今天在Adult School的Reading测验中读到一篇有趣的文章是美国著名黑人女诗人和自传作家 Maya Angelou http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou 写的一篇短文，读后令人回味无穷。有一种冲动想翻译下来以享自己（不敢以享博友，怕大家笑话俺，不过真心希望博友们能耐着性子读完，针对本人的翻译展开激烈地批评与讨论，那倒是对本博主最大的抬爱啦）

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                          A Day Away 逃亡一天

                                     Maya Angelou

   We often think that our affairs, great or small, must be tended continuously and in detail, or our world will disintegrate, and we will lose our places in the universe. That is not true, or if it is true, then our situations were so temporary that they would have collapsed anyway.

 

   我们经常会被身边或大或小的事情困扰纠缠而无以自拔，以至于认为如果此事不得已解决，我们的世界就会土崩瓦解，从而失去我们在这个宇宙中的位置。然而这一切都不会发生，即便会发生的，那也是我们在这个世界中的位置最终是要垮掉以至于消失殆尽的，因为我们在这个世界的位置本来就是暂时的。

 

   Once a year or so I give myself a day away. On the eve of my day of absence, I begin to unwrap the bonds which hold me in harness. I inform housemates, my family and close friends that I will not be reachable for twenty-four hours; then I disengage the telephone. I turn the radio dial to an all-music station, preferably one which plays the soothing golden oldies. I sit for at least an hour in a very hot tub; then I lay out my clothes in preparation for my morning escape, and knowing that nothing will disturb me, I sleep the sleep of the just.

  

   大约一年一次我会给自己放一天假。在我准备放假前一天的晚上，我就开始准备解除所有生活中的束缚与羁绊。首先我会通知我的室友、家人和亲密的朋友，告知他们我在未来24小时之内将无法联系；然后我会解除电话；最后把收音机调到音乐台，最好播放的是那种使人欣慰的老歌。我在温暖的浴缸浸泡近1个小时后，准备好第二天“逃跑”早上穿的衣服，在确认没有任何事干扰我的美梦之后，安心地上床睡觉了。

  

     On the morning I wake naturally, for I will have set no clock, nor informed my body timepiece when it should alarm. I dress in comfortable shoes and casual clothes and leave my house going no place. If I am living in a city, I wander streets, window-shop, or gaze at buildings. I enter and leave public parks, libraries, the lobbies of skyscrapers, and movie houses. I stay in no place for very long.

   

    第二天早上我自然醒来，因为我没设闹钟，也没给我的身体任何时间的暗示。我穿上舒适的衣服和鞋子，离开房间开始我漫无目的的“逃亡的一天”。如果我是生活在城市里，我会到街头闲逛，浏览美丽的橱窗，或者就凝视某幢大楼。我会进出于公园、图书馆、摩天大楼和电影院，我也可以在不知名的什么地方呆上很久。

   On the getaway day I try for amnesia. I do not want to know my name, where I live, or how many dire responsibilities rest on my shoulders. I detest encountering even the closest friend, for then I am reminded of who I am, and the circumstances of my life, which I want to forget for a while.

 

   在我“逃亡的一天”我尽量让自己失忆。我不想知道我的名字、我住在哪里或者我肩头还有多少责任没有完成。我厌恶遇到熟人甚至最亲近的朋友，因为我不想想起我自己是谁或我生活的现状，这些我想在这一天暂时忘记的东西。

    Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence.

 

   每个人都需要从自己的生命中“逃亡一天”。这一天将有意识地把我们的过去与未来分开。工作、家庭、老板还有朋友，在没有我们中的任何一个的某一天都还会正常运转。如果我们的自我意识能够允许我们承认，那么任何人和事在我们“逃亡”的时候都会永远存在，毫无问题。

  

    Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us. We need hours of aimless wandering or spaces of time sitting on park benches, observing the mysterious world of ants and the canopy of treetops.

   

    每个人都应该有这样“逃亡的一天”，这一天不会遭遇任何难题，也没有任何难题需要解决。我们每个人都需要有一天把自己从需要自己照顾的事情当中摆脱出来。我们需要这样“逃亡的一天”在街上漫无目的地闲逛、坐在公园的长椅上饶有兴趣地观察神秘的蚂蚁世界和树梢上面的天空。

   

    If we step away for a time, we are not, as many may think and some will accuse, being irresponsible, but rather we are preparing ourselves to more ably perform our duties and discharge our obligations.

    如果我们“逃亡”一段时间，可能很多人会认为甚至控告我们不负责任，然而我们的逃亡正是为了更好的履行我们的职责和义务而在做充分的准备。

    When I return home, I am always surprised to find some questions I sought to evade had been answered and some entanglements I had hoped to flee had become unraveled in my absence.
当我“逃亡一天”回到家中，我总是会惊喜地发现原来试图逃避的问题和纠缠已经在我消失的那一天迎刃而解了。

  

     A day away acts as a spring tonic. It can dispel rancor, transform indecision, and renew the spirit.

   "逃亡一天“就像一剂春天的补药，它不仅能驱散敌意、改善优柔寡断，还能充沛精力呢！

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附：Maya Angelou (生于1928年4月4日) 被认为是美国最杰出的作家和诗人之一，一直以来都是美国民权运动中的最强音。她因为其自传而更加著名了。她的自传包括我知道笼中的鸟为什么歌唱 [1969) 和上帝的孩子都需要旅游鞋(1986). 她的诗集请在我死前给我一杯冷饮获得了普利策奖提名，她还出版了无数的诗集。
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Maya Angelou的另一个名言"
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.