鲈鱼的启示Catch of a Lifetime（1/2）

Uand these new words before you read this article.

1. bass[beis] n. 鲈鱼

2. re[?] n. 诱饵

3. ripple[ripl] n. 涟漪

4. gill [d??l] n. 鱼鳃

5. iable[nig?u?i?bl] adj. 可以协商的

6. be supposed to 应该

He was 11 years old a fishg every ce he got fro the dock at his faily’s cab on an isndthe iddle of a Neshire ke.

On the day before the bass season opened, he and his father were fishg earlythe eveng, catchg sunfish and perch with wors. Theied on a sall silver re and practiced castg. The re struck the water and caed lored ripplesthe suhen silver ripples as the oon rose over the ke.

When his peapoledoubled over, he knew sothg huge was oher end. His father watched with adiration as the boy skillfully worked the fish alongside the dock.

Fally, he very ggerly lifted the exhated fish fro the water. It was the rgest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass.

The boy and his father looked at the handso fish, gills pyg bad forththe oonlight. The father lit a atd looked at his watch. It was 10 P.M.—o hours before the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy.

“You’ll have to put it back, son.”he said.

“Dad!”cried the boy.

“There will be other fish.”said his father.

“Not as big as this one.”cried the boy.

He looked around the ke. No other fishern or boats were anywhere aroundthe oonlight. He looked aga at his father. Even though no one had seen the, nor uld anyone ever know what ti he caught the fish, the boy uld tell by the crity of his father’s voice that the decision was not iable. He slowly worked the hook out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it to the bck water.

The creature swished its powerful body and disappeared. The boy spected that he would never aga see such a great fish.

That was 34 years ago. Today, the boy is a suessful architeew York City. His father’s cab is still there on the isndthe iddle of the ke. He takes his own son and daughters fishg fro the sa dock.

And he was right. He has never aga caught such a agnifit fish as the o night long ago. But he does see that sa fish aga and aga—every ti he es up agast a question of ethics.

For, as his father taught hi, ethics are siple atters ht and wrong. It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult. Do we dht when no one is lookg? Do we refe to cut ro get the designon ti? Or refe to trade stocks based on ration that we know we aren’t supposed to have?

We would if we were taught to put the fish back when we were young. For we would have learhe truth.The decision to dht lives fresh and fragrantour ory. It is a story we will proudly tell our friends and grandchildren. Not about how we had a ce to beat the syste and took it, but about how we did the right thg and were forever strengthened.

他11岁那年，一有机会就到新汉普郡湖心岛上自家小屋的码头钓鱼。

在鲈鱼季节到来的前一天，他和父亲晚上很早就开始准备了。他们用小虫做诱饵来钓太阳鱼和鲈鱼。他在银色的鱼钩上放好诱饵，开始练习抛线。鱼钩撞到水面上，在夕阳中**起一片色彩斑澜的水波。接着，当月亮升起来时，水波就变得银光闪闪。

当他的鱼杆弯下去的时候，他知道线的那一端一定钓到了一条大鱼。他灵巧地在码头边沿和那条大鱼周旋。父亲用充满赞赏的眼神看着他。

最后，他很小心地将那条筋疲力尽的鱼从水里拉了出来。这可是他所见过的最大的一条鱼，而且还是一条鲈鱼。

男孩和他的父亲凝视着这条漂亮的鱼，它的鳃在月光下一张一翕。父亲点亮一根火柴，看了—下表。现在是晚上十点——离鲈鱼季节的开放还有两个小时。他看了看鱼，又看了看那个男孩。

“你要把它再放回去，儿子。”他说。

“爸爸!”男孩喊。

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