The architectural term,pathways of desire, refers to dirt ruts1 in the grass that people make when they want a shortcut between prescribed routes. If you have a yard, you probably have at least a few of them. I live on a farm, and we have dozens. The path between the doghouse and the porch, the tight corner around the house on the south side, horse trails, the line between one gate and the next.I’m a firm believer in protecting pathways of desire, but I believe we have to be careful of them too.

　　“愿望小径”是个建筑学上的术语，它是指人们希望在规定路线间建立一条捷径时在草地上踩出的一条条土痕。如果你有庭院，那院子里可能至少也得有几条这种小径。我住在一个农场里，那里有许多许多——犬舍到门廊间的小径、房子南面紧贴墙角的转弯处的小道、马匹踩出来的土痕，还有从一扇门到下一扇门之间的小路。我深信，我们应该保护这种打破规矩的开创行为，但我也相信，我们必须谨慎对待它们。

　　On one hand, I hate rules. I’m pretty creative about finding ways around them, and I always think twice about thwarting2 those of others. I respect desire in my children and in the animals on my farm. Their pathways look, to me, likeindividual choices, and I respect those. But my respect is double-edged because pathways of desire can also lead us into trouble.

　　一方面，我不喜欢循规蹈矩，而会很有创造性地寻找其他方法，在阻止别人的这种“创造性”时，我会考虑再三。我尊重我的孩子和农场里动物们的愿望，对我来说，他们脚下走出的小径就像是他们个人的选择——我也尊重这些选择。但另一方面，我的这种尊重是把双刃剑，因为愿望小径还可能给我们带来麻烦。