美满家庭谨防“长舌危机”

 　　Over the years I have learned what harm can come from gossip or just talking about other people。

　　这些年来我已了解到犯长舌或只是谈论一下别人可造成的伤害有多大。

　　In my work place, gossip is a big problem, which is heightened by a couple of women who actually feel the need to stretch and twist certain bits of information, simply for the sake of turning staff against each other。

　　在我工作的地方，犯长舌是个大问题。几个女人凑到一起切实感觉到有必要将一些信息宣扬并将其扭曲，“为的”就是让员工们互相猜忌产生矛盾，这更让长舌问题变得严重。

　　Having been on the receiving end of their back stabbing, I have become very aware of what I say and to whom. I have prayed to God for help in being straightforward¹ with people, and not say anything that might get back to someone who could be hurt by my words。

　　作为她们那些暗箭的靶子，我变得对自己说的话以及和谁说话都非常注意。我祈求过老天帮忙，让我为人直率，不说可能会传到别人耳朵里伤害他们的话。

　　One night, I was on the phone with my sister-inlaw, Dawn. I had called her to let her know our husbands would have to work very late that Saturday night due to some machinery² problems.She was carrying on about not getting anything done that day since they were due to move out of their apartment by that next Friday. I mentioned that sixteen hours at time-and-a-half pay would certainly make up for it. She was OK with that, but said it would not make much difference when they had to pay the whole next month’s rent if they were not out by the end of the week. I acknowledged her point, but figured either way; they wouldn’t really be out any expected money。

　　一天夜里，我正和我的妯娌道恩通电话。我打电话告诉她，由于一些机械故障，我们俩的老公在那个周六晚上得加班到很晚。她则继续说着她现在什么都还没收拾，反正下周五之前搬出公寓就行。我说，他们加班的16 个小时都是1.5 倍工资，这也算是补偿了。她说，那倒是不错啊，不过又说，如果他们下周末之前没能搬走的话就要付满下个月的房租，可就算那样也无所谓。我领会了她的意思，我也完全可以理解——反正他们不差这点钱。

　　The next day, while my husband, Arlo, was helping³ his brother move, my dad called hoping to also enlist⁴ Arlo’s help。

　　第二天，我丈夫阿洛帮他弟弟搬家时，我父亲打电话来也想请阿洛帮忙。

　　I have 3-way calling on our phone, so I clicked over and called my brother-in-law’s house, leaving a message on the answering machine for Arlo to call my dad when he could。

　　我家的电话是三路电话，所以我将父亲的电话待机，然后拨通了小叔子家的电话，在答录机上给阿洛留言让他有空时给父亲回个电话。

　　I clicked back over to my Dad and began telling him about the long day Arlo and his brother had put in. We inadvertently1 got on the subject of Dawn, who was not so thrilled about the time they had lost for moving. Dad agreed that for the money they made, it was worth it. Then I mentioned that SHE should have “gotten off her butt⁵ and did something herself.。”

　　我再次接通父亲的电话，开始跟他说阿洛和他弟弟这一整天是怎么辛苦干活的。我们无意间就将话题转到了道恩身上——他们搬家浪费了这么长时间但她现在仍然不紧不慢。父亲说，他们赚钱不少，应该换个地方住，他对此表示赞同。然后我说，道恩这个女人也应该“抬起懒屁股自己干点儿活儿……”

1 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

2 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

3 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。

4 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

5 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。