[ Chapter 1 ] -
we are introduced to the narrator, a pilot, and his ideas about grown-ups
Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.
In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:
I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
The grown-
ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.
Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:
"That is a hat."
Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would begreatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
narrator n. （故事的）讲述者，（戏剧、电影等的）解说员
primeval adj. 原始的； 太古的，太初的
boa constrictor 王蛇 n. 大蟒蛇
prey n.被捕食的动物；捕食（习性）；受害者；受骗者
digestion n. 消化，领悟； 消化能力； 细菌分解
pondered v. 考虑（ ponder的过去式和过去分词 ）
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle.
然后，我深深地思考着丛林里的冒险经历
Masterpiece n. 杰作，名作； 杰出的事
tiresome adj. 令人生厌的； 无聊的
encounters n. 遭遇战（ encounter的名词复数 ）； [天文学]（向着某一天体的）接近； 突然遇到 v. 遇到（ encounter的第三人称单数 ）； 遭遇； 偶然碰到； 与（人、部队）冲突
consequence n. 结果，成果； [逻]结论； 重要性； 推论
intimately adv. 熟悉地； 亲密地； 私下地； 谙熟地
neckties n. 领带，领结（ necktie的名词复数 ）
In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.
在这一生中，我遇到过许多关心重要问题的人。我经常生活在成年人之中。我已经在眼前近距离地看到了他们。但这并没有大大改善我对他们的看法。
