Chat attack

double careers/ 双重职业/ (shuānɡchónɡ zhíyè)

A: Why were you late today? 

你今天怎么迟到了？

(nǐ jīntiān zěnme chídào le?)

B: I was on the subway reading a book I really like and missed my stop.  

我在地铁上看一本非常喜欢的书,坐过站了。

(wǒzài dìtiě shànɡ kàn yìběn fēichánɡ xǐhuān de shū, zuòɡuò zhàn le.)

A: What book could be so interesting?  

是什么书,这么有意思呢？

(shì shénme shū, zhème yǒu yìsī ne?)

B: It is an auto-biography about a gravedigger in Brazil with double careers. While working at a cemetery, he is also a philosophy teacher. 

是一本人物自述传记,讲述一位在巴西的挖墓人他有双重职业,在墓地工作的同时又是一位哲学老师。

(shì yìběn rénwù zìshù zhuánjì, jiǎnɡshù yīwèi zài bāxīde wāmùrén tāyǒu shuānɡchónɡ zhíyè, zài mùdì ɡōnɡzuòde tónɡshí yòushì yīwèi zhéxué lǎoshī.)

A: The gap between these to professions is too big, isn't it? I can't really connect them to each other.

这两个职业跨度也太大了吧,我很难把它们联系在一起。

(zhè liǎnɡɡè zhíyè kuàdù yě tàidàle bā, wǒ hěnnán bǎ tāmén liánxì zài yīqǐ.)

B: I don't think it is that hard. He says that the work at the cemetery makes him face death directly, and so he is able to think more deeply about life. I admire him. His life experience is like a story that tells in film. 

我觉得并不难。他说墓地的工作让他直面死亡,能更深入地思考人生。我很欣赏他。我觉得他的人生像是电影里才有的故事。

(wǒ juédé bìnɡ bùnán.tāshuō mùdì de ɡōnɡzuò rànɡtā zhímiàn sǐwánɡ, nénɡ ɡènɡ shēnrùdì sīkǎo rénshēnɡ.wǒ hěn xīnshǎnɡ tā.wǒ juédé tāde rénshēnɡ xiànɡshì diànyǐnɡ lǐ cái yǒu de ɡùshì.)

Illustration: Xia Qing/GT