英语 英语 日语 日语 韩语 韩语 法语 法语 德语 德语 西班牙语 西班牙语 意大利语 意大利语 阿拉伯语 阿拉伯语 葡萄牙语 葡萄牙语 越南语 越南语 俄语 俄语 芬兰语 芬兰语 泰语 泰语 泰语 丹麦语 泰语 对外汉语

美国故事 SENEWS-2006-1007-Feature

时间:2007-05-14 01:23来源:互联网 提供网友:ahmy88   字体: [ ]
特别声明:本栏目内容均从网络收集或者网友提供,供仅参考试用,我们无法保证内容完整和正确。如果资料损害了您的权益,请与站长联系,我们将及时删除并致以歉意。
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)
As soon as I saw Anvol sitting in the apple tree I knew we would fight. I also knew he would win. But winning1 or losing was not important, at least not so important as getting him down from the tree. The tree was mine. It was a young tree and it had 13 beautiful apples on it. Now my beautiful apples were under Anvol's shirt.

The tree became mine the day I was twelve years old. Father called me to come to the barn2 to see the new young horses. When I got there, father lit a cigarette and placed one foot on the fence3. He looked pleased and proud.

“Toker,” he finally said, “This is a big day. There, before you, are five of the finest horses in all Virginia. Now how I would give you a gift for your birthday? Could you make a choice?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Which one?” he asked.
“I would like to have the apple tree across the road.”

Father looked at me for a long time. You would have to know how much he loved horses to understand the look on his face. But I was twelve years old, how could I explain my choice? It was something about the apple tree, the color of the red apples as they hung among the green leaves. But it was more than this. It had something to do with being proud. I could give one of the apples to my friend Jenny.

“Jenny.” I would say, “I want to give you this apple. It came from my tree. The tree grows on my father's land. Before my father had the land, it belonged to his father, and before that to his father. Now I own the tree. Because of this I am tie to all my people of long ago, way back the Moses and all the Bible4 people.”

Father finally answered, “Alright son, if you want a tree more than a horse, the tree is yours.” I thanked him for the tree and he left.

I picked up a stone and ran across the fields to protect my tree.

“Alright Anvol, climb down.” Anvol looked at me as if I wasn't there. “Yeah…” he said, “You lead on nothing. Throw that stone at me and see what happens.”
“Anvol,” I said again, “come down! They are my apples.”

Anvol stopped eating and smiled at me with evil6 in his heart. “You want an apple? I'll give you one.” And he threw one with all his strength and hit me in the head. I threw the stone at him, but missed and hit the tree. Anvol's face turned red, “Boy, you're going to get hit.”

I began to pull his feet; down he came along with bars of the tree and young fresh leaves. He hit me as he fell, we both hit the ground, he jumped on top of me and placed his knees on my arms. I could not move.
“Stop kicking,” he said, and then calmly looked at the sky and began to eat another one of my beautiful apples.

“You smelly7 cow,” I said to him, “I wish you were never born. I'm gonna tell my father.” I said.
“Father?” Anvol said, trying to make his voice sounded like mine. “Father, say old man, you think your old man is very important, don't you? You think your old man is a king, don't you? Say old man. Go to hell5. Say old man, old man I wish you were dead.”
He let me get up and stood over me. “Stop crying,” he said.
“I'm not crying,” I was lying on the ground with murder in my heart.

There were times when I did not hate Anvol. I remember the day his father came to school, he told the teacher he was going to hit Anvol to make him a good boy. His father was a bitter8 cruel man, he had a big stick. Anvol saw the stick and hid under a table. He lay there, frightened, until the teacher made his father go away. I had no hate for Anvol that day. But another day, Anvol acted cruel like his father. He entered the school when everyone had gone and threw things all over the floor. Sometimes he was more cruel and hit little boys and made them cry.

One day he came to me as I were sitting under a tree, “They all hate me,” he said, “they hate me because my father is cruel.”
“They don’t hate you,” I said, “at least I don't.” That was true then I did not hate him. I asked him to come home to eat with me. He did and threw stones at me all the way home.

But today was different. He was stealing my apples. I had no soft feelings for him. He stood over me and kept telling me not to cry.
“I'm not crying.”
“Alright you are not, but you are still angry.”
“No, I'm not. I was a little, but I'm not anymore.”
“Well, why do you look so funny around your ass9?”
“I don't know. Let's go to the barn to play.”
“Play what?”
Anvol looked at me with surprise. He did not know if he should be a friend or enemy.
“We'll play anything,” I said, “come on, I'll race you to the barn.”

We got to the barn and the first thing Anvol saw was a white circle that my father had painted on the floor.
“What is that for?”
“Nothing,” I answered, I was not ready to use my plan yet. We jumped from the hay10 to the floor a few times, later I felt ready.

“That's no fun,” I said, “Let's play prisoner11 circle.”
“Oh? What's that?” Anvol asked as if he were too big to play foolish games. I was getting excited. I did not trust myself to look at the circle on the floor. Anvol might learn my plan if I did, nor did I look up at the top of the barn just above the circle. I knew what was there, it was a big steel fork to pick up hay grass and place it on the truck. It had two long, sharp points. A man had come to the barn to build it for days he worked until he placed the fork up high out-of-the-way. The fork could be let down by a rope and was tied to a pole. I remember the first day it was tested. My father called all the workers from the field to watch. I did not remember the details but something went wrong, the fork fell and buried itself in the back of one of the horses. Father said little, he simply painted a white circle on the barn floor where the fork fell. He pulled the big steel fork back up to the top and tied the rope high where no one could reach it. Then he said quietly with a white face, “I do not want anyone to step inside the white circle, or to touch the rope that holds the fork. Never.”

“I do not want to play a foolish game,” said Anvol.
“Alright,” I said, “but play just one game of prisoner circle with me first. Get in the circle, shut your eyes and begin to count.”
“Oh, I'll alright,” Anvol agreed weakly.
“One, two, three."
"Get right in the middle of the circle,” I told him, “and count slowly so I can hide.” Anvol counted slower: “Four, five, six…”

I looked at him once again, then climbed up to the floor above where the rope was tied. I pulled on the rope with all my power. The fork dropped with a whizzing sound. Anvol must have felt something was wrong because he jumped out of the way in time. The heavy fork buried its sharp points deep in the barn floor. For a moment, Anvol stood very still, he turned around and saw the shining steel fork. His face turned a light green color. The muscles12 in his neck moved up and down. After a few quiet moments of surprised wonder, he reached into his shirt and pulled out my apples one by one. He dropped them on the barn floor.

“You can have your smelly old apples,” he said, “you tried to kill me for a few smelly apples. Your old man owns everything around here. I haven't got a thing of my own. Go ahead and keep your old apples.”

He got to his feet and slowly walked out of the barn door. I had not moved or said one word. A moment later, I ran and picked the apples from the floor.
“Anvol, Anvol,” he continued walking across the field. I shouted him louder, “Anvol wait, you can have the apples.”

Anvol climbed the fence and did not look back. He walked toward13 the store down the road.

Three birds flew out of the barn door, squeaking14 and squawking. Now only the great steel fork was left. There it was alone shining, accusing15 me in the silence and emptiness of the barn.

You have heard "The White Circle" by John Bell Coliton. It was directed16 by L Davis. Your storyteller was Shep O'Neal. For VOA Special English, I'm Faith Lapidus

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 winning ieLzBt     
adj.获胜的,胜利的;吸引人的,有说服力的
参考例句:
  • Team A has no chance of winning.A队没有获胜的可能。
  • They have great hopes of winning.他们获胜的希望极大。
2 barn 6dayp     
n.谷仓,饲料仓,牲口棚
参考例句:
  • That big building is a barn for keeping the grain.那幢大房子是存放粮食的谷仓。
  • The cows were driven into the barn.牛被赶进了牲口棚。
3 fence ykexe     
n.围墙,剑术;v.用篱笆围住,练习剑术,防护;[计算机]栅栏
参考例句:
  • They put a fence around the garden.他们在园子的周围建起了篱笆。
  • The thief jumped himself over a fence and escaped.贼纵身跃过篱笆逃走了。
4 bible ZQzyQ     
n.《圣经》;得到权威支持的典籍
参考例句:
  • According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的,我们都是亚当的后裔。
  • This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时,这本字典应是你的主要参考书。
5 hell Tduzg     
n.地狱,阴间;用以咒骂或表示愤怒,不满
参考例句:
  • It's a hell of a hike from Sydney to Perth.从悉尼到珀斯的徒步旅行简直苦死了。
  • The boss really gave me hell today.老板今天着实数落了我一通。
6 evil KiHzS     
n.邪恶,不幸,罪恶;adj.邪恶的,不幸的,有害的,诽谤的
参考例句:
  • We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
  • Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。
7 smelly viPzKp     
adj.(口)有臭味的,发出臭气的
参考例句:
  • The river was smelly today.今天这条河散发着一股臭味。
  • The toilets in that restaurant were horribly smelly.那个餐馆的卫生间气味难闻。
8 bitter wt0zc     
adj.激烈的,苦涩的,辛酸的,厉害的,悲痛的;n.辛酸,苦味,苦酒
参考例句:
  • The bitter winter was coming.寒冬到了。
  • The two countries fell out in a bitter wrangle over imports.这两个国家在有关进口问题的激烈争吵中闹翻了。
9 ass qvyzK     
n.驴;傻瓜,蠢笨的人
参考例句:
  • He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
  • An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。
10 hay WeVxZ     
n.(用作饲料或覆盖的)干草
参考例句:
  • Cows feed on hay.奶牛以干草为生。
  • They usually keep the hay in the barn.他们通常将干草存放在谷仓中。
11 prisoner wQ9xC     
n.俘虏,囚犯,被监禁的人
参考例句:
  • The soldier reported that a prisoner was at large.士兵报告说一名囚犯在逃。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
12 muscles Cnmza9     
n.肌肉( muscle的名词复数 );(操纵他人的)力量;权力;肌肉组织
参考例句:
  • I must take some exercise and loosen up my muscles. 我必须活动活动使肌肉放松些。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Gosh! My muscles is going to ache all over tomorrow. 哎呀!明天我全身肌肉都会痛了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
14 squeaking 467e7b45c42df668cdd7afec9e998feb     
v.短促地尖叫( squeak的现在分词 );吱吱叫;告密;充当告密者
参考例句:
  • Squeaking floorboards should be screwed down. 踏上去咯咯作响的地板应用螺钉钉住。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Can you hear the mice squeaking? 你听到老鼠吱吱叫吗? 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 accusing accusing     
adj.责难的,问罪的,归罪的v.指责,谴责,控告( accuse的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • Husband and wife turned coldly accusing backs toward each other. 这两口子冷冷地背向而坐,互相埋怨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking. 他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。 来自《简明英汉词典》
16 directed Eubzb0     
adj.有指导的;有管理的;定向的;被控制的v.(用建议、指示、有益的情报等)指导( direct的过去式和过去分词 );导演(戏剧或电影);指示方向;把…对准(某方向或某人)
参考例句:
  • The firemen directed jets of water at the burning building. 消防队员把水柱喷向燃烧着的楼房。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The general directed that the prisoners should be set free. 将军命令释放囚犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎点击提交分享给大家。
------分隔线----------------------------
顶一下
(2)
100%
踩一下
(0)
0%
最新评论 查看所有评论
发表评论 查看所有评论
请自觉遵守互联网相关的政策法规,严禁发布色情、暴力、反动的言论。
评价:
表情:
验证码:
听力搜索
推荐频道
论坛新贴