Lesson 46 Do it yourself
So great is our passion for doing things for ourselves, that we are becoming increasingly less dependent on specialized labour. No one can plead ignorance of a subject any longer, for they are countless do-it-yourself publications. Armed with the right tools and materials, newlyweds gaily embark on the task of decorating their own homes. Men of all ages spend hours of their leisure time installing their own fireplaces, laying out their own gardens; building garages and making furniture. Some really keen enthusiasts go so far as to build their own recorder player and radio transmitters. Shops cater for the do-it-yourself craze not only by running special advisory services for novices, but by offering consumers bits and pieces which they can assemble at home. Such things provide an excellent outlet for pent up creative energy, but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen.
Wives tend to believe that their hu*****ands are infinitely resourceful and can fix anything. Even hu*****ands who can hardly drive a nail in straight are supposed to be born electricians, carpenters, plumbers and mechanics. When lights fuse, furniture gets rickety, pipes get clogged, or vacuum cleaners fail to operate, wives automatically assume that their hu*****ands will somehow put things right. The worst thing about the do-it-yourself game is that sometimes even men live under the delusion that they can do anything, even when they have repeatedly been proved wrong. It is a question of pride as much as anything else.
Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower. It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it. I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself. One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it. As far as I could see, it needed only a minor adjustment: a turn of a screw here, a little tightening up there, a drop of oil and it would be as good as new. Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple. The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it. The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawn mower. But I was extremely pleased with myself. I had traced the cause of the trouble. One of links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped. After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again. I was not surprised to find that the machine still refused to work after I had reassembled it, for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seem to fit anywhere. I gave up in despair. The weeks passed and the grass grew. When my wife nagged me to do something about it, I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow. Needless to say our house is now surrounded by a jungle. Buried somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawn mower which I have promised to repair one day.
New words and expressions 生詞和短語
plead
v. 找（借口），辯解
ignorance
n. 無知，不懂
publication
n. 出版物
newlyweds
n. 新婚夫婦
gaily
adv. 愉快地，高興地
leisure
n. 空閑
keen
adj. 熱心的，渴望的
advisory
adj. 谘詢的
novice
n. 新手
consumer
n. 消費者，顧客
assemble
v. 裝配，組裝
outlet
n. 出路
creative
adj. 創造性的
handyman
n. 手巧的人，能工巧匠
resourceful
adj. 足智多謀的
fuse
v. 由於燒斷保險絲而短路
rickety
adj. 要散架的，晃動的
clog
v. 堵塞
delusion
n. 錯覺
lawn mower
割草機
adjustment
n. 調整
screw
n. 螺絲釘
dismantle
v. 拆卸
chunk
n. （厚）塊
snap
v. 繃斷
insurmountable
adj. 不能克服的，難以對付的
jigsaw
n. 線鋸
nag
v. 嘮叨不休
rust
v. 生鏽
參考譯文
現在我們自己動手做事的熱情很高，結果對於專業工人的依賴越來越少了。由於出版了不計其數的教人自己動手做事的書報雜誌，沒有人再能說對某事一無所知。新婚夫婦找來合適的工具和材料，喜氣洋洋地開始布置新房。特別是男人，常利用空閑時間安裝壁爐、布置花園、建造車庫、製作家具。有些熱衷於自己動手的人甚至自己組裝電腦。為了滿足自己動手熱的需要，商店不僅為初學者提供專門的谘詢服務，而且為顧客準備了各種零件，供他們買回家去安裝。這些東西為人們潛在的創造力提供了一個絕妙的用武之地。但不幸的是，我們並非人人都是能工巧匠。
妻子常常認為她們的丈夫無比聰明能幹。甚至那些連一枚釘子都釘不直的男人都被認為是天生的電工、木匠、水管工和機械師。每當電燈保險絲燒斷、家具榫頭鬆動、管道堵塞、吸塵器不動時，有些妻子認為丈夫總有辦法。自己動手的例子中最糟糕的是，有時甚至是男人盡管接連失敗卻還誤以為自己什麽都行，原因就是要麵子。
今年春天，妻子讓我請人檢查一下我家的割草機。那台割草機去年夏天就壞了，盡管我答應修，但一直沒抽出時間，我不願聽妻子的建議，說我自己會修。一個星期六的下午，我把割草機拉到了花園裏，仔細檢查了一番。在我看來，隻需稍加調整即可。這兒緊緊螺絲，那兒固定一下，再加幾滴油，就會像新的一樣了。事實上，修理工作遠不是那麽簡單。修完後割草機還是紋絲不動。於是，我決定把它拆開。一會兒工夫，割草機便被拆成一個個金屬零件，亂七八糟地堆在花園裏。但我卻非常高興，因為我找到了毛病所在。驅動輪子的鏈條斷了一節。我買來一根新鏈條後，麵臨的就是如何把這些令人眼花繚亂的拚板重新組裝起來。等我裝完後，那台割草機仍然一動不動，對此我倒並不感到吃驚。原因很簡單，因為還剩下幾個形狀奇特的零件似乎哪裏也裝不上去。我無可奈何，隻好罷休。幾個星期過去了，草長了起來。妻子喋喋不休讓我想點辦法。我告訴她，要麽買一台新割草機，要麽讓草長下去。不用說，我家現在已被叢林包圍。深草叢中的某個地方有一台正在生鏽的割草機，那就是我曾答應某日要修理的割草機。
請閱讀更多我的博客文章>>>
選擇“Disable on www.wenxuecity.com”
選擇“don't run on pages on this domain”
