The Green Banana

The Green Banana青香蕉
My encounter with the green banana started on a steep mountain road in Brazil.
我与青香蕉的邂逅源于巴西腹地一条险峻的山路上。
My ancient jeep was zigzagging when the radiator began to leak.
当我那辆老式吉普车正吃力地前行时，水箱漏水了，
I stopped at the next village, where people gathered to look.
在临近的村庄，我把车停了下来，村民都围过来看发生了什么事，
Three fine streams of hot water spouted from holes in the radiator.
有三股细细的热水柱正从水箱外壳上的小孔喷出来。
“That’s easy to fix,” a man said.
“这容易解决。”一个人说道，
He sent a boy running for some green bananas.
他让一个小男孩跑去拿些青香蕉来，
We exchanged pleasantries while I mulled over the green banana.
我和他们闲聊起来，心里却一直在想他们用青香蕉怎么能修补好水箱。
Asking questions would seems silly,
提问会暴露我的无知，
so I remarked on the beauty of the mountain.
因此我开始赞叹眼前美丽的山景。
“Do you see that tall one right over there?”
“看见那边那块高高的岩石了吗？”
asked my benefactor, pointing to a particular tall, slender pinnacle of dark rock.
帮助我的那个人指着一块特别高而且细长的黑色岩石问道，
“That rock marks the center of the world.”
“那块岩石标志着世界的中心。”。
I looked to see if he were teasing me,
我看着他，想知道他是否在和我开玩笑，
but his face was serious.
但他却表情严肃，
He in turn inspected me carefully to be sure I grasped the significance of his statement.
反过来认真地审视着我，想确认我是否领会了他那句话的含义。
The occasion demanded some show of recognition on my part.
这种情况要求我必须表现出认同。
“The center of the world?”I repeated,
“世界的中心？”我重复道，
trying to convey interest if not complete acceptance.
虽然我并不真正赞同，但仍尽力表现出对此的兴趣，
He nodded.“The absolute center.”
他点头说：“绝对是世界的中心。
At that moment the boy returned with my green bananas.
这时，小男孩拿着青香蕉回来了。
The man sliced one in half and pressed the cut end against the radiator.
那个男子把其中一根切成两半，将其断口处按在水箱的外壳上。
The banana melted into a glue against the hot metal,
香蕉遇到炙热的金属融成了胶，
plugging the leaks instantly.
立刻就堵住了漏洞，
Everyone laughed at my astonishment.
所有的人看到我满脸的惊讶，都笑了起来。
As a product of American higher education,
作为一个美国高等教育的产品，
I had never paid the slightest attention to the green banana.
我从来就没注意过青香蕉，
Suddenly on that mountain road, its time and my need had converged.
但突然在那条山路上，当我需要时，它出现了。
This chance encounter showed me the special genius of those people, and the special potential of the green banana.
这次事件，让我知道了村民们的特殊天赋以及青香蕉的特殊潜能。
I had been wondering for some time about what educators like to call “learning moments”,
曾有一段时间，我一直困惑于教育家们所谓的“顿悟”，
and I now knew I had just experienced two of them at once.
而现在我知道自己刚刚同时经历了两个这样的时刻。
The importance of the rock marking the center of the world took a while to filter through.
又过了一段时间，我才真正明白了村民们认为标志着世界中心的那块岩石的重要性，
I had initially doubted their claim,
开始时我怀疑他们的说法，
knowing for a fact that the center was located somewhere in New England.
因为我知道实际上世界的中心是位于新英格兰的某个地方，
After all, my grandfather had come from there.
毕竟，我的祖父就是那儿的人。
But gradually I realized they had a valid belief, a universal concept, and I agreed with them.
但我逐渐意识到他们的想法是很有道理的，这是个很普遍的概念，我赞同他们的看法。
We tend to define the center as that special place where we are known,
我们都倾向于把一个特殊的地方理解为“中心”，
where we know others, where things mean much to us,
在那儿我们认识很多人，那儿的事物对我们来说都别有意义；
and where we ourselves have both identity and meaning:
那儿我们有身份认同，我们有存在意义：
family, school, town and local region.
这些地方就是：家庭、学校、我们生活的城镇以及我们所在的“本地”。