【正文】 iar use of the language. 我清清嗓子，說(shuō)：“嗯，它是指，嗯，它是語(yǔ)言的一種獨(dú)特運(yùn)用。”I thought my use of peculiar was kind of clever. He looked confused, a reminder that clever39。s not clever if it doesn39。t municate. 我自以為“獨(dú)特”一詞用得很妙，他卻一臉的迷惑。這是在提示我，如果對(duì)方?jīng)]有明白，這詞兒就不能算用得妙。Uh, let39。s see. 39。Idiomatic39。 is related to the word 39。idiom39。. An idiom39。s something that39。s used in, say, a particular part of the country or by a particular group of people. People who aren39。t part of that group aren39。t likely to use it and might not understand it. “啊，這么說(shuō)吧，idiomatic和idiom有關(guān)，而idiom是指一個(gè)國(guó)家的某一特定地區(qū)或一個(gè)民族的某一特定人群使用的詞，該地區(qū)以外的人，不屬于這個(gè)群體的人一般不用或不明白它的用法。”Watching his puzzled look, I did what a person often does when at a loss for the right words: I went on talking, as if a thousand vague words would add up to one accurate definition. 看著他迷惑不解的樣子，我不知用什么恰當(dāng)?shù)脑~才好，只好繼續(xù)解釋下去，似乎一千個(gè)模糊的詞加起來(lái)可以等于一個(gè)準(zhǔn)確的定義。Can you give me an example? “你能舉個(gè)例子嗎？”I racked my brains. Gapers block, I said. A peculiarly Chicago phrase. 我絞盡腦汁地想：“圍觀塞車，”這是個(gè)獨(dú)特的芝加哥慣用語(yǔ)。But did it really qualify as idiomatic? I had no idea because the longer I thought about idioms the less sure I was what they were. 可這算得上名副其實(shí)的慣用語(yǔ)嗎？我不得而知。我越想慣用語(yǔ)，就越?jīng)]有把握說(shuō)清楚慣用語(yǔ)到底是什么？　 And proverb? “那么proverb呢？”　　I should have told the poor man right then that I might be misleading him down the proverbial path, whatever that really means, but instead I said, I think a proverb is kind of like an aphorism. But not quite. 我本該當(dāng)時(shí)就告訴這個(gè)可憐的人，我的解釋也許會(huì)誤導(dǎo)他對(duì)諺語(yǔ)真正含義的理解，但我卻說(shuō)：“我覺得諺語(yǔ)就是一種警語(yǔ)，但又不完全是?！盇 what? “一種什么？”Never mind. A proverb is a condensed saying that teaches you a lesson. “算了，別管它，諺語(yǔ)是給人們以警示的短小精悍的句子?！盇n example?“比如說(shuō)……”The meter clicked off a full 20 cents while I searched madly through my mind. Haste makes waste? I finally whimpered.當(dāng)我在腦海里拼命地搜索時(shí)，記價(jià)器上的數(shù)字又跳了20美分。最后我低聲說(shuō)：“欲速則不達(dá)？”But was that a proverb? Wait. Weren39。t proverbs actually stories, not just phrases? While I was convincing myself they were, he said, Can an idiom be a proverb? 但它算是諺語(yǔ)嗎？且慢，諺語(yǔ)是否應(yīng)該是些小故事而并非短語(yǔ)呢？我還在掂量諺語(yǔ)可能就是小故事時(shí)，他又問：“那慣用語(yǔ)是諺語(yǔ)嗎？”I could answer that. Just not right now, now when it mattered, now when the fate of a curious, intelligent immigrant hung on the answers he assumed would fall from a native speaker39。s tongue as naturally as leaves from an October tree. So I retreated. 這我可以回答，但不是在此時(shí)。因?yàn)榇藭r(shí)這一回答至關(guān)重要，一個(gè)好奇聰明的外國(guó)移民以為他所期待的答案會(huì)從一個(gè)本國(guó)人的口中自然而然地脫口而出，就好像十月的樹葉會(huì)自然地落下來(lái)一樣。因此我退卻了。Do most of your passengers give you answers when you ask for definitions?“你請(qǐng)乘客給你解釋詞意的時(shí)候，他們大多都會(huì)給你答案嗎？”O(jiān)h, yes, Miss. Very interesting definitions. “會(huì)的，小姐，很有意思的解釋。Until that moment, I39。d been so inspired by the driver39。s determination to learn English, so enthralled by the chance to indulge my curiosity about words with another curious soul, that I didn39。t fully grasp the potential for linguistic fraud mitted in this man39。s cab. Now I could barely allow myself to imagine what kind of deformed English he was being fed by cowards like me who couldn39。t simply say, I don39。t really know my own language. 直到那時(shí)，我一直在為這位司機(jī)學(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)的執(zhí)著而感動(dòng)，陶醉于能有機(jī)會(huì)與一個(gè)充滿好奇心的 人一起來(lái)滿足自己對(duì)語(yǔ)言詞語(yǔ)的好奇心，卻未能充分意識(shí)到在這輛出租車上可能犯下的語(yǔ)言欺詐錯(cuò)誤。我?guī)缀醪桓蚁胂筮@位司機(jī)聽到的是什么樣的蹩腳英語(yǔ)，因?yàn)橄?我這樣的懦夫不敢坦白地承認(rèn)：“我對(duì)自己的母語(yǔ)并不懂。”I can only trust that someone as curious as he is also owns a dictionary. And that he figures out that, no matter what his passengers may say, haste doesn39。t always make waste at the gapers block. 我只能希望像他這樣好奇的人會(huì)有一本字典，希望他能明白，不論乘客如何解釋，發(fā)生圍觀塞車時(shí)，欲速則未必不達(dá)。Unit6:TheWomanTaxiDriverInCairo Unit6 開羅的女出租車司機(jī)Her name is Nagat. 她叫娜格特。I first saw her outside Cairo39。s airport terminal. A woman taxi driver the only woman, for that matter, among a large crowd of her male counterparts. 我第一次見到她是在開羅機(jī)場(chǎng)。一個(gè)女出租車司機(jī)——在一大群男伙伴中唯一干這一行的女性。Do you know what it is like to arrive in a strange city in the middle of the night? Nobody, not even a ray of sunshine is here to greet you. When I walk out of the terminal, I am facing the crowd of taxi drivers milling about in front of every airport the world over. Here in Cairo, it is large and noisy. Taxi! You want taxi? I hear all round me. 你知道在深夜到達(dá)一個(gè)陌生的城市是一種什么感受嗎？沒有任何人，甚至沒有一縷陽(yáng)光來(lái)迎接 你。當(dāng)我步出機(jī)場(chǎng)時(shí)，迎面而來(lái)的是成群的出租車司機(jī)——在全世界所有的機(jī)場(chǎng)都有眾多出租車司機(jī)四處轉(zhuǎn)悠。在開羅，出租司機(jī)人更多，更喧鬧?！俺鲎廛嚕　?“你要出租車嗎？”我耳邊充斥著這些聲音。I feel a firm hand holding my left arm. You want taxi, follow me, the woman says. She doesn39。t ask, she simply pulls me through the crowd. I follow her willingly. There is this moment when a tourist, particularly a woman, simply has to trust someone. We stop at a worn car. It has seen a better day, there are quite a few scrapes on its body, the tires are bald and there is a crack in the windshield. But it is a car for hire, and the woman will personally drive me. I breathe a sigh of relief when she puts my bag into the trunk, locks it and gets behind the wheel. I will drive you, don39。t worry, she says. 我感到一只有力的手抓住了我的左臂?！澳阈枰鲎廛?，跟我來(lái)！”那個(gè)女人說(shuō)。她什么都沒 有問，只是拉著我穿過(guò)人群。我順從地跟著她。一個(gè)旅游者，特別是一個(gè)婦女，有些時(shí)候就不得不信賴某個(gè)人。我們來(lái)到一輛破舊的小車前。這輛車的風(fēng)光已過(guò)—— 如今車身上有不少擦傷，輪胎磨得光禿禿的，擋風(fēng)玻璃上還有一道裂縫。但它的確是一輛出租車。而且這個(gè)女人將親自開車送我。她把我的包搬進(jìn)行李箱，上好鎖， 然后坐在駕駛座上。這時(shí)我才松了一口氣。“我會(huì)開車送你。別擔(dān)心，”她說(shuō)。Nagat, as she now explains to me, works as a taxi driver several days and nights a week. She has another job, working in an office, but details of it remain vague. The little old car is not hers。 it belongs to a boss from whom she in turn rents it whenever she can. She has been a driver ever since her husband died some ten years earlier and left her with two teenage kids and her parents to support. 娜格特向我解釋說(shuō)，她每周開幾個(gè)晝夜的出租車。她另有一份工作，在辦公室任職，但語(yǔ)焉不詳。這輛破舊的小車不是她的，而是一個(gè)老板的。只要有可能，她就向他租來(lái)開。自從十來(lái)年前她丈夫撒手人寰，留下兩個(gè)十多歲的孩子和她的雙親之后，她就一直開出租車養(yǎng)家糊口。She knows every nook and cranny in and around Cairo no easy feat. Cairo with its plex system of streets and lanes, its quarters and markets is like a labyrinth invented by ancient storytellers. 她熟知開羅的每一個(gè)角落——這并非一日之功。開羅迷宮般的大街小巷、居民區(qū)、集市所構(gòu)成 的復(fù)雜體系，宛如古代說(shuō)書人編造的迷津。Hundreds of mosques many of which are masterpieces of Islamic architecture, ol