退一步海闊天空

Tom： Hey hun， can we talk？

Grace： Uh oh！ Here we go again…

Tom： Or， to quote the immortal words of Whitesnake，“Here I go again on my own！”

Grace： Why does it have to be on our own？ I mean， you just wont drop it， will you？

Tom： How can I let it go， when Im so adamant about it？

Grace： First， you can take a step back and think about what would make us both happy.

Tom： Alright， I guess I deserve that.

Grace： Awww， contrition looks good on you.

Tom： It does. And thanks for that backhanded compliment. But when youre right， youre right. ①So， lets put our thinking caps on and come up with something we can both agree on.

Grace： I was thinking the same thing. After all， they say compromise is the key to a successful marriage.

Tom： Yeah！ And maybe its also the key to a successful vacation. Like， here， what if we do a four-day package tour， instead of a whole week？ That way， you get to do almost all the touristy things on your wish list， without the worry and hassle of trying to navigate our way around France. And maybe I wont be so burnt out by the end of it.

Grace： Really？ You would do that for me？

Tom： Well， truth be told， I wasnt exactly looking forward to handling every little detail for the whole trip， especially while carrying our inevitably heavy luggage in tow.

Grace： OK！ Then how about this？ Once were thoroughly exhausted from all that tour group stuff， Im sure youll be itching to go out and forge your own path. So， after the fourth day， we can split off from the pack and see where the road takes us.

Tom： You mean it？ Youre not messing with me？

Grace： Of course， I mean it！ ②And， since were being honest， I guess Ill put my cards on the table as well and admit that some of those supposed hotspots and tour stops sound a bit too cookie-cutter for me. ③And hearing you be so passionate about stepping outside the box and grabbing life by the horns， so to speak， really inspired me and made me wanna get out there and take the road “l(fā)ess traveled by”.

Tom： Hehe！ “And，” according to Mr. Frost， “that has made all the difference.”

Grace： So， its settled？

Tom： Lets do it！

湯姆：嘿，親愛的，我們能聊聊嗎？

格蕾絲：嗯噢！咱們又來了……

湯姆：或者，借用下白蛇樂隊(duì)那句不朽的名句，“這回我又獨(dú)自上路了！”

格蕾絲：為何非得自助游？我的意思是，你就是不肯放棄，是吧？

湯姆：當(dāng)我堅(jiān)持的時(shí)候，又怎么會放棄？

格蕾絲：首先你可以退一步想想如何才能令我們兩人都高興。

湯姆：好吧，看來我是自作自受。

格蕾絲：喔——，你那副懊悔的樣子可真帥。

湯姆：是很帥。謝謝你這句明褒實(shí)貶的話。不過你永遠(yuǎn)都是對的，我爭辯也是徒勞。所以，我們一起好好想想，琢磨出一個(gè)兩全其美的辦法來。

格蕾絲：我也這么想。畢竟，人們都說妥協(xié)是幸?；橐龅年P(guān)鍵。

湯姆：對！也許還是一趟成功旅程的關(guān)鍵。要不，這樣，我們報(bào)一個(gè)四天的團(tuán)而不是一整周的，如何？那樣的話，你基本可以走馬觀花似的完成幾乎所有你愿望清單上的事情而無須擔(dān)心、也省去在法國尋路的麻煩了。也許我到最后也不會那么精疲力竭。

格蕾絲：真的嗎？你愿意為我而跟團(tuán)？

湯姆：嗯，坦白說，我其實(shí)并不想整趟旅程由頭到尾事無巨細(xì)都一一安排，尤其是考慮到我還得一路拖著我們那沉重的行李。

格蕾絲：好！那要不這樣？一旦我們跟團(tuán)游累了，我敢肯定你會迫不及待地想要自己安排行程。那么，第四天之后，我們就不再跟團(tuán)，自己去走走看。

湯姆：真的嗎？你沒耍我吧？

格蕾絲：當(dāng)然，我是認(rèn)真的！而且既然我們都這么坦誠，我想我就明說了吧，那些所謂的熱門景點(diǎn)對于我來說有點(diǎn)過于千篇一律了。而且你的一番勇于打破常規(guī)、挑戰(zhàn)自我的言論，可以說讓我很受感染，我也想嘗試走一走“少有人走”的路。

湯姆：呵呵！“而且”，弗羅斯特先生說，“那樣將會大不一樣”。

格蕾絲：那么，旅行的事就算解決了吧？

湯姆：就這么定了！

① So， lets put our thinking caps on and come up with something we can both agree on.

所以，我們一起好好想想，琢磨出一個(gè)兩全其美的辦法來。

put on a thinking cap： in a state in which one thinks， especially carefully（思考，思考的狀態(tài);認(rèn)真思考）。例如：

Putting on a thinking cap is only the first step. We need to take action， not just talk.

思考只不過是第一步。我們需要采取行動，不能只耍嘴皮子。

② And， since were being honest， I guess Ill put my cards on the table as well and admit that some of those supposed hotspots and tour stops sound a bit too cookie-cutter for me.

而且既然我們都這么坦誠，我想我就明說了吧，那些所謂的熱門景點(diǎn)對于我來說有點(diǎn)過于千篇一律了。

put ones cards on the table： speak openly about ones ideas or plans（攤牌;把意圖公開）。例如：

Now that you mentioned the restructuring， Ill put our cards on the table. Therell be no layoff in this department.

既然你提到重組，那我就把事明說了吧，我們這個(gè)部門不會裁員。

cookie-cutter： appearing to be mass-produced， identical in appearance（一刀切;一個(gè)模子刻出來似的;千篇一律）。例如：

I always get lost among these cookie-cutter streets and buildings.

在這些千篇一律的街道和建筑間，我總是找不著北。

③ And hearing you be so passionate about stepping outside the box and grabbing life by the horns， so to speak， really inspired me and made me wanna get out there and take the road “l(fā)ess traveled by”.

而且你的一番勇于打破常規(guī)、挑戰(zhàn)自我的言論，可以說讓我很受感染，我也想嘗試走一走“少有人走”的路。

outside the box： nonconformist， creative thinking（非常規(guī)地、有創(chuàng)意地考慮問題）。例如：

In terms of increasing sales in the age of multimedia， everyone needs to step outside the box.

在如何在多媒體時(shí)代提高銷量的問題上，所有人都要打破常規(guī)思維。

“神隱”了一段日子的加拿大小天后艾薇兒（Avril Lavigne）在接受美國《時(shí)人》雜志訪問時(shí)透露自己得了傳染性疾病“萊姆病”（Ly m e disease）（編者注：萊姆病是由硬蜱叮咬傳播的一種多系統(tǒng)受累的傳染?。?。她與病魔抗?fàn)幜苏?個(gè)月，最近總算漸漸痊愈。深刻感受到生命重量的她在病愈后便發(fā)布了這首單曲《Fly》。同時(shí)，它也是2015年特殊奧林匹克運(yùn)動會（Special Olympics）的勵志單曲，用在Avril的慈善基金會（The Avril Lavigne Foundation）作為宣傳！勵志的歌詞和充滿力量的大氣編曲相當(dāng)讓人精神振奮，值得一提的是，本次單曲銷售的所有收益都將捐獻(xiàn)給特奧會。

生命短暫若夜空里稍縱即逝的煙火，但我們?nèi)詴嘈拍鞘鵁熁鹄镨驳男枪狻Ｓ谑俏覀儗⑿拍畈シN在心間的夢田，待它抽芽生花，從身后長出一雙翅膀，向我們心之所往的光芒奮力飛去，去擁抱我們生命里最耀眼奪目的璀璨。此時(shí)此刻，我們將不再是夜空里美好而脆弱的煙火，而是照亮這個(gè)世界的太陽，光芒萬丈。