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的人。”
Making the journey from log cabin to White House is part of the American Dream. But when Jimmy Carter was defeated in his attempt to gain a second term as President of the United States he found himself suddenly thrown out of the White House and back in his log cabin. This is how he coped.
从小木屋走向白宫是美国梦的一部分。可是，当吉米·卡特连任美国总统的努力失败后，他发现自己一下子被赶出白宫，回到了自己的小木屋。本文叙述了他是如何应对的。
The Restoration of Jimmy Carter
Sara Pacher
1 Maybe it's because I, too, was born and raised in a small south Georgia town, but I found sitting down to talk to Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter as comfortable as lazing in a porch swing on a summer afternoon, sipping iced tea. Just such a swing overlooks a roaring mountain stream at the Carters' log cabin retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Along with the cabin's other furniture, the swing was designed and built by the former president, a master woodworker who selects and cuts the trees for such projects from his 160-acre farm. He then strips off the bark and shapes the wood into furniture and other items.
吉米·卡特的复元
莎拉·帕夏尔
或许因为我本人也生长在佐治亚州的一个南方小镇的缘故，我觉得跟罗莎琳和吉米·卡特夫妇坐下交谈就如同在夏日午后荡在门廊的秋千椅上呷冰茶那么舒服。坐落于蓝岭山脉的卡特夫妇幽居的原木小屋前，恰好就有这样的秋千椅，往下看去是一条咆哮的山间溪流。和小屋里别的家具一样，这秋千椅是前总统卡特设计和制作的。卡特是一位手艺高明的木工，为了制作这些家具，他从其方圆160英亩的农庄上亲自遴选并砍伐树木，而后剥去树皮，将木料制成家具及其他用品。
2 \something broke, we had to fix it ourselves. You didn't call somebody in to repair something or replace it with something new. We had these skills -- all farmers did during the Depression years.\ “我父亲擅长使用工具，”他回忆道，“因此学习使用工具对我们来说就像呼吸一样自然。要是有什么东西坏了，我们就得自己修。我们不会请人来修理或换新的。我们有这种手艺 —— 大萧条时期，农民都有这一手。”
3 Over the years, Carter has made some 50 household items, about half of which he has given away as gifts. But some pieces still sit around the family's Plains house and have been in use for over 30 years. His wife is quick to point out, however, that his skills improved as time went on. \back porch. He used nails then. Now he builds everything without nails. He's studied woodworking and worked at it, and he's made really beautiful furniture for our home -- including a pencil-post bed and tables by the side.\
多年来，卡特制作了约50件居家用品，差不多有一半已作为礼物馈赠他人。但有些制品仍留在普兰斯的家里，都用了30多年了。不过，他妻子赶紧指出，他的手艺在不断提高。“1953年我们刚从海军退役回家时，他做了只放在后门廊用的沙发。那时他还用钉子。现在他做什么都不用钉子了。他研究木工工艺，下功夫制作，他给家里做的家具真的非常漂亮，包括一张细柱床和配套的床头柜。”
4 His woodworking talent served Carter well during his political campaigns, particularly when meeting factory workers. \laborer. It may be a different kind of skill from theirs, but there's a bond, sort of like a brotherhood, among people who work
with their hands.\
卡特的木工才干在政治竞选中，尤其是在与工厂工人见面时发挥了很好的作用。“你不用跟在工厂干活的人多说，他们就会明白，原来你本人也是个劳动者。你的手艺或许跟他们不一样，但在干体力活的人之间有种天然的纽带，好似手足之情。”
5 Once he campaigned his way to the presidency, Carter occasionally managed to slip in a few hours at the carpenter's shed at Camp David, because, in his opinion, \that skill with one's own hands -- whether it's tilling the soil, building a house, making a piece of furniture, playing a violin or painting a painting -- is something that doesn't change with the ups and downs of life. And for me, going back to the earth or going back to the woodshop have always been opportunities to reinforce my basic skills. (2)No matter if I was involved in writing a book, conducting a political campaign, teaching at Emory University or dealing with international affairs, I could always go back -- at least for a few hours at a time -- to the woodshop. That's meant an awful lot to me. It's a kind of therapy, but it's also a steadying force in my life -- a total rest for my mind. 卡特一路竞选当上总统之后，偶尔也设法悄悄溜到戴维营的木工场干上几个小时，因为在他看来，“我们在生活中需要一些永远不变的要素。我认为手艺 —— 不管是耕地，造房子，做家具，拉小提琴，还是画图 —— 这些东西不会因生活的起起落落而改变。至于我，回到农场种地或重返木工场一直是我增进基本技能的机会。无论我在写书，从事政治活动，在爱莫瑞大学教书，还是处理国际事务，我总会设法抽空回到木工场，每次至少呆上几个小时。这对我十分重要。这是一种理疗，同时也是我生活中的一种稳定力量 —— 是身心的完全休息。”
6 \complete or the ideas that don't come. I'm thinking about the design of a piece of furniture, how the wood's going to fit together, what joint I'm going to use and whether or not my hand tools are sharp.\ “在木工场的时候，”他接着说，“我不会去想正在写的章节，不会去想写不下去的段落或搁浅的思路。我考虑的是一件家具的设计，木料该如何嵌合，用什么样的榫头，还有工具是否锋利。”
7 (3)In Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's recently published book, Everything to Gain, they explain frankly how they used back-to-basics skills to confront and resolve their painful political defeat, a sudden departure from Washington and their fears of an empty future.
在吉米和罗莎琳·卡特最近出版的书名为《好处说不尽》的书中，他们直言不讳地解释了当他们遭遇痛苦的政治上的失败，突然告别华盛顿以及对茫然的未来感到惧怕时，他们是如何使用返璞归真的技能来面对和化解这些问题的。
8 \One, to show the attraction of a small town, and, second, to make it clear that the book is not just about a couple who happened to have been the First Family of the nation; it's also written for the average person who loses a job, has an unexpected career change, has to move to a place not of his or her choice, has a last child leave home. Or for a married couple who suddenly find themselves at retirement age and living together for the first time all day long -- not just at night.\ “在书里，”吉米说，“出于几种原因，我们试图将我们的生活与普兰斯而不是跟白宫联系在一起。其一，是为了展示小镇的魅力；其二是要清楚地表明，这本书写的并不仅仅是一对有幸成为美国第一家庭的夫妇的生活，它也是写给普通人看的，例如一个失去工作的人，突然遇到职业变迁的人，并非出于自己的选择而不得不迁居的人，一个连自己最小的孩子也长大成人离家而去的人，或者是写给一对突然发现已届退休年龄、第一次得从早到晚而不仅仅是夜里厮守在一起的夫妇看的。”
9 The Carters plunged with enthusiasm into such projects as laying a sidewalk and putting a hardwood floor in their unfinished loft. Rosalynn has picked up additional carpentry skills in working with one of their favorite organizations, Habitat for Humanity. This is a housing program for the homeless, helping them to build their own houses together with the help of volunteers.
卡特夫妇热情投入了诸如铺设人行道、在尚未完工的阁楼里铺硬木地板这类工程。在与两人最喜欢的一个机
构“博爱居家”的共事过程中，罗莎琳学到了不少木工手艺。“博爱居家”是一项为无家可归的人创办的住房工程，帮助他们在志愿者的协助下建造自己的家园。
10 \go for long walks in the woods. I may see a particular tree that I think would be suitable for four or five -- perhaps, seven or eight -- chairs or for some other piece of furniture. I usually select a tree close to home, though, since I have to carry the pieces back to the woodshop area.
“我俩都在农场上花了不少时间，”卡特说，“我们护理林地。有时我们在林子里长时间散步。我或许会看到某棵我觉得适合制作四五把——也许七把、八把——椅子或别的什么家具的树。不过，我通常挑选离家近的树，因为我得自己把木料搬回到木工场地。
11 \of my favorite kinds of woodworking involves green wood, but there's a tremendous amount of hard labor involved in that. You have to try to handle the different rates at which the wood dries, so the joints get tight and durable. It's the kind of technical problem that appeals to me,\
“我最喜欢的一件木工活是用湿材制作家具，不过这活要费很大的劲。你得处理好木料干燥后引起的不同的收缩率，以保证榫头紧固不松。我喜欢的就是这样的技术难题，”这位前核工程师说。
12 Obviously, most of today's young people don't grow up routinely learning to use their hands \naturally as breathing,\
很显然，今天大多数的年轻人在成长过程中，不像卡特当年那样，在日常生活中得学会“像呼吸一样自然”地使用自己的双手。但他认为，年轻人还是拥有他们父辈所没有的优势。
13 \then, you'd start working at the age of 16 or 18 and work until you died or were physically incapable of working anymore. You began work at sunrise and worked until dark. But, nowadays, you work 40 hours a week, get a couple of weeks off for vacation and then retire at 55, 60 or 65. You have so much spare time to take on additional exciting things. Sometimes they can be quite useful things; sometimes just enjoyable; sometimes devoted to serving others. In Everything to Gain we try to present a broad range of activities an average person can undertake. We try to point out that no matter what stage of life you may be in -- young, middle-aged or retired -- there's the possibility of a constantly expanding field of interest, excitement, challenge, fulfillment and adventure. (4)In this book we encourage people to take on new things that might look very difficult, but that become very rewarding once the person is involved.\any kind,\
“过去，你16岁或18岁就开始干活，一直干到死或者再也干不动为止。太阳一出来你就开始干活，一直干到天黑。可如今，你一星期只工作40小时，还有两个星期的休息度假，然后到了55岁，60岁，或65岁，你就退休了。你有那么多的空余时间去干别的有趣的事。这些事有时可能是相当有益的，有时仅仅是好玩，有时则旨在服务他人。在《好处说不尽》一书中，我们试图展示一个普通人所能参与的广阔的活动范围。我们试图指出，无论你处于人生的哪个阶段——青年，中年，或退休之年——都有可能不断拓展兴趣的领域，找到新的刺激，迎接新的挑战，获得新的成功和尝试新的冒险。在此书中，我们鼓励人们勇于开拓新天地，看起来也许非常困难，但你一旦投入进去，就会得益匪浅。” “如果你遭遇某种危机，”罗莎琳补充说，“最好的对策之一就是学习新事物。”
This comedy centers around a proud father's attempts to help his children, attempts which somehow or other always end up embarrassing them. For the sake of fun it carries things to extremes, but nearly everyone can recognize something of themselves and their parents in it.
这出喜剧主要写一位为儿女感到自豪的父亲虽做出种种努力帮助子女，不知怎的，其结果却总是令子女尴尬不已。出于搞笑的目的，故事情节作了极度夸张，但几乎人人都能从中看到自己以及父母的影子。
Father Knows Better
Marsh Cassady
1
CHARACTERS: FATHER; MOTHER; HEIDI, 14; DIANE, 17; SEAN, 16; RESTAURANT MANAGER, 20s; MRS. HIGGINS.
SETTING: Various locations including a fast-food restaurant, the Thompson family dining room, and an office at a high school.
AT RISE: As the lights come up, HEIDI enters and crosses Down Right to the edge of the stage. SEAN and DIANE enter and cross Down Left to the edge of the stage. They listen as HEIDI addresses the audience. 老爸英明 马什·卡萨迪
人物： 父亲；母亲；海蒂，14岁；黛安，17岁；肖恩，16岁；饭店经理，20多岁；希金斯太太 场景： 快餐店，汤普森家餐厅，一所中学的办公室等
幕启： 随着灯光亮起，海蒂上，走至舞台右前方。肖恩与黛安上，走至舞台左前方。海蒂对观众说话，两人倾听。 2
HEIDI: My dad's a nice man. Nobody could possibly believe that he isn't. Yet he's...well, he's always doing these stupid things that end up really embarrassing one or more of us kids. One time, see, my brother wanted to buy this guitar. Been saving money for it for a long time. Then he got a job at this fast-food place, OK? Waiting tables. It was Sean's first actual job, and he was real happy about it. He figured in two or three months he'd have enough money to buy exactly the kind of guitar he wanted. Mom and Dad were proud of him, and well, OK, he's my big brother, and he's always pulling these dumb things on me. But, well, I was proud of him too. You know what happened? I hate to tell you because: SEAN, DIANE and HEIDI: (In unison) Father knows better!
海蒂： 我老爸是个大好人。没人会相信他不好。可是他??唉，他老是干那些蠢事，弄得我们当儿女的到头来无地自容。瞧，我哥曾一度想买把吉他。他都积攒了好一阵子钱了。后来他在这家快餐店找了份活，不错吧？当服务员。这是肖恩第一次正经打工，他真的挺开心。他算计着，再过两三个月，他就能攒够钱买他想要的那把吉他了。老爸老妈都为他感到骄傲。唔，是啊，他是大哥，老是要捉弄我。不过嘛，我也同样为他感到骄傲。你猜后来怎么了？我都不想说这事，因为： 肖恩、黛安、海蒂：（齐声）老爸英明！ 3
(The lights come Up Left on the fast-food restaurant where SEAN works. It consists of a counter and couple of small tables. The MANAGER stands behind the counter. SEAN is busily cleaning the tables when FATHER walks in. ) MANAGER: Good evening, sir. May I help you? FATHER: Good evening.
SEAN: (To himself) Oh, no! (He squats behind one of the tables trying to hide from FATHER. ) FATHER: I'm looking for the manager. MANAGER: That would be me, sir.
FATHER: I'm Sam Thompson. My son works here. MANAGER: Oh, you're Sean's father.
FATHER: Yes. It's his first job, you know. I just wanted to check that he's doing OK. MANAGER: Oh, fine. No problem.
（左后方灯光亮起，肖恩打工的快餐店。有柜台和几张小桌子。经理站在柜台后面。父亲进店时，肖恩正忙着擦桌子。）