Chapter 1 A Boa Constrictor Digesting an Elepant
Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.
当我6岁大的时候我看到一张壮观的图片，叫做《来自大自然的真实故事》，讲的是关于原始森林的事情。
其中画了一张大蟒蛇正在吞咽动物的图片，这里有一副复制作品。
In the book it said: “Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion.”
“be + 形容词 + do sth.”这种结构，可以分为多种类型。其中，有一种叫做“合成谓语”结构，这类结构往往表示“判断、趋向、能愿”等概念。
这本书里说：“蟒蛇整个囫囵吞下它的猎物，在这之后它不能移动，它需要沉睡6个月用来消化。”
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked something like this:
ponder deeply over 深思…
succeed in 在…方面成功
make a drawing 画一幅画
然后我沉浸在丛林冒险的思考中，在这之后我用水彩笔作了我人生中的第一幅画，它看起来就和下图一样：
I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
我把画拿给大人们看，问他们我的画是否吓到了他们.
But they answered: “Frighten? Why should anyone be frightened by a hat?”
should后跟动词原形，所以用be frightened by
但是他们回答：“害怕？怎么会有人被帽子吓到？”
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of a boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant: 它是一条正在消化着一头大象的蟒蛇。这里 digesting an elephant 的作用是修饰 boa constrictor，我们可以把这一部分变成一个完整的定语从句，变成：It was a picture of a boa constrictor that was digesting an elephant.
They always need to have things explained.
他们，也就是大人，总是需要解释。这一句似乎是对大人的抱怨，又很像是嘲讽。 这里有 have something done. “需要别人做某事”。所以 have things explained 可以理解为：别人解释给成人听。类似 I have just had my hair cut. 这句话的意思是别人刚给我剪头。
我画的不是帽子！它是一条正在消化大象的蟒蛇！但是那时大人们还不能够理解它。于是我画了另一幅画：我画了蟒蛇的肚子里面，所以大人们能看的很清楚了。大人们总是需要解释！我的二号画是这样的：
The grown-ups’ response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
this time 时间状语， 可以以这种插入语方式放在主语后面，前后都需要逗号隔开。
was 后面只能加形容词和名词或者动名词，所以用to advise.
advise sb to do sth. advice后接动词作宾语时，要用动名词doing；但若其后接的动词前已经有宾语，动词用作宾语补足语时，则要用不定式to do.
devote to 是一个固定用法，意思是“投身于某事”。instead 是一个副词，不太好翻译，大概类似于汉语里的 “转而” 的意思。
instead是副词，可以放在句首，句末，严格看前后也需要逗号隔开，但它是一个单词，所以有时候也可以不加逗号。
那时大人们让我把蟒蛇的画丢在一边，不管是从里面画的还是从外面画的都好，而是去投身于地理、历史、算术和文法。这就是为什么在我6岁的时候我放弃了可能会成为一个伟大画家的路。我对我的1号画和2号画灰心了。大人们什么都不懂，总是要小孩子不厌其烦的解释给他们听。
So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
be useful to 对…有用
at a glance 看一眼
a little over all parts of the world
A little译作差一点，差一点就飞遍了全世界
所以我选择了另一个职业，学开飞机。我差一点就飞遍了全世界。并且地理真的是很有用的知识。只要看一眼我就能辨别中国和亚利桑那。假如一个人在晚上迷路了，这是很有用的知识。
In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.
be concerned with matters of consequence 在忙重要的事
matters of consequence 重要的事儿
close at hand adv. 就在眼前；在附近
opinion of 后面一般加 人，例如opinion of ourselves。表示某人的观点
opinion about/on 后面一般加 事物，例如opinion about/on biology
in the course of 在…期间、过程中
have a great many encounters with 与…有过很多邂逅
improve my opinion of them 改善对他们的想法
a great deal 大量
在这过程中我遇到了很多在忙重要事情的人，我在大人物中生活了很长时间，和他们的关系也很亲密。但这并没有多大程度的改变我对他们的印象。
greatly pleased 非常高兴
