我们自己动手做事的热情如此高涨，以至于我们对专业劳工的依赖越来越少。
So great is our passion for doing things for ourselves, that we are becoming increasingly less dependent on specialized labour.
任何人都不能再以不懂某项技术为借口了，因为有数不清的自己动手系列出版物。
No one can plead ignorance of a subject any longer, for there are countless do-it-yourself publications.
手持适当的工具和材料，新婚夫妇兴高采烈地着手装修自己的新家。
Armed with the right tools and materials, newlyweds gaily embark on the task of decorating their own homes.
尤其是男人，他们把大量闲暇时间花在安装壁炉、规划花园、搭建车库和制作家具上。
Men, particularly, spend hours of their leisure time installing their own fireplaces, laying out their own gardens; building garages and making furniture.
有些真正狂热的爱好者甚至会自己组装电脑。
Some really keen enthusiasts go so far as to build their own computers.
商店迎合这股自己动手的热潮，不仅为初学者开设特别咨询服务，还向消费者提供可以在家自行组装的各种零配件。
Shops cater for the do-it-yourself craze not only by running special advisory services for novices, but by offering consumers bits and pieces which they can assemble at home.
这些活动为压抑已久的创造力提供了极好的宣泄出口，但遗憾的是，我们并非人人都是天生的万能修理工。
Such things provide an excellent outlet for pent up creative energy, but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen.
有些妻子往往相信她们的丈夫有无限的应变能力，什么都能修。
Some wives tend to believe that their husbands are infinitely resourceful and can fix anything.
就连那些连钉子都钉不直的男人，也被认为天生就是电工、木匠、管道工和机修工。
Even men who can hardly drive a nail in straight are supposed to be born electricians, carpenters, plumbers and mechanics.
当灯泡烧断、家具松动、水管堵塞，或吸尘器停止运转时，有些女人就会假定她们的丈夫能想方设法把一切搞定。
When lights fuse, furniture gets rickety, pipes get clogged, or vacuum cleaners fail to operate, some women assume that their husbands will somehow put things right.
自己动手游戏中最糟糕的事情是，有时就连男人自己也抱有幻想，认为自己什么都能干，即使他们已经一再被证明能力有限。
The worst thing about the do-it-yourself game is that sometimes even men live under the delusion that they can do anything, even when they have repeatedly been proved wrong.
这与其说是其他什么，不如说是自尊心作祟。
It is a question of pride as much as anything else.
去年春天，我妻子建议我请一个人来看看我们的割草机。
Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower.
割草机在前一个夏天就坏掉了，尽管我答应过要修，却一直没能腾出时间来。
It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it.
我根本不愿听这个建议，说我自己会修好它。
I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself.
一个周六的下午，我把那台机器拖进花园，仔细地打量了它一番。
One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it.
在我看来，它只需要稍加调整：这里拧一下螺丝，那里紧一紧，再滴一滴油，它就会跟新的一样好用了。
As far as I could see, it needed only a minor adjustment: a turn of a screw here, a little tightening up there, a drop of oil and it would be as good as new.
然而，这项修理工作不可避免地远没有那么简单。
Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple.
割草机坚决不肯割草，于是我决定把它拆开。
The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it.
花园里很快就散落着一块块金属零件，它们曾经共同组成了一台割草机。
The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawn mower.
但我对自己感到极为满意——我已经查出了故障的原因。
But I was extremely pleased with myself. I had traced the cause of the trouble.
驱动车轮的链条上有一个链节断了。
One of the links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped.
买了一根新链条之后，我面临着一项难以克服的任务：把这个令人困惑的拼图谜题重新拼装起来。
After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again.
重新组装好之后，发现机器仍然不肯运转，我并不感到惊讶，原因很简单——我手里还剩下好几块形状奇特的金属零件，似乎哪里都放不进去。
I was not surprised to find that the machine still refused to work after I had reassembled it, for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seem to fit anywhere.
我绝望地放弃了。
I gave up in despair.
周复一周，草越来越高。
The weeks passed and the grass grew.
当我妻子不断催我对这件事采取行动时，我告诉她，要么我得买台新的割草机，要么就任草继续疯长。
When my wife nagged me to do something about it, I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow.
不用说，我们的房子现在被一片丛林包围着。
Needless to say our house is now surrounded by a jungle.
在深深的草丛中某处，埋着一台生锈的割草机，我已经答应有一天会把它修好。
Buried somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawn mower which I have promised to repair one day.