新视野第一册读写教程课文第六单元中英文对照

Unit 6

Section A The Trashman

Saturday, April 7

Steve and I hauled trash for four solid hours continuously,

except for about five minutes when we stopped to talk.

My shoulder hurt wickedly each time I put another full barrel on it,

and my legs occasionally trembled as I was heading to the street.

But the rest of me said,"Go,trashman,go."

I could not have imaged there would be joy in this.

Dump.Lift.Walk.Lift.Walk.The hours flew by.

Saturday meant most adults were at home on the route.

So were school-age children.

I thought this might mean more exchanges as I made the rounds today.

Many people were out-doors working in their gardens or greenhouses.

Most looked approachable enough.

There wasn't time for lengthy talks

but enough to exchange greetings that go with civilized ways.

That is where I got my shock.

I said hello in quite a few yards before the message registered

that this wasn't normally done.

Occasionally,I got a direct reply from someone who looked me in the eye, smiled,and asked "How are you?"

or "Isn't this a nice day?" I felt human then.

But most often the response was either nothing at all,

or a surprised stare because I had spoken.

One woman in a housecoat was startled as I came around the corner of her house.

At the sound of my greeting, she gathered her housecoat tightly about her and retreated quickly indoors.

I heard the lock click.

Another woman had a huge, peculiar animal in her yard.

I asked what it was. She stared at me.

I thought she was deaf and spoke louder.

She seemed frightened as she turned coldly away.

Steve raged spontaneously about these things on the long ride to the dump.

"The way most people look at you,you'd think a trashman was a monster. Say hello and they stare at you in surprise.

They don't realize we're human."

"One lady put ashes in her trashcan.

I said we couldn't take them.

She said,'Who are you to say what goes?

You're nothing but a trashman.'

I told her,'Listen,lady,I've got an I.Q.of 137,

and I graduated near the top of my high school class.I do this for the money, not because it's the only work I can do."

"I want to tell them,'Look,I am as clean as you are,'but it wouldn't help.

I don't tell anyone I'm a garbageman.I say I'm a truck driver.

My family knows, but my wife's folks don't.

If someone comes right out and asks,

'Do you drive for a garbage company?'I say yes.

I believe we're doing a service people need, like being a police officer or a fire fighter.

I'm not ashamed of it,but I don't go around boasting about it either."

"A friend of my wife yelled at her kids one day

when they ran out to meet a trash truck.

'Stay away from those trashmen. They're dirty.’ I was angry with her. ' They’re as good as we are,' I told her. '

You seem to have a lot of sympathy for them,’ she said.

'Yes, I do.’ But I never told her why."

I had originally planned to stay at this employment for only two days

but now I'm going to continue.

The exercise is great;

the lifting gets easier with every load,

even if my shoulder muscle is sore.

I become faster and neater each day.

I’m outdoors in clean air.

And, contrary to what people think, I don't get dirty on the job.