In spite of my acquaintance with Western life and the Western attitude toward age, I am still continually shocked by certain expressions for which I am totally unprepared. Fresh illustrations of this attitude come up on every side. I have heard an old lady remarking that she has had several grandchildren, but, “it was the first one that hurt.” With the full knowledge that American people hate to be thought of as old, one still doesn’t quite expect to have it put that way. I have made allowance for people in middle age this side of fifty, who, I can understand, wish to leave the impression that they are still active and vigorous, but I am not quite prepared to meet an old lady with gray hair facetiously switching the topic of conversation to the weather, when the conversation without any fault of mine naturally drifted toward her age. One continually forgets it when allowing an old man to enter an elevator or a car first; the habitual expression after age comes up to my lips, then I restrain myself and am at a loss for what to say in its place. One day, being forgetful, I blurted out the usual phrase in deference to an extremely dignified and charming old man, and the old man seated in the car turned to his wife and remarked jokingly to her, “This young man has the cheek to think that he is younger than myself!”

这段是林语堂的英文小说,看得不是很懂,希望大家帮忙翻译一下.

尽管我比较熟悉西方生活和西方人对年龄的态度，但是我还是不断地对某些我从未遇到过得表达方式感到惊奇.关于年龄问题的新说法来自于生活的各个方面。我曾经听一个老夫人谈及，她已经有好几个孙儿，但是她却委婉地转换话题,说"只有生第一个小孩会让人感受到其中的痛苦". 虽然我已经对美国人讨厌被认为“老”有了充分的认识，但还是没有料到居然会有这样的处理方式。

我可以理解那些五十岁左右的中年人这样做,他们希望保留仍然积极且精力旺盛的形象，但是我还没有预料到一位白鬓的老夫人，居然在话题不自觉地涉及她的年龄时,当然我并没有错误地提及这个话题,她会马上用开玩笑的方式将话题转换到有关天气方面．

每当礼让老人们先进电梯或汽车的时候，我经常忘记了年龄的禁忌.当对老龄人的尊称脱口而出时,我会马上克制自己,但又陷于不知所言的迷茫中．有一天，为表达对一位富有威严和风度的老者的尊重,我又习惯些地脱口说出尊称时,坐进车里的老者转向他的妻子开玩笑地说：＂这位年轻人可真够厚脸皮的,居然以为他比我还年轻呢！＂