我的母亲 This Was My Mother

[美国]马克·吐温/Mark Twain

马克·吐温（1835-1910），美国杰出的小说家，美国文学史上最重要的作家之一，也是美国文学史上第一个用口语进行写作的作家，开创了一代文风，被福克纳称为“美国文学之父”。马克·吐温幼年家境贫寒，被迫放弃学业外出谋生。丰富的生活经历对他后期的创作影响很大。19世纪70年代到90年代是他创作的鼎盛时期，其代表作有《哈克贝利·费恩历险记》和它的姊妹篇《汤姆·索亚历险记》等。

She was 82 and living in Keoluk when, unaccountably, she insisted upon attending a convention of old settlers of the Mississippi Valley. All the way there, and it was some distance, she was young again with excitement and eagerness. At the hotel she asked immediately for Dr. Barrett, of St. Louis. He had left for home that morning and would not be back, she was told. She turned away, the fire all gone from her, and asked to go home. Once there she sat silent and thinking for many days, then told us that when she was 18 she had loved a young medical student with all her heart. There was a misunderstanding and he left the country;she had immediately married, to show him that she did not care. She had never seen him since and then she had read in a newspaper that he was going to attend the old settlers'convention.“Only three hours before we reached that hotel he had been there,”she mourned.

She had kept that pathetic burden in her heart 64 years without any of us suspecting it. Before the year was out, her memory began to fail. She would write letters to school-mates who had been dead 40 years and wonder why they never answered. Four years later she died.

当时她82岁，住在克勒克城，不知为何，她坚持要参加密西西比河谷的老居民大会。路途有点远，但是，一路上兴奋热切的心情仿佛使她又回到年轻时代。她一到旅馆，便立即打听从圣路易来的巴雷特医生的消息。得知他当天早上就回家了，而且不再回来，她兴致全无，调头便要回家。回到家，她默默地坐着，沉思了几天后，才告诉我们，18岁时她曾衷心爱过一位学医的青年学生。不料发生了一次误会，他出国了，而她闪电般地结婚，以示她毫不在乎。从那以后她再也没有见过他，然而，她从报纸上得知他将参加今年的老居民大会。“要是早到三小时，我就能在旅店见到他了。”她叹息道。

她把这份情感的重负藏在心里长达64年之久，始终不让我们任何人猜测到。那年快结束时，她的记忆力开始衰退。她写信给已过世40年的老同学，而不明白她们为什么从不回信。四年之后她就去世了。

词汇笔记

misunderstanding[,misʌndə'stændiŋ]n.误解；误会

We try to preclude any possibility of misunderstanding.

我们力图消除任何误解的可能性。

mourn[mɔ：n]v.为……哀痛；向……致哀

One must mourn not the death of men but their birth.

人要悲伤的并不是人类的死亡而是他们的诞生。

pathetic[pə'θetik]adj.凄惨的；可怜的；毫无成功希望的

A man emotionally in love can be pathetic.

一个真正陷入爱河的人是很悲惨的。

suspect[sə'spekt]v.怀疑；不信任

It was then I began to suspect that my father had wanted to mend the breach as much as I had.

就是从那一刻起，我开始猜想，父亲肯定曾经想过要修复我们的裂痕，就跟我曾经想过的一样。

小试身手

一路上兴奋热切的心情仿佛使她又回到年轻时代。

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她兴致全无，调头便要回家。

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她把这份情感的重负藏在心里长达64年之久，始终不让我们任何人猜测到。

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短语家族

She turned away, the fire all gone from her, and asked to go home.

turn away：避开；走开；转过脸

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Once there she sat silent and thinking for many days, then told us that when she was 18 she had loved a young medical student with all her heart.

with all one's heart：十分愿意地；全心全意地

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