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记得小时候，家住平房，长长的小巷子一路走过去，皆是和善的笑脸。东家炖了好香的汤，西家带回的家乡特产，左邻右舍谁家都少不了分到一份。到了傍晚，把电视机搬到院子里，几家的人围在一起看电视，说着笑着吃着零食，生活虽然并不富裕，却有一股浓浓的情谊温暖人心。
古话说：“远亲不如近邻”。然而，现代都市里，楼房越来越高，人与人之间的关系却愈加疏远。越来越高级的防盗门不仅隔绝了外界的侵扰，更隔绝了邻里间的温情。也许，我们需要的，只是主动地走出去，敲敲邻居家的门，然后说声：“你好！”生活原本是可以更美好的！
—— 小狐
The other day, I joined my daughters in watching an 2)episode of their favorite cartoon 3)Caillou and was soon 4)transported to the wonderful world of 5)make-believe. Caillou, a four-year-old boy, wanted his mom to make pancakes for breakfast, but she was out of eggs. So what did she do? She went to the neighbor’s house and borrowed an egg. She even knew the neighbor’s name: 6)Mr. Hinkle.
How nice, I thought, getting an egg from the neighbor. I’d love to have a neighbor who could occasionally supply me with food. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Hinkle,” I’d say, “but we seem to have run out of meat. Got a steak you can spare? Just one will do.”
We’re always running out of stuff in our kitchen, especially milk (we need to get ourselves a cow), eggs (we need to get ourselves a hen) and ice cream (we need to get ourselves a 7)diet). But if I went to the neighbors, they’d open their door cautiously, then give me a look that says, “I hope you’re not here to rob us. That would not be a wise thing to do, because we know where you live.”
The conversation would be rather 8)awkward.
Me: “Sorry to bother you. We’ve run out of eggs. Do you think I could borrow one?”
Male neighbor: “Sure, but you do know there’s a grocery store down the road? Not that we mind lending you an egg. I mean, it’s only one egg, right?”
Female voice from inside: “Who is it, honey?”
Male: “It’s the neighbor, honey. He wants to borrow an egg.”
Female: “An egg? Did you tell him there’s a grocery store right down the road?”
Male: “Yes, I did, honey. But he seems to want one of OUR eggs.”
Female: “There’s also a farm in the other direction. I think they have 9)eggplants.”
Male neighbor: “It’s okay, honey. I’ll lend him one of OURS. Do you think you could draw up a loan contract?”
It wasn’t too long ago that everyone knew their neighbors and borrowing food and other items was common practice. But these days, most people don’t get anything from the neighbors, other than a little 10)fertilizer for the lawn. And that’s only because of the 11)generosity of the neighbors’ dog.
When you ask some folks about their neighbors, they speak as if they’re operating competing stores at the 12)mall: “I’ve got a pretty good neighbor. He minds his own business and I mind mine.”
That’s not exactly how I’d define a good neighbor. I’ve got other 13)criteria:
Good neighbor: Keeps an eye on your house.
Bad neighbor: Keeps an eye on your wife.
Good neighbor: Eager to give you a piece of her apple pie.
Bad neighbor: Eager to give you a piece of her mind.
Good neighbor: Asks if you can turn your music up.
Bad neighbor: Asks if you can burn your music up.
Good neighbor: Offers to help you 14)scrape your driveway when it freezes over.
Bad neighbor: Offers to help you scrape your driveway when hell freezes over.
I’d love to have a good neighbor, one who’s willing to give me the shirt off his back. That would be wonderful, especially when the 15)laundry starts to pile up. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Hinkle, but we seem to have run out of clothes. Got a shirt you can spare? The one on your back looks rather nice.”
几天前，我和女儿们一起看了一出她们最喜欢的卡通片《卡由》，并且很快就沉浸在了这个绝妙的虚拟世界里。卡由是一个四岁大的小男孩，他希望他妈妈做薄煎饼给他作早餐，但是他们家没有鸡蛋了。他妈妈该怎么办呢？于是，她走去邻居家，借了一个鸡蛋。她甚至还知道她邻居的名字——辛克尔先生。
真是太棒了，她居然能够从邻居那儿弄到一个鸡蛋，我感叹道。我也希望能有一个邻居可以偶尔为我提供一些食物。“对不起，打扰您了，辛克尔先生，”我会说，“不过我们家的肉好像吃完了。您可以给我们一块牛排吗？一块就够了。”
我们家厨房里的东西经常不够用，特别是牛奶（看来我们需要自己养一头奶牛）、鸡蛋（最好自己还养一只母鸡）以及冰淇淋（大概还需要制定一份保健食谱）。但是如果我去邻居家借这些东西，他们可能会小心翼翼地打开门，然后看着我，那表情似乎在说：“希望你不是来抢劫的。那样做可不太明智，因为我们知道你住在哪儿。”
彼此之间的对话会非常尴尬。
我说：“很抱歉打扰您。我们家的鸡蛋用完了。我能从您这儿借一个吗？”
男邻居说：“当然可以。不过你知道吗，沿着这条路向前走就有一个杂货店。我们当然不是不愿意借一个鸡蛋给你。我的意思是，只不过是一个鸡蛋而已，是吧？”
屋里传出女人的声音：“亲爱的，是谁呀？”
男的说：“是位邻居，亲爱的。他想借一个鸡蛋。”
女声说：“一个鸡蛋？你没有告诉他，顺着这条路往前走就有一个杂货店吗？”
男的说：“亲爱的，我告诉他了。不过他似乎是想要‘我们的’一个鸡蛋。”
女声说：“在路的另一头还有一个农场。我想他们有茄子。”（编者注：这是作者开的一个玩笑——The egg is from eggplants，用来达到幽默效果。）
男邻居说：“没关系，亲爱的，我会借一个‘我们的’鸡蛋给他。你可以写一张借据给我们吗？”
不久以前，邻里间还是互相认识的，借食物和其他东西也十分平常。但是时至今日，大多数人都不再从邻居那里得到任何东西了——除了草坪上的一点粪肥，而那也仅仅是因为邻居家的狗慷慨大度。
当你向一些人询问起他们的邻居时，他们说话的语气听起来就像他们和邻居在购物中心里经营着彼此竞争的商铺：“我有一个非常不错的邻居。他顾他的事，我顾我的事，我们互不打扰。”
那可不是我对好邻居的定义。我的标准是这样的：
好邻居：帮忙照看你的房子。
坏邻居：只会注意你的妻子。
好邻居：热切地想送你一块苹果派。
坏邻居：热切地想把她的想法强加于你。
好邻居：问你是否能把音乐开大声点。
坏邻居：问你是否能把音箱烧掉。
好邻居：天寒地冻的时候会帮你把车道上的冰雪铲掉。
坏邻居：只有当地狱也结冰的时候才可能帮你把车道铲干净。
我希望能有个好邻居，一个愿意把自己的衬衣脱下来送给我的好邻居。那样的话就太棒了，特别是在脏衣服已经堆积如山的时候。“对不起，打扰您了，辛克尔先生，但是我们好像没有衣服穿了。您能借一件衬衣给我吗？您身上穿着的那件就挺漂亮的！”
古话说：“远亲不如近邻”。然而，现代都市里，楼房越来越高，人与人之间的关系却愈加疏远。越来越高级的防盗门不仅隔绝了外界的侵扰，更隔绝了邻里间的温情。也许，我们需要的，只是主动地走出去，敲敲邻居家的门，然后说声：“你好！”生活原本是可以更美好的！
—— 小狐
The other day, I joined my daughters in watching an 2)episode of their favorite cartoon 3)Caillou and was soon 4)transported to the wonderful world of 5)make-believe. Caillou, a four-year-old boy, wanted his mom to make pancakes for breakfast, but she was out of eggs. So what did she do? She went to the neighbor’s house and borrowed an egg. She even knew the neighbor’s name: 6)Mr. Hinkle.
How nice, I thought, getting an egg from the neighbor. I’d love to have a neighbor who could occasionally supply me with food. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Hinkle,” I’d say, “but we seem to have run out of meat. Got a steak you can spare? Just one will do.”
We’re always running out of stuff in our kitchen, especially milk (we need to get ourselves a cow), eggs (we need to get ourselves a hen) and ice cream (we need to get ourselves a 7)diet). But if I went to the neighbors, they’d open their door cautiously, then give me a look that says, “I hope you’re not here to rob us. That would not be a wise thing to do, because we know where you live.”
The conversation would be rather 8)awkward.
Me: “Sorry to bother you. We’ve run out of eggs. Do you think I could borrow one?”
Male neighbor: “Sure, but you do know there’s a grocery store down the road? Not that we mind lending you an egg. I mean, it’s only one egg, right?”
Female voice from inside: “Who is it, honey?”
Male: “It’s the neighbor, honey. He wants to borrow an egg.”
Female: “An egg? Did you tell him there’s a grocery store right down the road?”
Male: “Yes, I did, honey. But he seems to want one of OUR eggs.”
Female: “There’s also a farm in the other direction. I think they have 9)eggplants.”
Male neighbor: “It’s okay, honey. I’ll lend him one of OURS. Do you think you could draw up a loan contract?”
It wasn’t too long ago that everyone knew their neighbors and borrowing food and other items was common practice. But these days, most people don’t get anything from the neighbors, other than a little 10)fertilizer for the lawn. And that’s only because of the 11)generosity of the neighbors’ dog.
When you ask some folks about their neighbors, they speak as if they’re operating competing stores at the 12)mall: “I’ve got a pretty good neighbor. He minds his own business and I mind mine.”
That’s not exactly how I’d define a good neighbor. I’ve got other 13)criteria:
Good neighbor: Keeps an eye on your house.
Bad neighbor: Keeps an eye on your wife.
Good neighbor: Eager to give you a piece of her apple pie.
Bad neighbor: Eager to give you a piece of her mind.
Good neighbor: Asks if you can turn your music up.
Bad neighbor: Asks if you can burn your music up.
Good neighbor: Offers to help you 14)scrape your driveway when it freezes over.
Bad neighbor: Offers to help you scrape your driveway when hell freezes over.
I’d love to have a good neighbor, one who’s willing to give me the shirt off his back. That would be wonderful, especially when the 15)laundry starts to pile up. “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Hinkle, but we seem to have run out of clothes. Got a shirt you can spare? The one on your back looks rather nice.”
几天前，我和女儿们一起看了一出她们最喜欢的卡通片《卡由》，并且很快就沉浸在了这个绝妙的虚拟世界里。卡由是一个四岁大的小男孩，他希望他妈妈做薄煎饼给他作早餐，但是他们家没有鸡蛋了。他妈妈该怎么办呢？于是，她走去邻居家，借了一个鸡蛋。她甚至还知道她邻居的名字——辛克尔先生。
真是太棒了，她居然能够从邻居那儿弄到一个鸡蛋，我感叹道。我也希望能有一个邻居可以偶尔为我提供一些食物。“对不起，打扰您了，辛克尔先生，”我会说，“不过我们家的肉好像吃完了。您可以给我们一块牛排吗？一块就够了。”
我们家厨房里的东西经常不够用，特别是牛奶（看来我们需要自己养一头奶牛）、鸡蛋（最好自己还养一只母鸡）以及冰淇淋（大概还需要制定一份保健食谱）。但是如果我去邻居家借这些东西，他们可能会小心翼翼地打开门，然后看着我，那表情似乎在说：“希望你不是来抢劫的。那样做可不太明智，因为我们知道你住在哪儿。”
彼此之间的对话会非常尴尬。
我说：“很抱歉打扰您。我们家的鸡蛋用完了。我能从您这儿借一个吗？”
男邻居说：“当然可以。不过你知道吗，沿着这条路向前走就有一个杂货店。我们当然不是不愿意借一个鸡蛋给你。我的意思是，只不过是一个鸡蛋而已，是吧？”
屋里传出女人的声音：“亲爱的，是谁呀？”
男的说：“是位邻居，亲爱的。他想借一个鸡蛋。”
女声说：“一个鸡蛋？你没有告诉他，顺着这条路往前走就有一个杂货店吗？”
男的说：“亲爱的，我告诉他了。不过他似乎是想要‘我们的’一个鸡蛋。”
女声说：“在路的另一头还有一个农场。我想他们有茄子。”（编者注：这是作者开的一个玩笑——The egg is from eggplants，用来达到幽默效果。）
男邻居说：“没关系，亲爱的，我会借一个‘我们的’鸡蛋给他。你可以写一张借据给我们吗？”
不久以前，邻里间还是互相认识的，借食物和其他东西也十分平常。但是时至今日，大多数人都不再从邻居那里得到任何东西了——除了草坪上的一点粪肥，而那也仅仅是因为邻居家的狗慷慨大度。
当你向一些人询问起他们的邻居时，他们说话的语气听起来就像他们和邻居在购物中心里经营着彼此竞争的商铺：“我有一个非常不错的邻居。他顾他的事，我顾我的事，我们互不打扰。”
那可不是我对好邻居的定义。我的标准是这样的：
好邻居：帮忙照看你的房子。
坏邻居：只会注意你的妻子。
好邻居：热切地想送你一块苹果派。
坏邻居：热切地想把她的想法强加于你。
好邻居：问你是否能把音乐开大声点。
坏邻居：问你是否能把音箱烧掉。
好邻居：天寒地冻的时候会帮你把车道上的冰雪铲掉。
坏邻居：只有当地狱也结冰的时候才可能帮你把车道铲干净。
我希望能有个好邻居，一个愿意把自己的衬衣脱下来送给我的好邻居。那样的话就太棒了，特别是在脏衣服已经堆积如山的时候。“对不起，打扰您了，辛克尔先生，但是我们好像没有衣服穿了。您能借一件衬衣给我吗？您身上穿着的那件就挺漂亮的！”