正文

My parents loved each other at first sight and lived happily for 53 years. My father was romantic and humorous. The stories he told casually always added a lot of fun to our life.

我父母一见钟情，幸福地度过了53年。爸爸既浪漫又幽默。他随意的故事可以给我们的生活增添无限的乐趣。

For example, my father often talked about the first scene he talked with my mother when he returned from Japan after World War II. At that time, he was driving his brother's car through the town, when he caught a glimpse of my mother entering a furniture（家具） shop.

比如爸爸总是讲他们第一次搭讪的场景。当时二战结束，爸爸从日本回国。他开着哥哥的车经过镇上。这时，他看到了妈妈走进家具店。

He stepped on the brake, jumped out of the car, quietly slipped into the shop and stood beside my mother. At that time, my 26-year-old mother was making the shopkeeper show her a set of bedding she took a fancy to last week.

My father, just an acquaintance strolling（闲逛） by, paced to her and said, “I say, Maud, we can't sleep on the two single beds!”

父亲假装是闲逛路过的熟人，踱着走到妈妈面前说：“我说，莫德，我们不能睡在两张单人床上！”

Three months later, they got married. As a result, they really had to sleep on the double single beds until they had enough money to buy the double bed.

三个月后，他们结婚了。因此，她们还真的睡在两张单人床上，直到后来有钱，才买了一张双人床。

78岁那年，爸爸做了开胸手术。76岁的妈妈整夜在医院照顾他，每天在床前陪伴他，不离上下。

When the doctors removed the ventilation(空气流通) duct（输送管） from his throat, the first words my father said were the most romantic language I ever heard,

当医生帮爸爸把喉咙里的通气管拿走时，他说的第一句话就是我听过的最浪漫的语言：

“Maud, do you know what the doctor found when he cut my chest? He found your name was carved in my heart.”

“莫德，你知道医生给我开胸后发现了什么吗？他发现你的名字刻在我心里。”

生词

glimpse [ɡlɪmps] n.一瞥

stroll [strəʊl] v.闲逛；漫步

ventilation [ˌventɪˈleɪʃn] n.空气流通

英语中的“humour”一词来自古希腊医学。他们认为人体有四种液体来控制健康和情绪，包括血液、黄色胆液、粘液和黑色胆液。抑郁症是体内“黑色胆液”过于旺盛造成的，解决办法就是笑。1924年，林语堂将其翻译成“幽默”一词，意思是一种有意义的生活态度。