英语美文阅读：我钟爱的水果
摘要:我们年复一年地吃着柑橘生活，这就是对它有力的辩护。事实上，是柑橘诚实的品格吸引了我们。假如它要开始腐败的话——因为我们之中的优秀者有时也会腐败的——它是从外表而不是从内里开始的。
My Favorite Fruit 我钟爱的水果
By Alan Alexander Milne
In the first place it is a perennial—if not in actual fact, at least in the greengrocer's shop. On the days when dessert is a name given to a handful of chocolates and a little preserved ginger, when macedoine de fruits is the title bestowed on two prunes and a piece of rhubarbs, then the orange, however sour, comes nobly to the rescue; and on those other days of plenty when cherries and strawberries and raspberries, and gooseberries riot together upon the table, the orange, sweeter than ever, is still there to hold its own. Bread and butter, beef and mutton, eggs and bacon, are not more necessary to an order existence than the orange.
首先，柑橘常年都有——即使不是在树上，至少是在水果店里。有的时候，只用几块巧克力和一点蜜饯生姜充当餐后的甜点，两块李子干加一片大黄便被冠以蔬果什锦美名时，这是仍带酸味的柑橘便前来慷慨救驾;其他时候，水果丰盈，樱桃、草莓、木莓、醋栗在餐桌上相互争艳时，此时比往日更加甜美的柑橘依然能坚守自己的岗位。对于人们的日常生活，面包和黄油、牛肉和羊肉、鸡蛋和咸肉，都未必像柑橘那样不可或缺。
It is well that the commonest fruit should be also the best. Of the virtues of the orange I have not room fully to speak. It has properties of health giving, as that it cures influenza and establishes the complexion. It is clean, for whoever handles it on its way to your table, but handles its outer covering, its top coat, which is left in the hall. It is round, and forms an excellent substitute with the young for a cricket ball. The pip can be flicked at your enemies, and quite a small piece of peel makes a slide for an old gentleman.
很幸运，这种最普遍的水果恰恰是最好的水果。论其优点，难尽其详。柑橘有益于健康，比如，可以治疗流感，滋养皮肤。柑橘清洁干净，不管是谁把它端上桌子，也只触到它的表皮，亦即它的外衣，吃完后橘皮便被留在餐厅里。柑橘是圆的，给孩子当板球玩是再好不过了。柑橘核可用来弹射你的敌人，一小片橘皮也能让一个老者滑个趔趄。
But all this would count nothing had not the orange such delightful qualities of the taste. I dare not let myself go upon this subject. I am a slave to its sweetness. I grudge every marriage in that it means a fresh supply of orange blossom, the promise of so much golden fruit cut short. However, the world must go on....
但是，如若不是柑橘的味道甜美可口，上述的一切便都不足取。我真不敢纵谈柑橘的美味。我为它的美味所倾倒。每当有人结婚我便心生怨意，因为那就意味着一束鲜橘花——未来金黄果实的夭折。然而，人类总得继续繁衍。
With the orange we do live year in and year out. That speaks well for the orange. The fact is that there is an honesty about the orange which appeals to all of us. If it is going to be bad—for the best of us are bad sometimes—it begins to be bad from the outside, not from the inside. How many a pear which presents a blooming face to the world is rotten at the core. How many an innocent-looking apple is harboring a worm in the bud. But the orange had no secret faults. Its outside is a mirror of its inside, and if you are quick you can tell the shop men so before he slips it into the bag.
我们年复一年地吃着柑橘生活，这就是对它有力的辩护。事实上，是柑橘诚实的品格吸引了我们。假如它要开始腐败的话——因为我们之中的优秀者有时也会腐败的——它是从外表而不是从内里开始的。有多少梨子在向世人展示其鲜嫩的容光时，内里已经腐烂。有多少看上去纯美无瑕的苹果，刚刚发芽就已经包藏蛀虫。而柑橘从不隐藏瑕疵。它的外表是它内心的镜子，那么，如果你反应快，不等售货员把它丢进纸袋儿，你就能告诉他这是一个坏橘子。
