温馨夜读 PART3 07 The Wooden Bowl 一只木碗

 

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[00:00.76]The Wooden Bowl 一只木碗

[00:05.89]A frail¹ old man went to live with his son, 

[00:09.74]daughter-in-law, and a four-year old grandson.

[00:12.90]The old man’s hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred², and his step faltered³.

[00:19.90]The family ate together nightly at the dinner table.

[00:23.29]But the elderly grandfather’s shaky hands 

[00:27.07]and failing sight made eating rather difficult.

[00:30.07]Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.

[00:33.68]When he grasped the glass often milk spilled on the tablecloth⁴.

[00:38.61]The son and daughter-in-law became irritated⁵ with the mess.

[00:42.98]So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.

[00:47.14]There, grandfather ate alone 

[00:49.94]while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner at the dinner table.

[00:53.49]Since grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.

[01:00.71]Sometimes when the family glanced in grandfather’s direction,

[01:05.29]he had a tear in his eye as he ate alone.

[01:08.80]Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions

[01:13.72]when he dropped a fork or spilled food.

[01:16.57]The four-year-old son watched it all in silence.

[01:20.40]One evening before supper, 

[01:23.13]the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps⁶ on the floor.

[01:27.62]He asked the child sweetly,“What are you making?”

[01:32.11]Just as sweetly, the boy responded,

[01:35.74]“Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and mama 

[01:40.08]to eat your food from when I grow up.”

[01:42.50]The four-year-old son smiled and went back to work.

[01:46.44]The words so struck the parents that they were speechless.

[01:50.27]Then tears started to stream down their cheeks.

[01:54.10]Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.

[01:58.58]That evening the husband took grandfather’s hand 

[02:02.64]and gently led him back to the family table.

[02:05.48]For the remainder⁷ of his days he ate every meal with the family.

[02:10.54]And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer

[02:15.45]when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

[02:20.71]Children are remarkably⁸ perceptive⁹.

[02:23.45]Their eyes always observe, their ears always listen,

[02:28.97]and their minds always process the messages they absorb.

[02:33.62]If they see us patiently provide a happy home atmosphere for family members,

[02:38.87]they will imitate that attitude for the rest of their lives.

[02:42.70]The wise parent realizes that every day is being laid for the child’s future.

[02:49.27]Let us all be wise builders and role models.

[02:52.99]Take care of yourself ... and those you love ... today, and everyday!

1 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

2 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

4 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

5 irritated   

a.恼怒的

参考例句：

• His little affectations irritated her. 他的装腔作势令她不快。
• Her genteel accent irritated me. 她那矫揉造作的腔调使我感到难受。

6 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

7 remainder   

n.余下的部分，剩下的人数

参考例句：

• They joined up with us to spend the remainder of the holiday.他们来跟我们一起共度余下的假期。
• He spent the remainder of his years in Japan.他在日本度过了余生。

8 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

9 perceptive   

adj.知觉的，有洞察力的，感知的

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• He is very perceptive and nothing can be hidden from him.他耳聪目明，什么事都很难瞒住他。