⊙ By Alex Abramovich翻译：思苇

My1)Bully and Me

⊙ By Alex Abramovich翻译：思苇

你有过这样的经历吗—偶然遇到很久不见的儿时玩伴，一聊起来才发现彼此的童年回忆竟然有着巨大的偏差？专栏作家亚力克斯一直记得自己在小学时遭遇的校园霸凌，然而长大之后，他才发现事情和自己想的不太一样。这是一个你能猜到开头，却想不到结尾的另类友情故事……

Host: Tell us about your memories of Trevor Latham as a child.

Alex Abramovich (Writer): I remember Trevor as a large, angry boy, which is funny because when I went back and met him years later and saw photos of him, it turned out that he was a little boy—we were both pretty little kids. This was in the fourth grade and my dad and I had just moved to a new town. I’d only moved in with my dad the previous year. My mom had died that year, so I’d moved in with my father. And then towards the end of that year, we moved to Long Island, which is where I met Trevor. He was the bully I remembered out of all the bullies I’d known.

Host: So a lot of time goes by and you reconnect. How did that happen?

Alex: I remembered him and I remembered his name, but I’d never thought to Google him until one day I did. And a very short thing came up on the screen that said, “I moved toCalifornia, became a2)bouncer and started a motorcycle club.” I knew at that point that we would meet again. That was too good to3)pass up.

Host: Did you connect right away? I mean, what…how did he react to your getting in touch?

Alex: They have a website—old-fashioned website, but Trevor’s number is on it. It was a 510 number注, and I dialed it, and he was at the bar when I called him. And I said, “You don’t know me, but I used to know you in4)grade school. We used to know each other in grade school.” And he, without5)missing a beat, said, “Alex Abramovich?” It was very strange. And we started emailing late at night, sort of comparing memories, which turned out to be very different, his and mine. So there was a basis for communication by the time I got out to Oakland, and we6)got along well.

Host: When you reconnected as adults, what was his memory of your relationship as kids?

Alex: He remembers fighting. He remembers fighting in the classroom, teachers breaking us up. He remembers us getting sent down to the7)principal’s office. He remembered our fathers having to pick us up at school…much more specific memories than I had, actually. But,8)weirdly enough, he also remembers that I was bullying him as much as he was bullying me. And,9)moreover, he remembers that despite that we were good friends at the time. He remembers us playing chess, going to each other’s houses. I don’t remember any of this. Didn’t then, don’t now.

Host: What’s your best guess as to who’s right?

Alex: I think, in a way, we’re both right. You know, I was an angry, messed-up kid. But what’s also interesting about it is that our…the specific details of our memories10)line up, but that makes me think that Trevor’s a bully,11)whereas it leads him to think that because we were fighting all the time that meant we must’ve been friends.

Host: How well do you feel that you know him? I mean, are you good friends now? Do you feel like you understand him?

Alex: You know, he’s my oldest friend, I think. I’ve known him for—is that right—35 years now, and I’m only 43. And I’m his oldest friend. So, in a sense, there’s a very deep connection. And whenever we don’t see each other for a while, we12)pick up the thread very quickly.

1) bully ['bʊlɪ] n. 恶霸，欺负弱小者；v. 欺凌，欺侮，尤指校园霸凌

2) bouncer ['baʊnsə(r)] n. 保镖，保安

3) pass up <口>放弃，放过；错过，错失（机会）

4) grade school <美>小学

5) miss a beat 犹豫，踌躇

6) get along well 与……合得来

7) principal ['prɪnsɪp(ə)l] n. 中小学校长

8) weirdly ['wɪədlɪ] adv. 古怪地，奇怪地

9) moreover [mɔː'rəʊvə(r)] adv. 而且，此外

10) line up （使）排队，整队

11) whereas [weər'æz] conj. 但是，相反

12) pick up the thread （工作、关系等中断后）接续下去；（故事、谈话等中断后）再继续下去

注：510是美国加利福尼亚州其中一个电话区号，范围覆盖旧金山湾区的大部分城市。

句型：remember搭配小结

在讲述老朋友的童年印象时，作者用了一整段以“He remembers…”开头的句子，正好可以让我们总结一下remember的常用句式搭配。Remember在表示“记得，回想起”的意思时是一个及物动词，后面要跟名词性宾语，常用句型包括：remember sth./sb.、remember doing sth.、remember sb. doing sth.、remember + that引导的从句。同学们不妨将原文中的例句反复读几遍，从而巩固这些搭配用法。

注意：如果和动词不定式搭配，remember表达的意思则为“牢记，记住，不忘记”，如：Remember to go to the post offce. （别忘了去一趟邮局。）

主持人：跟我们讲讲你小时候对特雷弗·莱瑟姆的印象是怎样的吧。

亚力克斯·阿布拉莫维奇（作家）：我记得特雷弗是个大个子，老是气鼓鼓的，而这一点很有趣，因为我在多年以后回首过去，跟他见上面，看到那些老照片，才发现他以前其实是个小个子——我们俩那时的个头都不高。