In America many people have a romantic idea of life in the countryside. Many living in towns dream of starting up their own farm, of living off the land. Few get round to putting their dreams into practice. This is perhaps just as well, as the life of a farmer is far from easy, as Jim Doherty discovered when he set out to combine being a writer with running a farm. Nevertheless, as he explains, he has no regrets and remains enthusiastic about his decision to change his way of life.
在美國，不少人對鄉村生活懷有浪漫的情感。許多居住在城鎮的人夢想著自己辦個農場，夢想著靠土地為生。很少有人真去把夢想變為現實?；蛟S這也沒有什么不好，因為，正如吉姆·多爾蒂當初開始其寫作和農場經營雙重生涯時所體驗到的那樣，農耕生活遠非輕松自在。但他寫道，自己并不后悔，對自己作出的改變生活方式的決定仍熱情不減。

Mr. Doherty Builds His Dream Life

Jim Doherty

1 There are two things I have always wanted to do -- write and live on a farm. Today I'm doing both. I am not in E. B. White's class as a writer or in my neighbors' league as a farmer, but I'm getting by. And after years of frustration with city and suburban living, my wife Sandy and I have finally found contentment here in the country.
多爾蒂先生創建自己的理想生活

吉姆·多爾蒂

有兩件事是我一直想做的――寫作與務農。如今我同時做著這兩件事。作為作家，我和E·B·懷特不屬同一等級，作為農場主，我和鄉鄰也不是同一類人，不過我應付得還行。在城市以及郊區歷經多年的悵惘失望之后，我和妻子桑迪終于在這里的鄉村尋覓到心靈的滿足。

　
2 It's a self-reliant sort of life. We grow nearly all of our fruits and vegetables. Our hens keep us in eggs, with several dozen left over to sell each week. Our bees provide us with honey, and we cut enough wood to just about make it through the heating season.
這是一種自力更生的生活。我們食用的果蔬幾乎都是自己種的。自家飼養的雞提供雞蛋，每星期還能剩余幾十個出售。自家養殖的蜜蜂提供蜂蜜，我們還自己動手砍柴，足可供過冬取暖之用。


3 It's a satisfying life too. In the summer we canoe on the river, go picnicking in the woods and take long bicycle rides. In the winter we ski and skate. We get excited about sunsets. We love the smell of the earth warming and the sound of cattle lowing. We watch for hawks in the sky and deer in the cornfields.
這也是一種令人滿足的生活。夏日里我們在河上蕩舟，在林子里野餐，騎著自行車長時間漫游。冬日里我們滑雪溜冰。我們為落日的余輝而激動。我們愛聞大地回暖的氣息，愛聽牛群哞叫。我們守著看鷹兒飛過上空，看玉米田間鹿群嬉躍。


4 But the good life can get pretty tough. Three months ago when it was 30 below, we spent two miserable days hauling firewood up the river on a sled. Three months from now, it will be 95 above and we will be cultivating corn, weeding strawberries and killing chickens. Recently, Sandy and I had to retile the back roof. Soon Jim, 16 and Emily, 13, the youngest of our four children, will help me make some long-overdue improvements on the outdoor toilet that supplements our indoor plumbing when we are working outside. Later this month, we'll spray the orchard, paint the barn, plant the garden and clean the hen house before the new chicks arrive.
但如此美妙的生活有時會變得相當艱苦。就在三個月前，氣溫降到華氏零下30度，我們辛苦勞作了整整兩天，用一個雪橇沿著河邊拖運木柴。再過三個月，氣溫會升到95度，我們就要給玉米松土，在草莓地除草，還要宰殺家禽。前一陣子我和桑迪不得不翻修后屋頂。過些時候，四個孩子中的兩個小的，16歲的吉米和13歲的埃米莉，會幫著我一起把拖了很久沒修的室外廁所修葺一下，那是專為室外干活修建的。這個月晚些時候，我們要給果樹噴灑藥水，要油漆谷倉，要給菜園播種，要趕在新的小雞運到之前清掃雞舍。


5 In between such chores, I manage to spend 50 to 60 hours a week at the typewriter or doing reporting for the freelance articles I sell to magazines and newspapers. Sandy, meanwhile, pursues her own demanding schedule. Besides the usual household routine, she oversees the garden and beehives, bakes bread, cans and freezes, drives the kids to their music lessons, practices with them, takes organ lessons on her own, does research and typing for me, writes an article herself now and then, tends the flower beds, stacks a little wood and delivers the eggs. There is, as the old saying goes, no rest for the wicked on a place like this -- and not much for the virtuous either. 在這些活計之間，我每周要抽空花五、六十個小時，不是打字撰文，就是為作為自由撰稿人投給報刊的文章進行采訪。桑迪則有她自己繁忙的工作日程。除了日常的家務，她還照管菜園和蜂房，烘烤面包，將食品裝罐、冷藏，開車送孩子學音樂，和他們一起練習，自己還要上風琴課，為我做些研究工作并打字，自己有時也寫寫文章，還要侍弄花圃，堆摞木柴、運送雞蛋。正如老話說的那樣，在這種情形之下，壞人不得閑――賢德之人也歇不了。


6 None of us will ever forget our first winter. We were buried under five feet of snow from December through March. While one storm after another blasted huge drifts up against the house and barn, we kept warm inside burning our own wood, eating our own apples and loving every minute of it.
我們誰也不會忘記第一年的冬天。從12月一直到3月底，我們都被深達5英尺的積雪困著。暴風雪肆虐，一場接著一場，積雪厚厚地覆蓋著屋子和谷倉，而室內，我們用自己砍伐的木柴燒火取暖，吃著自家種植的蘋果，溫馨快樂每一分鐘。


7 When spring came, it brought two floods. First the river overflowed, covering much of our land for weeks. Then the growing season began, swamping us under wave after wave of produce. Our freezer filled up with cherries, raspberries, strawberries, asparagus, peas, beans and corn. Then our canned-goods shelves and cupboards began to grow with preserves, tomato juice, grape juice, plums, jams and jellies. Eventually, the basement floor disappeared under piles of potatoes, squash and pumpkins, and the barn began to fill with apples and pears. It was amazing.
開春后，有過兩次泛濫。一次是河水外溢，我們不少田地被淹了幾個星期。接著一次是生長季節到了，一波又一波的農產品潮涌而來，弄得我們應接不暇。我們的冰箱里塞滿了櫻桃、藍莓、草莓、蘆筍、豌豆、青豆和玉米。接著我們存放食品罐的架子上、柜櫥里也開始堆滿一罐罐的腌漬食品，有番茄汁、葡萄汁、李子、果醬和果凍。最后，地窖里遍地是大堆大堆的土豆、西葫蘆、南瓜，谷倉里也儲滿了蘋果和梨。真是太美妙了。