I looked at my beautiful Christmas tree and sighed. It was time. The New Year was a week old and my tree still stood in the corner of our room with its collection of memories proudly displayed in a shower of colorful lights. I'd procrastinated long enough.

　　我望著我的美麗圣誕樹嘆了口氣，是時候該把樹收起來了。新年已經(jīng)過了一個星期，而我的圣誕樹依然挺立在我們房間的角落里，在繽紛的彩燈光輝中驕傲地展示著它珍藏其中的種種回憶。(對于收起圣誕樹)我已經(jīng)拖了很長時間了。

　　I got up, went to the garage and hauled all the boxes into the room. The garland was the first to come down. The tree looked naked already. I took the large ornaments off next. They made a large pile on our bed. An hour later, our bed was covered with Christmas memories. Each pile contained an ornament along with its matching brothers and sisters from sets purchased many years ago.

　　我起身去了車庫，把所有的盒子都拖進(jìn)了房間?；ōh(huán)首先被摘了下來，圣誕樹看上去就顯得光禿禿的了，然后我又把大的裝飾物拿了下來，它們在我們的床上堆了很大一堆。一小時后，我們的床上堆滿了圣誕回憶。每一堆都包含著一件多年前購買的裝飾物以及與之相配套的其他裝飾品。

　　I prepared the boxes and carefully placed ornaments in their protective packaging, pausing every few minutes to admire a favorite. "Hey, little Santa!" I held the Santa from my childhood. "Thanks for being my friend for almost fifty years." He was a little ragged but still gives me a flood of wonderful memories. —Until next year, my dear friend."

　　我準(zhǔn)備好盒子并把這些裝飾物小心地放進(jìn)包裝袋內(nèi)，每過幾分鐘就會停下來欣賞一件我最愛的飾品。“嗨，小圣誕老人!”我拿著自童年起就陪伴我的圣誕老人，“謝謝你和我做了將近50年的朋友。”圣誕老人有一點破舊了，但仍然帶給我如潮般的美好回憶，“明年再見啦，我親愛的朋友。”

　　There was a collection of handmade ones. My children made in their first years of school, more than twenty years ago. Made by tiny hands, they are far from perfect in design, but every year they go on my memory tree — memories of young giggles on Christmas morning and a smiling face when they handed them to me when I came home from work. "Look what we made, Daddy!"

　　還有許多手工制作的裝飾品，是我的孩子們剛上學(xué)的頭幾年制作的，已經(jīng)是二十多年前的事情了。這些由小手制成的裝飾品設(shè)計絕非精美，但每年它們都被掛到我的回憶樹上，讓我憶起圣誕節(jié)清早純真的歡笑，憶起我下班回家他們把這些飾品遞給我時微笑的臉龐，“看我們做了什么，爸爸!”

　　"Oh! It is beautiful. Let's find a special spot on the tree for it." Every year since, they are displayed.

　　“唔，真漂亮，讓我們在樹上找個特別的地方掛它。”自那以后，每年它們都被掛到樹上。

　　A few hours after I started, the filled boxes were back in the garage, the room was vacuumed and I sat staring at a barren corner. The room seemed so empty. It took me two days of work to assemble and decorate my tree, but only a few hours to take it apart.

　　幾小時后，裝得滿滿的盒子又回到了車庫，房間騰空了，我坐下來凝視那空蕩蕩的角落。房間顯得太空曠了。我花了兩天裝飾裝點我的圣誕樹，而收起卻只花了幾個小時。

　　My tree is a good marriage or a great friendship. Like the tree, they take a long time to assemble and decorate with memories, but can be torn down quickly. All it takes is an unkind word or a thoughtless act, and what once stood proudly in the glow of love comes tumbling down.

　　圣誕樹彰顯著我美滿的婚姻、美好的友情。這些也和圣誕樹一樣要經(jīng)歷很長的時間積聚并用回憶加以裝點，但卻轉(zhuǎn)眼就能分崩瓦解。一番尖刻的話語，一個輕率的舉動就能使原本在愛的光輝中傲然挺立的東西紛紛墜落。

　　Every year I have to put my tree away, but not my marriage or friendships. I take great care of those. They get to glow in the corner of my life for as long as I live. I get to analyze my tree and find memories for a few weeks every year. I can do the same with the loves in my life every day. When I held the Santa, a flood of wonderful memories returned. The same happens when I hold my wife or see the smile of a friend across the room.

　　每年我都不得不把圣誕樹擱置起來，但我從不擱置我的婚姻和友情，而是小心地經(jīng)營它們。只要我活著，它們就在我生活的角落里煥發(fā)光彩。每一年我都會分析我的樹并花幾個星期尋找回憶，我也可以每天回憶生活中的愛。當(dāng)我拿著圣誕老人時，美好回憶的潮水席卷而來。當(dāng)我抱著妻子或是看到房間對面一個朋友的微笑時也是如此。

　　Take great care of your friendships and your marriage. Once they come down, they aren't as easy to put back together as a Christmas tree, if at all. Stand them in that special spot in the corner of your heart and admire their glow.

　　小心經(jīng)營你的友誼和婚姻，它們一旦失落，可不像圣誕樹那樣能那么輕易地加以重裝，如果能夠重裝的話。把它們放到你心靈角落那個特殊的位置上并懂得欣賞它們煥發(fā)出的奪目光彩。