Puzzling as life may be, solutions can be close at hand

生活也许令人困惑，但答案也许就近在咫尺

A stroll through the hutong near Beijing's Drum Tower, which once sounded out the hours for the ancient city, is always like stepping back in time.

漫步 在曾经为老北京敲钟报时的鼓楼附近的胡同里，时光仿佛倒流了。

stroll through                        漫步

But on one recent crisp winter night, during a walk through a well-traveled alley there, I found myself suddenly transported back to my childhood years, half a world away.

但最近在一个清冷的冬夜 里，在穿过一条游客众多的小巷 时，我觉得自己好像突然回到了千里之外的童年时代。

crisp winter night                             清冷的冬夜

a well-traveled alley                             繁忙的小巷

I was heading toward one of the area's two excellent CD/record stores, when a display in a shop window caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, I realized the painting was a jigsaw puzzle, and the shop was devoted to such puzzles. When I stepped inside, the store's toasty warmth could hardly have outdone the rekindled fires in my heart and memory.

当时，我正想去这一片最好的两家CD/唱片店。这时候，一家商店橱窗里的一幅画吸引了我的目光。仔细一看，我发现这幅画竟是一幅拼图，而这家店也是专门卖拼图的。我走进店里，店里的温暖也没暖过当时我内心和记忆里重新燃起 的火焰。

upon closer inspection                        仔细一看

jigsaw puzzle                            拼图

toasty                          adj.暖和舒适的

rekindle                        v.重新点燃

Long ago, in my quiet hometown on the other side of the planet, my siblings and I, on long summer days, well before the advent of cellphones and video games, whiled away the afternoons solving, piece by piece, jigsaw puzzles of colorful waterfalls and other natural wonders.

很久以前，在地球另一端我宁静的家乡，在手机和电子游戏都还没有出现的时候，我和我的兄弟姐妹们会在漫长的夏日里一块接一块地拼着五颜六色的瀑布或是其他世界奇观的拼图消磨午后时光。

advent                         n.出现，到来，问世

Many decades later, as I browsed in Beijing through shelf after shelf of puzzles, I wondered: Could assembling them today possibly be as exciting as in bygone years?

几十年后，当我在北京看到这一架子又一架子的拼图时，我心想：现在拼拼图还会像以前那么有趣吗？

bygone                   adj.过去的        n.过去的事

Indeed, the two puzzles I purchased were just as fun as those of yesteryear. But I found that I'd accumulated skills over the decades that prepared me to better meet the challenge now and appreciate the profound value of this pastime.

事实证明，的确如此——我买的两个拼图拼起来就跟以前 一样有趣。但我发现，几十年来，我已经积累了一些技巧使我能够 更好地迎接现在的挑战，也使我更理解这种消遣背后的深刻价值。

yesteryear                      n.不久以前；去年    adv.过去不久的岁月

prepared me to                               使我能够

In perplexing moments while assembling the puzzles and searching endlessly for the proper piece, I often found myself wondering if perhaps I had lost a piece, or maybe my cat had pilfered one, swatting it about until losing it under the refrigerator. By and by, though each piece had already been carefully scrutinized, the mystery piece suddenly materialized and seemed so obvious.

在我一头雾水地拼拼图、不停寻找那块合适的拼图时，我经常怀疑自己是不是掉了一块拼图。或者，也许是我的猫偷走了一块，它可能拍来拍去地玩儿那块拼图，然后把它丢在了冰箱下面。但没过多久，随着我把每一块拼图都仔仔细细地检查了一遍却无果之后，那块神秘的拼图会突然间出现，而且是那么显而易见。

perplexing                          adj.复杂的，令人费解的；令人困惑的

pilfer                    v.偷窃；小偷小摸

swat                     n.用劲打击；重拍；全垒打    v.重拍；猛击；用力击出（远距离球）

by and by                        不久以后

materialize                       v.实现，成为现实；突然显现，奇怪地出现

An eagle's eye for nuanced color matches or tiny distinguishing details was required, aided by keeping the puzzle's box top close at hand for reference in the often frustrating search for just the right piece.

在痛苦地寻找那块拼图的时候，你需要一双鹰一般的眼睛，去发现细微的颜色搭配或细节差异，同时手里还要拿着拼图盒子上的效果图作为参考。

nuanced                        adj.微妙的；具有细微差别的

An insight by US advertising executive James Webb Young proved helpful. He wrote years ago in his book A Technique for Producing Ideas that, to effectively solve a problem, we need to work diligently, of course, but also must eventually rest, at which time the subconscious mind continues seeking a solution and, inevitably, surprises us with an appropriate answer when least expected. So when the puzzles seemed impossibly perplexing, I simply took a break, returned refreshed, and quickly found the piece that had long eluded me.

事实证明，美国的广告大师詹姆斯·韦伯·扬（James Webb Young）的一个见解很有用。多年前，他在《创意的生成》一书中写道，要想有效地解决一个问题，我们当然需要勤奋工作，但最终也必须休息；休息的时候，潜意识会继续寻找解决方案，而且一定会在我们最意想不到的时候，给我们一个恰当的答案。因此，当拼图拼到千头万绪的时候，我不妨休息一下，回来的时候大脑已经神清气爽，这时候就能很快找到那块在跟我玩捉迷藏的拼图了。

elude                 v.逃避；使达不到；使不记得；对（法律，要求，处罚）不服从

Among the valuable lessons and rewards that these puzzles offer is that patience and perseverance are enhanced. But what is most beneficial is how, like the detective Sherlock Holmes, we look for answers or clues, working tirelessly to find the perfect fit. It's an approach that pays off when confronting any challenge that life presents.

这些拼图带给我的宝贵经验和收获就是：耐心和毅力得以增强。但最有益的一点还是：我们如同侦探福尔摩斯般寻找答案或线索，孜孜不倦地寻求那块完美契合的拼图的过程。用这种方式面对生活中的任何挑战，我们都能有所收获。

work tirelessly                        孜孜不倦

No matter how flustered we get, we can rest assured of one thing: The answers to our problems are probably not under the refrigerator or even in the vast world outside, but often can be found right under our nose. That is, if we can persevere until the solution becomes almost embarrassingly obvious.

无论当时有多心烦意乱，我们都可以放心：答案可能并不在冰箱下，甚至也并非远在天边，答案往往就近在眼前。也就是说，只要我们坚持不懈，最后你甚至会些许尴尬地发现，得来全不费工夫。

flustered                           adj.慌张的；激动不安的

right under our nose                            就近在眼前