Books Are People,Too!

一沁供稿翻譯：范婕

你有想過書籍也有生命嗎？在書架上、在床頭、在你手上，書籍們可能正在自顧自地上演著小劇場……噓！這個秘密或許會讓閱讀變得更有趣哦！來看看書籍拯救達人巴魯什先生的故事吧！

A man was accused of failing to return more than 700 children’s books to fi ve different libraries. He was1)released from2)jail yesterday after a book3)publisher agreed to post his bond of $1,000. The publisher said, “There’s a story here. This is a man who loves books. Mr. Barush just can’t let go of them. He hasn’t stolen a single book. So what’s the crime? We plan to publish his story.”

When asked why he didn’t return the books, Mr. Barush said, “Well, how could I?They became family to me. I was afraid to return them, because I knew that kids or dogs would get hold of these books and chew them up, throw them around,4)rip the pages,5)spill soda on them and drown them in the toilet.”

He continued, “Books are people, too! They talk to you, they take care of you,and they6)enrich you with wisdom and humor and love. A book is my7)guest in my home. How could I kick it out? I8)repaired9)torn pages. I10)dusted them with a soft clean cloth. I turned their pages so they could get some fresh air. ”

“Every week I11)reorganized them on their shelves so they could meet new friends. My books were happy books. Now they’re all back in the library, on the lower shelves, on the floors, at the mercy of all those runny-nosed kids. I can hear them calling me! I need to12)rescue them. Excuse me. I have to go now.”

參考譯文

一個男子從五所不同的圖書館借走了七百多本兒童書，因未歸還而受到指控。有位圖書出版商答應幫他繳納一千美元的保釋金，該男子于昨日得以釋放。這位出版商說：“這背后有個故事值得講一講。巴魯什先生是個熱愛書籍的人，他只是舍不得送走那些書，并沒有偷過一本，所以何罪之有呢？我們計劃出版他的故事。”

當被問到為何不歸還書籍時，巴魯什先生說：“啊，我怎么能那樣做呢？它們已經成了我的家人，我不敢把它們還給圖書館了，因為我知道小孩或者狗狗抓起它們就放在嘴里咬，隨處亂扔，撕下書頁，還會把汽水灑在上面，甚至丟到廁所里。”

他接著說：“書也是人啊！它們和你說話，它們關心你，它們用智慧、幽默和愛充實你。一本書就是一位來訪的客人，我怎么能把它從家里踢出去呢？我修復損壞的書頁，用干凈柔軟的毛巾為一本本書撣去灰塵，還把它們一頁頁翻開，讓它們呼吸新鮮空氣。”

“每星期我都會調整書架上書籍的擺放位置，讓它們認識新伙伴。書們在我這里很開心。現在它們全都回到了圖書館，被放在低層的架子上，被丟在地上，被那些流鼻涕的孩子隨意擺布。我能聽見它們在呼喚我！我要救它們。不好意思，我得去了。”

詞組加油站

be accused of 被指控犯有……罪

post one’s bond 為……交保證金

let go of… 放開……

chew…up 嚼碎……

kick…out 把……逐出去

at the mercy of 受……支配，任憑……擺布

名師考點小結

1. more than意為“超過，多于”，相當于over，其后常與數詞連用。例如：

He is more than fi fty years old. 他50多歲了。

拓展：more…than…意為“……比……多”。

There are more girls than boys in our class. 在我們班，女孩比男孩多。

2. agree to意為“同意，贊同”。后常接表示“建議”或“計劃”的名詞；接動詞原形時構成動詞不定式結構。例如：

He agrees to go there. 他同意去那兒。

拓展：

(1) agree with指“意見一致”，后面常接表示“人”的主語或賓語從句，也可以接表示“意見”和“看法”的詞。

We all agree with him. 我們都同意他的意見。

(2) disagree是agree的反義詞，相當于not agree。例如：

I disagree.=I don’t agree. 我不贊成。

3. take care of是固定短語，意為“照看，照顧”，其同義短語為look after。例如：You must take care of/look after your grandma. 你必須好好照顧你的祖母。

拓展：“Take care!”意為“小心！”。例如：

Take care! There is a dog near you. 當心！你身邊有只狗。

1) release [r?'li?s] v. 釋放

2) jail [d?e?l] n. 監獄，拘留所

3) publisher ['p?bl???] n. 出版商

4) rip [r?p] v. 扯破，撕壞

5) spill [sp?l] v. 灑出，潑出

6) enrich [?n'r?t?] v. 充實，豐富

7) guest [ɡest] n. 客人，嘉賓

8) repair [r?'pe?] v. 修理

9) tear [te?] v. 撕裂

10) dust [d?st] v. 擦去灰塵

11) reorganize [r?'??ɡ?nɑ?z] v. 重新安排

12) rescue ['reskju?] v. 營救，救援