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lesson8-10

人生的一課

快一年了，大部分時間我都泡在家里、店鋪、學(xué)校和教堂里，就像一塊舊餅干，又臟又難以下咽。

For nearly a year， I sopped around the house， the Store， the school and the church， like an old biscuit， dirty and inedible.

這時我遇到或者說認(rèn)識了拋給我第一根救生索的那位夫人。

Then I met， or rather got to know， the lady who threw me first lifeline.

波薩？弗勞爾斯夫人是斯坦普司黑人區(qū)中的出類拔萃的人物。

Mrs. Bertha Flowers was the aristocrat of Black Stamps.

她動作優(yōu)雅，即使在最冷的天氣里也不縮手縮腳，而在阿肯色州的夏日里，她似乎又有屬于自己的微風(fēng)環(huán)繞在她的身旁，給她帶來涼爽。

She had the grace of control to appear warm in the coldest weather， and one the Arkansas summer days it seemed she had a private breeze which swirled around， cooling her.

她的皮膚深黑迷人，如果被掛住就會像李子皮一樣剝落，但沒有人敢離她近點(diǎn)，碰皺她的衣服，更不要說掛住她的皮膚了。

Her skin was a rich black that would have peeled like a plum if snagged， but then no one would have thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to ruffle her dress， let alone snag her skin.

她不太喜歡親近，另外她還帶著手套。

She didn't encourage familiarity. She wore gloves too.

她是我所知道的為數(shù)不多的有氣質(zhì)的女士之一，并且是我做人的楷模，影響了我一生。

She was one of the few gentlewomen I have ever known， and has remained throughout my life the measure of what a human being can be.

我被她深深地吸引，因?yàn)樗袷俏覐臎]有親身遇到過的那些人。

She appealed to me because she was like people I had never met personally.

她就像英國小說中的女人，走在沼澤地里（不管是什么地方），一群忠實(shí)的狗奔跑在她們的身旁，并與她們保持一定的距離以示尊敬。

Like women in English novels who walked the moors （whatever they were） with their loyal dogs racing at a respectful distance.

她就像坐在爐火熊熊的壁爐前的女人，不時從裝滿蛋糕和松脆餅的銀盤中取東西喝。

Like the women who sat in front of roaring fireplaces， drinking tea incessantly from silver trays full of scones and crumpets.

她就像走在“石南叢生的荒野”中，讀著用摩洛哥山羊皮裝訂的書的那些女人，而且有用連字符隔開的兩個姓。

Women who walked over the “heath” and read morocco-bound books and had two last names spanided by a hyphen.

可以肯定地說，是她本人使我為自己是個黑人而感到驕傲。

It would be safe to say that she made me proud to be Negro， just by being herself.

那個在我的記憶中如甜奶般鮮活的夏日的午后，她來我們的店里買東西。

One summer afternoon， sweet-milk fresh in my memory， she stopped at the Store to buy provisions.

換了另外一個同她身體情況和年齡相當(dāng)?shù)暮谌藡D女就會一只手把紙袋拎回家去，但奶奶卻說，“弗勞爾斯大姐，讓貝利幫你把東西送回家去。”

Another Negro woman of her health and age would have been expected to carry the paper sacks home in one hand， but Momma said， “Sister Flowers， I'll send Bai-ley up to your house with these things.”

“謝謝您，漢德森夫人。但我想讓瑪格麗特幫我送回去。”

“Thank you， Mrs. Henderson. I'd prefer Marguerite， though.”

她說我名字時，我的名字也變得動聽起來。

My name was beautiful when she said it.

“反正我一直想跟她談一談?！彼齻兓ハ鄬σ暳艘幌?，其間的意思只有她們這些同齡人才明白。

“I've been mean-ins to talk to her， anyway.” They gave each other agegroup looks.

在石頭路旁有一條小路，弗勞爾斯夫人在前面擺動著胳膊，在碎石路上小心地走著。

There was a little path beside the rocky road， and Mrs. Flowers walked in front swinging her arms and picking her way over the stones.

她沒有回頭，對我說，“聽說你在學(xué)校里功課很好，瑪格麗特，但那都是筆頭作業(yè)。老師說他們很難讓你在課堂上發(fā)言?！?/p>

She said， without turning her head， to me， “I hear you're doing very good school work， Marguerite， but that it's all written. The teachers report that they have trouble getting you to talk in class.

我們走過左邊三角形的農(nóng)場，路變寬了，可以允許我們并排走在一起。但我畏縮地走在后面，想著那些沒有問出口也無法回答的問題。

We passed the triangular farm on our left and the path widened to allow us to walk together. I hung back in the separate unasked and unanswerable questions.

“過來和我一起走，瑪格麗特?！蔽覠o法拒絕，盡管我很想。

“Come and walk along with me， Marguerite.” I couldn't have refused even if I wanted to.

她把我的名字叫得如此動聽?；蛘吒_切地說，她把每個詞都說得這樣清晰，我相信就是一個不懂英語的外國人也能聽懂她的話。

She pronounced my name so nicely. Or more correctly， she spoke each word with such clarity that I was certain a foreigner who didn't understand English could have understood her.

“現(xiàn)在沒有人要強(qiáng)迫你說話——恐怕也沒人能做到這一點(diǎn)。但是你記住，語言是人類進(jìn)行溝通的方式，是語言將人類同低等動物區(qū)分開來?！?/p>

“Now no one is going to make you talk —possibly no one can. But bear in mind， language is man's way of communicating with his fellow man and it is language alone which separates him from the lower animals.”

這對我來說是一個全新的觀點(diǎn)，我需要些時間認(rèn)真考慮一下。

That was a totally new idea to me， and I would need time to think about it.

“你奶奶說你讀了很多書，一有機(jī)會就讀。這很好，但還不夠好，言語的含義不僅是寫在紙上的那點(diǎn)。它需要人的聲音賦予它深層含義的細(xì)微差別。”

“Your grandmother says you read a lot. Every chance you get. That's good， but not good enough. Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning. ”

我記住了有關(guān)聲音賦予言語更多內(nèi)涵的話。這些話聽起來是那么正確，那么富有詩意。

I memorized the part about the human voice infusing words. It seemed so valid and poetic.

她說她要給我一些書，要我不僅閱讀這些書，還要大聲朗讀。

She said she was going to give me some books and that I not only must read them， I must read them aloud.

她建議我用盡可能豐富的語調(diào)去讀每一句話。

She suggested that i try to make a sentence sound in as many different ways as possible.

“如果你草草讀完這些書就還給我的話，我不接受任何理由?！?/p>

“I'll accept no excuse if you return a book to me that has been badly handled.”

我想像不出如果我真的沒有認(rèn)真讀弗勞爾斯夫人的某一本書，將會受到怎樣的懲罰。讓我去死恐怕是太仁慈太干脆了。

My imagination boggled at the punishment I would deserve if in fact I did abuse a book of Mrs. Flowers'。 Death would be too kind and brief.

房子里的氣味讓我有點(diǎn)吃驚。

The odors in the house surprised me.

不知什么緣故，我從來沒有將弗勞爾斯夫人與食物、吃飯或是平常人的瑣事聯(lián)系起來。

Somehow I had never connected Mrs. Flowers with food or eating or any other common experience of common people.

那里一定也有戶外廁所，但我一點(diǎn)也記不起來了。

There must have been an outhouse， too， but my mind never recorded it.

她打開門，香草的芬芳迎面撲來。

The sweet scent of vanilla had met us as she opened the door.

“今天早上我做了些茶點(diǎn)。你瞧，我早打算好要請你來吃點(diǎn)心、檸檬水，這樣我們就可以聊一會了。檸檬水正放在冰盒子里呢。”

“I made tea cookies this morning. You see， I had planned to invite you for cookies and lemonade so we could have this little chat. The lemonade is in the icebox.”

這意味著弗勞爾斯夫人平時也買冰，而鎮(zhèn)上大多數(shù)人家只是在星期六下午才買冰，放在木頭做的冰淇凌冷藏機(jī)內(nèi)，整個夏天也不過只買幾次。

It followed that Mrs. Flowers would have ice on an ordinary day， when most families in our town bought ice late on Saturdays only a few times during the summer to be used in the wooden ice-cream freezers.

“坐吧，瑪格麗特，坐到那邊桌子旁。”

“Have a seat， Marguerite. Over there by the table.”

她端著一個用茶布蓋著的盤。

She carried a platter covered with a tea towel.

盡管她事先說過她已經(jīng)好久沒有做點(diǎn)心了，我還是相信就像她的其他任何東西一樣，點(diǎn)心也會十分精美可口。

Although she warned that she hadn't tried her hand at baking sweets for some time， I was certain that like everything else about her the cookies would be perfect.

我吃點(diǎn)心的時候，她開始給我講我們后來稱之為“我生活中的一課”的第一部分。

As I ate she began the first of what we later called “my lesson in living.”

她告訴我不能寬容無知，但可以理解文盲。

She said that must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy.

她認(rèn)為有些人雖然沒有上過學(xué)，但卻比大學(xué)教授更有知識，甚至更聰明。

That some people， unable to go to school， were more educated and even more intelligent than college professors.

她還鼓勵我認(rèn)真傾聽被鄉(xiāng)下人稱為常識的一些俗語。她說這些樸實(shí)諺語是一代代人集體智慧的結(jié)晶。

She encouraged me to listen carefully to what country people called mother wit. That in those homely sayings was couched the collective wisdom of generations

我吃完點(diǎn)心后，她把桌子打掃干凈，從書架上拿了一本又厚又小的書。

When I finished the cookies she brushed off the table and brought a thick， small book from the bookcase.

我讀過《雙城記》，認(rèn)為這本書符合我心目中浪漫主義小說的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

I had read A Tale of Two Cities and found it up to my standards as a romantic novel.

她翻開第一頁，于是我平生第一次聽到了詩朗誦。

She opened the first page and I heard poetry for the first time in my life.

“這是最輝煌的時代也是最糟糕的時代……”她的聲音圓潤，隨著言語的起伏而抑揚(yáng)頓挫，就像在唱歌一樣。

“It was the best of times and the worst of times. . .” Her voice slid in and curved down through and over the words. She was nearly singing.

我想看一下她讀的是否真的和我過去看的一樣？

I wanted to look at the pages. Were they the same that I had read？

還是像贊美詩一樣，書頁上滿是音符？

Or were there notes， music， lined on the pages， as in a hymn book？

她的聲音開始慢慢低沉下來。

Her sounds began cascading gently.

我聽過很多次布道，因此我知道她的朗誦就要結(jié)束了，但我還沒有真正聽見或聽懂一個詞。

I knew from listening to a thousand preachers that she was nearing the end of her reading， and I hadn't really heard， heard to understand， a single word.

“你覺得怎么樣？”

“How do you like that？”

我這才意識到她在期待我的回答。

It occurred to me that she expected a response.

我的舌間還留有香草的余味，她的朗誦對我來說很奇妙。

The sweet vanilla flavor was still on my tongue and her reading was a wonder in my ears.

我得說點(diǎn)什么了。

I had to speak.

我說：“是的，夫人。”我至少得說這些，我也只能說這些。

I said， “Yea， ma'am.” It was the least I could do， but it was the most also.

“還有一件事。你把這本詩集拿去，背下其中的一首。下次你再來看我時，我希望你背誦給我聽?！?/p>

'There s one more thing. Take this book of poems and memorize one for me. Next time you pay me a visit， I want you to recite.“

在經(jīng)歷了成年后的復(fù)雜生活后，我多次試圖弄清楚為什么當(dāng)年她送給我的禮物一下子就讓我陶醉了。

I have tried often to search behind the sophistication of years for the enchantment I so easily found in those gifts.

書中的內(nèi)容已經(jīng)忘卻，但余韻仍存。

The essence escapes but its aura remains.

被準(zhǔn)許，不，是被邀請進(jìn)入一群陌生人的私人生活中，與他們共同分享喜悅和恐懼，這使我讀貝奧武夫時就猶如喝一杯蜜酒，讀奧立佛？特威斯特時，猶如飲一杯熱奶茶，忘記了那猶如南方苦艾酒般的痛苦經(jīng)歷。

To be allowed， no， invited， into the private lives of strangers， and to share their joys and fears， was a chance to exchange the Southern bitter wormwood for a cup of mead with Be-owulf or a hot cup of tea and milk with Oliver Twist.

當(dāng)我大聲地說“這比我做過的任何一件事都好得多”時，我眼中涌出了愛的淚水，那是為了自己的忘我

When I said aloud， “It is a far， far better thing that I do， than I have ever done…” tears of love filled my eyes at my selflessness.

在我第一次去她家回來，我跑下山去沖到馬路上（路上很少有車經(jīng)過），快到店鋪時我還居然沒忘了停下來。

On that first day， I ran down the hill and into the road （few cars ever came along it） and had the good sense to stop running before I reached the Store.

有人喜歡我，這是多么的不同啊。

was liked， and what a difference it made.

有人尊敬我，并不是因?yàn)槲沂菨h德森夫人的外孫女或是貝利的妹妹，而是因?yàn)槲沂乾敻覃愄?？約翰遜。

I was respected not as Mrs. Henderson's grandchild or Bailey's sister but for just being Marguerite Johnson.

孩提時的邏輯永遠(yuǎn)不需要證實(shí)（所有的結(jié)論都是絕對的）。

Childhood's logic never asks to be proved （all conclusions are absolute）。

我從來沒有想過為什么弗勞爾斯夫人會選中我來表示關(guān)懷，也從來沒想過也許是奶奶曾請求她開導(dǎo)我一下。

1 didn't question why Mrs. Flowers had singled me out for attention， nor did it occur to me that Momma might have asked her to give me a little talking to.

我只關(guān)心她曾給我做點(diǎn)心吃，還給我讀她最喜歡的書。這些足以證明她喜歡我

All I cared about was that she had made tea cookies for me and read to me from her favorite book. It was enough to prove that she liked me.

奶奶和貝利在店鋪里等我。

Momma and Bailey were waiting inside the Store.

他問：“她給了你什么？”他已經(jīng)看到那些書了，但我把裝著他那份點(diǎn)心的紙袋放在懷里，用詩集擋住。

He said. “My， what did she give you？” He had seen the books， but I held the paper sack with his cookies in my arms shielded by the poems.

奶奶說：“小姐，我知道你的舉止像位女士。

Momma said， “Sister， I know you acted like a little lady. That do my heart good to see settled people take to you all.

我已經(jīng)盡最大努力了，上帝知道，但這些天……“她的聲音低下來，”快去把衣服換了。

I'm trying my best， the Lord knows， but these days…“ Her voice trailed off. ”Go on in and change your dress.