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So part of him wanted to tell Nath that he knew: what it was like to be teased, what it was like to never fit in.[qh]
所以他有一部分想告诉纳，他知道:被人取笑是什么滋味，永远融入不了别人是什么滋味。[qh]
The other part of him wanted to shake his son, to slap him.[qh]
另一方面，他又想摇动他的儿子，打他一巴掌。[qh]
To shape him into something different.[qh]
把他塑造成不同的人[qh]
Later, when Nath was too slight for the football team, too short for the basketball team, too clumsy for the baseball team,[qh]
后来，纳长得太瘦了，不适合足球队，太矮了，不适合篮球队，太笨了，不适合棒球队，[qh]
when he seemed to prefer reading and poring over his atlas and peering through his telescope to making friends,[qh]
当他似乎更喜欢阅读、钻研地图集、通过望远镜观察而不是交朋友时，[qh]
James would think back to this day in the swimming pool,[qh]
詹姆斯会回想起今天在游泳池里，[qh]
this first disappointment in his son, this first and most painful puncture in his fatherly dreams.[qh]
这是他对儿子的第一次失望，这是他父亲的梦想第一次也是最痛苦的一次破灭。[qh]
That afternoon, though, he let Nath run up to his room and slam the door.[qh]
不过，那天下午，他让纳跑回自己的房间，砰的一声关上门。[qh]
At dinnertime, when he knocked to offer a Salisbury steak, Nath did not respond,[qh]
晚饭时，他敲了敲门，想要一份索尔兹伯里牛排，纳没有回应，[qh]
and downstairs, James allowed Lydia to nestle against him on the couch and watch The Jackie Gleason Show.[qh]
在楼下，詹姆斯让莉迪亚靠着他坐在沙发上看杰基·格林森的节目。[qh]
What could he say to comfort his son? It will get better?[qh]
他能说些什么来安慰他的儿子呢?情况会好转吗?[qh]
He could not bring himself to lie.[qh]
他不能使自己说谎。[qh]
Better just to forget the whole thing.[qh]
最好把这一切都忘掉。[qh]
When Marilyn arrived home early Sunday morning, Nath sat sullen and silent at the breakfast table,[qh]
当玛丽琳星期天一大早回到家时，纳阴沉着脸，一言不发地坐在早餐桌旁，[qh]
and James said merely, with a wave of the hand,[qh]
詹姆斯只是挥挥手说，[qh]
“Some kids teased him at the pool yesterday. He needs to learn to take a joke.”[qh]
昨天在游泳池里有些孩子取笑他。他需要学会接受笑话。”[qh]
Nath bristled and glared at his father,[qh]
纳怒视着他的父亲，[qh]
but James, cringing at the memory of all he had left out—Chink can’t find China—didn’t notice,[qh]
但是，詹姆斯对他所留下的一切——中国找不到中国——的记忆感到畏缩，他没有注意到，[qh]
and neither did his mother, who, preoccupied, set bowls and the box of cornflakes in front of them.[qh]
他的母亲也没有，她全神贯注地把碗和一盒玉米片放在他们面前。[qh]
At this last outrage, finally, Nath broke his silence. “I want a hard-boiledegg,” he insisted.[qh]
听到最后这一声怒吼，纳终于打破了沉默。“我要一份水煮蛋，”他坚持说。[qh]
Marilyn, to everyone’s surprise, burst into tears, and in the end, subdued and unprotesting, they all ate cereal anyway.[qh]
令大家吃惊的是，玛丽琳突然哭了起来，最后，他们还是克制地、毫无反抗地吃了麦片。[qh]
