lesson 8 a lesson in living

1、lesson8人生的一課快一年了，大部分時(shí)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。Fnearlyayear，Isoppedaroundthehouse，theSte，theschoolthechurch，likeanoldbiscuit，dirtyinedible.這時(shí)我遇到或者說(shuō)認(rèn)識(shí)了拋給我第一根救生索的那位夫人。ThenImet，rathergottoknow，theladywhothrewmefirst

2、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.BerthaFlowerswasthearistocratofBlackStamps.她動(dòng)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(lái)涼爽。Shehadthegraceofcontroltoappearwarminthecoldestweather，onetheArkansassummerda

3、ysitseemedshehadaprivatebreezewhichswirledaround，coolingher.她的皮膚深黑迷人，如果被掛住就會(huì)像李子皮一樣剝落，但沒(méi)有人敢離她近點(diǎn)，碰皺她的衣服，更不要說(shuō)掛住她的皮膚了。Herskinwasarichblackthatwouldhavepeeledlikeaplumifsnagged，butthennoonewouldhavethoughtofgettingcloseenough

4、toMrs.Flowerstoruffleherdress，letalonesnagherskin.她不太喜歡親近，另外她還帶著手套。Shedidntencouragefamiliarity.Sheweglovestoo.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。ShewasoneofthefewgentlewomenIhaveeverknown，hasremainedthroughoutmylifet

5、hemeasureofwhatahumanbeingcanbe.我被她深深地吸引，因?yàn)樗袷俏覐臎](méi)有親身遇到過(guò)的那些人。SheappealedtomebecauseshewaslikepeopleIhadnevermetpersonally.“Ivebeenmeaninstotalktoher，anyway.”Theygaveeachotheragegrouplooks.在石頭路旁有一條小路，弗勞爾斯夫人在前面擺動(dòng)著胳膊，在碎石路上小心

6、地走著。Therewasalittlepathbesidetherockyroad，Mrs.Flowerswalkedinfrontswingingherarmspickingherwayoverthestones.她沒(méi)有回頭，對(duì)我說(shuō)，“聽(tīng)說(shuō)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(shuō)他們很難讓你在課堂上發(fā)言。”Shesaid，withoutturningherhead，tome，“Ihearyouredoingverygoo

7、dschoolwk，Marguerite，butthatitsallwritten.Theteachersreptthattheyhavetroublegettingyoutotalkinclass.我們走過(guò)左邊三角形的農(nóng)場(chǎng)，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(méi)有問(wèn)出口也無(wú)法回答的問(wèn)題。Wepassedthetriangularfarmonourleftthepathwidenedtoallowustowa

8、lktogether.Ihungbackintheseparateunaskedunanswerablequestions.“過(guò)來(lái)和我一起走，瑪格麗特?！蔽覠o(wú)法拒絕，盡管我很想?！癈omewalkalongwithme，Marguerite.”IcouldnthaverefusedevenifIwantedto.她把我的名字叫得如此動(dòng)聽(tīng)?；蛘吒_切地說(shuō)，她把每個(gè)詞都說(shuō)得這樣清晰，我相信就是一個(gè)不懂英語(yǔ)的外國(guó)人也能聽(tīng)懂她的話。Shepro

9、nouncedmynamesonicely.mecrectly，shespokeeachwdwithsuchclaritythatIwascertainafeignerwhodidntunderstEnglishcouldhaveunderstoodher.“現(xiàn)在沒(méi)有人要強(qiáng)迫你說(shuō)話——恐怕也沒(méi)人能做到這一點(diǎn)。但是你記住，語(yǔ)言是人類進(jìn)行溝通的方式，是語(yǔ)言將人類同低等動(dòng)物區(qū)分開(kāi)來(lái)。”“Nownooneisgoingtomakeyoutalk

10、—possiblynoonecan.Butbearinmind，languageismanswayofcommunicatingwithhisfellowmanitislanguagealonewhichseparateshimfromtheloweranimals.”這對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)是一個(gè)全新的觀點(diǎn)，我需要些時(shí)間認(rèn)真考慮一下。Thatwasatotallynewideatome，Iwouldneedtimetothinkaboutit.“你