《当幸福来敲门》翻译日课20190301

My mother still clung to the hope that she would one day obtain the necessary schooling and licensing to teach in the state of Wisconsin. Until that time, she devoted herself to doing what she had to do to take care of her four children—Ophelia, myself, Sharon, and the youngest, my baby sister Kim, who arrived in this time period. While Momma didn’t complain about her days spent cleaning rich (white) people’s houses, she didn’t talk about her work either, instead living vicariously through reports of what my teachers had taught that day or by looking with me at some of the picture storybooks that I brought home. The Red Balloon was one book that I could read over and over, sitting next to Momma and showing her the photographic illustrations of a magical city where a little boy and his red balloon went flying, exploring the rooftops. Momma’s eyes lit up with a beautiful serenity, as if she was somewhere up in the clouds, maybe dreaming of being that balloon and flying up, up, and away. I never knew that the magical city in the story was a place called Paris in a country called France. And I certainly had no idea that I would visit Paris on several occasions.

我妈妈仍然抱有希望有一天能获得她必要的教育和许可，这样她就可以在威斯康辛州当老师了。在此之前，她不得不全心全意地抚养她的四个孩子，奥菲莉亚、我、莎朗，以及我们最小的妹妹金，金是在这个时期出生的。虽然妈妈从不抱怨她为富（白）人打扫房间的辛苦，但也不愿谈论她的工作，她更喜欢听我给她讲当天老师教了什么或者和我一起看我带回来的绘本，通过这种方式来间接地体验别人的生活。《红气球》这本书，我们可以读了一遍又一遍，坐在妈妈旁边，给她看摄影插图，书里讲是在一座魔法城市，一个小男孩和他的红气球飞了起来，在屋顶上探险的故事。妈妈的眼睛闪烁着一种美丽的平和，似乎在云中漂浮，仿佛她是那只红气球，飞啊飞啊，远远地飞走了。我当时还不知道故事中那个魔法城市就是大名鼎鼎的巴黎，就在大名鼎鼎的法兰西。当然，我也不知道后来我会有很多机会参观巴黎。

vicariously adv. 代理地，担任代理者地；间接感受到地

serenity n. 平静，宁静；晴朗，风和日丽

light up 照亮；点亮

点评：

Momma didn't complain，“不抱怨”并不是“任劳任怨”，这是完全不同的意思。身为母亲，不论自己受了多大的委屈和劳累，她都不愿意向孩子们抱怨。而不是“做事不辞劳苦，不怕埋怨”。

The Red Balloon was one book that I could read over and over，说的是，作者“可以”一遍又一遍地读，强调可以，这意思是他给他妈妈读，他妈妈爱听爱看，不是“我百读不厌”，哪怕译成“我们百读不厌”，意思不算走偏。