丟掉愛的記分卡 The Scorecard

佚名/Anonymous

As the movie came to an end the room filled with chatter. The warm fire, twinkling Christmas lights and laughter from family brought a contented smile to my face. The minute Mom said,“Who wants……”the room emptied quicker than the stands at a losing football game.

My boyfriend Todd and I were the only ones left. With a bewildered look on his face he asked me what just happened. Catching the laughter on my mom’s face, I said to Todd,“We are going to go put gas in my mom’s car.”He quickly replied,“It’s freezing out there, and it’s almost 11：30 P.M.”Smiling, I said,“Then you had better your coat and gloves.”

After hurriedly chipping the frost off the windshield, we bundled into the car. On the way to the gas station, Todd asked me to explain why in the world we were going to get my mom gas so late at night. Chuckling, I said,“When my siblings and I come home for the holidays, we help my dad get gas for my mom. It has turned into a game with all of us. We can tell when at mom is going to ask and the last one in the room has to go.”

“You have got to be kidding me!”Todd responded.

“There is no getting out of it.”I said.

While pumping the gas, we clapped our hands and jumped around to stay warm.“I still don’t get it. Why doesn’t your mom put the gas in the car herself?”Todd asked.

With mirth in my eyes, I said,“I know it sounds insane, but let me explain. My mom has not pumped gas in over two decades. My dad always pumps gas for her.”With a confused look, Todd asked if my dad was ever annoyed with having to pump gas for his wife all the time. Shaking my head, I simply said,“No, he has never complained.”

“That’s crazy.”Todd quickly replied.

“No, not really.”I explained patiently.“When I came home for the holidays my sophomore year of college, I thought I knew everything. I was on this big female independence kick. One evening, my mom and I were wrapping presents, and I told her that when I got married, my husband was going to help clean, do laundry, cook, the whole bit. Then I asked her if she ever got tired of doing the laundry and dishes. She calmly told me it did not bother her. This was difficult for me to believe. I began to give her a lecture about this being the 90s, and equality between the sexes.”

“Mom listened patiently. Then after setting the ribbon aside, she looked me square in the eyes.‘Someday, dear, you will understand.’”

This only irritated me more. I didn’t understand one bit. And so I demanded more of an explanation. Mom smiled, and began to explain: “‘In a marriage, there are some things you like to do and some things you don’t. So, together, you figure out what little things you are willing to do for each other. You share the responsibilities. I really don’t mind doing the laundry. Sure, it takes some time, but it is something I do for your dad. On the other hand, I do not like to pump gas. The smell of the fumes bothers me. And I don’t like to stand out in the freezing cold. So, your dad always puts gas in my car. Your dad grocery shops, and I cook. Your dad mows the grass, and I clean. I could go on and on.’”

“‘You see,’my mother continued,‘in marriage, there is no scorecard. You do little things for each other to make the other’s life easier. If you think of it as helping the person you love, you don’t become annoyed with doing the laundry or cooking, or any task, because you’re doing it out of love.’”

“Over the years, I have often reflected on what my mom said. She has a great perspective on marriage. I like how my mom and dad take care of each other. And you know what?One day, when I’m married, I don’t want to have a scorecard either.”

Todd was unusually quiet the rest of the way home. After he shut off the engine, he turned to me and took my hands in his with a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye.

“Anytime you want,”he said in a soft voice,“I’ll pump gas for you.”

我們在電影演完后，開始閑聊起來。溫暖的爐火，圣誕的彩燈，家人的笑聲，這一切使我滿意地笑了。這時，母親說：“誰想去……”母親的話還沒說完，整個屋子就沒人了，比輸了足球賽的看臺空得還快。

房間里只剩下我和我的男友托德。他滿臉困惑，問我是怎么回事。我看看笑著的母親，對他說：“讓我們準備去給母親的汽車加油吧。”

他馬上回答說：“外邊冰天雪地，而且，現在已經是夜里十一點半了。”我笑了笑說：“那你最好穿上大衣，戴上手套。”

我們迅速地擦掉擋風玻璃上的霜，一起進入車內。在去加油站的途中，托德讓我解釋為什么要在這樣的天氣、這么晚的夜里給媽媽的車加油。我咯咯地笑著說：“每次我們兄弟姐妹回來過節，都要幫爸爸為媽媽的車加油。我們把它看成一項游戲，我們能猜到媽媽什么時候讓我們去，最后留在房間里的人要為她的車去加油。”

“你一定是在和我開玩笑。”托德說。

“我沒有和你開玩笑。”我說。

在加油站的人給車加油的時候，我搓著手，蹦跳著讓自己感覺暖和一點兒。“我還是不明白，你媽媽為什么不自己來做？”托德問。

我微笑著說：“我知道這聽起來有點兒荒唐，我給你解釋一下吧。我媽媽二十多年沒有自己加過油，總是由我爸爸代勞。”托德很困惑地問：“你爸爸是否厭煩過？”我搖著頭，簡單地回答說：“不，他從未抱怨過。”

“真是難以想象。”托德立即回答道。

“不，真的不會。”我耐心地解釋，“大學二年級我回家度假的時候，認為什么事情都懂了，尤其認為女人應該獨立自主。一天晚上，母親和我包裝禮品時，我對她說，等我結婚了，一定要讓我的丈夫幫我打掃房間、洗衣服、做飯，什么家務活他都得干。我還問她，整天洗洗涮涮煩不煩。令我不能相信的是，她說她很樂意做這些事情。我就告訴她這是九十年代了，要男女平等。”

媽媽平靜地聽我說完，在一件禮物上系完一條絲帶后，看著我的眼睛，堅定地說：‘親愛的，總會有你明白的那天的。’“她的話使我更生氣，更疑惑，于是我要求她解釋明白。母親笑了，開始給我解釋：”

“‘在婚姻生活當中，有些事是你想干的，有些事是你不愿意干的。你們可以挑出愿意為對方干的事，從而共同承擔生活的責任。我挺喜歡洗衣服的，雖然會花很多時間，我還是愿意為你爸爸做這些事情。但是，我不喜歡去給車加油，汽油的味道讓我惡心，尤其是在冬天，天氣寒冷，我更不喜歡出去，所以你爸爸總是替我干這件事情。還有，你爸爸去雜貨店買東西，我做飯；你爸爸割草，我清理。當然，這樣的分工還很多。’”

“‘你知道嗎？’媽媽繼續說，‘婚姻當中沒有記分卡，你為對方做一些事情，會使他生活得輕松。你不會厭倦為自己心愛的人洗衣服、做飯或干其他的事情，因為你愛他，你做的一切都出自對他的愛。’”

“這些年來我一直考慮媽媽的話，她對婚姻有很深的理解。我羨慕爸爸媽媽相親相愛，而且，我結婚了，也不要記分卡。”

托德在回家的路上，罕見的安靜。到家后，他關掉發動機，轉向我，帶著溫暖地微笑著，目光閃爍，捧起我的手，非常溫柔地對我說：“我隨時準備為你的車去加油。”

詞匯筆記

contented[k?'t?ntid]adj.滿意的；滿足的；知足的

例 Happy is he who is contented with what he has.知足者常樂。

annoy[?n?i]v.打擾；干擾；使煩惱；使惱怒

例 These bees are annoying me.

這些蜜蜂真使我心煩。

equality[i'kwɑliti]n.平等；均等；相等

例 They are talking about the equality of women.他們談論男女平等。

patiently['pe??ntli]adv.耐心地；堅持不懈地

例 He patiently learned this subject.

他堅持不懈地學習這門學科。

小試身手

我們在電影演完后，開始閑聊起來。

譯________________________________________

你為對方做一些事情，會使他生活得輕松。

譯________________________________________

托德在回家的路上，罕見的安靜。

譯________________________________________

短語家族

Then I asked her if she ever got tired of doing the laundry and dishes.

tired of：厭煩；對……不感興趣

造________________________________________

I like how my mom and dad take care of each other.

take care of：照顧；照料

造________________________________________