210.The stocky stonemason
第210课 肥胖的石匠

The government passed a stipulation that stocky stonemasons would no longer be receiving their stipends. The edict stipulated that in six months, if they had not made great strides in losing weight, they would face a lot of strife. Even though he found his work rather stodgy and strenuous, Ed Branson always managed to stitch together some pride in his work. Besides, he still needed his salary. While he was a stout man, he was not lazy. He was in fact looking forward to the exercise program that awaited him.
政府通过了一项规定，内容是肥胖的石匠再也领取不到薪水。这项法令规定，六个月之后，如果他们没有在减轻体重方面取得巨大进展，他们就会面临许多挑战。尽管埃德·布兰森觉得自己的工作很乏味，而且劳累，但是他总能在工作中拼凑出一些足以令人自豪的事情。而且，他还需要薪水。他虽然肥胖，但并不懒惰。实际上他在盼望着即将到来的锻炼计划。
Ed lived near a strait. Everyday he began walking along the strand, straying far away from the pizza parlors that people from his social stratum usually frequented. At first, he was failing to stretch before each workout. Then he strained his lower back muscle and learned his lesson. While he was recovering from his ailment, he couldn't exercise and began to eat heavily. To offset the effects of the heavy eating, he began taking stimulants. This caused a sharp sting in his chest one day, so he soon quit taking them. He soon ceased to exercise at all.
埃德生活在海峡附近。每天他都远离他这个社会阶层的人们经常光顾的比萨屋，开始沿着海滨散步。起初，在每次锻炼之前，他腰都伸不直。后来，他拉伤了后背下部肌肉，吸取了教训。在恢复的过程中，他无法锻炼，开始大吃大喝。为了抵消多吃的影响，他开始服用兴奋剂。结果，有一天胸部出现一阵剧烈疼痛，因此他不久就戒掉了兴奋剂。紧接着，他又彻底放弃了锻炼。
"What I need are some outside stimuli, a few things that will get me interested in exercising again," he thought to himself. He recalled that along the strand, there were many women of striking beauty from all social strata. In addition, strings of birds would fly by and sing. These memories strengthened his resolve to lose weight and retain his income. Still, sometimes it was difficult to stay motivated, so he had to resort to his imagination. Whenever he caught himself slowing down while jogging, he imagined his old football coach chasing behind him with a strap in one hand, eager to slap idle legs.
“我需要的是一些外部刺激，一些能让我对锻炼重新产生兴趣的东西，”他心里想。他记得在海滨，有很多来自各个社会阶层的极为漂亮的女人。此外，一行行的鸟儿经常鸣叫着飞过。这些记忆加强了他减轻体重、保住收入的决心。然而，有时候难以保持原有动力，所以他只得借助于想象。每当他发现自己跑步的速度减慢时，他就想象着他的老足球教练在后面追他，手里拿着皮带，准备抽打偷懒的腿。
Ed kept up the exercise regimen, lost the required weight, and saved his job. A stocky stonemason he was no longer.
埃德坚持这种锻炼养生法，体重达到了要求，保住了工作。他再也不是肥胖的石匠了。