英译汉

　　A Faraway Friend is someone you grew up with or went to school with or lived in the same town as until one of you moved away. Without a Faraway Friend, you would never get any mail addressed in handwriting. A Faraway Friend calls late at night, invites you to her wedding, always says she is coming to visit but rarely shows up. An actual visit from a Faraway Friend is a cause for celebration and binges of all kinds.

　　远方的朋友是这样的一个人：和你从小一同长大的，或者是同学，或者和你原本住在同一个镇上，后来你们中的一人搬到了别处。没有一位远方的朋友，你连一封手写的信都收不到。远方的朋友会半夜打来电话，邀请你去参加她的婚礼，她总是说要来看你，却很少露面。要是真的来访，那才叫“不亦乐乎”，各种名目的狂欢可就有了理由。

　　Another useful function of the Faraway Friend is to help you remember things from a long time ago, like the name of your seventh-grade history teacher, what was in that really good stir-fry, or exactly what happened that night on the boat with the guys from Florida.

　　远方的朋友还有一个益处，就是能让你记起很久以前的事情，比如七年级历史老师的名字，那盘炒菜里究竟什么东西那么好吃，或者那天晚上在船里和佛罗里达来的男孩子们都干了些什么。

　　So why do you continue to be involved with these people? Why do you tolerate them? On the contrary, the real question is what would you do without them. Without Friends You Love to Hate, there would be nothing to talk about with your other friends. Their problems and their irritating stunts provide a reliable source of conversation for everyone they know.

　　那么你又为什么继续和他们打交道呢?为什么要容忍他们呢?反过来说，真正的问题是：没有他们你行吗?没有这些你宁可去憎恨的朋友，你和你别的朋友也就无话可说了。他们的缺陷和他们恼人的噱头，为他们认识的每一个人都提供了源源不断的谈资。

　　At the other end of the spectrum are Hero Friends. These people are better than the rest of us, that’s all there is to it. Their career is something you wanted to be when you grew up — painter, forest ranger, tireless doer of good.

　　与此相反的另一个极端则是那些令人艳羡的朋友。他们比我们这些人都更出色，有这一点就够了。他们的事业就是你长大后的追求——画家、护林人，不知疲倦的行善者。

　　A new friend is a tonic unlike any other. Say you meet her at a party. In your bowling league. At a Japanese conversation class, perhaps. Wherever, whenever, there’s that spark of recognition. The first time you talk, you can’t believe how much you have in common. Suddenly, your life story is interesting again, your insights fresh, your opinion valued. Your various shortcomings are as yet completely invisible.

　　新的朋友是一剂无可比拟的良药。也许你是在一次聚会上结识她的，也许是在保龄球俱乐部里，也许是日语会话课上。无论何处，无论何时，只因为擦出了那钟惺惺相惜的火花。你简直无法相信你们有这么多共同点，而且只是第一次交谈。突然间，你的经历又变得有趣了，你的见识不同凡响，你的意见也倍受重视。你各式各样的缺点一时间也完全消失不见了。