The Living Flag

 

 

Tomorrow is ¹⁾Flag Day in Lake Wobegon. I don’t know if it’s observed here in the cities, but it is in Lake Wobegon. The Chamber¹ of Commerce² still has some flags on the poles with the nails at the end you can stick into the ground, out in front of your house. You want to see Duane down at the Feed and Seed or stop by Skoglin’s yet this evening and pick up yours. I believe that is all that they do on Flag Day is just fly flags in Lake Wobegon, I can’t really think of what else you could do on Flag Day. Though they did used to do more.

    It seems to me I heard that back in 1936, about 400 people in Lake Wobegon put on red, white and blue caps and they formed what they called the living flag out on Main Street. The problem was that there were so many people in the living flag, there weren’t many people left over to appreciate it. But they did it. I think it was the idea of a traveling cap salesman who came through town. But Janmeer Inquist more or less organized it and he didn’t see why anybody should have to see it, he thought it was a patriotic³ thing and it should be enough for people just to realize that they were a part of the living flag.

    But as they were standing⁴ there on Main Street, of course somebody ²⁾broke ranks and they said, “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” And they went and ran up on the roof of the Central Building right there, and they stood up there and looked down on it, and they said, “Oh, it’s beautiful! You otta see it.” And then of course everybody had to have a look. It took hours, one person at a time, leaving the living flag and running up to the roof of the Central Building up there and looking down at it and admiring it. And of course after a while, the people who had already had their look were saying, “OK, that’s it now, we can go home.” And the people who didn’t have a look were saying, “Hey, hold on now, we didn’t get our chance.” So every single last one of them had to go up there one at a time, and tempers⁵ were running short, and the living flag was becoming a sort of sitting and kneeling⁶ flag.

    It was a warm June afternoon, until finally they came down to Mrs. Quigley, who was the last one. And they said, “Alright go now, Mary, go now and make it quick.” And she said, “Oh no.” She said, “I don’t wancha to go to any trouble on my account.” she said, “I don’t need to.” They said, “Go look at it! Go look at the flag, would yuh now.” She said, “Oh no, I’ve seen flags before, and I don’t need to look at this one.” The whole lower right hand corner of that flag grabbed⁷ her and they ³⁾hustled her up the stairs and up on the roof of the Central Building, and they leaned her out and they made her look down at it. And then of course somebody thought they would run home and get a camera.

    So that’s why they don’t do much for Flag Day any more, in Lake Wobegon, but they will be flying the flag tomorrow.

Well, that’s the news from Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, where all the women are strong and all the men are good looking and all the children are above average.CE

 

05、国旗纪念日

 

明天将在沃比根湖举行美国国旗纪念日。我不知道别的城市里是否会举行纪念活动，但沃比根湖会。商会还有一些连杆的旗，杆底有钉子，你们可以把它钉在屋前的空地上。要么去看看杂货店的杜安，要么在当晚去斯科格林店给自己挑选一面旗子。我相信在沃比根湖，他们在国旗纪念日的活动就是舞旗，我真想不出在国旗纪念日还可以干点别的什么事。但是从前他们的活动还更多些。

我好像听说早在1936年，在沃比根湖大约有400人戴着红、白、蓝帽，他们在大道上排成所谓的活人国旗。问题是太多人去参与组成国旗，以致于没剩下多少人来欣赏它。但他们还是解决了这问题，我想那是一个路过的旅行帽商人出的主意。起初组织这个活动的城镇领导并不觉得人们非得看到国旗不可，他认为那是爱国行为，人们只要意识到自己是组成活人国旗的一份子就足够了。

但当人们站在大道上时，自然也有人会走出队列，说∶“请让一让，我很快就会复回原位。”接着他们跑到中央大厦的顶层，站在那里，向下俯视着说道∶“噢，很漂亮！你们应该来看看。”于是变成每个人都理应来看一看。这花去好几个钟头——每人依次离队跑上中央大厦的顶层，向下俯视并赞美它。过一会儿，那些已经欣赏过的人自然就说∶“好，看完了，我们回家吧。”那些没有看过的人便说∶“嘿，等一下，我们还没机会看呢。”于是剩下的人一个不漏地轮流跑上去看，人群开始不耐烦了。活人国旗变成了有人坐而且有人跪的国旗。

那是六月一个暖和的下午，最后等轮到奎格利太太时，她已经是最后一个了，别人说∶“好啦，去吧，玛丽，去吧，快点看。”她说∶“噢，不去。”她说∶“我不想你们因为我而添了麻烦。”她说∶“我不用看了。”别人说∶“去看看吧，去看看国旗，你现在就去。”她说∶“噢，不看了，我以前看过国旗了，没必要看这个。”但所有站在国旗右下角位置的人一把抓住她，把她硬推上楼梯，推上中央大厦的楼顶，他们拎着她朝外俯看国旗。当然有些人想跑回家拿相机来拍照。      

那就是他们再也没有在沃比根湖，在国旗纪念日搞太多活动的原因，但是他们明天会舞旗。

这就是来自明尼苏达州的沃比根湖的消息，那里所有的妇女都强壮，所有的男人都英俊，所有的小孩都聪明过人。CE

 

1) Flag Day 6月14日，美国国旗纪念日

2) break (the) ranks 走出队列

3) hustle⁸ [5hQsl] v. 硬挤；硬推

 

1 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

2 commerce   

n.商业，贸易；社交

参考例句：

• Commerce binds the two countries together.贸易把这两国结合在一起。
• They drew up plans aimed at expanding commerce.他们拟定了发展商业的计划。

3 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 tempers   

n.脾气( temper的名词复数 )；韧度；怒气；有…脾气的

参考例句：

• The sea tempers the climates. 海洋调节气候。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They were so rushed that tempers flared, and arguments followed. 两人忙碌坏了脾气，不免争执。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

6 kneeling   

v.跪( kneel的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Better die standing than live kneeling. 宁愿站着死，不愿跪着生。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He pulled her down so that they were kneeling face to face. 他拉她跪下来，他们脸对着脸。 来自英汉文学

7 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

8 hustle   

v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌)

参考例句：

• It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
• I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。