Did the writer repair his lawn mower in the end? Why/Why not?
作者最后修好他的割草机了吗？为什么/为什么不修？
So great is our passion for doing things for ourselves,
我们对自己动手的热情如此之高、
that we are becoming increasingly less dependent on specialized labour.
以至于我们越来越不依赖专业劳动力。
No one can plead ignorance of a subject any longer, for there are countless do-it-yourself publications.
没有人再能以对某一主题一无所知为借口，因为自己动手的出版物数不胜数。
Armed with the right tools and materials,
有了合适的工具和材料
newlyweds gaily embark on the task of decorating their own homes.
新婚夫妇兴高采烈地开始布置自己的家。
Men, particularly, spend hours of their leisure time installing their own fireplaces,
尤其是男人，他们会花上几个小时的闲暇时间安装自己的壁炉、
laying out their own gardens; building garages and making furniture.
布置自己的花园、建造车库和制作家具。
Some really keen enthusiasts go so far as to build their own computers.
一些真正的发烧友甚至会自制电脑。
Shops cater for the do-it-yourself craze not only by running special advisory services for novices,
商店不仅为新手提供专门的咨询服务，而且还为消费者提供各种零配件，以满足他们对自己动手热潮的需求、
but by offering consumers bits and pieces which they can assemble at home.
商店不仅为新手提供专门的咨询服务，还为消费者提供可以在家里组装的零配件。
Such things provide an excellent outlet for pent up creative energy,
这些东西为积压的创造力提供了一个极好的发泄渠道、
but unfortunately not all of us are born handymen.
但遗憾的是，并非所有人都是天生的勤杂工。
Some wives tend to believe that their husbands are infinitely resourceful and can fix anything.
有些妻子往往认为自己的丈夫足智多谋，什么都能修。
Even men who can hardly drive a nail in straight are supposed to be born electricians, carpenters, plumbers and mechanics.
即使是连钉子都钉不直的男人，也应该是天生的电工、木匠、水管工和机械师。
When lights fuse, furniture gets rickety, pipes get clogged,
当电灯熔断、家具摇摇欲坠、水管堵塞
or vacuum cleaners fail to operate,
或吸尘器失灵时、
some women assume that their husbands will somehow put things right.
有些妇女就会认为，她们的丈夫会以某种方式把事情弄好。
The worst thing about the do-it-yourself game
自己动手游戏最糟糕的地方在于
is that sometimes even men live under the delusion that they can do anything, even when they have repeatedly been proved wrong.
最糟糕的是，有时甚至连男人也会妄想自己无所不能，即使事实一再证明他们是错的。
It is a question of pride as much as anything else.
这既是自尊心的问题，也是其他方面的问题。
Last spring my wife suggested that I call in a man to look at our lawn mower.
去年春天，我妻子建议我请一个人来看看我们家的割草机。
It had broken down the previous summer, and though I promised to repair it, I had never got round to it.
去年夏天，割草机坏了，虽然我答应去修，但一直没去修。
I would not hear of the suggestion and said that I would fix it myself.
我不听这个建议，说我自己来修。
One Saturday afternoon, I hauled the machine into the garden and had a close look at it.
一个星期六的下午，我把机器拖到花园里，仔细地看了看。
As far as I could see, it needed only a minor adjustment:
在我看来，它只需要稍作调整：
a turn of a screw here, a little tightening up there, a drop of oil and it would be as good as new.
这里拧一拧螺丝，那里拧紧一点，再滴一滴机油，它就会焕然一新。
Inevitably the repair job was not quite so simple.
然而，维修工作并没有那么简单。
The mower firmly refused to mow, so I decided to dismantle it.
割草机坚决不肯割草，于是我决定把它拆了。
The garden was soon littered with chunks of metal which had once made up a lawn mower.
花园里很快就堆满了曾经组成割草机的金属块。
But I was extremely pleased with myself. I had traced the cause of the trouble.
但我对自己感到非常满意。我找到了故障的原因。
One of the links in the chain that drives the wheels had snapped.
驱动车轮的链条中的一个链节断裂了。
After buying a new chain I was faced with the insurmountable task of putting the confusing jigsaw puzzle together again.
买了一条新链条后，我又面临着重新拼凑混乱拼图的艰巨任务。
I was not surprised to find that the machine still refused to work after I had reassembled it,
我毫不惊讶地发现，在重新组装后，机器仍然无法工作、
for the simple reason that I was left with several curiously shaped bits of metal which did not seem to fit anywhere.
原因很简单，我只剩下几块形状奇怪的金属碎片，似乎哪里都拼不上。
I gave up in despair. The weeks passed and the grass grew.
我绝望地放弃了。几周过去了，草长起来了。
When my wife nagged me to do something about it,
妻子唠叨着要我做点什么、
I told her that either I would have to buy a new mower or let the grass grow.
我告诉她，要么买个新割草机，要么就让草长。
Needless to say our house is now surrounded by a jungle.
不用说，我们的房子现在已经被丛林包围了。
Buried somewhere in deep grass there is a rusting lawn mower which I have promised to repair one day.
草丛深处埋藏着一台生锈的割草机，我保证总有一天会修好它。
