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Time is running out for my friend.
時光荏苒，朋友已經(jīng)老大不小了。
While we are sitting at lunch she casually mentions she and her husband are thinking of starting a family.
我們吃午飯時，她漫不經(jīng)心地提起她和她丈夫正考慮要小孩的事。
“We’re taking a survey.” she says, half-joking. “Do you think I should have a baby?”
“我們正在作一項(xiàng)調(diào)查，”她半開玩笑地說，“你覺得我應(yīng)該要個小孩嗎？”
“It will change your life,” I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral.
“這會改變你的生活。”我小心翼翼地說道，盡量使語氣保持客觀。
“I know,” she says, “no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous holidays...”
“我知道，”她答道，“周末睡不成懶覺，也不能隨心所欲地休假……”
But that’s not what I mean at all. I look at my friend, trying to decide what to tell her.
但我絕不是那個意思。我看著我的朋友，試圖整理一下自己的思緒。
I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes.
我想讓她知道她永遠(yuǎn)不可能在分娩課上學(xué)到的東西。
I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will be vulnerable forever.
我想告訴她：分娩的有形傷疤可以愈合，但是做母親的情感傷痕卻永遠(yuǎn)如新，她會因此變得十分脆弱，永遠(yuǎn)都是。
I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without thinking: “What if that had been my child?” That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her.
如果那件事情發(fā)生在我的孩子身上將會怎樣啊？”每一次飛機(jī)失事、每一場住宅火災(zāi)都會讓她提心吊膽。
That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
我想告誡她，做了母親后，每當(dāng)她看報(bào)紙時就會情不自禁地想：“看到那些忍饑挨餓的孩子們的照片時，她會思索，世界上還有什么比眼睜睜地看著自己的孩子餓死更慘的事情呢？
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub.
我打量著她精修細(xì)剪的指甲和時尚前衛(wèi)的衣服，心里想到，不管她打扮多么考究，做了母親后，她會變得像護(hù)崽的母熊那樣原始而不修邊幅。
I feel I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood.
我覺得自己應(yīng)該提醒她，不管她在工作上投入了多少年，一旦做了母親，工作就會脫離常規(guī)。
She might arrange for child care, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting, and she will think her baby’s sweet smell.
她當(dāng)然可以安排他人照顧孩子，但說不定哪天她要去參加一個非常重要的商務(wù)會議，卻忍不住想起寶寶身上散發(fā)的甜甜乳香。
She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her child is all right.
她不得不拼命克制自己，才不致為了看看孩子是否安然無恙而中途跑回家。
I want my friend to know that every decision will no longer be routine.
我想讓我的朋友知道，有了孩子后，每一個決定都不再是例行公事。
That a five-year-old boy’s desire to go to the men’s room rather than the women’s at a restaurant will become a major dilemma.
在餐館，5歲的兒子想進(jìn)男廁而不愿進(jìn)女廁，將成為擺在她眼前的一大難題。
The issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in the lavatory.
她將在兩個選擇之間權(quán)衡一番：尊重孩子的獨(dú)立和性別意識，還是讓他進(jìn)男廁所冒被潛在的兒童性騷擾者侵害的危險(xiǎn)。
However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.
任憑她在辦公室多么果斷，作為母親，她仍經(jīng)常后悔自己當(dāng)時的決定。
Looking at my attractive friend, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the added weight of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself.
看著我這位漂亮迷人的朋友，我想讓她明白，她最終會恢復(fù)到懷孕前的體重，但是她對自己的感覺已經(jīng)截然不同。
That her own life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child.
她現(xiàn)在如此看重的生命，將隨著孩子的誕生而變得不那么寶貴。
She would give it up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years—not to accomplish her own dreams—but to watch her children accomplish theirs.
為了救自己的孩子，她時刻愿意獻(xiàn)出自己的生命。但她也開始希望多活一些年頭，不是為了實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的夢想，而是為了看著孩子們美夢成真。
I want to describe to my friend the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to hit a ball.
我想向朋友形容自己看到孩子學(xué)會擊球時的喜悅。
I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog for the first time.
我想讓她留意孩子第一次觸摸狗的絨毛時的捧腹大笑。
I want her to taste the joy that is so real it hurts.
我想讓她品嘗快樂，盡管這快樂是如此真實(shí)地令人心痛。
My friend’s look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes.
朋友的表情讓我意識到，自己已經(jīng)是熱淚盈眶。
“You’ll never regret it.” I say finally.
“你永遠(yuǎn)不會后悔的,”我最后說。
Then, squeezing my friend’s hand, I offer a prayer for her and me and all of the mere mortal women who stumble their way into this holiest of callings.
然后緊緊地握住朋友的手，為她、為自己，也為每一位艱難跋涉、準(zhǔn)備響應(yīng)母親這一神圣職業(yè)的召喚的平凡女性，獻(xiàn)上自己的祈禱。
