你是最小的孩子的8个迹象

 　　We are basically all spoiled eggs, right? That is our reputation. Before we begin the checklist to unite us all in our perceived spoiled ways, let one thing be known. The proverbial apples in your parents’ eyes were set aglow¹ in ways never before illuminated² the day your oldest sibling³ was born; but, they were once again equally illuminated the day they realized their last child had grown up and was on his or her own…well, at least we have that.

　　我们基本上都是被宠坏的孩子，对不对？这就是我们的名声。在我们开始让检查清单以我们已知的被宠爱的方式连接起来之前，让我们先知道一件事。在你出生时你父母眼中的喜悦是你最大的哥哥姐姐们出生时他们所未曾有的；但是，当他们意识到他们最小的孩子长大独立后，他们眼中会再次出现同样的喜悦...嗯，至少我们拥有这个。

　　1.You know how to handle rites⁴ of passage你知道如何处理成人礼

　　You have rites of passage just like everyone else. Your advantage, though, is that you got to witness your older siblings⁵ walk through the fire before you and observed how they stepped. Whatever burns they sustained, you can choose to also sustain or avoid. Whatever new and amazing discoveries they make you now have access to. Your older siblings explore unknown things and the further down the line you are the more cheat sheets you have to get you through your life.

　　和每个人一样，你也有着成人礼。然而，你最大的优势是可以目击到你的哥哥姐姐们如何在你之前穿过火，并且观察他们是如何迈步的。不论他们受到了什么烧伤，你都可以选择也这样或是避免。不论他们获得了什么新奇的发现，你都可以马上知道。你的哥哥姐姐们会探索许多未知的事情，你沿着路线走得越深，你越能获得人生中更多的指示。

　　2.Your parents are too tired to care

　　你的父母太累了，不能照顾到你

　　You, for better or worse, were allowed to juggle⁶ chainsaws and light fires in your backyard after school because your parents were too tired to care. The first, second, maybe even third, or more, were monitored far more than you as the watchful⁷ eye was gradually closed shut on your adolescence⁸. The others turned out okay, right? Besides, someone is getting married, another is graduating high school, one more will be a freshman⁹ soon, and then there you are, melting ants with your magnifying glass, eating already-been-chewed gum off the sidewalk, and wondering what Santa Claus will bring you regardless of how adamantly¹⁰ your older siblings strive to convince you no such giver of toys exists.

　　你，不论是好是坏，可以放学后在后院内玩链锯，也可以点火，因为你的父母太累了，照顾不到你。第一个，第二个，甚至可能是第三个，或者更多，他们受到的监管远远多于你，所以父母在你的青春期没有那么多精力去管你了。其他人都没问题，对吧？除此之外，某人结婚了，另一个正高校毕业，还有一个很快就会成为大一新生，然后是你，用你的放大镜烧蚂蚁，把吃着的口香糖涂在人行道上，不论你的哥哥姐姐们如何坚持想让你信服没有圣诞老人存在，你仍然在猜想这他会给你带来什么礼物。

　　3.That which does not kill you, makes you stronger那些没有杀死你的，让你变得更加强大

　　You, in memory of what Friedrich Nietzche once said, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger”, were able to test limits on a spectrum¹¹ never before seen. You had an ability to absorb this world free of preconceived notions and the pressures parents put on the first of their line. Your parents were preoccupied¹² isolating¹³ those before you as you emerged as a nearly unnoticeable drifter not encumbered¹⁴ by expectation, which might have made you the bird with the biggest wingspan in the nest.

　　记得弗里德里希尼采曾经说过的话，“那些没有杀死我们的，让我们更强大”，你能够测去挑战从未见过的极限。你能够免于先入为主的概念和父母施加给你的哥哥姐姐们的压力，去面对世界。当你作为一个未被给予高期待的人出现时，你的父母不会给你这些压力，而这可能会让你成为巢中最大的翼展鸟。

　　4.You idolized at least one of your older siblings你会至少崇拜你的哥哥姐姐中的一个

　　You idolized at least one of your older siblings as a child if not only for the simple fact that they were older. Well, now that we are all older and playing out the lives we had all imagined in high definition reality you take great joy in realizing that the brother or sister before you is forty, whether you are twenty-nine or thirty-nine.

　　如果不仅仅是因为他们比你大的原因，你会至少崇拜你的哥哥姐姐中的一个。好吧，现在我们都长大了，走出了我们曾想象的生活，那在你40岁之前你都充满喜悦地幻想着的现实，不论你是29岁还是39岁。

　　5.You’re sensitive

　　你很敏感

　　You are sensitive because you were the last out the gate. You have the least to gain because you were so far behind. You noticed things the front runner wouldn’t. It wasn’t a fair race and you came to terms with that immediately. There is nothing to win, only things to notice and enjoy along the way.

　　你很敏感，因为你是最后一个出生的孩子。你能得到的最少，因为你太靠后了。你会注意前面跑步者不曾注意的事情。这不是一场公平的比赛，你马上就妥协了。没有什么可以赢的，只能注意和享受这一路旅程。

　　6.You’re an “Old Soul”

　　你是一个“古老的灵魂”

　　You have been called an “Old Soul” many times and tend to hang out with people who are older than you. The reason you are wise beyond your years is because you have been quietly watching multiple life experiences, which will eventually play out in your own life, occur over and over in the form of older brothers and sisters.

　　你已经被成为“古老的灵魂”许多次了，往往会和比你大的人一起玩。你的超越年龄的聪慧是因为你一直在安静地观察多种人生经验，这最终会出现在你的生活中，就如它们一遍遍地发生在你的哥哥姐姐们身上一样。

　　7.You’re accustomed to insults

　　你习惯了面对侮辱

　　You are quite accustomed to treatment many others would find utterly¹⁵ insulting, even when you are older. Constantly being given torn or scratched hand-me-downs, never getting a window seat on family trips, and being forbidden from ever sitting at the adult table for holiday gatherings¹⁶ until you were thirty-years-old have all contributed in your modest world view and resistance to irritability¹⁷.

　　你习惯了对待许多别人认为是种侮辱的事情，甚至当你长大了仍然这样。不断受到伤害，从未在家庭旅行中获得一个靠窗座位，并且被禁止坐在度假聚会的成人桌旁，直到你30岁了，你仍有着谦虚的世界观，抵抗着烦躁不安。

　　8.You’re not very sentimental¹⁸

　　你不会很伤感

　　You are not very sentimental because it did not take long for you to realize that hardly any pictures were ever taken of you from infant through teenage years. Meanwhile, your oldest sibling has archived films and picture albums dated by the week until he or she turned eighteen.

　　你不会很伤感，因为很快你就意识到了几乎没有从你幼年时期到青少年时期的照片。与此同时，你的哥哥姐姐们却会有存档的每周例行的视频和照片专辑，这会持续到他们18岁。

 

1 aglow   

adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地

参考例句：

• The garden is aglow with many flowers.园中百花盛开。
• The sky was aglow with the setting sun.天空因夕阳映照而发红光。

2 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

3 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

4 rites   

仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to administer the last rites to sb 给某人举行临终圣事
• He is interested in mystic rites and ceremonies. 他对神秘的仪式感兴趣。

5 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

6 juggle   

v.变戏法，纂改，欺骗，同时做；n.玩杂耍，纂改，花招

参考例句：

• If you juggle with your accounts,you'll get into trouble.你要是在帐目上做手脚，你可要遇到麻烦了。
• She had to juggle her job and her children.她得同时兼顾工作和孩子。

7 watchful   

adj.注意的，警惕的

参考例句：

• The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
• It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。

8 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

9 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

10 adamantly   

adv.坚决地，坚定不移地，坚强不屈地

参考例句：

• "Come over here,"he told her adamantly. “到这边来，”他对她坚定地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His family were adamantly opposed to the marriage. 他的家人坚决反对这门亲事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

12 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

14 encumbered   

v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police operation was encumbered by crowds of reporters. 警方的行动被成群的记者所妨碍。
• The narrow quay was encumbered by hundreds of carts. 狭窄的码头被数百辆手推车堵得水泄不通。 来自辞典例句

15 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

16 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

17 irritability   

n.易怒

参考例句：

• It was the almost furtive restlessness and irritability that had possessed him. 那是一种一直纠缠着他的隐秘的不安和烦恼。
• All organisms have irritability while alive. 所有生物体活着时都有应激性。

18 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。