My father handed me the letter and I read the word for myself.
爸爸把信递给我,我亲眼看到了上面的落款。
That Christmas my father sent me to San Francisco to spend a few days with my brother.
那年的圣诞节爸爸把我送到旧金山让我和哥哥呆了几天。
It was a great adventure for me, because my brother was so different now—
这对我来说真是一段很棒的经历,因为哥哥现在已经很不同了
almost like my father, except that he lived in a furnished room, not in a house full of people.
长得几乎跟爸爸一样,只不过他现在住在一个有家具的房间,而不是住在一个住满了人的房子。
He wanted to know about the raft, so I told him I'd sailed it and had put it away for the winter.
他想知道关于木筏的事,我告诉他木筏已经下过水了,冬天我已经把它收了起来。
"You come down next summer and we'll sail it together, the way we'd planned," I said.
“你明年夏天回来,我们就可以一起撑木筏了,就像我们原来计划的那样,”我说。
"No," he said, "We've already sailed it together. It's all yours now."
“不,”他说,“我们已经一起航行过了,现在它是属于你的了。”
My own son is sixteen years old now, and has made me aware lately that his mother and I have been quarreling for some time.
现在我自己的儿子已经6岁了。近来,他提醒我说,我和他妈妈一段时间以来一直在争吵。
Nothing new, of course—the same general quarrel—but neither his mother nor I had ever before noticed that it annoyed him.
没什么新鲜的——都是同样普通的争吵——但是他妈妈和我都没有意识到这已经使他很苦恼。
Later on this year, or perhaps next year, I know he's going to have a talk with his younger brother, and then take off.
我知道,今年年底或者明年,他会告诉他弟弟这件事,并离家出走。
I want to be ready when that happens, so I can keep his mother from trying to stop him.
当那样的事情发生时,我想让自己有所准备。到时,我会力劝他妈妈不要试图阻止他。
He's a good boy, and I don't mind at all that he thinks I've made a mess of my life, which is one thing he is not going to do.
他是一个好孩子,我根本不介意他认为我把自己的生活搞得一团糟,他自己是不会像我这样去生活的。
Of course he isn't.
是的,他当然不会和我一样。