2020年8月福建自考《英语二》课文翻译：蛋糕

​The Cake

Cindy glanced nervously at the clock on the kitchen wall. Five minutes before midnight.

蛋糕

辛迪紧张地瞥了一眼挂在厨房墙壁上的时钟，还有5分钟就到午夜了。

"They should be home any time now," she thought as she put the finishing touches on the chocolate cake she was frosting. It was the first time in her 12 years she had tried to make a cake from scratch, and to be honest, it wasn't exactly an aesthetic triumph. The cake was…well, lumpy. And the frosting was bitter, as if she had run out of sugar or something, which, of course, she had.

“现在，他们随时都会回来。”她一边想着，一边在巧克力蛋糕上抹上最后一些糖霜。这是她从小到大12年来第一次尝试制作蛋糕，完全是从头学起。不过说实话，蛋糕至少从审美角度说不算成功。这块蛋糕……嗯，看起来凹凸不平。糖霜是苦的，好像她把糖或者别的什么东西都用光了。当然，糖的确是用光了。

And then there was the way the kitchen looked. Imagine a huge blender filled with all the fixings for chocolate cake — including the requisite bowls, pans and utensils. Now imagine that the blender is turned on. High speed. With the lid off. Do you get the idea?

再看看她把厨房搞成什么样了。想象一个巨大的搅拌机，里面盛着制作蛋糕的全部原料——包括必备的锅、碗及其他器皿。再想象一下这个搅拌机开动了，高速运转，盖子是打开着的。你能想象出这是什么样的场景吗?

But Cindy wasn't thinking about the mess. She had created something, a veritable phoenix of flour and sugar rising out of the kitchen clutter. She was anxious for her parents to return home from their date so she could present her anniversary gift to them. She turned off the kitchen lights and waited excitedly in the darkness. When at last she saw the flash of the car headlights, she positioned herself in the kitchen doorway. By the time she heard the key sliding into the front door, she was THIS CLOSE to exploding.

但辛迪没有考虑这些混乱。她创造了某件东西，一只用面粉和糖做成的十足的凤凰正从厨房的一片狼藉中升起。她焦急地等待着父母约会后回来，以便她能将自己的周年纪念礼物送给他们。她关掉厨房的灯，在黑暗中兴奋地等待着。终于，她看见汽车头灯在闪烁，她在厨房门口站定。当她听到钥匙插进前门锁孔的声音时，她的心激动得几乎要蹦出来了!

Her parents tried to slip in quietly, but Cindy would have none of that(不接受). She flipped on the lights dramatically and trumpeted: “Ta-daaa!" She gestured grandly toward the kitchen table, where a slightly off-balance two-layer chocolate cake awaited their inspection.

父母尽量放轻脚步，悄悄地走进门来，但辛迪可不管那些。她激动地用手指按下电灯开关，大声叫道：“看!”她庄严地向厨房的餐桌打了个手势，一个稍微有点不平衡的双层蛋糕正在等待着他们的检阅。

But her mother's eyes never made it all the way to the table. "Just look at this mess!" she moaned. "How many times have I talked to you about cleaning up after yourself?"

但是母亲的眼睛压根儿就没有向餐桌那边看去。“看看你搞得什么啊!”母亲埋怨道，“我给你说了多少次吃完饭要随手收拾干净?”

"But Mom, I was only… "

"I should make you clean this up right now, but I'm too tired to stay up with you to make sure you get it done right," her mother said. "So you'll do it first thing in the morning."

"Honey," Cindy's father interjected gently, "take a look at the table."

“可是妈妈，我只是……”

“我现在就想让你立刻收拾干净，但是今天太累了，没法熬夜监督你干活，”母亲说，“你明早起床第一件事就是收拾厨房。”

“亲爱的”，辛迪的父亲小声提醒道，“看看餐桌。”

"I know — it's a mess," his wife said coldly. "The whole kitchen is a disaster. I can't stand to look at it." She stormed up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

“我知道——餐桌上一团糟”，母亲冷冷地说，“整个厨房简直就是一场灾难。我实在是看不下去。”她气冲冲地上了楼梯，进了房间，砰的一声把门关上。

For a few moments Cindy and her father stood silently, neither one knowing what to say(独立主格结构). At last she looked up at him, her eyes moist and red. "She never saw the cake," she said.

辛迪和父亲静立片刻，两人都不知该说什么。最后辛迪抬头看着父亲，发红的眼睛里含着泪水。“她根本没看到蛋糕”，她说。

Unfortunately, Cindy's mother isn't the only parent who suffers from Situational Timbercular Glaucoma(青光眼)— the occasional inability to see the forest for the trees. From time to time we all allow ourselves to be blinded to issues of long-term significance by stuff that seems awfully important right now, but isn't. Muddy shoes, lost lunch money and messy kitchens are troublesome, and they deserve their place among life's frustrations. But what's a little mud — even on new carpet — compared to a child's self-esteem? Is a lost dollar more valuable than a youngster's emerging dignity? And while kitchen sanitation is important, is it worth the sacrifice of tender feelings and relationships?

不幸的是，辛迪的母亲不是唯一一个这样的父母，他们患有情景性森林青光眼——临时性地只见树木不见森林。由于那些眼下貌似极其重要但并非重要的事情，我们有时会对具有长远重要意义的事情视而不见。沾上泥的鞋、丢了的午餐费、脏乱的厨房，这些东西是很讨厌，值得让人沮丧一阵子了。但是和孩子的自尊心相比，一个泥点——哪怕是粘在了新铺的地毯上——又能算什么呢?丢失的一美元难道比一个孩子成长中的尊严更宝贵?厨房的卫生固然重要，可是值得为此牺牲温柔的亲情吗?

I'm not saying that our children don't need to learn responsibility, or to occasionally suffer the painful consequences of their own bad choices. Those lessons are vital, and need to be carefully taught. But as parents, we must never forget that we're not just teaching lessons — we're teaching children. That means there are times when we really need to see the mess in the kitchen, and times when we only (need)to see the cake.

我不是说我们的孩子不需要学会负责任，不需要有时为自己错误的选择付出痛苦的代价。这些道理也很重要，需要认真教授于他们。但是作为父母，我们不要忘了我们一不仅仅是在教课——我们是在教孩子。这意味着有时候我们确实要看到厨房的脏乱，而有时候我们只需看到蛋糕。