原文作者：hebeeb
　　“you want to sail on an arab 1）dhow？ then today’s your lucky day！ talk to him！” abdallah bin jassim， a dubaian historian， pointed to an elderly man sitting beside me.
 　　“he was for years a captain of a 2）pearl-diving dhow—the best 3）skipper in the arabian gulf.”abdullah appeared to be proud of the 4）former dhow skipper.
 　　after introductions， i asked the soft-spoken captain to tell me about his 5）seafaring life and if pearl-diving in dhows was continuing in our times.
 　　“pearl-diving in dhows？ of course not！ the youth today are 6）spoiled！ all they look for are the pleasures of life. it wasn’t like this when i was young.” ubayd al-muhayri the former dhow captain smiled.
 　　“你想乘坐阿拉伯独桅帆船吗？今天你很走运！和他谈谈吧！”迪拜历史学家阿卜杜拉·本·贾西姆指着坐在我旁边的一位老人对我说道。wwW.11665.cOM
　　“他当了很多年采珠帆船的船长，是阿拉伯海湾最好的船长。”阿卜杜拉似乎颇为这位帆船船长感到骄傲。
　　一番介绍之后，我向这位说话温和的船长问起他的航海生活，以及在我们现在这个时代，人们是否仍用独桅帆船采集珍珠。  [论文网]
　　“用独桅帆船潜水采集珍珠？当然没有了！现在的年轻人都被惯坏了，他们要的是享受。我年轻的时候可不是这样的。”以前当过帆船船长的奥贝德·阿穆哈利笑道。
　　when i asked him if he 7）yearned to sail the arab dhows again， he seemed 8）amused.
 　　“sail again！ i am 75 years old. do you know that pearl-diving was a part of hell？”he continued， 9）misty-eyed， “yet， for me the old days are 10）preferable. in those days， we did not worry about material wealth. we were 11）content to live on dates and coffee.”
 　　a tear came to his eye as he recalled his youthful years， “i was eight years old when my father first took me with him on a dhow. when i turned 15， he took me down some 15 meters to the bottom of the sea and taught me how to find the pearl-carrying 12）oysters in the deep. for a hundred days every year we worked the oyster 13）beds. until i became a skipper of a dhow， it was a harsh life but i was content.”
 　　putting his hand over mine， he went on，“it was not like now！ in my younger days， the father was the head of the 14）household. every member of the family obeyed him until he died.
 　　我问他是否渴望再开一次阿拉伯独桅帆船，他好像被逗乐了。
　　“再开一次啊？我已经75岁了。你知道吗？采珠简直就是地狱的一角。”他眼眶湿润起来，继续说道：“不过，对我而言，以前的日子更美好。那时候，我们不需要为物质财富发愁，只要有椰枣和咖啡就心满意足了。”
 　　回忆起青春岁月，他的眼里泛起了泪光。“我8岁的时候，父亲第一次带我坐上独桅帆船。15岁的时候，他带我潜入水下15米左右的海底，教我如何在水底寻找珍珠贝。每年我们都要在贝床上工作一百天。在我成为独桅帆船的船长之前，生活虽然艰苦，但我很满足。”
 　　他把手搭在我的手上，接着说：“今非昔比啊！我年轻的时候，父亲是一家之主，家里所有人都要服从他，直到他去世。
　　“today， the young men want to live in 15）luxury and own fast cars. fathers to them do not mean a thing. it’s only the daughters who still think of their parents.”