喬治小王子身穿睡袍會見美國總統，萌照一出，網上立刻掀起熱潮，商場里的小王子同款睡袍一售而空。不過，家長買這款睡袍給孩子，難道只是為了給孩子拍張照，發條狀態調侃一下“我們家小Johnny也準備好接見總統了”？老實說，現在誰家小孩還會這么老派，整整齊齊地穿著睡衣睡覺？可以想象，要不了幾個星期，這些睡衣就會被遺忘在衣帽間的角落里。可既然如此，為什么這些家長還紛紛去買呢？

By Faith Moore

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Arguably the best thing that happened during the Obamas' visit to England in April was the meeting between the president and two-year-old Prince George. The tiny royal, who had been allowed to stay up past his bedtime in order to meet Mr. and Mrs. Obama, shook hands with the leader of the free world - in his nightclothes. Moments after the photos of their meeting appeared online, the bathrobe Prince George had been wearing sold out in stores. It can't be denied that the bathrobe was adorable. But what toddler, in this day and age, wears a bathrobe?

I can't help but imagine those many bathrobes languishing in the closets and dresser drawers of children across the Western world in the weeks to come. So why did their parents buy them? Was it just to take one adorable photo to post on social media with a jokey caption declaring that now their Johnny was also ready to meet the president? Or was it something else? Something that had to do with seeing that little boy with his hair neatly combed and his pajamas neatly pressed that set off a yearning in the hearts of parents everywhere to return to the kind of lifestyle that Will and Kate represent?

While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are refreshingly modern by royal standards, they are still quite old-fashioned by today's parenting standards. In fact, they are very publicly living a life more commonly associated with the 1950s, with all the wholesomeness and family values that entails. Kate is essentially a stay-at-home mom. She is always impeccably dressed. Her children are neat and well-behaved. Their household runs like clockwork. And William is unequivocally the head of the family.

But does this really appeal to us? Aren't we supposed to want something else, to "have it all?" Women should be able to maintain their careers and their homes without giving anything up. Men should take on an equal share of the housework and childcare. This is what we should want. But that little bathrobe suggests otherwise.

When we see that little boy, looking like Michael Darling from Peter Pan, something pulls at our heartstrings. We want our children to look like that too. Not just to be adorable - although that's part of it - but to embody that lifestyle. That's a little boy who knows how to shake hands. He'll look you in the eye and say "How do you do?" He'll go straight to bed when he's told and he'll do it with a smile and a kiss.

Of course, Will and Kate (and little George and his sister Charlotte) are royalty. And that adds to their appeal. It makes the life they live glamorous and aspirational. It filters out impediments to the 1950s lifestyle, like the difficulties of raising a family on one income or the drudgery of housework. But what we are left with is a glittering nugget of truth; the essence of the thing, rather than the details.

That bathrobe is a whimsical nod to a lifestyle we women have said we don't want, one we've gleefully cast aside in order to pursue our careers, burn our bras, and order take-out instead of slaving away in the kitchen. But that bathrobe. We bought that bathrobe. And even though it will live in the back of the closet, we won't throw it out. Because, we'll tell ourselves, he might wear it one day. And, you never know, he just might.

Vocabulary

1. Prince George: 喬治小王子，是英國威廉王子與凱特王妃的長子；bathrobe: 浴衣，浴袍。

2. arguably: 按理說，無疑地。

3. royal: 王室成員，皇族；stay up: 深夜不睡，熬夜；nightclothes: 睡衣。

4. sell out: 售空，賣光。

5. toddler: 學步的兒童。

6. 我不由得想象，接下來這幾周，西方各國孩子們那么多的睡衣都將漸受冷落，沉寂在衣帽間和梳妝臺下的抽屜里。languish: 受苦，受折磨；closet: 壁櫥，儲藏間；dresser: 梳妝臺。

7. jokey: 逗樂的，舉止滑稽的；caption: （圖片、漫畫的）說明文字。

8. 也許是因為看到這個小男孩梳著服服帖帖的頭發，穿著熨帖的睡衣睡褲，各地家長的心中油然生出一種渴望，想回歸到威廉王子夫婦所象征的那種老派的生活方式？pajama: （一套）睡衣褲；set off: 引發，觸發；yearning: 渴望，向往。

9. Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: 劍橋公爵和公爵夫人；refreshingly: 令人耳目一新地，別具一格地；old-fashioned: 過時的，老舊的。

10. wholesomeness: wholesome的名詞形式，健康，有益身心；entail: 牽涉，需要。

11. impeccably: 完美地，無瑕疵地。

12. well-behaved: 彬彬有禮的，規規矩矩的。

13. household: 家，家務；like clockwork: 準時地，很有規律地。

14. unequivocally: 毫不含糊地，清楚明白地。

15. take on: 承擔，接受。

16. Peter Pan: 《彼得?潘》，是蘇格蘭小說家、劇作家詹姆斯?馬修?巴利創作的文學作品，原名為《彼得?潘與溫迪》（Peter Pan and Wendy）；heartstring: 心弦，內心最深處的情感。

17. embody: 體現，代表。

18. glamorous: 富有魅力的，迷人的；aspirational: 勵志的，激勵人心的。

19. 這也剔除了50年代生活方式中的重重阻礙，比如靠一個人的經濟收入來支撐家庭的困難，或者家務勞動的單調乏味。filter out: 過濾掉，篩除；impediment: 妨礙，阻礙；drudgery: 單調乏味的苦差事，無聊的工作。

20. glittering: 燦爛奪目的，閃閃發光的；nugget: 小塊東西，尤指小金塊；essence: 本質，實質。

21. whimsical: 異想天開的，想入非非的；nod: 點頭；gleefully: 欣喜地，激動地；cast aside: 拋棄，丟棄；take-out: 外賣；slave away: 拼命地工作，辛苦地干。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：董靜）