Over the years I have learned what harm can come from gossip or just talking about other people。
這些年來我已了解到犯長舌或只是談?wù)撘幌聞e人可造成的傷害有多大。
In my work place, gossip is a big problem, which is heightened by a couple of women who actually feel the need to stretch and twist certain bits of information, simply for the sake of turning staff against each other。
在我工作的地方，犯長舌是個(gè)大問題。幾個(gè)女人湊到一起切實(shí)感覺到有必要將一些信息宣揚(yáng)并將其扭曲，“為的”就是讓員工們互相猜忌產(chǎn)生矛盾，這更讓長舌問題變得嚴(yán)重。
Having been on the receiving end of their back stabbing, I have become very aware of what I say and to whom. I have prayed to God for help in being straightforward with people, and not say anything that might get back to someone who could be hurt by my words。
作為她們那些暗箭的靶子，我變得對自己說的話以及和誰說話都非常注意。我祈求過老天幫忙，讓我為人直率，不說可能會(huì)傳到別人耳朵里傷害他們的話。
One night, I was on the phone with my sister-inlaw, Dawn. I had called her to let her know our husbands would have to work very late that Saturday night due to some machinery problems.She was carrying on about not getting anything done that day since they were due to move out of their apartment by that next Friday. I mentioned that sixteen hours at time-and-a-half pay would certainly make up for it. She was OK with that, but said it would not make much difference when they had to pay the whole next month’s rent if they were not out by the end of the week. I acknowledged her point, but figured either way; they wouldn’t really be out any expected money。
一天夜里，我正和我的妯娌道恩通電話。我打電話告訴她，由于一些機(jī)械故障，我們倆的老公在那個(gè)周六晚上得加班到很晚。她則繼續(xù)說著她現(xiàn)在什么都還沒收拾，反正下周五之前搬出公寓就行。我說，他們加班的16 個(gè)小時(shí)都是1.5 倍工資，這也算是補(bǔ)償了。她說，那倒是不錯(cuò)啊，不過又說，如果他們下周末之前沒能搬走的話就要付滿下個(gè)月的房租，可就算那樣也無所謂。我領(lǐng)會(huì)了她的意思，我也完全可以理解——反正他們不差這點(diǎn)錢。
The next day, while my husband, Arlo, was helping his brother move, my dad called hoping to also enlist Arlo’s help。
第二天，我丈夫阿洛幫他弟弟搬家時(shí)，我父親打電話來也想請阿洛幫忙。
I have 3-way calling on our phone, so I clicked over and called my brother-in-law’s house, leaving a message on the answering machine for Arlo to call my dad when he could。
我家的電話是三路電話，所以我將父親的電話待機(jī)，然后撥通了小叔子家的電話，在答錄機(jī)上給阿洛留言讓他有空時(shí)給父親回個(gè)電話。
I clicked back over to my Dad and began telling him about the long day Arlo and his brother had put in. We inadvertently1 got on the subject of Dawn, who was not so thrilled about the time they had lost for moving. Dad agreed that for the money they made, it was worth it. Then I mentioned that SHE should have “gotten off her butt and did something herself.。。”
我再次接通父親的電話，開始跟他說阿洛和他弟弟這一整天是怎么辛苦干活的。我們無意間就將話題轉(zhuǎn)到了道恩身上——他們搬家浪費(fèi)了這么長時(shí)間但她現(xiàn)在仍然不緊不慢。父親說，他們賺錢不少，應(yīng)該換個(gè)地方住，他對此表示贊同。然后我說，道恩這個(gè)女人也應(yīng)該“抬起懶屁股自己干點(diǎn)兒活兒……”
Monday evening came along and Arlo walked in the house, looked at me, and began laughing as he headed into the next room. He did a sort of double take and said, “Brenda, next time you are talking bad about someone, make sure the three-way calling is disconnected。”
周一晚上，阿洛走進(jìn)屋子。他看看我，走向旁邊的房間時(shí)開始大笑，然后他回頭又看了我一眼說，布倫達(dá)啊，下次說別人壞話時(shí)要確保三通電話是斷開的。
Almost immediately I knew what he was talking about, but I wasn’t exactly sure what all I had said。
幾乎就在同時(shí)我意識到了他在說什么，但我記不得自己究竟在電話里說了什么。
Dawn’s answering machine had picked up the entire conversation between Dad and me!
道恩的答錄機(jī)錄下了我和父親的全部對話！
Arlo and his brother thought the situation was hysterical. Of course, men tend not to let things like that get to them. However, I know Dawn well enough to know she would be pretty upset, especially after both of our husbands spent the afternoon laughing at her and making cracks about her lazy butt。
阿洛和他弟弟認(rèn)為這事兒簡直能讓人樂瘋了。當(dāng)然了，男人是不會(huì)為這種事情煩心的。不過我非常了解道恩，我知道她的心情會(huì)非常煩亂，特別是在那兄弟倆整個(gè)下午都在笑話她、拿她的 “懶屁股”找樂兒之后。
Wondering how I was going to fix this one, I stopped by to apologize a couple of times, but Dawn wasn’t around. After a couple of weeks, I finally spoke to her. When she picked up the phone I tried to make a joke of it, but she did not see the humor in it。
我想找到化解這件事兒的辦法，于是我順便去她那兒好幾次想要道歉，但道恩都不在家。幾周以后，我終于和她通話了。她拿起電話時(shí)我嘗試拿這件事兒開個(gè)玩笑，但是她沒體會(huì)到其中的笑點(diǎn)。
After this incident, I got to think. Lately, I have become very comfortable with some people and have found myself slipping back into the gossip mode I had worked so hard to get myself out of. I sort of wonder if this was God’s way of washing my mouth out with soap. I certainly didn’t forget the taste when I was a kid。
這件事過去之后，我開始思索。近來，我覺得和某些人說話很舒適，發(fā)現(xiàn)我又“墮落”到我曾努力擺脫的長舌大隊(duì)之中。我想知道這是否是老天爺借此用肥皂清洗我的舌頭，我小時(shí)候當(dāng)然沒有忘記肥皂進(jìn)口的味道。
