第一篇 Things about Love

愛(ài)的兩三事

Altogether Autumn

佚名 / Anonymous

Suddenly I think of my youngest daughter， living now in Amsterdam. Very soon she will call and ask， “Have you planted the bulbs yet？” Then I will answer teasingly that actually I’m waiting until she comes to help me. And then we will both be overcome by nostalgia， because once we always did that together. One entire sunny autumn afternoon， when she was just over three and a half years old， she helped me with all the enthusiasm and joyfulness of her age.

It was one of the last afternoons I had her around because her place in school had already been reserved. She wandered around so happily carefree with her little bucket and spade， covering the bulbs with earth and calling out “Night night” or “Sleep tight”， her little voice chattering constantly on. She discovered “baby bulbs” and “kiddie bulbs” and “mummy and daddy bulbs”—the latter snuggling cozily together. While we were both working so industriously， I watched my child very deliberately. She was such a tiny thing， between an infant and a toddler， with such a round little tummy.

Every autumn， throughout her childhood， we repeated the ritual of planting the bulbs together. And every autumn I saw her changing； the toddler became a schoolgirl， a straightforward realist， full of drive. Never once dreamy， her hands in her pockets； no longer happily indulging her fantasies. The schoolgirl developed long legs， her jawline changed， she had her hair cut. It was autumn again and I thought “Bye roses； bye butterflies； bye schoolgirl.” I listened to her stories while we painstakingly burrowed in the earth， planting the promise of spring.

Suddenly， much quicker than I had expected， a tall teenager was standing by my side； she had grown taller than I. The ritual became rather silent， we no longer chattered away from one subject to another. I thought about her room full of posters and knick-knacks， how it had been full of treasures in bottles and boxes， white pebbles， a copper brooch， colored drawings， the treasures of a child who still knew nothing of money， who wanted to be read aloud to and who looked anxiously at a spider in her room and asked， “Would he want to be my friend？”

Then came the autumn when I planted the bulbs alone， and knew that from then on it would always be that way. But every year， in autumn， she talks about it. Full of nostalgia for the security of childhood， the seclusion of a garden， the final moments of a season. How both of us would dearly love to have a time machine. To go back. Just for a day.

我突然想起了自己的小女兒，現(xiàn)在她在阿姆斯特丹生活。她一會(huì)兒就會(huì)打電話過(guò)來(lái)問(wèn)，“你種上洋蔥了嗎？”然后，我就會(huì)跟她開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)，事實(shí)上，我正等她回來(lái)幫我呢。這樣，我倆便雙雙陷入回憶之中，因?yàn)?，我們?cè)?jīng)總在整個(gè)金秋時(shí)節(jié)的午后，一起種洋蔥，當(dāng)她還只有三歲半時(shí)，就滿懷孩童的熱情和歡欣來(lái)幫我了。

那天午后，她最后一次陪在我身邊，因?yàn)樗呀?jīng)準(zhǔn)備上學(xué)了。她拿著小桶和鐵锨無(wú)憂無(wú)慮、滿心歡喜地走來(lái)走去，用土蓋洋蔥時(shí)喊著：“晚安”或者“睡覺(jué)覺(jué)”，稚嫩的聲音嘰嘰喳喳地說(shuō)個(gè)不停。她發(fā)現(xiàn)了“洋蔥寶寶”、“小洋蔥”和“洋蔥爸媽”——后者總是偎依在一起。當(dāng)我們非常賣力地干活時(shí)，我刻意去觀察自己的孩子，她如此嬌小，剛學(xué)會(huì)走路，挺著一個(gè)小圓肚子晃晃悠悠的。

每年秋天我們都會(huì)一起種洋蔥，在她的童年中無(wú)一例外。我每年秋天都能看到她的變化，從蹣跚學(xué)步的孩童變成一個(gè)女學(xué)生，坦率而現(xiàn)實(shí)，活力四射。她從不兩手插兜地展開(kāi)幻想，也不再滿心歡喜地縱容自己沉湎于幻想。女學(xué)生雙腿修長(zhǎng)了，下巴的線條也改變了，她還剪短了頭發(fā)。又一個(gè)金秋時(shí)節(jié)，我想，“再見(jiàn)了，玫瑰；再見(jiàn)了，蝴蝶；再見(jiàn)了，女學(xué)生?！蔽乙贿吢?tīng)她講故事，一邊用力挖土，播種春天的希望。

突然之間，這比我想象的要快很多，我的身邊站著一位高挑的少女，她已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)得比我還高了。以往見(jiàn)面的儀式被沉默所取代，我們不再海闊天空地交談。我想起她的房間滿是海報(bào)和小裝飾品；裝滿白色卵石、一枚銅制胸針、彩色圖畫等“寶物”的瓶子，在對(duì)錢財(cái)一無(wú)所知的孩子們看來(lái)，這些如此珍貴；她還曾想讓大人大聲給她念故事書，曾焦急地看著自己房間的蜘蛛問(wèn)：“它想跟我做朋友嗎？”

終于，那個(gè)秋天到了，我必須獨(dú)自栽種洋蔥了，我知道從那時(shí)起，將不會(huì)再有人陪我。但是每年秋季，女兒都會(huì)說(shuō)起種洋蔥，言語(yǔ)中流露出懷舊之情，懷念無(wú)邪的童年、仙境般的花園以及夏季的最后時(shí)光。我們都如此深深地渴望擁有一部時(shí)光機(jī)器，回到過(guò)去，即使僅有一天時(shí)間。

記憶填空

1. It was one of the afternoons I had her around because her in school had already reserved. She wandered around so happily carefree with her little bucket and spade， covering the bulbs with and calling out“Night night”or“Sleep tight”， her little voice chattering constantly .

2. Never once ， her hands in her pockets； no longer happily indulging her fantasies. The schoolgirl developed long ， her jawline changed， she had her hair . It was autumn again and I thought“ roses； bye butterflies； bye schoolgirl.”

佳句翻譯

1. 那天午后，她最后一次陪在我身邊，因?yàn)樗呀?jīng)準(zhǔn)備上學(xué)了。

2. 我一邊聽(tīng)她講故事，一邊用力挖土，播種春天的希望。

3. 我們都如此深深地渴望擁有一部時(shí)光機(jī)器，回到過(guò)去，即使僅有一天時(shí)間。

短語(yǔ)應(yīng)用

1. Suddenly I think of my youngest daughter， living now in Amsterdam.

think of：記起，想起；考慮；想象；關(guān)心

2. The ritual became rather silent， we no longer chattered away from one subject to another.

no longer：不再