两个人的早餐

     When my husband and I celebrated¹ our 38th wedding anniversary at our favorite restaurant, Lenny, the piano player, asked, "How did you do it?"当我和丈夫在我们最喜欢的饭馆庆祝结婚38周年纪念日时，那个弹钢琴的莱尼过来问道：“你们是怎么过过来的？”

    I knew there was no simple answer, but as the weekend approached, I wondered if one reason might be our ritual of breakfast in bed every Saturday and Sunday.

    我知道，对于这个问题无法简简单单地来回答。但随着周末一天天的临近，我开始在想：或许其中的一个原因就是我们每逢星期六和星期天都在床上吃早餐。

    It all started with the breakfast tray my mother gave us as a wedding gift. It had a glass top and slatted wooden side pockets for the morning paper e kind you used to see in the movies. Mother loved her movies, and although she rarely had breakfast in bed, she held high hopes for her daughter. My adoring bridegroom took the message to heart.

    一切都是从那个早餐托盘开始的，我妈把它作为结婚礼物送给我们。盘面是玻璃的，两边各有一个细长的木制侧袋用来放晨报——就像过去常常在电影中见到的那样。我妈很喜欢那些电影，尽管她自己很少在床上用早餐，却非常希望女儿能这样。深爱着我的新郎把我母亲的话牢记在心里。

    Feeling guilty, I suggested we take turns. Despite grumblings -- "hate crumbs² in my bed" ---Sunday morning found my spouse³ eagerly awaiting his tray. Soon these weekend breakfasts became such a part of our lives that I never even thought about them. I only knew we treasured this separate, blissful time read, relax, forget the things we should remember.

    出于心里感觉有些愧疚，我提议由我们两个轮流准备早餐。星期天早上，虽然他嘴里嘟嘟囔囔地抱怨着——“我讨厌饭渣弄到床上。”——但我还是见到丈夫在急切地等候他的早餐。周末早餐不久就成为我们生活中的一部分，习以为常也就不去想它了。我只知道我俩都很珍视这段与其他时间有别的幸福时光——看看报、放松一下自己，忘记那些本该记在心里的事情。

    Sifting through the years, I recalled how our weekends changed,but that we still preserved the ritual. We started our family (as new parents, we slept after breakfast more than we read), but we always found our way back to where we started, just two for breakfast, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

    细想逝去的岁月，我回忆起我们周末生活的诸多变化，但这个老习惯却依旧保留下来。我们建立起了这个家庭（初为父母时，早饭后的时间我们多半是睡一会儿，而不是阅读），但是我们总能够找到归路，返回起点——只是两个人的早餐，星期六一次，星期天一次。

    When we had more time, my tray became more festive⁴. First it was fruit slices placed in geometric pattern; then came flowers from our garden metimes just one blossom sprouting⁵ from a grapefruit half. This arranger of mine had developed a flair⁶ for decorating, using everything from amaryllis to the buds of a maple⁷ tree. My husband said my cooking inspired him. Mother would have approved. Perhaps it was the Saturday when the big strawberry wore a daisy hat that I began to think, how can I top this? One dark winter night I woke with a vision of a snowman on a tray. That Sunday I scooped⁸ a handful of snow and in no time had my man made. With a flourish I put a miniature pinecone on his head.

    当我们有了更多的时间，我的早餐托盘上就变得更加具有喜庆色彩。开始时是以几何图形排列的水果片，随后便是从自家花园里摘来的鲜花——有时候只是一朵，开在一半的葡萄柚当中。没想到这竟激发出我在装饰、点缀方面的天赋，各种各样的东西，从孤挺花到枫树的叶芽，都成为我手下的装饰材料。丈夫说我做的早餐启发了他，妈妈也会赞同他的说法。或许是在那个星期六，在一个大草莓上放一个雏菊做帽子之后，我开始在想：我怎么才能够超过它？在一个漆黑的冬夜，我从梦中醒来，眼前仿佛看到有一个雪人站在托盘上。就在那个星期天，我铲来了一捧雪，很快就做好了一个雪人。我轻轻地把一个微型松果按在雪人的头上。

    As I delivered the tray, complete with a nicely frozen snowman, I waited for a reaction. There was none but as I headed down the stairs I heard a whoop⁹ of laughter and then, "You've won! Yes, sir, you've won the prize!"我端着早餐上楼，盘面上放着那个冻结实的小雪人，我期待着他的反应——什么也没有——但就在我下楼时，我听到他放声大笑起来，紧接着，他说道：“你赢了！毫无疑问，你得奖了！”

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

3 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

4 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

5 sprouting   

v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• new leaves sprouting from the trees 树上长出的新叶
• They were putting fresh earth around sprouting potato stalks. 他们在往绽出新芽的土豆秧周围培新土。 来自名作英译部分

6 flair   

n.天赋，本领，才华；洞察力

参考例句：

• His business skill complements her flair for design.他的经营技巧和她的设计才能相辅相成。
• He had a natural flair for business.他有做生意的天分。

7 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

8 scooped   

v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• They scooped the other newspapers by revealing the matter. 他们抢先报道了这件事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wheels scooped up stones which hammered ominously under the car. 车轮搅起的石块，在车身下发出不吉祥的锤击声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 whoop   

n.大叫，呐喊，喘息声；v.叫喊，喘息

参考例句：

• He gave a whoop of joy when he saw his new bicycle.他看到自己的新自行车时，高兴得叫了起来。
• Everybody is planning to whoop it up this weekend.大家都打算在这个周末好好欢闹一番。