Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

PART 1 Summary

Chapter 7 Fufi

Trevor used to raise two dogs named Panther and Fufi. Panther was his mother's dog and Fufi was his. Unwitting to Fufi's deafness, Trevor thought she was extremely dumb. In spite of this, he loved Fufi whole-heartedly, coddled her and even shared bed with her. One day, Trevor furtively tailed Fufi and found out that she scaled the wall and went to another boy's house during the day. The two kids and their mothers had quarrels over the ownership of Fufi. Although Fufi was taken back home after Trevor's mother paid a hundred rand, Fufi broke Trevor's heart. The experience profoundly shaped his thoughts about relationships.

Chapter 8 Robert

Trevor called his father Robert because "dad", "daddy" and such like might be overheard and get them into trouble under apartheid. Trevor used to spend Sunday afternoons, his birthdays and Christmas with his dad but they were completely out of contact after Robert left the town. Thanks to his mother's compliments, Trevor never turned to bitterness towards his dad. Turning into 24, Trever was asked by his mother to track his father down. He eventually reconnected this secretive man through Swiss embassy. Knowing that his father remembered his tastes and kept following him in this ten-year gap, Trevor was overwhelmed with a flood of emotions. 

PART 2 Expressions

1. this one video of a black man kicking a cat, that’s what sent them over the edge.

over the edge: into a mental or emotional state that makes sb completely out of control

His friend worried that the news might send/ push/ drive him over the edge.

go over the edge: go insane, alludes to the edge of sanity

I think he's gone over the edge.

2. Some woman from her work had a litter of kittens she was trying to get rid of, and my mom ended up with two.

a litter of: literary, a group pf things that look very untidy

A litter of notes, papers, and textbooks were strewn on the desk.

3. Fufi was a little rascal as well.

rascal: 1, a child who behaves badly but whom you still like

2. old-fashioned, a dishonest man

4. It never occurred to us that she could actually scale a five-foot wall, but that was exactly what was happening.

There were few upscale establishments where they could eat

scale: (v.)

1. 翻越  eg.Rescuers had to scale a 300-metre cliff to reach the injured climber.

2. 按比例绘制  eg. The writing can be scaled to any size, depending on the paper.

3. scale the heights: to be extremely successful

By the age of 21, he had already scaled the heights in the academic world.

upscale:(a.) 高档的  eg. an affluent upscale audience

scale a fence

5. This woman wasn’t budging, so we went home to get evidence

1. to move or make sb/sth move

She leaned on the door, but it wouldn't budge.

Will hasn't budged from his room all day.

2. to change your opinion, or to make sb change their opinion

He won't budge on the issue.

Treacy refuses to budge from his principles.

6. I have so many friends who still, as adults, wrestle with feelings of betrayal.

wrestle with sth: to try to understand or find a solution to a difficult problem

I have been wrestling with this problem for quite some time.

7. The restaurant closed only because a few people in the neighborhood took it upon themselves to complain.

take it upon/ on oneself to do sth: formal, to decide to do sth without getting sb's permission or approval first

Reg took it upon himself to hand the press a list of names.

8. His leaving wasn’t anything traumatic, because it never registered that we might lose touch and never see each other again.

register: (usually in negatives) if sth registers, or if you register it, you realize or notice it, and then remember it

She had told me her name before, but I guess I didn't register.

I'd been standing here for several minutes before he registered my presence.

9. I tried calling them, and I got the runaround there as well.

runaround: (n.) 遁词

give sb the runaround: informal, to deliberately avoid giving sb a definite answer, especially when they are asking you to do sth

Every time we ask the landlord about fixing the roof, he gives us the runaround.

10. Luckily my tastes hadn’t matured much since the age of thirteen, so I tucked right in.

tuck in/ tuck into sth: informal to eat sth eagerly

The ice creams came and we tucked in.

They tucked into a hearty breakfast of eggs.

PART 3 Thoughts

I believed that Fufi was my dog, but of course that wasn't  true. Fufi was a dog. I was a boy. We got along well. She happened to live in my house. That experience shaped what I've felt about relationships for the rest of my life: You do not own the thing that you love. I was lucky to learn that lesson at such a young age.

看到这段话想起了《庄子 至乐篇》里的一个故事：鲁国的国君很喜欢一只海鸟，把它迎进了太庙，每天派人演奏《九韶》给它听，给它每天准备美酒和牛羊肉，但是海鸟神色忧郁、不吃一口肉，不喝一口酒，三日而死。庄子说国君是在以养自己的方式养鸟，而不是在用养鸟的方式养鸟，真正的养鸟是让它在山林间、江湖上自由飞翔（“此以己养养鸟也，非以鸟养养鸟也。夫以鸟养养鸟也。夫以鸟养养鸟者，宜栖之深林，游之坛陆，浮之江湖，食之鳅鲦，随行列而止，委蛇而处”）。现实里对喜欢的事物也好，对待自己喜欢的人也好，很多人都过于执着，甚至用爱的名义去绑架自己爱的人。比如那些望子成龙、望女成凤的父母们，从幼儿园起就给孩子的周末安排各种奥数班、钢琴班，却很少过问孩子是否真正喜欢这些东西，长大后高中不允许谈恋爱、上大学后又催促相亲。然而孩子并不是父母的附属物，他们有自己的喜好和自由的空间。真正的爱是尊重对方的选择并且懂得成全和放手。欧阳修有一句诗：“始知锁向金笼听，不及林间自在啼。”对自己爱的人或物的成全其实也是对自己的成全。