肖瑤

Some say that competition between spouses is like dragging a fork across a balloon. Before long， the whole thing explodes. But for me， gaining a lifelong， live-in opponent was the icing on the wedding cake.

有人說伴侶間的爭執(zhí)就像叉子劃過氣球，很快就會爆發(fā)。但是，對于我來說，找到一個能夠攜手一生、白頭偕老的對手就像是婚禮蛋糕上的糖衣一樣甜蜜。

Like most people， when it came to finding a soul mate， I searched for that elusive combination of spontaneous romance and day-to-day compatibility. But I was also looking for someone who would challenge me. Having played sports since the peewee level， Ive always had a competitive streak. The way I see it， when someone competes with me， theyre saying， “I consider you a worthy match” in wit， sport or whatever the contest. A dozen roses from a suitor may be flattering， but they cant compare to the tacit admission that we are in the same league.

在尋找靈魂伴侶的過程中，我也同大多數(shù)人一樣，想找個既能隨時浪漫，又能共享粗茶淡飯的他，與此同時，我希望我的另一半喜歡和我較量。從小對體育競技的熱愛讓我有很強(qiáng)的競爭意識。當(dāng)有人跟我競爭的時候，無論是智力還是體育競爭，我都覺得他們在跟我說，“我覺得你還值得一比”。像一個追求者送了你十二朵玫瑰，這聽起來足夠彰顯追求你的誠意了，但是你還是要說，“對不起我們不是同類人”。

So， when I met my future husband， he had me at “I bet you.” I was a member of my college track team， and his chosen flirtation was challenging me to four laps. We graduated， went on to pursue careers thousands of miles apart， but soon enough we reunited in the same city and reverted to our sporting ways. He and I ran a marathon. We biked 471 miles across the state of Iowa. And when all signs were pointing to our riding off into the sunset together， we were in full agreement that it wouldnt be on a bicycle built for two.

That spirit saw us through the torturous process of planning the wedding—where disagreements over china patterns and seating charts have ended more than a few.

正因如此，我的未來丈夫以一句“我跟你打賭?！本统晒Ψ@了我的芳心。大學(xué)時，我是校田徑隊的一員，而他選擇跟我搭訕的方式是向我挑戰(zhàn)四圈田徑賽跑。我們畢業(yè)后為了追求事業(yè)，開始了相隔千里的異地戀，好在時隔不久我們又回到了同一座城市，重溫那時我們比賽運(yùn)動的日子。他與我進(jìn)行了一場馬拉松賽。騎行471英里穿過愛荷華州，當(dāng)所有的跡象都表明我們已經(jīng)比到日落西山的時候了，我們倆達(dá)成了一個共識，以后絕不會騎雙人自行車，因為我們二人對這樣的比賽樂在其中。

Mind you， our rivalry is playful. We compare Scrabble scores， not salaries. When “Jeopardy！” is on， we throw answers out like darts. For the Oscars， we fill out ballots， and come March， its college basketball brackets. The stakes Usually， loser cooks dinner.

注意啊，我們的比賽只是鬧著玩的。我們比玩拼字游戲獲得的分?jǐn)?shù)，而不比誰工資高；《危險邊緣》（Jeopardy）知識競答節(jié)目中的比賽一開始，我倆就像扔飛鏢一樣快速地?fù)尨穑粖W斯卡獎頒獎時，我們填寫選票，猜測花落誰家。接著到來的可以比賽的項目就是三月份的大學(xué)籃球聯(lián)賽了。通常，賭注是誰輸了，誰做飯。

All the while， I think back to our marriage vows. Before our family and friends， we promised to honor each other in good times and bad， in joy and sorrow and in sickness and health.

記得說結(jié)婚誓言那會。我們在親朋好友面前，向?qū)Ψ阶龀龀兄Z，不論逆境或順境，富?；蜇毟F，健康或疾病，都將攜手一生。

The way that last vow echoed in the church， though， I could have sworn I heard “in quickness and in stealth.”

但是，那最后幾句余音繞梁的誓言，我敢發(fā)誓我聽到的是“無論拼速度或拼計謀，我們都將不遺余力比拼到底！”