汉译英：最珍贵的废书.doc

最珍贵的废书袁国良一天, 收拾屋子, 找出两本布满尘土的小学课本。女友说还不扔了?我抚摸着书半晌没说话。书是我上高中时妈妈为我买的。妈妈是个一字不识的苗家妇女。家乡有种风俗, 一个女人在去世时, 口里必须含银(或金) 才能入土为安。所以在贫因人家, 攒钱置办一件小小的银饰便成了家庭生活的重要内容。那一年, 妈妈起早摸黑喂了两头猪,终于置办了一对银手镯。在临近高考的那段日子,妈妈时常进城给我送些吃的。她知道我复****忙, 每次都是匆匆来匆匆去。有一天, 妈妈去了不久却又回来,拉我到僻静处:“孩子,我替你买了两本考大学的书。”“什么!”我心里格登一下。常听人说学校外面时常有人用假书、假资料骗那些来自山区一字不识的家长。“人家说,只要用这书,考大学包中。”“哪来的钱? ”“镯子换的。”我抢过书,撕去包装,一阵巨大的绝望顿时袭上心头:两本小学课本竟然就骗走了妈妈的镯子! “孩子,行吧? ”望着满怀期望的母亲,我强压下泪水和屈辱,“行,妈, 行的!”后来我考上了大学, 妈妈高兴极了, 说是两个镯子花得值。她甚至想找卖给她书的人道谢! “你妈后来知道真相了吗? ”女友问。“没有,我永远都不会让她知道。” The “ Useless ” Books I Treasure Most Yuan Guoliang One day I was cleaning up my place and found two dust-covered elementary school books. “ Why not discard them? ” said my girlfriend. I held the books tightly in my hands, didn ’t respond for a while. Mom bought these books for me when I was in high school. She was an ordinary woman of the Miao minority who didn ’t know how to read and write. In my home village, when a woman passed away, the custom was to put a piece of silver or gold in her mouth to secure peace in the world beyond. Therefore, to families of extreme poverty, it had e a very big deal in life to save enough money for a small piece of silver jewelry. One year, mom worked from dawn to dusk raising two pigs, which were sold to finally buy her a pair of silver bracelets. As the date of my college entrance exam approached, mom often came in town to bring me food and treats. She knew that I was pressed for time to study; therefore, she ’d rush in and out each time. One day however, mom returned shortly after she had left. She took me toa quiet place and said, “ Son, I bought you two books to prepare for the college exam. ”“ What! ” my heart sank at her words. I often heard that outside of our school, fake books and printed handouts were sold to illiterate parents from the mountainous areas. “ The guy said that if you use these books, you ’ ll have no trouble getting in college. ”“ Where ’d you get the money? ”“I sold the bracelets. ”I grabbed the books and tore aw