大城市

I grew up in small towns at a time when the world moved at a slower pace. The internet and cell phones didn’t exist, and there were only four channels on our black and white television sets.
我儿时住在很小的镇子上，当时世界发展还很缓慢，既没互联网也没移动电话，家里的黑白电视机播来播去只有四个频道。
In the towns I lived in, many people knew each other, and where you stood sometimes had to do with which family you were from. When you started a new school year, your teacher might already know you because your older brother or sister had taken that same class.
镇上的居民大都互相认识，你出生在哪里，就就近在哪个位置上学，新学期开学，你会发现老师早就认识你了，因为你的哥哥或姐姐以前就是这个班上的。
Time moved on, and more people moved to cities, which offered greater opportunities. Staying in a small town was sometimes seen as a sign of stagnation. But few of us who moved out realized that there was a trade-off, too.
随着时间的推移，越来越多的人搬去机遇更多的城市居住，留在老家有时被人们看作“停滞不前”的行为，但对于已经搬出去的我们来说，很少有人意识到其实留在老家生活未尝不是一个“折中之选”。
Once I had gotten a taste of life outside small towns, I not only moved to a city, I moved to a city overseas. When I came back to the United States, I lived in cities in other parts of the country. Nobody there knew, or cared, who my family was. I always went back home to visit, but clearly I was no longer part of those towns.
一旦尝到小镇之外的生活滋味，我不仅搬到了城市，甚至还跑到了国外生活，等我再回到美国之后，也没有选择回家，而是选择住在其他州，那里没有熟人，也没人在乎我从哪里来，虽然我经常会回老家看看，但显然我已经不再属于那里了。
For more than eight years, I have lived in two of China’s megacities – Beijing and Shanghai. My immediate neighborhoods have had more people than the towns I grew up in. I have enjoyed experiencing these two modern cities, with their efficient transportation systems, great restaurants and thriving cultural scenes.
八年多的时间里，我在中国的一线城市北京和上海定居过，住所附近的住户比我老家镇上的居民要多出许多。北京和上海的交通高效便利，餐厅高档典雅，文化气息浓厚，我很喜欢这两座现代化大都市。
But a strange thing has happened. Looking to the future, something seems attractive about a smaller, simpler place, even though I never want to be too far from a city with a variety of restaurants and things to do and see. Even when I was growing up, we could always drive to a city.
但奇怪的是，当我再度展望未来时，虽然我不想离餐厅以及其他城里才能看到、体验到的场所太远，但相比大城市，小巧简单一点的地方似乎更加吸引我。就算我最后长大了，我还是可以开车去城里。
But that sense of closeness, of knowing all your neighbors and having friends who aren’t so likely to disappear on the next jet out of town is starting to feel attractive.
但小城镇特有的邻里亲朋间的亲密感，是居住在大城市里的人所体验不到的，这也是小城镇独具魅力的地方。
I never really thought of myself as a city resident — or a "city slicker", to put it in a negative light — but it is true that I have lost some of the small-town politeness that I grew up with. I may forget to greet a stranger before asking a question — which is seen as normal in a city but rude in a small town.  
我从来没把自己当作一个正八经的城市居民，说得难听点，叫“城市滑头”，但事实证明，我已经忘记了很多小镇礼节，比如打听事情前，我可能会忘记先跟路人打声招呼再开口，也许这在城市里十分寻常，但在老家，不事先跟人打招呼是十分粗鲁的举动。
Life in a town also is more connected in the internet age, making it feel much less isolated. It also makes small towns more financially feasible as people work and do business online, which is one way that China is helping people to live better without having to migrate to the cities.
小城市的生活如今因互联网而变得更加紧密，不像以前那么孤立 了，网络的力量也使得小地方的经济不断繁荣发展，人们可以居家办公、线上创业等，中国也凭借互联网的发展趋势使更多乡镇居民不用进城也能过上好日子。
When I was growing up, there was a TV program called “The Andy Griffith Show”, starring a folksy, amiable star who lived in a small, fictional town called Mayberry. It was set in the same region I grew up in.
长大后我看过一档名叫《安迪·格里菲斯秀》的电视剧，故事发生在北卡罗莱纳州一个名叫Mayberry的虚构小镇上，格里菲斯出演镇上的警长，剧集拍摄地点正是我的老家。
The show was a comedy, and some of the characters were small-town stereotypes, including a bumbling deputy sheriff, an absent-minded barber and a matronly aunt who made terrible pickles. But the show was meant as a humorous yet loving portrayal of a small town and the people who lived in it. It was certainly a one-sided version, and spent little to no time dealing with difficult social issues such as equal rights. In that sense, it was far from a true portrait.
这部喜剧中出现的很多角色都是乡镇市民的刻板印象，诸如憨头憨脑的副警长，心不在焉的理发师，腌烂菜的暴躁姑妈等等，但这部剧却将小镇居民风趣幽默、善良温馨的和谐景象描绘得淋漓尽致。当然，剧集内容难免片面，几乎没涉及到处理诸如平等权利等社会难题的桥段。这样来看，这部剧并非乡镇生活真实的模样。
But for some of us of a certain age who grew up in small towns, finding some version of Mayberry that is modern but still has some of that sweetness of simple human harmony and lasting friendship doesn’t sound so bad.
但不管怎样，对于我们这种小镇土生土长的人群而言，人到中年后若是能找到一个类似Mayberry那样相对现代化且又充满人情味的小城定居，也未尝不是一件好事。