精美英文欣赏:朋友就该这么做(上)

That's what friends do

朋友就该这么做

Jack¹ tossed the papers on my desk—his eyebrows² knit into a straight line as he glared at me.

杰克把文件扔到我桌上，皱着眉头，气愤地瞪着我。

"What's wrong?" I asked.

“怎么了？”我问道。

He jabbed a finger at the proposal. "Next time you want to change anything, ask me first," he said, turning on his heels and leaving me stewing³ in anger.

他指着计划书狠狠地说道：“下次想作什么改动前，先征求一下我的意见。”然后转身走了，留下我一个人在那里生闷气。

How dare he treat me like that, I thought. I had changed one long sentence, and corrected grammar, something I thought I was paid to do.

他怎么能这样对我！我想，我只是改了一个长句，更正了语法错误，但这都是我的分内之事啊。

It's not that I hadn't been warned. Other women who had worked my job before me called Jack names I couldn't repeat. One coworker took me aside the first day. "He's personally responsible for two different secretaries leaving the firm," she whispered.

其实也有人提醒过我，上一任在我这个职位上工作的女士就曾大骂过他。我第一天上班时，就有同事把我拉到一旁小声说：“已有两个秘书因为他而辞职了。”

As the weeks went by, I grew to despise Jack. His actions made me question much that I believed in, such as turning the other cheek and loving your enemies. Jack quickly slapped a verbal insult on any cheek turned his way. I prayed about the situation, but to be honest, I wanted to put Jack in his place, not love him.

几周后，我逐渐有些鄙视杰克了，而这又有悖于我的信条——别人打你左脸，右脸也转过去让他打；爱自己的敌人。但无论怎么做，总会挨杰克的骂。说真的，我很想灭灭他的嚣张气焰，而不是去爱他。我还为此默默祈祷过。

One day another of his episodes left me in tears. I stormed into his office, prepared to lose my job if needed, but not before I let the man know how I felt. I opened the door and Jack glanced up. “What?” he asked abruptly⁴.

一天，因为一件事，我又被他气哭了。我冲进他的办公室，准备在被炒鱿鱼前让他知道我的感受。我推开门，杰克抬头看了我一眼。“有事吗？”他突然说道。

Suddenly I knew what I had to do. After all, he deserved it.

我猛地意识到该怎么做了。毕竟，他罪有应得。

I sat across from him and said calmly, "Jack, the way you've been treating me is wrong. I've never had anyone speak to me that way. As a professional, it's wrong, and I can't allow it to continue."

我在他对面坐下：“杰克，你对待我的方式很有问题。还从没有人像你那样对我说话。作为一个职业人士，你这么做很愚蠢，我无法容忍这样的事情再度发生。”

Jack snickered nervously⁵ and leaned back in his chair. I closed my eyes briefly⁶. God help me, I prayed.

杰克不安地笑了笑，向后靠靠。我闭了一下眼睛，祈祷着，希望上帝能帮帮我。

"I want to make you a promise. I will be a friend," I said. "I will treat you as you deserve to be treated, with respect and kindness. You deserve that. Everybody does." I slipped out of the chair and closed the door behind me.

“我保证，可以成为你的朋友。你是我的上司，我自然会尊敬你，礼貌待你，这是我应做的。每个人都应得到如此礼遇。”我说着便起身离开，把门关上了。

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

3 stewing   

炖

参考例句：

• The meat was stewing in the pan. 肉正炖在锅里。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The cashier was stewing herself over the sum of 1, 000 which was missing. 钱短了一千美元，出纳员着急得要命。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

5 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。