英语智慧背囊03-青香蕉

[00:00.00]The Green Banana青香蕉
[00:05.07]My encounter with the green banana started on a steep mountain road in Brazil.
[00:11.31]My ancient jeep was zigzagging when the radiator began to leak.
[00:16.01]I stopped at the next village, where people gathered to look.
[00:19.83]Three fine streams of hot water spouted from holes in the radiator.
[00:24.77]“That’s easy to fix,” a man said.
[00:27.51]He sent a boy running for some green bananas.
[00:30.90]We exchanged pleasantries while I mulled over the green banana.
[00:34.83]Asking questions would seems silly,
[00:37.37]so I remarked on the beauty of the mountain.
[00:39.64]“Do you see that tall one right over there?”
[00:42.17]asked my benefactor,
[00:43.82]pointing to a particular tall,
[00:45.79]slender pinnacle of dark rock.
[00:47.66]“That rock marks the center of the world.”
[00:50.82]I looked to see if he were teasing me,
[00:53.24]but his face was serious.
[00:54.97]He in turn inspected me carefully to be sure
[00:57.83]I grasped the significance of his statement.
[01:00.55]The occasion demanded some show of recognition on my part.
[01:04.50]“The center of the world?”
[01:06.79]I repeated,
[01:08.11]trying to convey interest if not complete acceptance.
[01:11.49]He nodded. “The absolute center.”
[01:14.02]At that moment the boy returned with my green bananas.
[01:17.51]The man sliced one in half and pressed the cut end against the radiator.
[01:22.78]The banana melted into a glue against the hot metal,
[01:26.49]plugging the leaks instantly.
[01:28.47]Everyone laughed at my astonishment.
[01:31.18]As a product of American higher education,
[01:34.70]I had never paid the slightest attention to the green banana.
[01:38.42]Suddenly on that mountain road, its time and my need had converged.
[01:43.44]This chance encounter showed me the special genius of those people,
[01:47.27]and the special potential of the green banana.
[01:50.15]I had been wondering for some time
[01:52.09]about what educators like to call “learning moments”,
[01:55.73]and I now knew I had just experienced two of them at once.
[01:59.33]The importance of the rock marking the center of the world
[02:02.85]took a while to filter through.
[02:04.92]I had initially doubted their claim,
[02:07.64]knowing for a fact that the center was located somewhere in New England.
[02:11.47]After all, my grandfather had come from there.
[02:14.43]But gradually I realized they had a valid belief,
[02:18.05]a universal concept, and I agreed with them.
[02:20.69]We tend to define the center as that special place where we are known,
[02:25.06]where we know others, where things mean much to us,
[02:28.22]and where we ourselves have both identity and meaning:
[02:32.04]family, school, town and local region.