Nettles完整译文
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Nettles完整译文nettles的中文翻译及音标沪江词库精选nettles是什么意思、英语单词推荐、中英文句子翻译、英语短语。
nettles的翻译解析:[ nettle ]的第三人称单数相关短语:on nettles忐忑不安, 紧张如坐针毡nettles的例句:那蔓草丛生的凄凉地方是教堂公墓。
and rainwater: oatmeal they say steeped in buttermilk这种家用偏方往往最灵不过:草莓对牙齿好,荨麻加雨水;据说还有在脱脂乳里浸泡过的燕麦片。
皮肤的滋润剂in pulling up nettles一天,他看见村里有许多人正忙着拔除荨麻。
花园里长满了(荨麻科)植物。
荨麻斩碎了可以喂鸡鸭。
子列表:英文: As for their desirable things of silver, nettles will dispossess them; Thistles will be in their tents.中文: 他们用银子作的美物上必长蒺藜;他们的帐棚中必生荆棘。
英文: For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up,Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.中文: 何9:6看哪、他们逃避灾难、埃及人必收殓他们的尸首、摩弗人必葬埋他们的骸骨.他们用银子作的美物上必长蒺藜.他们的帐棚中必生荆棘。
英文: He swished off the tops of the nettles with his cane.中文: 他用藤杖抽断了荨麻的顶部.英文: Thorns will overrun her citadels, nettles and brambles her strongholds. Shewill become a haunt for jackals, a home for下为句owls.中文: 13以东的宫殿要长荆棘,保障要长蒺藜和刺草。
NettlesBy Alice MunroGuide to ReadingAlice Munro is a prolific writer, who has made a major career1out of short fiction2。
In the past 35 years, she has produced numerous short stories that are read in and outside of Canada, often appearing in such prestigious magazines as The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly. Today she is still active in her writing career。
Like her many other stories, the subject of the story “Nettles” is about the problem of a middle—aged woman-the passions, confusions and dilemmas that any woman in a modern society might be confronted with, regardless of race, color or nationality. In this story, the narrator meets her childhood friend by chance at the very stage of her life when she is caught up 3in a troubled relationship with her husband and her children. She is delighted with this reunion。
关于蔬菜的英语单词带中文意思1、tomato 西红柿,番茄例句:I would like a bowl of tomato soup.译文:我想要一碗番茄汤。
例句:There are a few tomatoes in the basket.译文:篮子里有几个西红柿。
2、cucumber 黄瓜例句:She bought some huge cucumbers at the supermarket.译文:她在超市里买了一些大黄瓜。
例句:Mike had cucumber sandwiches for lunch.译文:迈克午餐吃了黄瓜三明治。
3、potato 马铃薯,土豆例句:Is the potato a vegetable or a fruit?译文:马铃薯是一种蔬菜还是一种水果?例句:Mike's brother likes potatoes very much, but Mike doesn't like them at all. 译文:迈克的弟弟非常喜欢吃土豆,可是迈克一点都不喜欢。
4、cauliflower 花椰菜,花菜例句:One of my favorite vegetables is cauliflower.译文:我最喜欢的蔬菜之一就是花椰菜。
例句:What is the price of the cauliflower?5、onion 洋葱,葱头例句:Mike has grown onions in the garden.译文:迈克已经在园子里种了洋葱。
例句:The cook is chopping onions in the kitchen. 译文:那个厨师正在厨房里切洋葱。
6、cabbage 甘蓝,卷心菜,包菜,洋白菜例句:Did you buy any cabbages online?译文:你在网上买了包菜没有?例句:She put some cabbage into the soup.译文:她往汤里放了一些卷心菜。
Unit Four Nettles1. Notes onGuide to Reading1) prolific (1.1)多产的prolific writer 多产作家synonyms: fecund, fertile, fruitful, productive.2) prestigious (1.3) esteemed 有名望的,著名的Prestigious university 名牌大学;名校Synonyms:celebrated, distinguished,eminent, illustrious, noted, preeminent, prominent, renowned3) dilemma (2.2)进退两难;困境To be, or not to be: that is the question (Shakespeare)Synonyms: deep water, hot water, predicament,4) be confronted with (2.3) face; meet with;encounter面对;遭遇5) regardless of (2.3) irrespective of 不管; 不管6) Love that was not usable, that knew its place. Not risking a thing yet staying alive as a sweet trickle, and underground resource. (Last line but one, Para. 2)空灵的爱,自知的爱;不危及任何东西, 却像涓涓细流,地下源泉,永不枯竭.精神之爱,知其进退;无损无害,如源头活水,滋润于心.7) retrospection (3.2) 回忆,回忆8) protagonist (3.2) The main performer in a theatrical production; : lead 主角9) effortlessly (3.4)Effortless: easyEasy as ABC, easy as falling off a log, easy as one-two-three, easy as pie, like taking candy from a baby, nothing to it.10) bridge the gap:搭配11) Thus the reader is apt to identify with the protagonist, feeling what she feels and worrying what worries her. (last line but one, Para. 3) Identify with ?12) address several essential problems (4.1) 搭配13) Once again Nettles" displays Munro s lasting strength …and subtle meanings of life. Lasting strength ?在尊麻〞中,Munro再次展示了其深厚功力,驭繁于简,情节虽然简单,却探索了复杂的人物感情和微妙的人生况味.2. Text AnalysisFrom paragraph 1 to paragraph 49A.必备语7匚(preparatory words and expressions 见词汇测试表B.逐段讲解1 .引子:回忆起1979年时见到的一个男人不交代是谁,留下悬念(suspense) 词汇:1) ketchup sandwich (1.2)夹番茄酱的三明治2 .数年之后,重寻故地,已物易人非.去年元夜时,花市灯如昼.月上柳梢头,人约黄昏后.今年元夜时,月与灯依旧.不见去年人,泪湿春衫袖.一生查子去年元夜时欧阳修去年今日此门中,人面桃花相映红.人面只今何处去桃花依旧笑春风题都城南庄崔护3 .回忆儿时情景,请人打井,由此开始一场早恋(puppy love).词汇:1) Well (line 1):水井2) Penned (line 3):圈养的Pig sty猪圈3) Mug (line 7):杯其他词义:(1) I got mugged/jumped on my wayhome.(2) The suspect is not among the mugshots.(3) Look at her ugly mug.4 . Mike McCallum 出场.交代打井人居无定所的生活,为之后和童年伴侣小Mike McCallum的别离埋下伏笔.5 .小Mike McCallum出场.交代两人都是8岁. 词汇:1) boarding house (5.1)提供膳宿的地方2) at hand (5.2) nearby 附近,手边6 .回忆和小Mike两小无猜的情景之一:在Mike父亲的车里玩耍;给被臭鼬所伤的狗抹番茄汁治伤.词汇:1) Cab (6.1):出租车;此处:驾驶室2) Mucky (6.4): dirty3) Sour-cheese boots (6.4):袜子发此臭奶酪的气味4) Skunk (6.6):臭鼬5) Spray (6.6):喷射句子:1) It looked as if we were washing him inblood (last line) 好似用血给它洗澡一样.7 .回忆农场的树木.句子:1)Each of the trees …crabby. (7.2-4)译:这里每颗树都神气活现的.比方,榆树宁静安详,橡树那么杀气腾腾,枫树慈祥可亲, 而山楂树那么老态龙钟、火气十足.8 .回忆一起过河情景.词汇:1) Scummy (8.3):长满浮渣的2) Scum: 人渣scum of the earthscum of the nation?句子:1) The river in August was almost as much astony road as it was a watercourse. (8.1) 译:8月的河是条水道,几乎也是一条石头路.2)•• plowing through mats of flat-leafed water lilies, trapping our legs in their snaky roots. (8.3-4)译:…吃力地在一团团长着扁平叶子的睡莲中蹿行,两腿被弯曲的睡莲根缠绕.9-11讲述小孩们玩打仗游戏,我和Mike互生情愫. 词汇:1) Harassment (9.4):骚扰Sex harassment2) Dress (10.3):包扎Administer : to give someone a medicine ormedical treatmentPainkillers were administered to the boy. 句子:1) There was a keen alarm when the cry came,a wire zinging through your whole body, afanatic feeling of devotion. (10.4-6)Keen: keen interest/desireThe need for enlarging our vocabulary is notkeenly felt yet.Zing: to move quicklyWire:电线Business wire?Fanatic:狂热的译:当他喊我的名字时,我会紧张万分,全身如触电一般,一种狂热的忠诚感油然而生.2) The game disintegrated, after a long while, in arguments and mass resurrection. (11.1-2) Disintegrate: to break up 散译:许久之后,大家吵个不休,装死的也活了过来,游戏就这样散了.12-14水井打好,Mike离去句子:1) One morning, of course, the job was all finished, the well capped, the pump reinstated, the fresh water marveled at. (12.1-2) Cap: (vt)加盖子Marvel at :惊叹译:不用说,一天早上,工作全部完成.井口上了盖子,水泵重新装好了,清新的井水引来一片赞叹.2) The laugh had a lonely boom in it, as if he were still down the well. (Last line, Para. 12) Boom:消沉而有回响的声音译:他的笑声深沉孤独,带着回音,似乎他还在井底一般.3) He had other jobs lined up elsewhere… (13.2) Line up:排队Line up please!Line the kids up !译:其他地方还有很多活等着他.4) Future absence I accepted^ it was just that I had no idea, until Mike disappeared, of what absence could be like. How my own territory would be altered, as if a landslide had gone through it and skimmed off all meaning exceptloss of Mike. (13. 5-8)译:我知道会分开的,也认了,但是到Mike 不见了,才知道那是一种什么样的别离.生活面目全非,好似一场山崩抹去了一切,除了失去Mike,其他都无意义了.15从细节描述对Mike的思念. 句子:1) My heart was beating in big thumps, likehowls happening in my chest.Thump:砰砰声16—18时间回到1979年,Sunny去接我.句子:1)…she looked not matronly but majestically girlish. (16.3-4)Matronly:主妇的译:她看上去不像是结了婚的人,而像是气质端庄的女孩子.19讲述与Sunny在温哥华相识的过程句子:1) Our pregnancies had dovetailed, so we had managed with one set of maternity clothes. (19.1-2)Dovetail: to fit together perfectly or to make two plans, ideas etc fit together perfectly 译:我们的怀孕期正好前后相接,所以我们可以共用一套孕妇服.2) In my kitchen or in hers …and our forgone ambitions. (19.2-6)Reel: stagger; feel dizzyStoke: fuelRampage: outbreak of violent or raging behavior译:我们大约每周都要在我的厨房或她的厨房聚会一次.孩子们总是不断打搅我们,有时我们还会由于睡眠缺乏而头晕目眩,于是就不断地喝咖啡、吸烟来提神,开始天南海北地聊大天,什么都谈:我们的婚姻和奋斗、彼此的缺点、既有趣又有些丢脸的动机、以及曾有过的理想抱负.做出丑事的有趣动机3) During that time of life that is supposed to bea reproductive daze - and The Cocktail Party〞.Daze: a confusing conditionSwamp: floodMaternal juices: mother s milk and other juices with which a mother feeds a baby Compel: to force someone to do something 译:那段时期,要带小孩喂奶水,一般女人都会有点不知所措的,但我们还是会一起聊西蒙-德-波伏娃和库斯特勒和艾略特的诗歌“鸡尾酒会〞.20-25两人相识之后的变化:都搬离温哥华.我婚姻出现问题,与丈夫分居,搬到多伦多.小孩来,住不习惯,还是回父亲那了. 句子:1) And I have moved for the newfangled reason …shame. (20.3-6) Newfangled: novel 新奇的Be parceled about: be dividedDeprivation: the lack of something that you need in order to be healthy, comfortable, or happy译:而我的搬离,原因也许有些离谱,非常人所能理解--丈夫、房子和结婚之后所有的一切(孩子除外,由我和丈夫轮流来带)都不要了,只希望过一种不虚伪、不丧失快乐、不令人羞耻的生活.2) I was happy with all this …from the house of marriage.(21.5-6)译:这一切都令我快乐,觉得自己有了真正的变化,开始迈上摆脱婚姻禁锢的漫漫征途.3) But it was too much to expect of my daughters- who were ten and twelve years old —that they should feel the same way.(21.6-8) 译:但不能期望我两个女儿 --一个十岁、一个12岁一和我的感觉一样.4)…I would be frightened, not of any hostility, but of a kind of nonexistence. (Last line, Para. 25) 译:我会感到害怕,不是怕不平安,而是那种自己好似不存在的感觉.26.我心情不好,给Sunny ,受邀去乡下过周末. 27-93在乡下度假,与Mike重逢所发生的一切,以及我对爱的感悟.修辞:Delicacy or disapproval (29.1)Happy energy (38.1)词汇:1) Tromp (30.2): tramp; to walk heavily and noisily2) Almost in the same breath (32.1):几乎异口同声3) Of all things (34.3):真没想到4) Nap (38.2): a short sleep, especially during the day: take/have a nap5) Civil engineer (41.2): 土木工程师civilconstruction 土木建筑6) pack up the game (45.3)收起游戏7) crap (45.5) garbage, rubbish, trash,junk8) Pilot star (45.2):领航星9) Big dipper (45.2):北斗七星10) Fold-out sofa (47.2):折叠沙发床11) Unmake the bed(47.3):叠被12) Make up the bed (47.3):铺床13) sleazy (49.2):不体面的句子:1) It was hard to make the break…(29.2)Break:断开,决裂译:和过去的生活决裂是很难的2) …I took my overnight bag … 译:我带上装着过夜用品的包3) Lying in the same sheets did not make for apeaceful night.(49.1)Make for: contribute to; lead to译:躺在Mike睡过的被褥里,我躁动不已.。
nettles读后心得
读完《Nettles》这篇诗后,我被诗人Leslie Norris对父子关系的刻画深深触动。
这首诗通过描述一个父亲为自己受伤的儿子收拾伤口的场景,展现了父子之间深深的爱与关怀。
诗中的荨麻被描绘成了父亲与儿子之间的冲突、矛盾和挑战。
荨麻的刺痛让儿子痛苦不堪,而父亲则以手中的火焰来驱散荨麻,以保护儿子免受伤害。
这种情景使我想起了生活中的点点滴滴,父亲总是以自己的方式,竭尽全力地保护和呵护着自己的孩子。
这首诗的意象与象征性的描绘也给我留下了深刻的印象。
荨麻象征着生活中的困难和挑战,而父亲则代表着保护和安全。
父亲用火焰驱散荨麻的过程不仅仅是对荨麻的消除,更是对父爱的具象化。
诗人通过这种象征性的描写,巧妙地表达了父爱的力量与威严。
除了对父爱的描述,诗人还暗示了生活中的残酷和无法预测的事实。
在诗中,尽管父亲竭尽全力保护儿子,但荨麻依然会不断生长,带来新的伤害。
这给我带来了对现实生活中的挑战和困难的思考,父亲的保护并不能永远完全消除人们所面临的困境。
总的来说,这首诗通过对父子关系的刻画,向我们展示了父爱的力量
和伟大。
无论生活中遇到多少困难和挑战,父亲总是竭尽全力保护和呵护自己的孩子。
同时,诗人也通过对象征性描写的运用,暗示了生活中的残酷和不可预测的现实。
这让我深思父爱的同时,也意识到生活中的挑战不可避免,我们必须学会面对和应对。
In the summer of 1979, I was invited to Johnston's house who was a civil egineer like me,and we met through our work。
Johnston’s wife ,Sunny ,was a sunny woman like her name。
One day, I and Johnston decided to play golf, so I went to the kitchen to find something to eat。
By the way,ketchup standwiches were my favorite。
At that time ,I saw a woman went into the kitchen , it’s her—Elizaber!I recognized her at first sight,my chidhood friend,who played with me when I was nine and follwed my father moved to her countryside。
My father was a well—driver, where there is a need, where he will go until he finishes up whatever work he found to do in that part of places . We used to live in Clark Hotel, in the town close to her family’s farm。
Coincidently, wells in their farm occasionally went dry in the summer and a good supply of water for their penned animals was needed, so my father and I came there in the spring for finding water. From that time on they could pump out cold water without the limits of time and weather.When adults were working, we children usually play together。
NettlesBy Alice MunroGuide to ReadingAlice Munro is a prolific writer, who has made a major career1out of short fiction2. In the past 35 years, she has produced numerous short stories that are read in and outside of Canada, often appearing in such prestigious magazines as The New Yorker and The Atlantic Monthly. Today she is still active in her writing career.Like her many other stories, the subject of the story “Nettles” is about the problem of a middle-aged woman—the passions, confusions and dilemmas that any woman in a modern society might be confronted with, regardless of race, color or nationality. In this story, the narrator meets her childhood friend by chance at the very stage of her 1(事业的)成就,成功2Described by The New York Times as "the only living writer in the English language to have made a major career out of short fiction alone," Munro's work has been compared to that of Flannery O'Conner, George Eliot, and Anton Chekhov. Mona Simpson, writing in The Atlantic Monthly, described Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage as "a book that must be owned....The highest compliment a critic can pay a short-story writer is to say that he or she is our Chekhov. More than one writer has made that claim for Alice Munro."life when she is caught up 3in a troubled relationship with her husband and her children. She is delighted with this reunion. This joy quickly turns into a tender and ambiguous feeling toward this man--a desire and passion she herself is not sure of. The two of them go through a wild4storm. In order to protect themselves from being knocked down5 by the violent wind, they hold each other firmly. When the wind passes6, they kiss and press together in a gesture of recognition of survival. At this moment the man tells her his deepest secret. She realizes that “he was a pe rson who had hit rock bottom7.” She is happy that he treats her as a “person he had, on his own, who knew.” What happened or rather8, what does not happen 3catch up: To become involved with, often unwillingly牵涉,牵连:被卷入,经常是不情愿地; 使陷入was caught up in the scandal涉及丑闻4狂暴的5打倒,击倒;撞倒;击落6终止;消失(常与away 连用)7also reach rock bottom: to reach the lowest possible level or be in the worst possible situation. She used illegal drugs for eight years and quit before she hit rock bottom.The department has reached rock bottom, with employees being fired and supervisors facing criminal age notes: also used in the form be at rock bottom: Grain prices are now at rock bottom.8确切地说,说得更准确些between them gives her a new perception9of love, “Love that was not usable, that knew its place. Not risking a thing yet staying alive as a sweet trickle10, an underground resource.”The narration of this story is marked by a clear regional identity and shifts in time with a prominent element of retrospection11revealing the protagonist’s ambiguous ho ld of the past, throwing light on12the present. The author employs a skillful but natural narrative voice, which effortlessly leads the reader on toward an open13and yet conclusive ending. While reading the story, the reader is likely to forget that this is only a fiction and that the protagonist is but a character created by art. The author succeeds in bridging the gap between14 art and reality and presenting the fictional character as an acquaintance or even a friend. Thus the reader is apt to15identify with16the protagonist, feeling what she feels and worrying about what worries her. 9感受;知觉;了解10细流;涓流11回顾, 回想, 追溯12阐明,有助于说明,使...明白; 使人理解某事;使某事更为清楚[亦作shed (或throw a flood of) light on (或upon)]13正在考虑的,尚未决定的,悬而未决的,仍需要考虑的an open question悬而未决的问题14消除(…之间的)隔阂;弥合(…之间的)差别15往往;易于;动辄;有…倾向;有…可能16跟…产生共鸣In this short story the author addresses17several essential problems of everyday life such as friendship and love, marriage and divorce. Once again “Nettles” displays Munro’s lasting strength that arises from her ability to create an illusory18simplicity that combines the telling of a simple plot and the probing of complicated feelings and subtle meanings of life.Text1.In the summer of 1979, I walked into the kitchen of my friend Sunn y’s house near Uxbridge, Ontario, and saw a man standing at the counter19, making himself a ketchup sandwich.2.I have driven around in the hills northeast of Toronto, with my husband-my second husband, not the one I had left behind that summer-and I have looked for the house, in an idly persistent way, I have tried to locate the road it was on, but I have never succeeded. It has probably been torn down. Sunny and her husband sold it a few years after I visited them. It was too far from Ottawa, where they lived, to serve as a convenient summer place. Their children, as they 17处理,对付;讨论,论述181. 幻觉的,错觉的;梦幻似的;迷惑人的2. 虚幻的;虚假的;不实际的19 A flat surface on which money is counted, business is transacted, or food is prepared or served 柜台,餐桌:数钱,进行交易,准备食物或放食物的平面; (厨房中的)长台面,案子became teenagers, balked20at going there. And there was too much upkeep21work for Johnston -Sunny’s husband-who liked to spend his weekends golfing.(Rewritten as: Years afterward, driving around in the hills northeast of Toronto with another man22, I looked for the house. I tried to locate the road it was on, but I never succeeded. It had probably been torn down23. Sunny and her husband sold it a few years after I visited them. It was too far from Ottawa, where they lived, to serve as a convenient summer place. )I have found the golf course24-I think it the right one, though the ragged25verges have been cleaned up and there is a fancier26clubhouse27. 20(遇到障碍时)停止并拒绝向前,中止并拒绝做(指定的事情);在…面前犹豫,踌躇,畏缩,从…退缩,回避(通常与at连用)21(建筑物、设备等的)维护;维修;保养; 维修费;保养费22丈夫, 情夫,情郎,男朋友23扯开;拆卸;拆毁The old cinema was torn down and replaced by a restaurant.老电影院被拆毁,取而代之的是一个饭店。
I remembered the nettles . But those plants with the big pinkish purple flowers are not nettles. I have since discovered that they are called joe-pye weed.The stinging nettles that we must got into are more insignificant plants. With stalks wickedly outfited with fine, fierce, skin-piercing and inflaming spines. P91Cold compresses were prescribed and antihistamine lotion, and pills. There was still part of a bottle of lotion left and there were some pills, too.P92✓Mostly herbaceous perennial plants(二年生及多年生草本植物)✓Stinging hairs on the stems and leaves✓Rheumatoid arthritis(风湿性关节炎)✓Snakebite from venomous species(毒蛇咬伤)✓Love, not always satisfactoryWhy can't she just live at home?Let Mom think we're happy . Or she'll feelbad.Because she hatesDadLove that was not usable, that knew its place. Not risking a thing yet staying alive as a sweet trickle, an underground resource.爱不是来被利用的,我哦们十分清楚它应在的位置。
[详细讲解]nettles爱丽丝?蒙罗是加拿大文坛上的一位文学巨匠,以短篇小说享誉国内外。
蒙罗生于1931年,驰骋文坛数十年,发表小说百余篇,大部分收集在她的十一部短篇小说集中。
三次获得加大文学总督奖。
也曾获得加拿大图书奖、文学新秀奖及加澳文学奖(并于2009年获得布克国际文学奖。
<荨麻子>是她较晚期的一篇作品,描写的是一位中年妇女的爱情故事——主人公对儿时的朋友、打井人的儿子麦克追求爱情的故事。
文章首先叙述了女主人公和麦克儿时在一起的天真、烂漫、快乐的童年生活,以及麦克的离开对她精神上造成的巨大冲击,和随后那种不可名状的难以控制的思念:接着写了多年后她到好朋友赛妮家度假意外地见到了麦克,她以女性特有的敏感和方式接触他、感受他(从他的一言一行中去寻求和体味人间那美好的爱与情。
通过与麦克的接触和深入了解。
最后她决定“将爱封存”。
这其中有儿时的甜蜜回忆和恋情,有成年后现实的苦涩和迷茫,有追求爱情时情绪的浮躁和冲动,有激情中意想不到的无奈和窘境??其妙不可言的情感味道。
像一席丰盛的情感大餐。
细细品尝。
给人以独特的美的感受。
儿时的主人公和麦克是青梅竹马的一对儿玩伴。
当时,她8岁,麦克9岁。
麦克的父亲总是驾着一辆脏兮兮的红色的卡车,下雨的时候,她和麦克带着湿漉漉的长毛狗雷泽爬到驾驶舱里(而水打在车窗上,有很大的声响,听起来就像石块打在屋顶上。
他们感到恐惧,但又有说不出来的快乐??对于主人公来说,“我知道有一天麦克将离去。
我会接受它的离去。
只是到麦克真的离开,我都无法想象是怎样的情形。
我的世界里,就像发生了山崩。
除了麦克的离去。
其余的所有记忆都被冲掉了。
”她的精神世界受到了巨大的冲击??。
当我站在鞋店门口时(听见一个女人跑过商店,喊着麦克,突然同我认为她就是麦克的母亲。
我跑出鞋店,希望马上见到他??我的心咚咚地跳个不停,就像胸膛在咆哮??”女主人公陷入了深深的眷恋:她那莫名其妙的想法、她那不由自主的行动(还有她那按耐不住的情绪的冲动。
Nettles荨麻子Alice Munro爱丽丝芒罗1979年的夏天,我来到好朋友赛妮在安大略省的欧克斯桥的家中度假。
在她家的厨房里,我见到了在灶台旁边正忙于做番茄酱三文治的他。
几年后,我坐在另一个男子的车里围绕着多伦多北部的山区,寻找那幢房子。
我试着找到它所在的街道,但从未成功过。
那房子可能已经被推倒。
在我拜访过她们的几年后,塞妮和丈夫就把房子卖掉了。
只因为它离他们在渥太华的住处太远,不便作为夏天度假之地。
在我儿时所在的乡下,夏天井水经常干涸。
尽管我家的井已经是最深的,但是父亲圈养的银狐、水貂需要相当大的供水量。
所以有一天掘井人带着给人印象深刻的掘井设备,开始了他的工作——将井深一直扩充到地下有水的地方。
从那时起,无论天气多干燥,我们都可以在任何时间用泵摇出纯净冰凉的地下水。
在水泵上有一个锡制的杯子,当我在灼热的天气,用它来喝水的时候,我就想着水流经过黑色的岩石如耀眼的黑宝石。
掘井人名叫迈克麦卡乐姆。
他住在离我们农场很近的镇上的克拉克旅馆。
他春天到我们这来,将这附近的能找到的活都干完就会会离开,继续到别处去。
迈克有一个儿子,和父亲一起就近住在旅馆或寄宿公寓,并就近上学读书。
他也叫迈克麦卡勒姆。
那时他九岁,我八岁。
迈克的父亲总是驾着一辆脏兮兮的深红色的卡车。
下雨的时候,我和迈克就爬到驾驶舱里,雨水打在车窗上有很大的声响,听起来就像石块儿打在屋顶上。
车里充满着男人的气息—他们的工作服、工具、烟草以及脏靴子和发出酸奶酪气味的袜子。
还有那湿漉漉的长毛狗,因为我们把我们的狗兰杰也带进来了。
有一天,我们把兰杰带出来,它去追赶一只臭鼬那只臭鼬调过头向它喷射。
妈妈不得不立即停下手里的活,驾车到镇上去买几大罐子番茄汁,迈克把兰杰哄到盆里,然后我们把番茄汁倾倒到它身上,再用刷子刷它的毛发。
看起来就像我们在用鲜血给它洗澡。
我家的农场都很小—9英亩。
正是因为它足够小,我可以透彻地研究发掘每个细节。
这里的每一棵树都表现出某种神态。
比如,榆树看上去安详宁静,橡树则咄咄逼人,枫树则亲切友好,而山楂树则老气横秋,脾气暴躁。
甚至河岸上的坑凹都有他们明显的特征。
八月的河是条水道,几乎也是一条石头路。
我和迈克光着脚,躺着河水,蹦着从一个雪白光滑的石块儿上跳到另一个上,滑倒在水面下的脏石头上。
于是我们吃力地在一团团长着扁平叶子的睡莲中蹚行,两腿陷在弯曲的睡莲根中。
(The river in August was almost as much as a stony road as it was watercourse. Mike and I took off our shoes and waded —jumping from one bare , bone-white rock to another, slipping on the scummy rocks below the surface, and plowing through flat-leafed water lilies, trapping our legs in their snaky roots. )我在远离农场的乡村学校读书,并且迈克自春天就已经去了镇上的学校,所以镇上的男孩儿和迈克都熟悉起来。
在河岸上更远处还有镇上的女孩儿。
她们可能是尾随男孩儿从镇上到这儿来到这里,但又装做并不是跟着他们来的,再或者是男孩儿企图欺负她们尾随而来的。
但又无论怎样,他们一起来了,游戏就初具规模了。
这是一个战争的游戏。
男孩儿们分成两队,然后躲在由树枝,水草支成的障碍物后开始他们的战斗。
主要的武器是棒球大小的泥球。
你需要用力将粘土捏成球状,每一个球只能掷一次,所以就需要许多这种球。
同男孩子一样,女孩儿们也分成了两队。
每个女孩儿都有她自己的一堆球,并且为特定的士兵服务。
当某个士兵受伤时,他将喊出某个特定女孩的名字,那么这个女孩便会把他拉走,然后以最快的速度帮他包扎伤口。
我当然是帮迈克制造武器的,而当他受伤时所喊的女孩儿也是我。
当他喊我的名字时我会紧张万分,全身蹭的就像过电似的,一种狂热的忠诚感油然而生。
(I was a keen alarm when the cry came, a wire zinging through your whole body, a fanatic feeling of devotion.)当迈克受伤时,他总是闭着眼。
他无力地躺着,一动不动,我则把黏的大叶子拍在他的额头和喉咙上,还要撩起他的外衣,拍在他的白嫩的肚皮上,那上长着可爱而易受攻击的肚脐。
游戏没有胜者可言。
当大家玩过一段时间,就会在争执谁是胜者中结束,而刚刚在战争中阵亡的战士也将复活。
在回家的路上,我们平躺在河水里,试着把身上的泥土冲掉。
我们的外衣被弄得又脏又湿,一直滴着水。
终于有一天早晨,所有的掘井工作都完成了,这是意料中的事。
井上了盖子,水泵重新安装好了,大家对清新的井水赞叹不已。
那辆卡车也没有来。
中午吃饭时餐桌边少了两张椅子。
回想以前我们吃饭时,迈克和我好少注意对方。
他喜欢把番茄酱涂到面包上。
迈克的父亲同我的父亲交谈,而内容大都是关于掘井、事故以及地下水位。
我父亲称他是一个严谨的人,他全心倾注于工作。
迈克的父亲几乎每次说完话都会大笑。
他的笑声深沉而孤独,带着回音,似乎还在井底工作一样。
到头来,这是这位掘井人在我们村上的最后一项活儿。
其他地方还有很多工作在等着他。
所以,他希望能趁着好天气,赶到那些地方去。
事情对于他这种方式的人来说很简单,只需要收拾收拾行李,离开旅馆就可以了,这也正是他所做的。
我早就知道总有一天迈克将离开,我会接受他的离去。
只是直到迈克真的离开,我都无法想像,他离开会是怎么样的情形。
我的世界里,就像发生了山崩,除了迈克的离去,其余的所有记忆都被冲掉了。
几周后的某一天,我陪母亲去鞋店试鞋。
当我站在鞋店门口时,听见一个女人跑过商店,喊着“迈克”。
突然间我认为她就是迈克的母亲。
我跑出了鞋店,希望马上就可以见他。
那个女人上了一个大约5岁的小男孩儿。
一个太普通的名字。
那是一个傻傻的男孩儿,有一张扁平的脸,脏脏的金发。
我的心咚咚地跳个不停,就像是胸腔在咆哮。
(My hearts was happening in big thumps, like howls happening on my chest.) 1979年的夏天,赛妮的欧克斯桥的客车站接我。
她是一个靓丽的女子,银棕色的卷发用不对称的梳子别着。
即便当她发胖时——现在她确实是胖了——她看上去也不像是结了婚的女人,而像是带有几分庄重的女孩子。
她还是像往常一样,把我卷入她的生活,告诉我她以为自己会迟到,因为女儿克莱尔早上把臭虫放进自己的耳朵,她不得不带她到医院把虫子冲洗出来。
后来,一条狗又在她家厨房的台阶上呕吐,约翰斯顿便让孩子们把她冲洗干净,因为他们原本就想要一条狗。
“要不我们找一个安静漂亮的地方,喝上几杯,不醉不归?”她说道,“可是,我们得。
”约翰斯顿邀请了一个朋友,恰好那个朋友的妻子和孩子都回爱尔兰了,所以他俩要去打高尔夫球。
我和赛妮是几年前在温哥华认识的。
我们俩的怀孕期正好前后相接,所以我们能够共用一孕妇服。
我们大约每周都要在我家或她家厨房小聚一次。
孩子们总是不断的打扰我们,有时我们还会因为缺觉而感到头晕目眩,于是我们就用大量的浓咖啡和香烟给自己提神,开始天南地北聊天,所谈的话题无所不包:我们的婚姻、奋斗、个人的不足、既有趣又有些丢脸的动机,以及我们曾经有过的理想抱负。
我们同时读章恩的书,试图不丧失我们的梦想。
就在那样一段时间里,我们虽然忙于照看孩子,应该处在一种生产带来的恍惚忙碌中,我们被迫去讨论着Simone de Beauvoir 和Arthur Koestler、以及《鸡尾酒会》。
如今,我们都搬离了温哥华。
只不过赛妮是和丈夫、孩子、家居用品一起以一种正常方式搬走的。
原因也很正常—她的丈夫换了工作。
而我搬家的原因却很新奇,而且只有某些特定的人才能理解。
我离开了丈夫和房子以及婚姻生活中所必须的东西(当然,除此之外,还有孩子,他们会定期来到我的身边)。
我希望可以过一种没有虚伪、不丧失自我、不感到羞辱的生活。
我现在住在多伦多的一幢房子的二楼。
楼下的住户是在12年前从特立尼岛搬来的。
街道上老式砖结构的房子里居住的都是微褐色皮肤的人。
他们以一种我不熟悉的方式说着英语,空气中从早到晚弥漫着这些人又辣又甜的烹饪气味。
我对这一切事物都很满意。
因为这一切让我感觉自己真的改变了,这是为摆脱婚姻的禁锢而必须踏上的旅途。
但是对于我的10岁和12岁的女儿来说,要想让她们同我有一样的感觉是不现实的。
她们在暑假初来到这里,本打算要待上整整两个月,她们觉得这街道的气味令人作呕,这里的噪音令人发_。
刚开始,她们没有抱怨。
大女儿对小女儿说:“让妈妈觉得我们很快乐,不然她会很不开心的。
”后来终于爆发了。
小女儿埋怨,哭诉着:“为什么你不在家里住?”大女儿辛酸地告诉她说:“因为妈妈恨爸爸。
”我打电话给丈夫——他问我近乎同样的问题,而他自己也出了近乎一样的答案。
我给孩子们换了票,帮她们收拾东西,送她们到飞机场。
当我独自回来的时候,我把所有与她们有关的、可能唤起对她们记忆的东西收集在一起塞进垃圾袋里。
而当我想起她们的时候,几乎也做同样的事,将我的思绪完全封闭。
与男人有关的苦痛我可以忍受,而与孩子有关的苦痛我不能忍受。
孩子们走后,我又恢复以往的生活。
我早晨不再做早饭,每天都到意大利便利店去喝咖啡,吃新鲜出炉的面包卷。
回到家以后,我就会坐在前边阳台的大窗户旁的木桌旁,花上几个小时来写东西。
窗户外面天色渐暗,后院的集会将会开始,先是音乐声,叫喊声和挑衅声,之后可能会发出吵闹声、打架声,之后可能会发出吵闹声、打架声。
我会感觉到害怕不是因为人们之间的不友好,而是因为我感到自己不复存在。
在这些情绪的笼罩下,我拨通了赛妮的电话,并且获得她的邀请,可以在乡下度过周末。
“这里很漂亮。
”我说。
但是这沿途的乡村对于我来讲没有什么意义。
山峰是一块块的绿色的斑点,时而夹杂着牛群。
被水草覆盖的小溪驾着许多矮矮的混凝土桥,大傫的卷成垛的干草堆在田地里。
“等见到房舍就好了。
”赛妮说,“这里实在不太令人赏心悦目。
”她并没有询问我的新生活,或是缘起不便提起,或是出于对我的新生活的不赞同。
即使是她问了,我也会说谎,至少会编一部分谎话。
和过去的生活决裂是很难的,但也是我必须做的。
我非常想念孩子们,但总该付出代价。
我正在解放一个男人以及我自己。
我正在学着轻率地对待性的问题,而这对于我又很艰难,因为我起初并非如此,并且我已不再年轻。
但是我正在努力。
房屋的砖结构上留下被倒的阳台的痕迹。
赛妮的儿子们在院子里疯闹嬉笑着。
上次与赛妮见面时刚出生的3岁小女儿,从厨房跑出来,停在我们面前,很惊奇地看着我这个陌生人。