英语沙龙：纵情起舞

Dancing All the Dances As Long As I Can

I believe in dancing. I believe it is in my nature to dance by virtue¹ of the beat of my heart, the pulse of my blood and the music in my mind. So I dance daily. The seldom-used dining room of my house is now an often-used ballroom—an open space with a hardwood floor, stereo, and a disco ball.

The CD-changer has six discs at the ready: waltz, swing, country, rock-and-roll, salsa, and tango. Each morning when I walk through the house on the way to make coffee, I turn on the music, hit the "shuffle²" button, and it's Dance Time! I dance alone to whatever is playing. It's a form of existential aerobics³, a moving meditation⁴. Tango is a recent enthusiasm. It's a complex and difficult dance, so I'm up to three lessons a week, three nights out dancing, and I'm off to Buenos Aires for three months of immersion⁵ in tango culture.

The first time I went tango dancing I was too intimidated⁶ to get out on the floor. I remembered another time I had stayed on the sidelines, when the dancing began after a village wedding on the Greek island of Crete. The fancy footwork confused me. "Don't make a fool of yourself," I thought. "Just watch."

Reading my mind, an older woman dropped out of the dance, sat down beside me, and said, "If you join the dancing, you will feel foolish. If you do not, you will also feel foolish. So, why not dance?" And, she said she had a secret for me. She whispered, "If you do not dance, we will know you are a fool. But if you dance, we will think well of you for trying."

Recalling her wise words, I took up the challenge of tango. A friend asked me if my tango-mania wasn't a little ambitious. "Tango? At your age? You must be out of your mind!" On the contrary: It's a deeply pondered decision. My passion for tango disguises a fearfulness. I fear the shrinking of life that goes with aging. I fear the boredom⁷ that comes with not learning and not taking chances. I fear the dying that goes on inside you when you leave the game of life to wait in the final checkout⁸ line.

I seek the sharp, scary pleasure that comes from beginning something new—that calls on all my resources and challenges my mind, my body, and my spirit, all at once. My goal now is to dance all the dances as long as I can, and then to sit down contented⁹ after the last elegant tango some sweet night and pass on because there wasn't another dance left in me. So, when people say, "Tango? At your age? Have lost your mind?" I answer, "No, and I don't intend to."

1 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

2 shuffle   

n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走

参考例句：

• I wish you'd remember to shuffle before you deal.我希望在你发牌前记得洗牌。
• Don't shuffle your feet along.别拖着脚步走。

3 aerobics   

n.健身操，健美操，韵律操

参考例句：

• Doing aerobics is a good way to improve one's health.做有氧健身操是改善健康状况的一个好方法。
• Aren't you going to the aerobics class this morning?今天上午你不是去上有氧运动课吗？

4 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

5 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

6 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

8 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

9 contented   

adj.满意的，安心的，知足的

参考例句：

• He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office.不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
• The people are making a good living and are contented,each in his station.人民安居乐业。