Golden memories

1 I can still vaguely recall the men who built the walls, and raised the roof, even though it was many families ago. The master from the manor house over the way needed a lodge for his groundsman, and found a clearing in the huge orchard which ran up and down the hills. He sent workmen to haul the golden stone from the local quarry and they spent three months constructing two cottages in the park.

2 I only see my neighbour side-on. I've never seen him from the front, but I do know that strangely, although we're identical, we're the exact opposite of each other, with my front door facing east and my neighbour's facing west, my bedroom in the back over his kitchen, my kitchen under his bedroom in the front. I think I'm the lucky one because each morning, my stone gleams in the sunlight.

3 The groundsman tended the orchards and the gardens around the manor house, so the trees in autumn were always bowed down with apples and pears, and as the days grew shorter the land around was teeming with helpers picking the fruit and rounding up the windfalls to take to the manor house, or to market in town down the way.

4 Apart from the autumn, it was quiet here, and the groundsman seemed forlorn until one day, he brought a young woman home. I was soon filled with the sounds of conversation and laughter, and the smell of cooking. While the groundsman was at work on the estate, the woman tended the garden around me, planting roses, daffodils and tulips, summer plants and chrysanthemums. There was a riot of colours, from blossom tinged with pink in early spring to the dark golden colours of late autumn. It felt good to look after the happy couple.

5 Soon there were children to look after too, first a girl, who gurgled happily and slept deeply, and then a boy with powerful lungs, who kept us all awake. But both were content and well-behaved. They played quietly together inside or in the garden, and gradually grew older and taller. One of my happiest memories is of one warm summer's day. High up in the topmost bough of one of the apple trees rested the boy, reading his favourite book.

6 My windows are my eyes, and they look onto woodland and fields, with distant, low hills nestling the whole scene in their arms. In the distance is a city of spires, silent except on days when the bells peal. On these days, the groundsman and his family used to dress smartly and leave the house for several hours.

7 The children grew up, and the daughter disappeared, only to return with a young man on her arm. Then the son went missing, and one day, I saw the postman arrive with a bundle of letters, and give the groundsman and his wife a telegram. When they read it, she cried out and fainted. For some time after this, they sat on my porch clasping each other in a tight embrace and weeping.

8 As the years passed by, the couple grew older, and suddenly the house was deserted. We had grown up together, but I didn't have a chance to say goodbye.

9 A new family arrived, a smart man and wife, with two children. He vanished every morning carrying his briefcase, only to return home at night. The children disappeared too during the day, but would later bring their friends back to play in the garden, climbing trees and kicking footballs. Around this time, the view from my windows began to change. My neighbour and I were no longer the only homes around, because opposite there were new terraced and semi-detached houses being built. They were made of bricks and looked taller and thinner than we were. I thought they looked rather coarse against my handsome stone. And many more people came to live around here as well, the streets became quite congested with people teeming up and down on their way somewhere. It seemed as if no one spent much time at home any more.

10 As the years passed, there were new families who came to stay. Two middle-aged women spent several years here, and I liked them because of the care they showed to my rooms and my garden. Everything was spick and span; it was as if they had furnished the house in the same style as when I was first built. They also installed electricity – I hadn't realized how bright the lights could be or how gloomy my rooms must have appeared. But then they concluded that the outside bathroom was no longer suitable for their needs, and I had to abandon one of the bedrooms so they could fit a bathtub and lavatory indoors. The old well by the front gate was transformed so that water was piped underground directly into the house. And gradually they installed all sorts of appliances, such as a cooker and washing machine. But we were all warm and clean, and although it was different, it wasn't unpleasant.

11 Soon more houses were built and more people came. I got used to the horse-drawn deliveries made by the milkman, or the rag-and-bone man calling from his cart for old cloth and metal things we no longer needed. But then horseless carriages started to pass the front of the house. At first it was no more than whirring and clanking going past every hour or so, but over the years, the road became jammed with traffic, and soon there were lines of buses and cars waiting at the crossroads.

12 At home I had another family to look after. At different times in the morning, both the man and the woman left me and walked down the hill or waited for the bus. When their children came home, they let themselves in with their key, and watched television for hours until the parents returned. They had a pet dog who sat outside all day, barking and howling, or digging up my garden, which I have to admit I resented.

13 I liked the last person who lived with me. Joseph worked at home assembling furniture, so I saw him all day, and we kept each other company. He wasn't a young man, and had difficulty moving around, taking small steps, using his hands to steady himself, sometimes stopping to catch his breath.

14 Of course, I'm not the home I used to be either. My floorboards creak, and ghosts moan throughout the night. There are traces of everyone who has lived with me, scuff marks on the walls, carved initials on the banisters, doors which don't close properly. They are my golden memories, of course, but in fact, I look and feel my age.

15 Joseph hasn't been here for a while, and there's a deathly hush. The garden is full of decaying apples and dead leaves. No one has collected them this year. The front gate has fallen off its hinges, and someone has sprayed some words on the stonework at the side of the house. I'm afraid to admit that there's even dirt and mould inside the house. Even the neighbourhood isn't what it used to be, full of loud music and shouting late at nights, and frankly, the traffic is impossible to live with.

16 Suddenly today, there is some excitement outside. At the front of the house, a lorry stops and a gang of workmen get out, all carrying bags and other devices. Perhaps they're coming to live with me. But around the corner, I can hear a very loud screeching sound coming closer, and actually, it's quite frightening. Round the bend comes a large crane with a kind of ball and chain. I do hope it will go away.

X

美好的回憶

1 雖然這個(gè)房子已經(jīng)換了許多戶人家了，但我還依稀記得那些筑墻、蓋屋頂?shù)墓と恕?當(dāng)時(shí)馬路對(duì)過(guò)那座莊園大宅的主人需要建一個(gè)小屋給他的園丁住。他在這片連綿不斷的巨大的丘陵果園中找到了一片空地，并派工人到本地的采石場(chǎng)運(yùn)來(lái)金黃色的石頭。工人們花了三個(gè)月的時(shí)間在園子里建起了這兩座農(nóng)家小屋。

2 我只從側(cè)面看到過(guò)我旁邊的那座房子，我從來(lái)沒(méi)有見(jiàn)過(guò)它的正面。但是我知道，盡管我們?cè)诮Y(jié)構(gòu)和外觀上是一模一樣的，我們的朝向正好相反，這真是不可思議。我的前門朝東，隔壁房子的前門是朝西的。我的臥室在房子的后部，在隔壁那所房子里，這個(gè)位置的樓下是廚房。我的廚房在房子的前部，在隔壁的那個(gè)房子里，這個(gè)位置的樓上是臥室。 我覺(jué)得我比我的鄰居幸運(yùn)，因?yàn)槊刻煸缟希疫@邊的石頭會(huì)享受到陽(yáng)光的照耀。

3 園丁精心地照料莊園周圍的果園和花園，所以到了秋天，樹(shù)上總是果實(shí)累累，結(jié)滿了蘋果和梨。當(dāng)白天越來(lái)越短的時(shí)候，四周的土地上全是一片忙碌的景象，幫工們采摘水果，并把地上被風(fēng)吹落的水果集中起來(lái)，然后送到莊園或是沿著那條路運(yùn)到鎮(zhèn)上的市場(chǎng)去賣。

4 除了秋天，其他時(shí)候這里非常安靜。園丁好像很孤獨(dú)，直到后來(lái)有一天，他帶了一名年輕女子回家。 房子里很快充滿了歡聲笑語(yǔ)和飯菜的香味。 園丁在莊園干活的時(shí)候，他的妻子會(huì)照看我周圍的花園，種玫瑰、水仙和郁金香，還有夏季植物和菊花。 從早春淡粉色的鮮花到深秋的深黃色的葉子，花園里真是五彩繽紛。 能照看這樣一對(duì)幸福的夫婦，我感覺(jué)很不錯(cuò)。

5 沒(méi)過(guò)多久，又有孩子要照看了。頭一個(gè)孩子是女孩，她常常高興得咯咯笑，睡得也很沉。后來(lái)又添了一個(gè)男孩，他哭起來(lái)嗓門很大，讓我們大家晚上都睡不好覺(jué)。 但是他們都很快樂(lè)，也很聽(tīng)話。 他們會(huì)靜靜地在屋里或花園里一起玩耍。漸漸地，他們長(zhǎng)大了，也長(zhǎng)高了。 最讓我感到愉快的記憶是：在一個(gè)溫暖的夏日，我看到男孩高高地坐在一棵蘋果樹(shù)的枝干上，讀著他最喜愛(ài)的那本書。

6 我的窗戶是我的眼睛，能看到綠樹(shù)和田野。窗外的風(fēng)景被低矮的丘陵圍繞著，仿佛一切都棲息在它的懷抱里。遠(yuǎn)處是尖塔林立的城市，平日里靜悄悄的，只有在特定的日子里，鐘聲響起的時(shí)候才會(huì)打破這種平靜。 在那些特定日子里，園丁和他的家人會(huì)穿上漂亮的衣服外出，幾個(gè)小時(shí)之后才回來(lái)。

7 孩子們漸漸長(zhǎng)大了。先是女兒不見(jiàn)了，回來(lái)的時(shí)候挽著一個(gè)年輕人。 兒子也離開(kāi)了家。有一天，我看到郵遞員拿著一摞信來(lái)到門口，遞給園丁和他的妻子一封電報(bào)。 他們讀完電報(bào)，妻子大叫一聲，暈倒在地。 在這之后的一段日子里，他們常常坐在我的門廊下相擁而泣。

8 過(guò)了一年又一年，園丁夫婦的年紀(jì)越來(lái)越大了，突然有一天這房子人去樓空。 我們是從小一起生活的，可是我連跟他們說(shuō)再見(jiàn)的機(jī)會(huì)都沒(méi)有。

9 一戶新的人家住了進(jìn)來(lái)，是一個(gè)帥氣的男人和他的妻子，還有兩個(gè)孩子。 他每天一大早就拎著公文包出去上班，晚上才回來(lái)。 孩子們白天上學(xué)，放學(xué)后經(jīng)常帶朋友回家到花園里玩、爬樹(shù)、踢足球。 差不多就在這個(gè)時(shí)候，我窗外的景象開(kāi)始發(fā)生變化了，這兒不再只有我和我旁邊的房子了，對(duì)面有人在蓋一排半獨(dú)立式的新房子。 新房子是磚砌的，比我們高、比我們窄。 我覺(jué)得和我的漂亮石頭相比，它們看起來(lái)比較粗糙。 越來(lái)越多的人來(lái)這附近居住，街道上人們熙來(lái)攘往，似乎沒(méi)有人會(huì)在家里呆上太長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間。

10 年復(fù)一年，又有新的家庭住進(jìn)來(lái)。 兩個(gè)中年婦女在我這兒住了幾年，我很喜歡她們，因?yàn)樗齻兙恼樟衔业姆块g和花園。 處處干凈整潔，她們把房間布置得如同我當(dāng)初剛建成的時(shí)候的樣子。 她們還給房間通了電——我以前不知道電燈有這么亮，也沒(méi)意識(shí)到我的房間以前是多么昏暗。 后來(lái)，她們覺(jué)得外面的洗手間不能滿足她們的需要了，我就只好放棄一個(gè)臥室，這樣她們就可以在室內(nèi)裝一個(gè)浴缸和馬桶。 前門邊的那個(gè)老井也被改造了，改造后水就可以通過(guò)地下管道直接通進(jìn)屋內(nèi)。 她們又逐漸安裝了各種各樣的電器，比如爐具和洗衣機(jī)。 我們都很暖和、干凈。雖然房子和以前不太一樣了，但是總體感覺(jué)還是不錯(cuò)的。

11 不久，周圍建起了更多的房子，越來(lái)越多的人住了進(jìn)來(lái)。 送牛奶的駕著馬車來(lái)送奶，收破爛的坐在車上喊話，問(wèn)我們有沒(méi)有不要的舊衣服和金屬?gòu)U品，對(duì)這些我已經(jīng)習(xí)以為常了。 不過(guò)后來(lái)，一種不需要馬拉的車開(kāi)始從門前開(kāi)過(guò)。 一開(kāi)始差不多是每隔一個(gè)小時(shí)有一輛車叮叮當(dāng)當(dāng)?shù)貜拈T前經(jīng)過(guò)。但是過(guò)了幾年，馬路上變得越來(lái)越熱鬧，很快十字路口前就排了一隊(duì)隊(duì)等待綠燈的公共汽車和小汽車。

12 在家里，我又開(kāi)始照看另一個(gè)家庭。 這家的男主人和女主人早上分別在不同的時(shí)間離開(kāi)家，步行下山或去等公共汽車。 他們的孩子放學(xué)回來(lái)之后，自己用鑰匙開(kāi)門進(jìn)屋，然后看上幾個(gè)小時(shí)的電視，直到他們的父母回來(lái)。 他們養(yǎng)了一只寵物狗，它整天坐在外面，時(shí)不時(shí)地狂吠、嚎叫，還在我的花園里刨坑挖土，說(shuō)實(shí)話，我很討厭它這么干。

13 我喜歡住在我這兒的最后一個(gè)人，約瑟夫。他在家里干活，組裝家具。所以我整天都能看到他，我們相依為伴。 他已經(jīng)上了年紀(jì)，腿腳不太靈便，走路非常慢，要用雙手扶著桌椅什么的才不會(huì)摔倒，有時(shí)候還要停下來(lái)喘口氣。

14 當(dāng)然，我也不是以前那個(gè)樣子了。 我的地板開(kāi)始嘎吱作響，整個(gè)晚上屋子里都會(huì)有奇怪的聲音，好像鬧鬼一樣。 每一個(gè)在我這里住過(guò)的人都留下了痕跡：墻上的記號(hào)，刻在樓梯扶欄上的姓名的首字母，關(guān)不緊的門。 當(dāng)然，這些都是我美好的回憶，但是我看上去已經(jīng)有點(diǎn)破敗了，我自己也感覺(jué)到了。

15 約瑟夫已經(jīng)有一陣子沒(méi)在這兒住了，屋子里靜悄悄的。 花園里到處是腐爛的蘋果和枯葉。 今年沒(méi)有人來(lái)摘蘋果、清理樹(shù)葉。 前門已經(jīng)從鉸鏈上脫落了，有人在房子側(cè)面的石墻上噴涂了幾個(gè)字。 雖然我很不情愿，但我不得不承認(rèn)房子里面甚至積滿了污垢，有的地方都長(zhǎng)霉了。 甚至附近的街區(qū)也已經(jīng)和以前完全不一樣了，一到晚上到處是嘈雜的音樂(lè)和喊叫聲。說(shuō)實(shí)話，街上喧鬧的車流已經(jīng)讓人無(wú)法忍受了。

16 今天，外面突然出現(xiàn)一陣騷動(dòng)。 一輛卡車在房子前面停了下來(lái)，從車上下來(lái)一群工人，每人都拿著口袋和其他器械。 也許他們是來(lái)和我一起住的。 但是從拐角傳來(lái)一陣巨大的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)的轟鳴聲，聲音離我越來(lái)越近。實(shí)際上，這聲音聽(tīng)起來(lái)挺嚇人的。 一個(gè)裝了鐵球和鐵鏈一類的東西的起重機(jī)從路的拐彎處開(kāi)了過(guò)來(lái)。 我真希望這個(gè)東西不要靠近我。

No place like home?

1 Are we the restless adventurers of our imagination, like the explorers and inventors of the past, forever searching for new places to discover or for bridges to build, relentless in our desire to travel? Or are we – deep down – rather more home-loving people, who are prone to homesickness when we're away for too long?

2 Traditionally, it was summer camp which gave each and every one of us our first experience of homesickness. This US-wide institution of convenient childcare during the long summer vacation was idealized by the parents as being great "fun". In 19th- and 20th-century Britain the experience of homesickness began at an even earlier age, when sons of the aristocracy were torn from the family hearth and sent to boarding school at the age of seven. Even today there are stories of boys in school dormitories crying themselves to sleep for want of a mother's hug, boys who then grew up to be heartless politicians and ruthless captains of industry.

3 Nowadays, homesickness is usually first experienced when teenagers leave home and go to college. Students are even cautioned not to contact their parents too often during the first few weeks, in order to avoid provoking too much attachment.

4 So is homesickness just associated with a lack of maturity? In fact, literary references to homesickness can be found in Homer's Odyssey. The modern term was coined in the 17th century to describe the feelings of Swiss mercenaries who missed their homeland while fighting elsewhere in Europe. They were even banned from singing Swiss songs, which were considered a threat to their skills and courage. It used to be seen as a dangerous disease that people could die from.

5 During the 18th and 19th centuries, it was considered virtuous to miss your home, especially for women. During the Civil War, soldiers who showed symptoms of combat stress were diagnosed as suffering from "nostalgia", or severe homesickness. The restless move westward by our ancestors, our so-called manifest destiny, was not prompted merely by a promised land, but by a homeland which had no place for them. Immigrants still create and live in their own communities, to cope with their homesickness.

6 In the late 19th and 20th centuries, homesickness was considered to be childish and immature, and unhelpful especially for those serving in distant colonies. But in recent years, we've been more willing to talk about it. British actors in Hollywood, sportsmen on long tours abroad and soldiers serving in foreign wars have all been more open about how they suffer and deal with extreme homesickness. They reveal how favorite pieces of music or food can launch them into floods of tears. And is it a surprise that hospital patients want to go home even before they're fit to leave?

7 Business travellers too can suffer from homesickness. Ask any frequent flyer in their forties or fifties "Do you still enjoy the thrill of travel?", and they'll probably sigh and reply that the sense of separation is now too strong. The comfort of a luxury hotel room during a weekend on their own in a foreign city is infinitely less appealing than taking the children to the park or a ball game. For professional exiles, homesickness is acknowledged as part of culture shock, a stage everyone goes through sooner or later after the initial enthusiasm for one's new surroundings, and as cynicism and despondency set in. Acknowledging that one is homesick may help avoid the risk of anxiety and depression.

8 Nostalgia, now regarded as a sentimental enjoyment of the past, remains closely related to homesickness. It encourages us to indulge in casual curiosity for our childhood. We revisit the candy we used to eat as kids, Wrigley's spearmint chewing gum, and we laugh at the best jokes on the Laffy Taffy wrappers. A man's mid-life crisis is usually linked to the so far unfulfilled wish to ride a Harley from coast to coast. All-American sports – especially baseball – are still fetishized in our fevered memories; Budweiser, the pick-up truck, cheerleaders, Levi's Jeans, diners and open-air movies, even the Statue of Liberty herself – all are icons of our nostalgia for the past.

9 I spent time in Europe when I left college, working in Rome as an au pair, in Prague as an English teacher and in Paris as a lecturer in American studies. In all, I was away for ten years, and every call I made home ended in my mother's and my own tears. Coping with homesickness when you're older and wiser is just as difficult as it is for the seven-year-old British kid or the US freshman. I spent lots of money on cheap air fares across the Atlantic whenever I could afford the time or the money.

10 And where did I go back to, when I left Europe? To a post as assistant professor in a school just ten miles away from my home in Rhode Island. Sure, I bought an apartment – a converted loft in a warehouse, just like the barn on my parents' farm – decorated it, married the guy I was in love with at school and had children. But my home was still where my folks were, until they passed away.

11 Homesickness is both a painful longing to be back home, and an extremely common occurrence. It's not immature or something to be ashamed of. Maybe, just maybe, it's when your parents die that you make your own home, that you no longer have to suppress your feelings of homesickness. Can you finally indulge in your strong feelings for your own home?

X

天涯無(wú)處似家園？

1 我們是我們想象中的那種永不停歇的探險(xiǎn)者嗎？像早先的那些探險(xiǎn)家和發(fā)明家一樣，帶著難以遏制的云游四方的欲望，不停地尋找可以發(fā)現(xiàn)的新大陸，可以建造的橋梁？ 或者，在內(nèi)心深處，我們更戀家？如果離家太久，便會(huì)思鄉(xiāng)念家？

2 從傳統(tǒng)上講，是夏令營(yíng)讓我們每個(gè)人平生第一次體會(huì)到了想家的感覺(jué)。 夏令營(yíng)遍布全美，是漫長(zhǎng)暑假里方便的兒童托管所，被父母?jìng)兠阑商貏e“好玩”的地方。 而在十九、二十世紀(jì)的英國(guó)，這種想家的感受開(kāi)始得更早，貴族子弟到了七歲就被帶離溫暖的家，送到寄宿學(xué)校就讀。 到今天我們還能聽(tīng)到關(guān)于這些男孩的故事：因?yàn)闆](méi)有得到母親的擁抱，有的孩子在學(xué)校宿舍里哭著入睡，有的長(zhǎng)大成人之后就變成了冷漠的政客或殘酷無(wú)情的產(chǎn)業(yè)巨頭。

3 如今，年輕人第一次體會(huì)到思鄉(xiāng)之情通常是在他們離家上大學(xué)的時(shí)候。 學(xué)校甚至?xí)嵝褜W(xué)生在開(kāi)學(xué)初的幾周不要和父母聯(lián)系過(guò)于頻繁，以免激發(fā)過(guò)多的依戀之情。

4 那么這種思鄉(xiāng)念家的情感只是不成熟的表現(xiàn)嗎？ 事實(shí)上，文學(xué)作品中對(duì)思鄉(xiāng)的描述可以追溯到荷馬史詩(shī)《奧德賽》。 “思鄉(xiāng)”（homesickness）這個(gè)現(xiàn)代詞首創(chuàng)于十七世紀(jì)，用來(lái)描述瑞士雇傭軍在歐洲其他地方作戰(zhàn)時(shí)那種思念家鄉(xiāng)的感覺(jué)。 他們甚至被禁止吟唱瑞士歌曲，因?yàn)檫@些歌曲也被認(rèn)為會(huì)削弱他們的戰(zhàn)斗力和士氣。 在那個(gè)時(shí)候，人們把思鄉(xiāng)病看作是一種可以致死的危險(xiǎn)疾病。

5 到了十八、十九世紀(jì)，思念家鄉(xiāng)被視為美德，尤其是對(duì)女性而言。 在美國(guó)內(nèi)戰(zhàn)期間，有戰(zhàn)斗應(yīng)激癥狀的士兵會(huì)被診斷為患上了“鄉(xiāng)愁病”，即嚴(yán)重的思鄉(xiāng)病。 我們的先輩之所以源源不斷去西部開(kāi)拓，去推動(dòng)我們所謂的“命定的擴(kuò)張”，不僅僅是因?yàn)橄蛲５?，也是因?yàn)榧亦l(xiāng)沒(méi)有他們的容身之所。 現(xiàn)在的移民仍然創(chuàng)建自己的社區(qū)并居住其中，以此來(lái)排解他們的鄉(xiāng)愁。

6 在十九世紀(jì)末和二十世紀(jì)，思鄉(xiāng)病被認(rèn)為是幼稚和不成熟的表現(xiàn)。尤其是對(duì)那些在千里之外的殖民地效力的人來(lái)說(shuō)，思鄉(xiāng)之情更是有損無(wú)益。 但是近些年來(lái)，我們已經(jīng)更加愿意談?wù)撨@個(gè)話題了。 在好萊塢的英國(guó)演員、在國(guó)外長(zhǎng)期巡回比賽的運(yùn)動(dòng)員、在海外征戰(zhàn)的士兵都變得更加坦率，愿意談?wù)撍麄兪侨绾纬惺芎团沤饩薮蟮乃监l(xiāng)之苦的。 他們透露說(shuō)，最喜愛(ài)的樂(lè)曲或者最喜歡的食物能讓他們淚如泉涌。 所以住院的病人尚未康復(fù)就想回家，這有什么奇怪的呢？

7 出差旅行的人也會(huì)想家。 你去問(wèn)問(wèn)那些四、五十歲的飛機(jī)?？停骸澳銈冞€享受旅行帶來(lái)的快感嗎？”他們也許會(huì)嘆一口氣，回答說(shuō)別離的感覺(jué)現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)讓人難以忍受。 比起帶著孩子去公園或是看球賽，在外國(guó)城市豪華飯店舒適的客房里獨(dú)自過(guò)周末就不那么有吸引力了。 對(duì)那些職業(yè)異鄉(xiāng)客而言，思鄉(xiāng)之情被認(rèn)為是文化沖擊的一個(gè)組成部分，是每個(gè)旅行者遲早都要經(jīng)歷的一個(gè)階段。當(dāng)你對(duì)新環(huán)境最初的新鮮感消失之后，取而代之的是玩世不恭和沮喪。 承認(rèn)自己患上了思鄉(xiāng)病也許能幫助我們避免患上焦慮癥和抑郁癥的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

8 現(xiàn)在人們把懷舊（nostalgia）看作是一種對(duì)過(guò)去充滿感傷的懷念，但它依然與思鄉(xiāng)之情密切相關(guān)，它鼓勵(lì)我們沉溺于童年的那種隨興的好奇。 我們回想我們孩提時(shí)吃的糖果，比如說(shuō)箭牌綠薄荷口香糖；我們對(duì)著萊菲果味太妃糖包裝紙上的經(jīng)典笑話開(kāi)懷大笑。 男人遇到中年危機(jī)，通常是因?yàn)轵T著哈雷摩托車橫跨美國(guó)這樣的兒時(shí)夢(mèng)想迄今都沒(méi)有實(shí)現(xiàn)。 在我們狂熱的記憶里，我們瘋狂迷戀那些典型的美式體育項(xiàng)目，尤其是棒球。百威啤酒、皮卡、拉拉隊(duì)長(zhǎng)、李維牌牛仔褲、路邊小飯館、露天電影甚至自由女神像本身都是我們懷舊情懷中的重要標(biāo)志物。

9 大學(xué)畢業(yè)之后，我在歐洲呆了一段時(shí)間。我在羅馬當(dāng)“互裨”姑娘，在布拉格當(dāng)英語(yǔ)老師，在巴黎當(dāng)講師講授美國(guó)研究課程。 加起來(lái)我總共離家十年，每次我給家里打電話，講到最后我和我媽媽都是淚流滿面。 雖然你長(zhǎng)大了，變得更睿智，但是排解思鄉(xiāng)之情還是那么難，在這方面你一點(diǎn)都不比那些7歲的英國(guó)孩子和美國(guó)大學(xué)新生強(qiáng)。 只要有時(shí)間有錢，我就會(huì)買廉價(jià)機(jī)票，坐上飛機(jī)飛過(guò)大西洋回到美國(guó)，我在這上面花了不少錢。

10 離開(kāi)歐洲之后，我回到了什么地方呢？ 我在一個(gè)大學(xué)找到了一個(gè)助教的職位，這個(gè)學(xué)校離我在羅得島的家只有10英里。 當(dāng)然，我買了公寓，是貨倉(cāng)里一間經(jīng)過(guò)改裝的閣樓，那個(gè)貨倉(cāng)就像我父親農(nóng)場(chǎng)里的那個(gè)谷倉(cāng)。我裝修了房子，和我上學(xué)時(shí)相戀的男友結(jié)婚，生兒育女。 但是對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，在我父母離世之前，他們所在的地方才是我真正的家。

11 思鄉(xiāng)既是痛徹心扉的歸家的渴望，也是極其普通的尋常事。 它并不是一個(gè)人不成熟的表現(xiàn)，也不是什么令人羞愧的事情。 也許，只是也許，只有當(dāng)你的父母故去，你才真正建立起自己的家，你才不需要再壓抑你的思鄉(xiāng)之情。 你最終能否盡情享受你對(duì)自己家庭的強(qiáng)烈的感情呢？

A roof over your head

As a general rule, many young people in England hope at some stage to buy their own home as soon as they get their first job. But property prices are high, and although mortgages, or loans, are available, they will only amount to approximately three times a person's salary, which is not enough nowadays to buy anything but the smallest flat in the least desirable area. So rented accommodation is very common, and someone would usually expect to pay around 30 per cent of their income on rent or in repayment of their mortgage.

Because of the high costs, it's also common to share a flat or a house with friends, especially during the first few years in their first job. If there aren't enough friends, it's usual to advertise and offer to share with complete strangers. However, by the time a couple wishes to start a family, they tend to live as a small family unit.

Generally speaking, older houses are preferable to new ones, as they're said to "have character" even if they may lack some of the luxuries you would get in a modern house or flat. People typically move home several times during their lifetime, and use the increase in the value of the property to buy something more suitable to their needs, as the family grows. But in general, a family only does so on the arrival of the younger generation. It's relatively rare for a family to invite grandparents or elderly relatives to live in the same home, even when they become unwell. For a couple, the advantages of childcare within the home, available at all hours of the day, are outweighed by the disadvantages of the extra responsibility which ageing parents' health and physical mobility might bring. Broadly speaking, there are two reasons for this. Firstly, families are smaller than they used to be and life expectancy is greater, so the commitment to long-term care of elderly relatives is proportionately more substantial. Secondly, the National Health Service provides medical care for the elderly, in common with the rest of the population, free at the point of use.

For families who are unable to buy their own homes, the local council provides council housing – uncrowded, well-built homes at rents which are below the market rate. In most cases, these are houses on two floors with a garden. Under recent governments there have been opportunities for tenants to buy their council homes at a discount of up to 60 per cent of the market price.

Finally, for most people with low incomes and low savings there are housing benefits to help pay for rented accommodation. Along with pensions and medical care, appropriate housing remains one of the principal welfare responsibilities of the state in the UK.

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居有其所

在英國(guó)，一般來(lái)說(shuō)許多年輕人都希望在找到第一份工作之后能盡早自己買房子。但是房?jī)r(jià)居高不下，雖然有抵押貸款或銀行貸款，但是貸款額最高只是一個(gè)人薪水的三倍左右?，F(xiàn)在這些錢只能在最差的地段買最小的公寓。所以租房住是非常普遍的，人們通常會(huì)拿出收入的30%付房租或還抵押貸款。

由于房租太高，和朋友一起共租一個(gè)公寓或房子也是很常見(jiàn)的做法，尤其是他們剛工作的頭幾年。如果沒(méi)有足夠多的朋友合租，人們通常會(huì)登廣告，和素不認(rèn)識(shí)的人同住。但是當(dāng)一對(duì)夫婦要開(kāi)始建立家庭的時(shí)候，他們一般會(huì)以一個(gè)小家庭為單位單獨(dú)居住。

一般來(lái)說(shuō)，老房子比新房子更受歡迎，雖然老房子缺少現(xiàn)代房屋或公寓的那些豪華設(shè)施，但是人們覺(jué)得它們比較“有特點(diǎn)”。人們一生中通常會(huì)搬幾次家，隨著家庭成員越來(lái)越多，他們會(huì)賣掉房子，用增值的財(cái)產(chǎn)去買更符合他們需求的房子。通常，一個(gè)家庭只是在有了下一代之后才會(huì)這么做。相對(duì)來(lái)說(shuō)，很少有人會(huì)請(qǐng)祖父母或年長(zhǎng)的親屬來(lái)一起住，即使他們身體變得不怎么好。對(duì)一對(duì)夫妻來(lái)說(shuō)，有人在家里一天24小時(shí)照看孩子當(dāng)然好，但是與照顧身體欠佳、行動(dòng)不便的年邁的父母所擔(dān)負(fù)的額外責(zé)任相比這就顯得微不足道了。概括起來(lái)，大概有兩個(gè)原因。第一，現(xiàn)在的家庭比以前的要小，人的平均壽命也延長(zhǎng)了，所以長(zhǎng)年照顧年邁親屬的責(zé)任也相應(yīng)增加。第二，國(guó)民健康服務(wù)體系能為老年人提供醫(yī)療服務(wù)，和其他國(guó)民一樣，老年人可以免費(fèi)享受這種醫(yī)療服務(wù)。

當(dāng)?shù)卣畷?huì)統(tǒng)一建造廉租房，以低于市場(chǎng)價(jià)的租金為那些買不起房子的家庭提供寬敞、質(zhì)量可靠的住房。在大多數(shù)情況下，這些房子都是帶花園的兩層樓房。在近幾屆政府的努力下，租戶有機(jī)會(huì)以最低按市場(chǎng)價(jià)60%的優(yōu)惠價(jià)格買下市政廉租房。

最后，對(duì)于大多數(shù)低收入、沒(méi)有多少儲(chǔ)蓄的人來(lái)說(shuō)，政府提供住房補(bǔ)貼幫他們支付房屋的租金。和養(yǎng)老金、醫(yī)療保險(xiǎn)一樣，居有其所仍然是英國(guó)政府提供的主要福利政策之一。

Over recent decades in Europe, the family is one of the domains where the greatest changes have taken place. The traditional European nuclear family consisted of a married father and mother with several children, but today this is only one option among many. Declining marriage rates, an increased number of divorces, the wide acceptance of co-habitation, the legalization of same-sex marriage and dropping fertility rates have caused the size of the average household within the European Union to drop to 2.4 people. Yet family remains of the utmost importance to people. Eighty-four percent of Europeans say that family is very important, almost twice as many as those who find friends very important. Perhaps the most significant changes relate to childbearing, since these result in important demographic changes over time. Throughout Europe, having children is no longer considered a duty towards society, but rather just one of life's options. The choice to stay childless is well accepted in many countries. The driving force behind these changes appears to be individualization. Values oriented towards autonomy, privacy, self-actualization and personal happiness have become more important, and have ousted values that point at collective goals.

在歐洲，家庭是近幾十年來(lái)發(fā)生變化最大的領(lǐng)域之一。傳統(tǒng)的歐洲核心家庭由一對(duì)已婚父母和幾個(gè)孩子構(gòu)成，但現(xiàn)在這種家庭只是諸多選擇中的一個(gè)。日益下降的結(jié)婚率、離婚人數(shù)的增加、人們對(duì)同居的普遍接受、同性婚姻的合法化、日漸下降的生育率讓歐盟家庭的平均人口數(shù)下降到了2.4人。家庭對(duì)人們來(lái)說(shuō)依然是至關(guān)重要的。84%的歐洲人認(rèn)為家庭非常重要，這個(gè)數(shù)字是那些認(rèn)為朋友很重要的人數(shù)的兩倍。也許影響最為重大的一些變化和生育有關(guān)，因?yàn)殡S著時(shí)間的推移這些變化會(huì)引發(fā)人口結(jié)構(gòu)上的重要改變。在整個(gè)歐洲，人們不再把生育子女看作是對(duì)社會(huì)的責(zé)任，而是把它視為諸多生活選項(xiàng)中的一個(gè)。在很多國(guó)家，丁克的做法被廣泛接受。這些改變背后的推動(dòng)力似乎是個(gè)體化。追求獨(dú)立自主、隱私、自我實(shí)現(xiàn)和個(gè)人幸福的價(jià)值觀已經(jīng)變得越來(lái)越重要，這讓那些注重集體目標(biāo)的價(jià)值觀失去了容身之所。

目前，中國(guó)老年人口居世界第一，已經(jīng)進(jìn)入老齡化社會(huì)。而中國(guó)現(xiàn)在正處于社會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)型期，建立一個(gè)完整的社會(huì)福利體系仍需很長(zhǎng)的一段時(shí)間，因此中國(guó)的養(yǎng)老問(wèn)題較為特殊。預(yù)計(jì)在今后半個(gè)世紀(jì)，家庭養(yǎng)老仍然是中國(guó)主流的養(yǎng)老模式。孝敬父母（filial piety）一直是中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)倫理道德（ethics）的重要組成部分。在當(dāng)今這樣一個(gè)老齡化的社會(huì)中，弘揚(yáng)孝道就顯得更加重要，因?yàn)樵诠膭?lì)人們對(duì)家里的老人提供日常照顧和情感慰藉方面，孝道仍將起關(guān)鍵性的作用。

China, with the largest population of elderly people in the world, has become an ageing society. Meanwhile, China is also a country undergoing social transition. It will be a long time before a sound social welfare system can be established, which means that China is in a unique situation when it comes to care of its ageing population. It is predicted that in the next 50 years, family care for the aged will still be the dominant practice in China. Filial piety has always been a significant part of traditional Chinese ethics. In today's ageing society, it will be all the more important to promote the virtue of filial piety, as it will continue to play a crucial role in encouraging people to take good care of their elderly family members by providing daily care and emotional support.