LESSON 4 THE GRANDFATHER 爺爺

Charles G.Eastman (b.1816, d.1861) was born in Maine, but removed at an early age to Vermont, where he was connected with the press at Burlington, Woodstock, and Montpelier.He published a volume of poems in 1848, written in a happy lyric and ballad style, and faithfully portraying rural life in New England.

1.The farmer sat in his easy-chair

Smoking his pipe of clay,

While his hale^[1] old wife with busy care,

Was clearing the dinner away;

A sweet little girl with fi ne blue eyes,

On her grandfather’s knee, was catching fl ies.

2.The old man laid his hand on her head,

With a tear on his wrinkled face,

He thought how often her mother, dead,

Had sat in the selfsame place;

As the tear stole down from his half-shut eye,

“Don’t smoke!” said the child, “how it makes you cry!”

3.The house dog lay stretched out on the fl oor,

Where the shade, afternoons, used to steal;

The busy old wife by the open door

Was turning the spinning wheel,

And the old brass clock on the manteltree^[2]

Had plodded^[3] along to almost three.

4.Still the farmer sat in his easy-chair,

While close to his heaving^[4] breast

The moistened brow and the cheek so fair

Of his sweet grandchild were pressed;

His head bent down, on her soft hair lay;

Fast asleep were they both on that summer day.

【中文閱讀】

查爾斯·G·伊士曼（1816—1861）出生在美國緬因州，但早年就已遷往佛蒙特州。在那里，他與伯靈頓、伍茲托克以及蒙彼利埃等地的出版社聯系密切。1848年，他出版了一本輕快抒情、民謠風格的詩集，真實描繪了新英格蘭地區的田園生活。

1.老農躺在他的安樂椅上，

抽著他的陶制煙斗，

他硬朗的年邁妻子仍在不停忙碌，

清理著晚餐后的狼藉杯盤。

美麗藍眼睛的可愛小女孩，

坐在爺爺的膝上捉蜻蜓。

2.老農摩挲著小孫女的腦袋，

皺紋遍布的臉上，掛著一滴眼淚，

他想起小女孩已過世的母親，

她曾經常坐在同樣的地方。

淚水從他半闔的眼里撲簌而下，

“不許抽煙！”小姑娘說，“它讓你哭得多厲害呀！”

3.他們的狗趴在地板上，

在午后的陰涼處愜意打盹。

忙碌的老婦人敞開著門，

吱吱呀呀地轉著紡車。

壁爐楣架上的老銅鐘，

快到三點的時針一步步辛勤在爬。

4.老農安靜地坐在他的安樂椅上，

他甜美的小孫女，

被打濕的眉毛和臉蛋是那么可愛，

正靠著他起伏的胸膛。

他的腦袋耷拉著，枕著她柔軟的頭發，

那個夏日午后，祖孫倆都進入溫暖的夢鄉。

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【注釋】

[1] Hale, healthy.

[2] Manteltree, shelf over a f ireplace.

[3] Plodded, went slowly.

[4] Heaving, rising and falling.