第7章 烦恼树 Trouble Tree

I hired a carpenter to help me restore an old farmhouse,and after h e had just finished a rough first day on the job,a flat tire made him l ose an hour of work,his electric saw quit and now his ancient pickup tr uck refused to start.While I drove him home,he sat in stony silence.O n arriving,he invited me in to meet his family.

As we walked toward the front door,he paused briefly at a small tre e,touching tips of the branches with his hands.

When opening the door,he underwent an amusing transformation.His t anned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children a nd gave his wife a kiss.

After leaving the happy family,I passed the tree and my curiosity g ot the better of me.I asked him,who walked me to the car,"Before we went in,why did you stop by the tree earlier?"

"Oh,that's my trouble tree," he replied.

"I know I can't help having troubles on the job and in my life,bu t those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and children.I know I can control one thing for sure.I can hang them up on the tree ev ery night when I come home.Then in the morning I pick them up again bef ore I leave for work."

"Funny thing is," he smiled,"when I come out in the morning to p ick them up,there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the n ight before."

我雇了一位木匠帮我修缮旧农舍。第一天的工作很糟糕，刚开始是他的汽车轮胎瘪了，耽误了整整1个小时；后来电锯又坏了；现在忙了一天后他的旧卡车竟不能启动。我只好开车送他回家。一路上，他像石头一样沉默不语。到达目的地之后，他邀我进去见见他的家人。

当我们走到门口，他先在一棵小树前停了一会儿，用手碰了碰几根树枝。

门开了，他一进去就像变成了另外一个人似的，棕色的脸庞溢满了微笑，他高兴地拥抱两个孩子，然后深情地吻了吻妻子。

告别木匠幸福的一家，木匠送我出门，再次经过那棵小树时，我不禁好奇地他：“进门前你在树前停一下做什么？”

“噢，这是我的烦恼树，”他回答说。

“我知道工作和生活中难免有许多烦恼，这是我所不能控制的，但孩子和妻子是无辜的，我不该把烦恼带给他们。我知道有一件事自己能控制，就是每天进门前把烦恼挂到门外的树上。等到第二天早晨离家上班时再把它摘下来。”

“有趣的是，”他微笑着，“每天早上我准备把它们取回时，都会发现树上的烦恼比我前一天挂上去的要少得多。”

1.When opening the____,he underwent an amusing transformation.His tanned face was wreathed in____and he hugged his two small ch ildren____gave his wife a kiss.

2."I know I can't____having troubles on the job and in my lif e,but those troubles don't belong in the____with my wife and child ren.I____I can control one thing for sure.I can hang them up on the____every night when I come home.Then in the morning I pick th em up____before I leave for work."

1.一路上，他像石头一样沉默不语。

2.我知道有一件事自己能控制，就是每天进门前把烦恼挂到门外的树上。

3.每天早上我准备把它们取回时，都会发现树上的烦恼比我前一天挂上去的要少得多。