【英语原文】
He also flowered intellectually during his last two years in high school and found himself at the intersection, as he had began to see it, of those who were geekily immersed in electronics and those who were into literature and creative endeavors. “I started to listen to music a whole lot, and I started to read more outside of just science and technology—Shakespeare, Plato. I loved King Lear.” His other favorites included Moby-Dick and the poem of Dylan Thomas. I asked him why he related to King Lear and Captain Ahab, two of the most willful and driven characters in literature, but he didn’t respond to the connection I was making, so I let it drop. “When I was a senior I had this phenomenal AP English class. The teacher was this guy who looked like Ernest Hemingway. He took a bunch of us snowshoeing in Yosemite.” (Chapter 1 Childhood: School)
【译文】
高中生涯的最后两年里,乔布斯的心智也迅速发展成熟。他开始发现自己站在人生的十字路口上:他既沉浸在电子学的浩瀚海洋里,又爱上了文学和各种创造性努力。“我开始听很多音乐, 我也开始读很多科学领域外的书籍,像莎士比亚和柏拉图。我很喜欢《李尔王》这本书。” 他的心头爱还包括美国小说《白鲸》和英国诗人狄兰·托马斯的作品。我曾经问过他,为什么会喜欢李尔王和亚哈船长这两个角色,他们是文学史上最任性、最执着的经典角色。不过他没有理会我的这种联想,我也自此揭过不提。“读高中四年级的时候,我上了一门大学英语预修课程,这门课太棒了。教我们的老师长得很像美国作家海明威。他还带我们一帮学生去优山美地国家公园玩雪。”
【翻译笔记】
1. immerse in: 把……浸在水中;全神贯注于, 专心于。常用于被动语态。
We immersed all the dirty plates in the soapy water and left them to soak.我们把所有的脏盘子都泡在肥皂水中让它们浸泡一会儿。
The entire family is immersed in scientific research.这个家的所有人都潜心于科学研究。
2. let it drop: 相当于口语中“Drop it!”用法,let sth. drop 表示停止谈论某件事,不再提某个话题。
He's apologized, so I think you should let it drop now. 他已经道歉了,所以我想你现在应该不要再提这件事。
3. Moby-Dick: 19世纪美国作家梅尔维尔(Herman Melville)的代表作,这是小说家在1851年发表的一篇海洋题材作品,小说描写了亚哈船长(Captain Ahab)为了追逐并杀死白鲸莫比·迪克(Moby-Dick)最终与白鲸同归于尽的故事。《白鲸》是19世纪浪漫主义文学的代表作之一,文中的主角亚哈船长也是文学史上的经典角色。