。”
She straightens up.
她直起身子。
Queenie jumps on the bed, where Queenie is not allowed, to lick her cheeks.
奎妮跳到床上，舔她的脸颊，而奎妮是不被允许的。
"I know where we'll find real pretty trees, Buddy, and holly too, with berries big as your eyes.
“我知道我们在哪里能找到真正漂亮的树，巴迪，还有冬青树，浆果有你的眼睛那么大。
It's way off in the woods, farther than we've ever been.
那是在树林里，比我们去过的地方还要远。
Papa used to bring us Christmas trees from there and carry them on his shoulder.
爸爸常常从那里给我们带来圣诞树，并把它们扛在肩上。
That's 50 years ago.
那是50年前的事了。
Well, now I can't wait for morning."
好吧，现在我已经等不及早上了。”
Morning.
早晨。
Scented acres of holiday trees, prickly-leafed holly, red berries, shiny as Chinese bells.
数英亩的节日树、带刺的冬青、红色的浆果，像中国的铃铛一样闪闪发光，散发着香味。
Black crows swoop upon them, screaming.
黑色的乌鸦尖叫着向他们扑来。
Having stuffed our burlap sacks with enough greenery and crimson to garland a dozen windows, we set about choosing a tree.
我们在麻袋里塞满了足够的绿色和深红色植物，可以装饰十几个窗户，然后开始选择一棵树。
"It should be," muses my friend, "twice as tall as a boy, so a boy can't steal the star." The one we pick is twice as tall as me.
“它应该是，”我的朋友沉思道，“身高是男孩的两倍，这样男孩就无法偷走星星。”我们选的那个比我高一倍。
A brave, handsome brute that survives 30 hatchet strokes before it keels with a creaking, rending cry.
一只勇敢、英俊的野兽，在被斧头砍击 30 次后幸存下来，然后发出吱吱作响、撕心裂肺的叫声。
After weaving and ribboning holly wreaths for all the front windows, our next project is the fashioning of family gifts.
在为所有前窗编织和绑上冬青花环后，我们的下一个项目是制作家庭礼物。
Tie dye scarves for the ladies.
女士扎染围巾。
For the men, a home-brewed lemon, and licorice, and aspirin syrup to be taken at the first symptoms of a cold and after hunting.
对于男性来说，在出现感冒症状和狩猎后，可以服用自制的柠檬、甘草和阿司匹林糖浆。
But when it comes time for making each other's gifts, my friend and I separate to work secretly.
但到了互赠礼物的时候，我和我的朋友就分开秘密工作。
I would like to buy her a pearl handle knife, a radio, a whole pound of chocolate covered cherries.
我想给她买一把珍珠柄刀、一台收音机、一整磅巧克力樱桃。
We tasted some once, and she always swears, "I could live on them, Buddy.
我们尝过一次，她总是发誓，“我可以靠它们生活，巴迪。
Lord, yes I could, and that's not taking his name in vain."
主啊，是的，我可以，这并不是徒劳地使用他的名字。”
Instead, I am building her a kite.
相反，我正在给她做一只风筝。
She would like to give me a bicycle.
她想送我一辆自行车。
She has said so on several million occasions.
她已经这样说过数百万次了。
"If only I could, Buddy.
“如果我可以的话，巴迪。
It's bad enough in life to do without something you want.
生活中没有做自己想做的事就已经够糟糕的了。
But confound it, what gets my goat is not being able to give somebody something you want them to have.
但令人困惑的是，让我生气的是无法给别人你想要他们拥有的东西。
Only one of these days, I will, Buddy.
这些日子里只有一天，我会的，巴迪。
Locate you a bike.
给你找一辆自行车。
Don't ask how.
别问怎么办
Steal it, maybe."
也许是偷的。”
Instead, I am fairly certain that she is building me a kite.
相反，我相当确定她正在给我做一只风筝。
The same as last year and the year before.
与去年和前年相同。
The year before that we exchanged slingshots.
前一年我们交换了弹弓。
All of which is fine by me, for we are champion kite flyers who study the wind like sailors.
所有这一切对我来说都很好，因为我们是风筝飞行冠军，像水手一样研究风。
My friend, more accomplished than I, can get a kite aloft when there isn't enough breeze to carry clouds.
我的朋友比我更有成就，当没有足够的微风吹动云彩时，他可以把风筝带到高空。
Christmas Eve afternoon, we scrape together a nickel and go to the butcher's to buy Queenie's traditional gift, a good, gnawable beef bone.
平安夜下午，我们凑了五分钱，去肉店买了奎妮的传统礼物，一块上好的、可以啃的牛骨。
The bone, wrapped in funny paper, is placed high in the tree near the silver star.
骨头被有趣的纸包裹着，高高地放在银星附近的树上。
Queenie knows it's there.
奎妮知道它就在那里。
She squats at the foot of the tree, staring up in a trance of greed.
她蹲在树下，贪婪地盯着上方。
When bedtime arrives, she refuses to budge.
到了睡觉时间，她拒绝让步。
Her excitement is equalled by my own.
她的兴奋与我的兴奋不相上下。
I kick the covers and turn my pillow as though it were a scorching summer's night.
我踢着被子，转动着枕头，仿佛这是一个炎热的夏夜。
Somewhere a rooster crows, falsely, for the sun is still on the other side of the world.
某处有一只公鸡错误地打鸣，因为太阳仍在世界的另一边。
"Buddy, are you awake?" It is my friend, calling from her room, which is next to mine.
“哥们，你醒了？”是我的朋友从她的房间打来的，她的房间就在我的隔壁。
And an instant later, she is sitting on my bed, holding a candle.
过了一会儿，她就坐在我的床上，手里拿着一支蜡烛。
"Well, I can't sleep a hoot," she declares.
“好吧，我根本睡不着，”她宣称。
"My mind's jumping like a jack rabbit.
“我的思绪像兔子一样跳跃。
Buddy, do you think Mrs. Roosevelt will serve our cake at dinner?" We huddle in the bed, and she squeezes my hand I love you.
伙计，你认为罗斯福夫人会在晚餐时为我们端上蛋糕吗？”我们挤在床上，她握着我的手，我爱你。
"Seems like your hand used to be so much smaller.
“看来你的手以前小了很多。
I guess I hate to see you grow up.
我想我讨厌看到你长大。
When you're grown up, will we still be friends?" I say always.
等你长大了，我们还是朋友吗？”我说总是。
"But I feel so bad, Buddy.
“但我感觉很糟糕，巴迪。
I wanted so bad to give you a bike.
我非常想送你一辆自行车。
I tried to sell my cameo Papa gave me.
我试图卖掉爸爸给我的客串。
Buddy," she hesitates, as though embarrassed, "I made you another kite." Then I confess that I made her one, too, and we laugh.
伙计，”她犹豫着，好像很尴尬，“我又给你做了一个风筝。”然后我承认我也给她做了一个，我们笑了。
The candle burns too short to hold.
蜡烛燃烧的时间太短，无法保持。
Out it goes, exposing the starlight.
它出去了，露出了星光。
The star spinning at the window like a visible caroling that slowly, slowly, daybreak silences.
星星在窗外旋转，就像一首可见的颂歌，黎明时分慢慢地、慢慢地安静下来。
Possibly, we doze.
也许，我们在打瞌睡。
But the beginnings of dawn splash us like cold water.
但黎明的开始像冷水一样泼向我们。
We're up, wide-eyed and wandering, while we wait for others to awaken.
我们起床，睁大眼睛徘徊，等待别人醒来。
Quite deliberately, my friend drops a kettle on the kitchen floor.
我的朋友故意把水壶掉在厨房地板上。
I tap dance in front of closed doors.
我在紧闭的门前跳踢踏舞。
One by one, the household emerges, looking as though they'd like to kill us both, but it's Christmas, so they can't.
一家人一一出现，看起来好像想杀了我们两个，但现在是圣诞节，所以他们不能。
First, a gorgeous breakfast, just everything you can imagine, from flapjacks and fried squirrel to hominy grits and honey in the comb, which puts everyone in a good humor, except my friend and I.
首先，一顿丰盛的早餐，有你能想象到的一切，从煎饼和炸松鼠到玉米粥和蜂巢里的蜂蜜，这让每个人都心情愉快，除了我和我的朋友。
Frankly, we're so impatient to get at the presents we can't eat a mouthful.
坦白说，我们迫不及待地想要收到礼物，以至于一口都吃不下。
Well, I'm disappointed.
嗯，我很失望。
Who wouldn't be?
谁不会呢？
With socks, a Sunday school shirt, some handkerchiefs, a hand-me-down sweater, and a year's subscription to a religious magazine for children, The Little Shepherd.
里面有袜子、主日学衬衫、一些手帕、一件旧毛衣，还有一本儿童宗教杂志《小牧羊人》的订阅费。
It makes me boil, it really does.
这让我沸腾，确实如此。
"Buddy, the wind is blowing." The wind is blowing, and nothing will do till we've run to a pasture below the house, where Queenie has scooted to bury her bone.
“哥们儿，起风了。”风在吹，我们除非跑到房子下面的牧场，否则什么也做不了，奎妮已经快步跑去那里埋葬她的骨头了。
And where, a winter hence, Queenie will be buried too.
一个冬天之后，奎妮也将被埋葬在那里。
There, plunging through the healthy waist-high grass, we unreel our kites, feel them twitching at the string like sky fish as they swim into the wind.
在那里，我们穿过齐腰高的健康草丛，放开风筝，感觉它们在风中游动，就像天空的鱼一样在绳子上抽动。
Satisfied, sun warmed, we sprawl in the grass and peel Satsumas and watch our kites cavort.
太阳暖暖的，我们心满意足地躺在草地上，剥着蜜柑皮，看着风筝翩翩起舞。
Soon I forget the socks and hand-me-down sweater.
很快我就忘记了袜子和旧毛衣。
I'm as happy as if we had already won the $50,000 grand prize in that coffee naming contest.
我很高兴，就好像我们已经在咖啡命名比赛中赢得了 50,000 美元的大奖一样。
"My, how foolish I am," my friend cries, suddenly alert, like a woman remembering too late she has biscuits in the oven.
“天啊，我真是太愚蠢了，”我的朋友突然警觉起来，大声喊道，就像一个女人想起来烤箱里有饼干时已经太晚了。
"You know what I've always thought," she asked, in a tone of discovery, and not smiling at me but a point beyond.
“你知道我一直在想什么，”她用一种探索的语气问道，并没有对我微笑，而是笑得更开心了。
"I've always thought a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord.
“我一直认为，一个人必须在生病和死亡之后才能见到主。
And I imagine that when he came, it would be like looking at the Baptist window.
我想当他来的时候，就像看着浸信会的窗户一样。
Pretty as colored glass with the sun pouring through.
阳光照进来，就像彩色的玻璃一样漂亮。
Such a shine, you don't know it's getting dark.
如此耀眼的光芒，你都不知道天已经黑了。
And it's been a comfort to think of that shine taking away all the spooky feeling.
想到那光芒带走了所有的怪异感觉，我感到很安慰。
But I'll wager it never happens.
但我敢打赌这永远不会发生。
I'll wager, at the very end, a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself.
我敢打赌，到最后，一个身体会意识到主已经显现了自己。
That things as they are--" Her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds, and kites, and grass, and Queenie pawing earth over her bone-- "Just what they've always seen was seeing Him.
事情本来的样子——”她的手画圈，聚集了云彩、风筝和青草，奎妮用爪子抓着骨头上的泥土——“他们一直看到的就是看到他。
As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes."
至于我，我可以带着今天离开这个世界。”
This is our last Christmas together.
这是我们在一起的最后一个圣诞节。
Life separates us.
生活将我们分开。
Those who know best decide that I belong in a military school.
最了解的人认为我属于军校。
And so follows a miserable succession of bugle blowing prisons, grim, revelry-ridden summer camps.
随之而来的是一连串悲惨的监狱、阴森、狂欢的夏令营。
I have a new home, too, but it doesn't count.
我也有新家了，不过这不算数。
Home is where my friend is, and there I never go.
朋友所在的地方就是家，而我却从不去那里。
And there she remains, puttering around the kitchen, alone with Queenie, then alone.
她仍然留在那里，在厨房里闲逛，先是和奎妮在一起，然后又是独自一人。
"Buddy dear," she writes in her wild, hard to read script, "yesterday, Jim Macy's horse kicked Queenie bad.
“亲爱的朋友，”她用狂野、难以读懂的文字写道，“昨天，吉姆·梅西的马把奎妮踢得很厉害。
Be thankful she didn't feel much.
庆幸的是她并没有什么太大的感觉。
I wrapped her in a fine linen sheet and rode her in the buggy down to Simpson's pasture, where she can be with all her bones."
我用精美的亚麻布床单包裹着她，然后骑着马车去辛普森的牧场，在那里她可以和她所有的骨头在一起。”
For a few Novembers, she continues to bake her fruitcakes single handed.
有几个十一月，她继续单手烘焙水果蛋糕。
Not as many, but some.
没有那么多，但是有一些。
And of course, she always sends me the best of the batch.
当然，她总是给我寄来最好的一批。
But gradually in her letters, she tends to confuse me with her other friend.
但在她的信中，她逐渐把我和她的另一个朋友混淆了。
The Buddy who died in the 1880s.
死于 1880 年代的巴迪。
A morning arrives in November, a leafless, birdless, coming of winter morning, when she can not rouse herself to exclaim, "Oh my, it's fruitcake weather." And when that happens, I know it.
十一月的一个早晨到来了，一个没有树叶、没有鸟儿的冬日早晨，她无法醒来惊呼：“天啊，水果蛋糕天气到了。”当这种情况发生时，我知道。
A message saying so merely confirms a piece of news some secret vein had already received, severing from me an irreplaceable part of myself, letting it loose like a kite on a broken string.
这么说的消息只是证实了某个秘密脉络已经收到的消息，将我身上不可替代的一部分与我割裂开来，像断线的风筝一样放掉。
That is why, walking across the school campus on this particular December morning, I keep searching the sky, as if I expected to see, rather like hearts, a lost pair of kites hurrying toward heaven.
这就是为什么，在这个十二月的早晨，当我走过校园时，我不断地寻找着天空，仿佛我期待着看到一对迷失的风筝，就像心一样，飞向天堂。
Truman Capote, recorded in 1959.
杜鲁门·卡波特，录制于 1959 年。
"A Christmas Memory" was broadcast with permission of the Truman Capote Literary Trust.
《圣诞回忆》经杜鲁门·卡波特文学信托基金会许可播出。
Alan U.
艾伦·U.
Schwartz, trustee.
施瓦茨，受托人。
This version of the story was abridged for radio.
这个故事的版本因广播而被删减。
Coming up, more proof that the perfect gift, like the perfect crime, is an elusive thing.
即将到来的更多证据表明，完美的礼物就像完美的犯罪一样，是一件难以捉摸的事情。
In a minute, from Chicago Public Radio and Public Radio International, when our program continues.
稍后，芝加哥公共广播电台和国际公共广播电台将继续我们的节目。
It's This American Life.
这就是美国生活。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
It's our guide to holiday gift giving in which we guarantee you will find no practical advice for your last minute shopping.
这是我们的节日送礼指南，我们保证您不会在最后一刻的购物中找到任何实用建议。
Instead, we have stories of holiday presents.
相反，我们有节日礼物的故事。
We're at act three of our show.
我们正在演出第三幕。
Act Three, Secret Santa.
第三幕，秘密圣诞老人。
Caitlin Shetterly has this story about one gift leading to another, leading to another, leading to another, and then stopping.
凯特琳·谢特利（Caitlin Shetterly）有一个故事，讲述一件礼物导致另一件礼物，导致另一件礼物，导致另一件礼物，然后停止。
I grew up in a small town called Surry on the coast of down-east Maine.
我在缅因州东部海岸一个叫萨里的小镇长大。
At Christmas, most everyone in our town bought their trees at Jordan's Tree Farm.
圣诞节时，我们镇上的大多数人都在约旦林场购买了树木。
$5 per tree, cut at your own risk.
每棵树 5 美元，砍伐风险自负。
Thinking back, it seems funny to me now, since after all, this is rural Maine, the pine tree state.
现在回想起来，我觉得很有趣，因为毕竟这是缅因州的乡村，松树之州。
And you'd think everyone could cut their own trees on their own land.
你可能会认为每个人都可以在自己的土地上砍伐自己的树木。
And it's not like the trees at the Jordan farm were so special.
约旦农场的树木并没有那么特别。
Pretty much everyone called them Charlie Brown trees.
几乎每个人都称它们为查理布朗树。
People came because of Robert Jordan.
人们因为罗伯特·乔丹而来。
They were loyal to him, and they figured he could use the money.
他们对他很忠诚，并且认为他可以利用这些钱。
Every year the drill was the same.
每年的演习都是一样的。
You'd get out of your car with your family, trudge for what seemed like miles in sub-zero wind, searching for the perfect tree.
你会和家人一起下车，在零度以下的风中艰难跋涉数英里，寻找完美的树。
Drag your prize back through the snow, and then, finally, you'd go find Robert.
把你的战利品拖回雪地里，然后，最后，你就能找到罗伯特了。
This was one of the only times of year most of us saw Robert.
这是一年中我们大多数人见到罗伯特的唯一一次。
He seemed to live an entirely reclusive life in his ramshackle house, perched above the road and bordering the thick trees that fanned out behind his barn.
他似乎在他摇摇欲坠的房子里过着一种完全隐居的生活，房子坐落在道路上方，毗邻谷仓后面呈扇形展开的茂密树木。
Many of us know someone like Robert, our own Boo Radley, a poor old man who has lived with his parents his entire life until one, and then the other, died.
我们中的许多人都认识像罗伯特这样的人，我们自己的布·拉德利（Boo Radley），一个贫穷的老人，一生都与父母住在一起，直到一个人去世，然后另一个人去世。
Here is what we knew about Robert from these short, yearly transactions.
以下是我们从这些短期的年度交易中对罗伯特的了解。
He had a very strange voice.
他的声音很奇怪。
He wore Coke bottle glasses, an orange hunting cap, and in my memory, a red and black Buffalo plaid jacket.
他戴着可乐瓶眼镜，戴着橙色猎帽，在我的记忆中，他穿着一件红黑相间的水牛格子夹克。
But somehow Ron Hamilton and his wife Brenda came to know Robert better than most people did.
但不知何故，罗恩·汉密尔顿和他的妻子布伦达比大多数人更了解罗伯特。
Here's Ron.
这是罗恩。
A lot of people thought Robert was retarded because his father was hard of hearing, and he kind of talked like this.
很多人认为罗伯特是弱智，因为他的父亲听力不好，而且他说话就是这样。
You know.
你知道。
I kind of mimic him a little bit, but every now and then he'd say something like, "Well, how are you today?" And I'd say, "Pretty good, Robert." "Well, what are we going to do today?" And it kind of reminded me of, Katharine Hepburn is it, that's got that same kind of broken spot in her voice.
我有点模仿他，但他时不时会说一些类似的话，“嗯，你今天怎么样？”我会说：“很好，罗伯特。” “嗯，今天我们要做什么？”这让我想起了凯瑟琳·赫本，她的声音里也有同样的破碎点。
But he never knew he done that until later in life.
但直到晚年他才知道自己这么做了。
Because his father was almost deaf, Clyde.
因为他的父亲几乎聋了，克莱德。
He'd have to look at you and went, "What?
他必须看着你然后说：“什么？
What?" And Robert would belt it right out.
什么？”罗伯特会马上大声说出来。
The farmhouse and the Jordan's lifestyle on the farm was primitive.
农舍和乔丹在农场的生活方式是原始的。
The house had no hot water.
房子里没有热水。
Clyde and Robert ate canned cold beans for breakfast.
克莱德和罗伯特早餐吃罐装冷豆。
Their porch was overflowing with junk and cats and smelled like cat food and urine.
他们的门廊里堆满了垃圾和猫，闻起来像猫粮和尿液。
Robert slept in a chair in the living room, and Clyde slept on a small cot next to the wood stove in the kitchen.
罗伯特睡在客厅的椅子上，克莱德睡在厨房柴炉旁边的一张小床上。
Robert's mother Bessie had passed away in 1987, in one of the small bedrooms upstairs.
罗伯特的母亲贝西于 1987 年在楼上的一间小卧室里去世。
Since then the two men were on their own.
从此以后，两个人就只能靠自己了。
About 15 years ago, Ronnie Hamilton and his wife Brenda met Robert and Clyde.
大约 15 年前，罗尼·汉密尔顿 (Ronnie Hamilton) 和他的妻子布伦达 (Brenda) 认识了罗伯特 (Robert) 和克莱德 (Clyde)。
Brenda was making and selling Christmas wreaths.
布伦达正在制作和销售圣诞花环。
And when Robert saw them, he invited the Hamilton's first to get brush from the farm to make their wreaths and later, to sell them at the farm.
当罗伯特看到他们时，他邀请汉密尔顿一家先从农场拿刷子来制作花圈，然后在农场出售。
They ended up spending a lot of time together.
他们最终花了很多时间在一起。
Despite the Christmas tree farm, Robert and his late mother were Jehovah's Witnesses.
尽管有圣诞树农场，罗伯特和他已故的母亲仍然是耶和华见证人。
And so the family didn't actually celebrate Christmas.
所以一家人实际上并没有庆祝圣诞节。
But Ronnie and Brenda wanted to include them into their holiday.
但罗尼和布伦达想把他们纳入他们的假期。
One day Ron noticed Clyde was wearing two different boots and that on the coldest days, they weren't keeping his feet warm.
有一天，罗恩注意到克莱德穿着两双不同的靴子，在最冷的日子里，它们并没有让他的脚保持温暖。
So I went and bought him a pair of boots.
于是我就去给他买了一双靴子。
And we bought Robert a pair of sneakers, because I knew Robert liked the ones that you didn't have to lace up, that just had the Velcro.
我们给罗伯特买了一双运动鞋，因为我知道罗伯特喜欢那些不需要系鞋带、只有尼龙搭扣的运动鞋。
Anyway, we got several little things in a Christmas stocking.
不管怎样，我们在圣诞袜里装了一些小东西。
Well, day before Christmas, I had come over and knocked on the door and I says, "Santa's here." And they had come in.
嗯，圣诞节前一天，我过来敲门，说：“圣诞老人来了。”他们进来了。
And he says, "What did you do that for?" I said, "Because I want to." And I said, just because you like to do things for people.
他说：“你这么做是为了什么？”我说：“因为我愿意。”我说，只是因为你喜欢为别人做事。
And I asked what did you do that for.
我问你这样做是为了什么？
And he says because he wanted to.
他说因为他想这么做。
So I kind of put it right back to him that way.
所以我就这样把它还给了他。
He liked Christmas.
他喜欢圣诞节。
After that first Christmas, Robert began exchanging gifts each year with Ron and Brenda.
第一个圣诞节之后，罗伯特开始每年与罗恩和布伦达交换礼物。
As Clyde got older and started to rely on Robert, Robert started to rely on the Hamiltons.
随着克莱德年龄的增长并开始依赖罗伯特，罗伯特也开始依赖汉密尔顿一家。
Late one night, Clyde got so sick, Robert called Ron for help.
一天深夜，克莱德病得很重，罗伯特打电话给罗恩寻求帮助。
And he says, "Father's sick.
他说：“父亲病了。
Can you come get him?" This was like 11:30, 12 o'clock at night, and snowy and stuff.
你能过来接他吗？”那是晚上 11 点 30 分、12 点，下雪了等等。
I went over and got him, picked him up, and put him in the truck, and took him to Blue Hill Hospital.
我走过去把他抱起来，把他放到卡车上，然后把他带到了蓝山医院。
Well, needless to say, he had cancer.
好吧，不用说，他得了癌症。
And that went on for about a year.
这种情况持续了大约一年。
And finally, Robert's father was in the hospital real bad there.
最后，罗伯特的父亲在医院里病得很重。
And Robert called me up.
罗伯特给我打电话。
And he said, would you take me over to see Dad.
他说，你能带我去见爸爸吗？
I says, yeah.
我说，是的。
Went in and the doctor said, it's just a matter of time.
进去后医生说，这只是时间问题。
And I said to Robert, if you want to say something to your father, you want to say it now.
我对罗伯特说，如果你想对你父亲说些什么，你现在就想说。
We got a kick out of this, because we chuckled about it afterwards.
我们对此感到很高兴，因为事后我们笑了起来。
He said, but I can't get him awake.
他说，但我无法叫醒他。
I said, I can get him awake.
我说，我可以叫醒他。
He said, you can?
他说，你可以吗？
And he said, how?
他说，怎么样？
And I said, you watch.
我说，你看着吧。
And I said, Clyde, there's somebody in your Christmas trees.
我说，克莱德，你的圣诞树上有人。
He opened up one eye.
他睁开了一只眼睛。
And he looked at me, and said, I'm not dead yet.
他看着我说，我还没死。
I said to Robert, you want to say something to your father, you want to talk to him now.
我对罗伯特说，你想对你父亲说点什么，你现在就想和他谈谈。
So they talked for a few minutes, then Clyde dozed off.
他们聊了几分钟，然后克莱德打瞌睡了。
And Robert called me the next morning and told me his father had died.
第二天早上罗伯特打电话给我，告诉我他的父亲去世了。
Robert asked Ron to take care of the burial arrangements.
罗伯特请罗恩负责葬礼安排。
So Ron dug the hole for Clyde's remains, gathered some friends, and said a few final words.
于是罗恩为克莱德的遗体挖了一个洞，召集了一些朋友，说了最后几句话。
Then Robert asked Ron if, when it came time, he would do the same for him.
然后罗伯特问罗恩，到时候他是否也会为他做同样的事情。
Ron said yes.
罗恩说是的。
Robert was 65 when his father died.
罗伯特的父亲去世时，他已经 65 岁了。
He had struggled with diabetes for most of his life.
他一生的大部分时间都在与糖尿病作斗争。
He had had heart problems.
他患有心脏病。
And he was in and out of the hospital.
他进出医院。
He stayed with Ron and Brenda for a couple of months in the winter of 2000 because he couldn't take care of himself.
2000 年冬天，他在 Ron 和 Brenda 家住了几个月，因为他无法照顾自己。
He loved the hot showers and the television with a remote control they had at their house.
他喜欢家里的热水淋浴和带遥控器的电视。
Eventually, Robert went back to the farm and to his independence.
最终，罗伯特回到了农场并获得了独立。
He started walking four miles a day and lost some weight.
他开始每天步行四英里，体重减轻了一些。
Then in mid April of 2001, Ron went over early one morning to pick Robert up to take him into town.
2001 年 4 月中旬，一天一早，罗恩去接罗伯特进城。
He found Robert lying on the floor.
他发现罗伯特躺在地板上。
He was dead.
他死了。
Ron kept his promise to Robert, and held a small ceremony on a sunny April afternoon.
罗恩兑现了对罗伯特的承诺，在四月一个阳光明媚的下午举行了一个小型仪式。
He scattered Robert's ashes out back at the farm among the Christmas trees.
他把罗伯特的骨灰撒在农场后面的圣诞树上。
A few days later, the Hamiltons were contacted to come to a reading of Robert's will, along with representatives from five local nonprofit organizations.
几天后，汉密尔顿一家接到通知，与来自当地五个非营利组织的代表一起宣读了罗伯特的遗嘱。
As the lawyers started to read out the will, people were stunned.
当律师开始宣读遗嘱时，人们惊呆了。
It turns out Robert Jordan was a millionaire.
事实证明罗伯特·乔丹是一位百万富翁。
Robert had inherited a couple hundred thousand in AT&T stock from three neighbors.
罗伯特从三个邻居那里继承了几十万股 AT&T 股票。
Wealthy sisters who had a summer place across the road.
富有的姐妹在马路对面有一个避暑胜地。
When Robert was growing up, he had mowed lawns and run errands for the sisters.
罗伯特长大后，曾为姐妹们修剪草坪、跑腿。
And when they got older he had taken care of them.
当他们长大后，他照顾他们。
When the last sister, Betty, died in 1984, she left Robert the stock and her house.
1984 年，最后一个姐姐贝蒂 (Betty) 去世后，她把股票和房子留给了罗伯特。
Robert sold the house, and as for the stock, his timing was perfect.
罗伯特卖掉了房子，至于股票，他的时机是完美的。
It boomed.
它轰鸣起来。
Robert had divided up his money between local organizations he was interested in or had been kind to him.
罗伯特把他的钱分给了他感兴趣的或对他友善的当地组织。
But the largest gift was left to Ron and Brenda Hamilton.
但最大的礼物留给了罗恩和布伦达·汉密尔顿。
Robert Jordan had left them the farm.
罗伯特乔丹把农场留给了他们。
Well, I was flabbergasted.
嗯，我惊呆了。
I couldn't believe it.
我简直不敢相信。
To this day I don't believe it, because I didn't look for nothing from nobody.
直到今天我仍然不相信，因为我没有向任何人寻求任何东西。
We were so excited.
我们非常兴奋。
So we packed up our stuff, and started cleaning on the farm, and fixed the farm up a little bit, and the barn and stuff.
所以我们收拾好东西，开始打扫农场，并对农场、谷仓和其他东西进行了一些修复。
Moved in, and it was just a lovely spot.
搬进来了，那真是一个可爱的地方。
The tree farm Robert left to Ronnie and Brenda sits on top of a hill looking over Route 172.
罗伯特留给罗尼和布伦达的林场坐落在俯瞰 172 号公路的山顶上。
It has 66 acres of trees and a natural spring.
它拥有66英亩的树木和一个天然泉水。
The house is white, and from the road it looks bigger than it really is.
房子是白色的，从路上看，它比实际的要大。
The only sink was in the kitchen.
唯一的水槽在厨房里。
And the house had no heat besides the wood stove.
房子里除了木火炉外没有暖气。
In August of 2001, Ronnie and Brenda moved in.
2001 年 8 月，罗尼和布伦达搬进来。
They were excited, not daunted, by the task that lay ahead of them.
他们对摆在他们面前的任务感到兴奋，而不是感到畏惧。
A year later, I went to visit Ronnie and Brenda.
一年后，我去看望罗尼和布伦达。
It was the first time I'd actually been able to walk onto the porch.
这是我第一次真正能够走上门廊。
The clutter was gone, a small gray kitten lay curled on a couch, and three dogs met me at the door.
杂乱的东西消失了，一只灰色的小猫蜷缩在沙发上，三只狗在门口迎接我。
It was as if Ronnie and Brenda's world had opened up.
就好像罗尼和布伦达的世界打开了。
Ron told me that Robert's gift had completely changed his life.
罗恩告诉我罗伯特的礼物彻底改变了他的生活。
I don't have so much tension on me, you know, thinking that, what am I going to do.
我没有那么紧张，你知道，我会想，我要做什么。
Now I know what I'm going to do.
现在我知道我要做什么了。
I'm going to work on these Christmas trees most of the rest of my life and enjoy it like he did.
我将用我余生的大部分时间来制作这些圣诞树，并像他一样享受它。
When I left that night, Ron walked me to my car.
那天晚上我离开时，罗恩陪我走到车旁。
Well, thank you dear.
嗯，谢谢你，亲爱的。
Caitlin Shetterly I think I'll come back at Christmas.
凯特琳·谢特利 我想我会在圣诞节回来。
Yeah, I'm definitely going to come get a tree.
是的，我一定会去拿一棵树。
For sure.
一定。
Thank you.
谢谢。
Thank you dear.
谢谢你亲爱的。
Caitlin Shetterly Test, test.
凯特琳谢特利测试，测试。
Four months later, it's Christmas Eve, and I'm back at the tree farm.
四个月后，圣诞节前夕，我回到了林场。
How are you?
你好吗？
Boy, your house looks great.
男孩，你的房子看起来很棒。
It's coming together.
它正在走到一起。
Oh, look at the tree.
哦，看那棵树。
Is it going well, though, living here?
不过，住在这里还好吗？
Are you feeling good about it?
你感觉好吗？
I had nothing but trouble over here all summer long.
整个夏天我在这里除了麻烦什么也没有。
Tell me why.
告诉我为什么。
Ron Hamilton Some people broke into my pickup truck and had taken my pills.
罗恩·汉密尔顿：有人闯入我的皮卡车并拿走了我的药。
And come in here.
并进来这里。
After the Hamiltons moved in, things got complicated.
汉密尔顿一家搬进来后，事情变得复杂了。
The house and the barn needed a lot of work.
房子和谷仓需要做很多工作。
And the Hamiltons needed money they didn't have to do that work.
汉密尔顿一家需要钱，但他们不需要做这项工作。
Tending to 66 acres of farm that stretched over a mile back from the road was hard for Ron.
对罗恩来说，照料距公路一英里多的 66 英亩农场非常困难。
One day he fell while surveying the land, and he pulled the muscles and tendons in his neck.
有一天，他在勘察土地时摔倒了，拉伤了脖子上的肌肉和肌腱。
Ron went to the hospital and was given painkillers, which he brought home.
罗恩去了医院，医生给了他止痛药，然后他把止痛药带回家了。
And a day later, some kids broke into his truck and stole his medicine.
一天后，一些孩子闯入他的卡车并偷走了他的药。
Then, believe it or not, things took a turn for the worse.
然后，不管你信不信，事情变得更糟了。
They tried to arrest me and charge me with growing marijuana, which wasn't mine.
他们试图逮捕我并指控我种植大麻，但那不是我的。
Where was the marijuana?
大麻在哪里？
Ron Hamilton Somebody had planted it out back in the Christmas trees, two or three different plots of it.
罗恩·汉密尔顿 有人把它种在圣诞树上，种在两三个不同的地方。
The police came?
警察来了？
Ron Hamilton Oh, helicopter, the whole nine yards.
罗恩·汉密尔顿哦，直升机，整个九码。
Ron had to hire a lawyer to prove that the plants weren't his, putting him into even more debt.
罗恩不得不聘请律师来证明这些植物不是他的，这让他背上了更多的债务。
And on top of all that, Ron had a heart attack.
最重要的是，罗恩心脏病发作了。
This all happened within four months.
这一切都发生在四个月内。
Finally, Ron and Brenda decided to sell the farm.
最后，罗恩和布伦达决定卖掉农场。
With the money they got from selling the farm to their neighbor, Bill [?
他们用把农场卖给邻居比尔得到的钱[？
Kidue, ?] they built a small, one level house on seven acres of land, over closer to Ellsworth on a busy road.
基杜，？]他们在七英亩的土地上建造了一座小型的单层房屋，靠近埃尔斯沃思的一条繁忙道路上。
Ron has been back a few times to cut brush for Brenda's wreaths.
罗恩曾多次回来为布伦达的花圈修剪灌木。
But when I asked Ronnie to take me back to the farm, he refused, saying it was just too painful.
但当我要求罗尼带我回农场时，他拒绝了，说这太痛苦了。
Why does it bother you?
为什么它让你烦恼？
Ron Hamilton I don't know.
罗恩·汉密尔顿我不知道。
Just thinking it was mine.
只是以为那是我的。
I wish that I could have kept it.
我希望我能保留它。
It was nice in the summer.
夏天的时候很好。
You'd go out and sit on the porch there.
你会出去坐在门廊上。
And we'd watch traffic go by.
我们会看着车流经过。
We'd sit there until it was real dark because it was all screened in.
我们会坐在那里直到天完全黑，因为一切都被屏蔽了。
It was nice out there.
那里很好。
Nice porch.
漂亮的门廊。
When we first moved to the farm it was just like we remarried.
当我们第一次搬到农场时，就像我们再婚一样。
Everything was just cozy, and the colder it got, the more we snuggled.
一切都很舒适，天气越冷，我们就越依偎在一起。
It was different.
这是不同的。
It was better.
好多了。
It was more-- it's a country life.
这更是一种乡村生活。
Every morning she'd get up and have a coffee pot going, and take a cup of coffee with her and the dogs.
每天早上她都会起床，打开咖啡壶，和她和狗一起喝一杯咖啡。
And she'd walk out back.
她会走回去。
And she'd say, well, we've got several deer crossings out there, or you ought to see the turkey tracks, or there's coyote droppings out there.
她会说，好吧，我们那里有几个鹿过境点，或者你应该看看火鸡的足迹，或者那里有郊狼的粪便。
And we had visions.
我们有愿景。
We talked about, we wanted to take this little pond, and it would make a beautiful ice skating pond.
我们讨论过，我们想把这个小池塘变成一个美丽的滑冰池。
We thought, well, we could have the kids come over.
我们想，好吧，我们可以让孩子们过来。
And they could ice skate over there, get them off the streets, you know.
他们可以在那里滑冰，让他们远离街道，你知道。
And then eventually, that we could have a horse and a sleigh and give sleigh rides over there.
最终，我们可以拥有一匹马和一辆雪橇，并在那里提供雪橇之旅。
But it didn't turn out that way.
但事实并非如此。
But we dreamt of it.
但我们梦想着它。
Didn't we, dear?
我们不是吗，亲爱的？
Later, Brenda tells me that she doesn't like the new house they've built.
后来，布伦达告诉我，她不喜欢他们建造的新房子。
She says it doesn't feel like a home and she doesn't want to decorate for Christmas this year.
她说这感觉不像一个家，她今年不想装饰圣诞节。
Their whole idea of Christmas is still tied up in the dreams they had for the farm.
他们对圣诞节的整个想法仍然与他们对农场的梦想紧密相连。
In the Dylan Thomas poem, "A Child's Christmas in Wales," there is a point toward the end where the narrator and his childhood friends go caroling in the dark.
在迪伦·托马斯的诗《威尔士的一个孩子的圣诞节》中，在接近结尾的时候，叙述者和他儿时的朋友们在黑暗中唱颂歌。
They walk up a long driveway to a large house, and although they are afraid, they soldier on.
他们沿着一条长长的车道走到一栋大房子前，虽然很害怕，但他们还是继续前行。
And as they begin to sing, a voice joins theirs from behind the dark door.
当他们开始唱歌时，一个声音从黑暗的门后加入了他们的声音。
Thomas writes, "A small, dry voice, like the voice of someone who has not spoken for a long time joined our singing.
托马斯写道：“一个小而干的声音加入了我们的歌声，就像一个很长时间没有说话的人的声音。
A small, dry, eggshell voice from the other side of the door.
门的另一边传来一个细小、干涩、蛋壳般的声音。
A small dry voice through the keyhole." The boys run, and never finish their song.
钥匙孔里传来一声微弱、干燥的声音。”男孩们奔跑着，却永远没有唱完他们的歌。
When I was little, I used to go with the Surry Elementary School to sing carols outside Robert Jordan's house.
当我小的时候，我经常和萨里小学一起去罗伯特乔丹家外面唱颂歌。
And I always confused the voice in the poem with the real life Robert Jordan, someone isolated, someone people don't stick around for.
我总是把诗中的声音与现实生活中的罗伯特·乔丹混淆了，一个孤立的人，一个人们不会留下来的人。
But that wasn't really who he was.
但那并不是真正的他。
He reached out to people.
他向人们伸出援手。
He helped out his neighbors across the street without asking for anything.
他帮助街对面的邻居，没有提出任何要求。
In return, they made him a millionaire.
作为回报，他们使他成为百万富翁。
And when Ronnie and Brenda helped him without asking for anything, in return, he gave them the farm.
当罗尼和布伦达不求任何回报地帮助他时，他把农场给了他们。
So much of his life was about a kind of selfless giving.
他一生的大部分时间都是关于一种无私的奉献。
And sometimes it didn't work out, sure.
当然，有时它并没有成功。
Ronnie and Brenda are definitely going to miss the farm this Christmas.
今年圣诞节罗尼和布伦达肯定会想念农场的。
But Ron still has hope for the holidays.
但罗恩对假期仍然抱有希望。
He thinks their house won't feel so much like a motel once they get the tree up, put some lights outside, and have some family over.
他认为，一旦他们把树竖起来，在外面装上一些灯，并邀请一些家人过来，他们的房子就不再像汽车旅馆了。
Already, Brenda has nearly sold all her wreaths.
布伦达几乎已经卖掉了她所有的花圈。
And when I called this week, Ron was already ahead of the game.
当我本周打电话时，罗恩已经领先了。
His shopping is all done.
他的购物已经完成了。
And he was busy wrapping presents for his wife.
他正忙着给妻子包装礼物。
Caitlin Shetterly is the artistic director of the Winter Harbor Theater Company in Portland, Maine.
凯特琳·谢特利 (Caitlin Shetterly) 是缅因州波特兰市温特港剧团的艺术总监。
Well, our program was produced today by Jane Golombisky and myself, with Alex Blumberg, Diane Cook, and Starlee Kine.
嗯，我们今天的节目是由 Jane Golombisky 和我本人以及 Alex Blumberg、Diane Cook 和 Starlee Kine 制作的。
Our senior producer is Julie Snyder.
我们的高级制片人是朱莉·斯奈德。
Production help from Todd Bachmann and Kelsey Dilts.
托德·巴赫曼 (Todd Bachmann) 和凯尔西·迪尔茨 (Kelsey Dilts) 为制作提供帮助。
[ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS] You know you can download audio of our program at audible.com/thisamericanlife, where they have public radio programs, best-selling books, even the New York Times, all at audible.com.
[致谢] 您知道您可以在 audible.com/thisamericanlife 下载我们节目的音频，那里有公共广播节目、畅销书，甚至纽约时报，所有这些都在 audible.com 上。
This American Life is distributed by Public Radio International.
《美国生活》由国际公共广播电台发行。
[FUNDING CREDITS] WBEZ management oversight by Torey Malatia, or as he likes to be known--
[资金来源] WBEZ 管理由 Torey Malatia 监督，或者如他喜欢的那样——
I'm Ira Glass, back next week with more stories of This American Life.
我是艾拉·格拉斯，下周回来，带来更多《美国生活》的故事。
This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.
《This American Life》与 WBEZ Chicago 合作制作，并由 PRX 公共广播电台传送到各电台。