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Winter Ice-cream Man
冬天卖冰淇淋的人
I had applied for and obtained the job on Friday, received a day's training on Saturday, and now, on Sunday, as I was about to take out an ice-cream van for the first time on m own, I was horrified to see snow starting to fall. The streets and roads were swiftly blanketed.
我是星期五去应聘并得到这份工作的，星期六接受了一天的培训，星期天，正当我要首次独自把一辆冰淇淋零售车开出去时，惊恐地发现开始下雪了。街道和公路上很快便覆盖了一层白雪。
As I left home after breakfast, I shivered inwardly as well as outwardly; I was gloomy at the thought that not for me this Sunday morning was the leisurely reading of the Sunday papers to the accompaniment of extra cups of tea. I would have given much to have been ableto call off the whole thing. But I needed the job; and I had to pay the tuition which was due the next month.
早餐后出门时，我里里外外都在瑟瑟打颤。这个星期天的早晨，我再也不能轻松悠闲地边阅读星期天的报纸边饮着一杯杯的茶了。想到这点，我就感到沮丧。我真想一股脑儿不干了，即使付出大的代价也行。可我需要这个工作，我得付下个月就要到期的学费。
Strangely enough, after the first painful day alone in the cold, snowy suburbs, I found myself doing the work quite happily in what turned out to be the coldest and snowiest weatherfor several years.
说来奇怪，在下着雪的寒冷的郊区孤单地度过了艰难的第一天后，我发现自己干得还是挺欢的，虽说碰上的是几年来最冷、雪下得最多的天气。
The first day was long and lonely. I had very few customers until the late afternoon and I began to have a strong nostalgia for my own fireside as I sat in my little box on wheels and saw the houses beginning to light up at tea-time; especially when members of various families came out for ice-cream and fled back happily in the gathering darkness to their own particular oasis of warmth and light. Then, too, I had to learn to manage my tail-heavy vehicle — the ice-cream cabinet was at the back — on the icy roads and at the same time try to remember my route and stopping places.
第一天漫长而又寂寞。直到傍晚前，只有寥寥几个顾客。到了喝下午茶的时候，看着家家户户开始亮起了灯，我坐在这小小的机动货厢里开始深深地怀念起自己家里的壁炉来；尤其是见到各家各户有人出来买了冰淇淋后，在渐渐增浓的暮色里，髙高兴兴地飞快跑回各自充满温暖和灯光的舒适的家时，我越发想家了。还有，我得学着在结着冰的路上驾驶这辆前轻后重的车——冰淇淋柜在车后部，一边还得设法记着自己的路线和各个停靠点。
