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The Man Who Wrote His Own Obituary
自撰讣告的人
Mark Waters
马克·沃特斯
Cigarettes were the death of me. I became acquainted with my killer when I was 14 and began stealing several a day from my father's pack.
我的命是香烟给断送的。我14岁时便与我的这位杀手相识，开始每天从我父亲的烟盒中偷几支烟抽。
Smoking caused some nausea at first, but persistence conquered.
刚开始抽时觉得有些恶心，可坚持下去就没事了。
I was born in Davenport, Iowa, on June 2, 1909.
1909年6月2日我生于衣阿华州的达文波特。
At 16, I moved with my family, including two sisters, to Baltimore, a city that I loved and adopted as my hometown.
16岁那年，我和两个姐妹一起，随全家搬到巴尔的摩。我喜欢这个城市，把它当作我的故乡。
It was still no problem getting cigarettes.
弄几支烟抽仍然不成问题。
I got odd jobs after school to buy them, and tried all sorts of brands, such as Melachrinos, Omars and English Ovals. I felt quite sophisticated, but I can't recall now that I enjoyed smoking them.
我放学后干些零活来挣钱买烟，试过各种各样的牌子，如麦拉克日诺斯牌，奥马尔斯牌，还有英国的椭圆牌。我觉得自己挺在行的，但现在我记不起来当初是不是喜欢抽这些烟。
In 1928, the coming depression cast its shadow. With money scarce, my father began counting his Camels, so a friend and I took to picking butts off the street. We toasted the tobacco in an oven and rolled it into rice-paper cigarettes. They were horrible.
1928年，大萧条的阴影逼近。钱少了，我父亲开始每天数着抽他的骆驼牌烟，于是我和一个朋友就开始在街上捡烟蒂。我们把烟丝放在烤箱里烤，再用卷烟纸卷好。那烟真够呛。
Jobs for youth were hard to find, so I decided to join the Navy - a mouth removed form the table, and I could send money home.
年轻人很难找到活干，于是我决定加入海军——饭桌上少一张嘴，而我又能往家里寄钱。
Now cigarettes were on problem. If you were at sea, they were 4 cents a pack. I smoked two packs a day, drawing in most of the smoke.
这样烟就不成问题了。要是你出海的话，一包才4分钱。我一天抽两包，把烟差不多都吸进肺去。
When my 20-year Navy career ended, I went to the University of North Carolina.After I graduated I got a job in San Diego.
20年的海军生涯结束后，我进了北卡罗来纳大学，毕业后在圣地亚哥找了个工作。
