读者文摘:寻找三叶草给我带来的启示(2)

I had always thought that, being a simple genetic² anomaly, four-leaf clovers would be fairly common.

四叶草是一种简单的遗传疾病，我一直觉得它是很常见的。

I have since learned that one in 10,000 clovers has four leaves.

后来我了解到在每10000株三叶草中就有一株四叶草。

It could be the result of a recessive³ gene¹, a so-matic mutation⁴, the influence of environment, or any combination of the three.

它可能是由一个隐性基因表达、一个体细胞基因突变、受环境影响或由以上三个因素任意结合而导致的结果。

But isn’t this where science meets magic?

但是这不就是科学遇上魔法的地方吗？

Though I find clovers all the time, I’m not exceptional in this skill.

虽然我总是能发现三叶草，但是在这项技术上我并不特殊。

The Guinness World Re-cords holder⁵, Edward Martin Sr. from Cooper Landing, Alaska, had found 111,060 four-leaf clovers when he took the record in 2007.

老爱德华·马丁来自阿拉斯加的库珀兰丁，他是这方面的吉尼斯世界纪录保持者。他在2007年创该项纪录时，已发现了111060株四叶草。

It’s the finding I love, not the collect-ing. I’m happiest to give my “lucky” clovers away.

我喜欢的是结果，而不是收集的过程。把我的“幸运”四叶草赠与他人时，我是最快乐的。

I pass them on to moth-ers in parks, who show them to their wide-eyed kids.

我把它们送给公园里的母亲们，这些母亲会把它们展示给他们大眼睛的小孩子们。

I delivered one to the man at my corner store, where it hangs above the register.

我把一株四叶草寄给了街角小店的店员，就挂在收银台上方。

Friends slip them between the business cards in their wallets for safekeeping. People ask how I do it.

为了安全起见，朋友们会把它们夹在钱包里的名片之间。人们问我是怎么做到的。

Well, I love clover: the sweet smell, the common variant⁶ with its cute trio of leaves.

我喜欢三叶草：它们有甜美的气味，常见的三叶草变种，可爱的三片叶子。

I look at it more than most people do. I expect that’s the first reason I find so many.

我看它的时间比大多数人都多。我觉得这就是我能发现这么多四叶草的首要原因吧。

I have a habit of dragging my fingers or toes across a patch, mo-mentarily separating the individuals, which brings irregularities into fo-cus.

我有一个习惯，就是在一片土地上划动我的手指或脚趾，随时的分开长在一起的草丛，这就让不规则的植株成为焦点。

That’s part of finding them: not a hardening of focus, but a softening⁷. The other reason is artful.

这就是找到它们的一部分：不是加强专注，而是柔化。另外一方面是艺术的原因。

Do you re-member those posters from the 1980s made up of thick dots? If you looked too hard, all you’d see was the pattern.

你记得20世纪80年代的由密集的点构成的海报吗？如果你很仔细地看，你看到的只是一种形式。

But if you let your eyes slip out of focus, scenes would appear: dinosaurs⁸, land-scapes, butterflies—a trick of the eye.

但是如果你的眼睛没有聚焦，画面就会出现：恐龙，风景和蝴蝶—这是眼睛的把戏。

It’s the same with four-leaf clovers. If you try too hard, you will only ever see the patch.

寻找四叶草也是一个道理。如果你太专注的话，你只会看到那片土地。

Instead, slip into a lazy, soft-focus, summer state of mind. Drift your hand across a thick patch, letting the clovers reveal themselves.

相反，你应该进入一种懒散、注意力不集中的夏季心态。将你的手划过一片厚厚的草丛地，让三叶草露出来。

Appreciate the ones that have only three leaves. Common things are beautiful too.

欣赏那些只有三片叶子的三叶草。常见的事物也是美丽的。

And a four-leaf clover may show itself to you. Just like that.

而四叶草或许就会出现在你面前，就像那样。

That day in third grade, I dived into the clover patch, skimming the sur-face with my hands, softening my eyes to look for irregularities.

三年级的那一天，我潜入了三叶草丛里，用我的手掠过表面，使我的眼睛变得柔和，来寻找不规则的植株。

It took only moments for a four-leaf clover to fall into my fingers. Just like that.

只消片刻，一颗四叶草就落到了我的手里。就像那样。

Whatever little toy I won that day, my real prize was the gateway⁹ that the simple act of looking for clovers opened for me into a lifetime of joy de-rived from looking closely.

不管那天我赢得了什么玩具，我真正的奖项是这个简单的寻找三叶草的行为为我打开了一扇门，让我通向由近距离欣赏事物获得的快乐的一生。

The magic of nature coming up as it pleases.

大自然的魔力随之而来。

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 recessive   

adj.退行的，逆行的，后退的，隐性的

参考例句：

• Blue eyes are recessive and brown eyes are dominant.蓝眼睛是隐性的；而褐色眼睛是显性的。
• Sickle-cell anaemia is passed on through a recessive gene.镰状细胞贫血通过隐性基因遗传给后代。

4 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

5 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

6 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

7 softening   

变软，软化

参考例句：

• Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的，已经成了个软心肠的人了。

8 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。