英语专业晨读美文-人生篇 10 Yellow Post-Its

[00:01.62]Yellow Post-Its
[00:04.90]Can you still find this day, my dear, among your possessions?
[00:10.48]Among the souvenirs of your trips to faraway lands,
[00:14.20]the textbooks from those halcyon¹ days
[00:16.94]when you walked the hallowed portals of that engineering college,
[00:20.44]the cassettes whose covers were left behind
[00:23.29]after one of those bacchanalian² sessions in the hostel³,
[00:26.46]the photographs of those classmates whose names you can't remember?
[00:30.94]Or is it hidden in the darkness, put out of sight along with the book
[00:35.32]you bought but never read,
[00:37.07]the gift you never quite found a use for
[00:39.58]and the letters you never finished or sent?
[00:43.09]I can still find it here, in the city,
[00:45.93]in the house which you have never visited,
[00:48.22]in the kitchen where I have imaginary conversations with you.
[00:52.27] It is here even when I am not, for I go out now,
[00:56.53] leaving the light on and the music playing,
[00:58.93]so I can return home to the illusion of company.
[01:02.22]I am probably better off now.
[01:04.41]Without secrets to keep from my parents.
[01:07.14]Without someone to come between me and my friends,
[01:10.42] me and my pastimes, me and my work, me and my sensible,
[01:15.78]understandable, utilitarian⁴ life.
[01:18.84]The life that I keep trying,
[01:21.25]keep failing to bring in line with the expectations that
[01:24.64] I keep trying, keep failing to make my own.
[01:28.03]It is not that I always feel like this,
[01:30.87]sometimes I yearn⁵ for those days when tears and laughter both came easy,
[01:35.90]those easy and quick transitions from ecstasy⁶ to despair.
[01:40.82]When a compliment could keep my mind occupied for hours on end
[01:45.42]and a harsh word could prick⁷ like a pin the same skin
[01:49.57]which now seems dry and insensitive.
[01:52.09] Like probably millions around the world,
[01:54.71]I look outside the window of a crowded bus,
[01:57.78]lost in my own thoughts and wonder how it could happen to me.
[02:02.15]Was I not supposed to be different from the rest?
[02:05.10]Not for the silly schoolgirl infatuation with the football team captain
[02:10.35] or the fascination⁸ with the good for nothing,
[02:12.87]pot-smoking aspiring⁹ poet.
[02:15.27] Ours was a mature friendship that had blossomed into more.
[02:19.54]How could I feel a pang¹⁰ of envy then,
[02:22.17]when you lent a helping¹¹ hand to another girl,
[02:24.90]when you spoke¹² about someone who's far away and about to be married,
[02:29.16] when you were so involved in the book you were reading
[02:32.22] that you did not notice that we never met all day?
[02:35.95]Then came the rescue mission.
[02:38.24]The loud fights in the hostel wing,
[02:40.87]the long silences and the desperate angry notes.
[02:43.78] Frustration¹³, anxiety
[02:45.96]and even love revealing itself in the ugliest possible ways.
[02:50.01]Then indifference¹⁴, complacency and resignation.
[02:54.72]Calm, dispassionate discussions on how we could stay friends.
[02:58.98]The decision that we should always let the other know when we would be around.
[03:03.47] That's when I started leaving those yellow post-its on the door.
[03:07.62]Those yellow post-its which by the time
[03:10.90] I came back would have your coordinates¹⁵ that I never used.
[03:14.40]If we had all of them now,
[03:16.26]they would be telling this tale a lot better than I am now.
[03:19.65]Back home, I still continue leaving those post-its to this day,
[03:24.79] hoping that someone will write their whereabouts on them as well.
 

1 halcyon   

n.平静的，愉快的

参考例句：

• He yearned for the halcyon day sof his childhood.他怀念儿时宁静幸福的日子。
• He saw visions of a halcyon future.他看到了将来的太平日子的幻境。

2 bacchanalian   

adj.闹酒狂饮的；n.发酒疯的人

参考例句：

• Emperor nero attended the bacchanalian orgy.尼禄皇参加了狂饮的祭酒神仪式。
• College-admissions deans and potential employers browse bacchanalian footage.高校招生处主任和潜在的雇主会浏览到发酒疯的画面。

3 hostel   

n.（学生）宿舍，招待所

参考例句：

• I lived in a hostel while I was a student.我求学期间住在青年招待所里。
• He says he's staying at a Youth Hostel.他说他现住在一家青年招待所。

4 utilitarian   

adj.实用的，功利的

参考例句：

• On the utilitarian side American education has outstridden the rest of the world.在实用方面美国教育已超越世界各国。
• A good cloth coat is more utilitarian than a fur one.一件优质的布外衣要比一件毛皮外衣更有用。

5 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

6 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

7 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。

8 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

9 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

10 pang   

n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷

参考例句：

• She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment.她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
• She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love.她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

14 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

15 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》