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美国故事 SENEWS-2007-0127-Feature

时间:2007-05-14 01:58来源:互联网 提供网友:ahmy88   字体: [ ]
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    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Abel Halleck was 59 years old when his wife Estelle died. Her death was sudden1 and unexpected2, the kind of death you cannot forget. Abel Halleck buried his wife, then, he stopped doing anything. His work, the world, life and all its possibilities were no longer important to him. He had learned3 quickly that the laws about the life he had trusted did not really exist after all. For a year Abel Halleck did nothing, but one morning he decided4 to study Latin5. He chose Latin because it was a dead language. It would never be important or even useful to him in the years he had left to live.

And so, Abel Halleck entered a Latin class taught by Silvia Warren on Monday evenings. Silvia Warren was thin and small; her long straight hair was silver-gray. She smiled easily at everything, like a young person. She had taught Latin for 23 years at the local high school. When she was 53 the school stopped offering6 Latin. Latin was not useful in a world excited by technology and space travel. Silvia Warren retired7, now, she spent her time painting, taking pictures, playing the piano and visiting with her friends. She also taught Latin to adults at the local high school in the evening. She had never married or even been in love. She wondered about this more than anything else about her life. Men had found her good-looking and still did, but no one had come along, ever.

During the first Latin class that night, a storm darkened the sky. After class, Abel Halleck walked with Silvia Warren to the door near the school parking8 lot. They stood near the open door watching the storm. "It’s a bad night to be out." he said. She nodded. "But it can’t rain this hard for long." she said. She held her books tightly9 to her body and disappeared into the rain.

When Abel Halleck left the building a few minutes later, he saw her bending over the engine of her car. "It won't start." she said. He looked at the engine, after a moment, he found the problem. "It's the radio static10 depressor." he said, try it now. The car started at once. "Wait," he said, "you might still have problems before you get home, stop at my house and I'll fix it for you."

He drove11 home slowly and put his car into the large garage connected to his house. Silvia Warren drove in after him. Abel Halleck's garage was really a workshop. Here he had all the tools and equipments he needed to create or repair any thing. In less than 5 minutes, he fixed12 her car. There, he said, "Better than new. Um, would you like a cup of coffee?" She walked with him to the door that connected the garage to the house. Abel Halleck moved his fingers over a metal square on the door and it opened. "What are you, Mr. Halleck, a magician13?" Silvia Warren laughed excitedly. "I'm retired, he said, but I was an inventor. I understood how things worked and I found ways to make them work better." He told her about the work he had done. He had not spoken so much to someone for a long time.

The following Monday evening, Abel Halleck went back to Silvia Warren's Latin class and he returned every Monday night. They got to know each other better. Silvia Warren introduced him to her closest friend, Mildred Lethem who taught biology and collected rare14 butterflies. One afternoon, the 3 of them met for a coffee. "I think you'll be interested in insects, Mr. Halleck." Mildred Lethem told him, they are a lot like machines. They are fascinating15 because they are perfectly16 predictable. "You'll always know what they will do." "I'm too busy," Abel Halleck said sharply17, "My head is too full of Latin." He finished his coffee, said goodbye and left. Halfway18 home from Mildred Lethem's house, he turned around and drove to the local public library. He wanted to find out if she was right when she said insects were perfectly predictable. In one book called The Life of Insects he learned about diapauses. He read, this condition is a means19 for surviving adverse20 seasons. The insect enters a deep sleep, all growth21 stops and its body functions slow down. The state of diapause can last for two or three years, or even longer. But finally it ends and the insect awakes to continue its normal life. Abel Halleck closed the book.

His days filled up. He studied Latin, visited his daughter and her family once a week. He met with Silvia Warren and Mildred Lethem for dinner often. And when April came, he went with them into the country. The experience was new to Abel Halleck. He knew about engines and machines, but the woods and the river, the animals and the insects of the fields belonged to another world. He watched Mildred Lethem and Silvia Warren as they explored ahead of him. Silvia jumped up on a wide, flat rock. Throwing open her arms to the sky, she began reciting22 Latin poetry to the wild flowers and the blue sky. Abel Halleck smiled and looked up the sky himself. When he looked down, she was gone. Mildred Lethem was running to the rock. He stood up quickly and hurried down the side of the hill to them. Silvia was lying very still on the ground when he reached her. Mildred Lethem was by her side, crying softly23.

At the hospital, the doctor asked them, "Are you her family?" "No," Mildred Lethem said, "there is no family. We are her friends." They were sitting in a small office where they had been waiting for hours. "We don't have all the tests back yet." the doctor continued, "But it looks like a form of lupus erythematosis." "What is that?" Abel Halleck asked. The doctor explained. "It was a blood disease24 that caused the body to attack its own tissues25. In time, it killed." "How much time?" Abel Halleck asked. "It’s not predictable," the doctor said, "The disease suddenly goes away and then just as it suddenly returns. With lupus, you never know." Abel Halleck did not sleep well. He woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning, got dressed and drove to the university three hours away. At the university he went to the library. He took the Latin that he knew and used it to make a gift for her. He wanted to say what he wanted her to know in language better than his own. So, he worked his way through books of Latin poetry and stories. When he found a sentence he wanted, he wrote it down in Latin.

From Lucretius, he wrote, like children trembling26 in the dark, we sit and are afraid. And all our fears are empty like the things children imagine in the dark. From Horace, the ice melts27 and spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then, back to winter when nothing moves. From Catullus, her favorite poet, he copied, if I wished for a thing and a thing past hoping for should come to a man, will he not welcome it the more? Therefore, it is more welcome to me than gold that Lesbia brings back my desirable28. Then, he picked up his pen to write to her in his own words, all of this means that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If there is comfort anywhere, it is in the truth and in the act of this words.

Mildred Lethem was with her when he came into the hospital room. He handed Silvia Warren the paper. She read it and cried, then, she dried her eyes. She looked up at him, smiling and nodded once. And together, they settle29 down to wait for the long night soon to come.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 sudden YsSw9     
n.突然,忽然;adj.突然的,意外的,快速的
参考例句:
  • All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
  • The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。
2 unexpected Qkpw8     
adj.想不到的,意外的
参考例句:
  • I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒,用来招待不速之客。
  • His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。
3 learned m1oxn     
adj.有学问的,博学的;learn的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
  • In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里,他被视为有学问的人。
4 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
5 Latin 9pWzAI     
adj.拉丁的,拉丁语的,拉丁人的;n.拉丁语
参考例句:
  • She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
  • Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。
6 offering IIhxb     
n.提供,奉献物,牲礼
参考例句:
  • What is your competition offering?你的竞争者提出的条件是什么?
  • The police are offering a big reward for information about the robbery.警方出大笔赏金要求提供那起抢劫案的破案线索。
7 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
8 parking EmKzN3     
n.停车,停机,停放
参考例句:
  • A bus is parking on the road.路上停着一辆公共汽车。
  • Next you must learn how to back a car into a parking space.下一步你应该学会如何把车倒入停车的空地。
9 tightly ZgbzD7     
adv.紧紧地,坚固地,牢固地
参考例句:
  • My child holds onto my hand tightly while we cross the street.横穿马路时,孩子紧拉着我的手不放。
  • The crowd pressed together so tightly that we could hardly breathe.人群挤在一起,我们几乎喘不过气来。
10 static qunwd     
adj.静的;静态的
参考例句:
  • Don't view things as static and isolated.不要静止地孤立地看待事物。
  • What is the difference between static and non-static variables?静态变量和非静态变量有何不同?
11 drove brAxi     
vbl.驾驶,drive的过去式;n.畜群
参考例句:
  • He drove at a speed of sixty miles per hour.他以每小时60英里的速度开车。
  • They drove foreign goods out of the market.他们把外国货驱逐出市场。
12 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
13 magician 287zL     
n.魔术师,变戏法的人,术士
参考例句:
  • With a wave of his hand,the magician made the rabbit vanish.魔术师手一挥兔子便不见了。
  • The magician transformed the man into a rabbit.魔术师把那个人变成了兔子。
14 rare lANze     
adj.稀罕的,罕有的,珍贵的,稀薄的,半熟的,非常的;adv.非常
参考例句:
  • It is rare to see a man over 160 years old.很少见到一个人能活到160岁。
  • The zoo has a lot of rare animals in it.这个动物园有许多珍奇的动物。
15 fascinating tloxO     
adj.迷人的,吸引人的,使人神魂颠倒的
参考例句:
  • Your ideas are fascinating to me.你的这些主意对我来说是有吸引力的。
  • The very style of the book is fascinating.这本书的风格本身就会引人入胜。
16 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
17 sharply UiRziL     
adj.锐利地,急速;adv.严厉地,鲜明地
参考例句:
  • The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
  • Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。
18 halfway Xrvzdq     
adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
参考例句:
  • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路,天就黑了。
  • In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
19 means 9oXzBX     
n.方法,手段,折中点,物质财富
参考例句:
  • That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
  • We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
20 adverse 5xBzs     
adj.不利的;有害的;敌对的,不友好的
参考例句:
  • He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
  • The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。
21 growth Heexz     
n.生长,栽培
参考例句:
  • All living things depend on the sun for their growth.万物靠太阳生长。
  • Youth is the time of physical growth.青年时期是长身体的时期。
22 reciting 4b82338a5c74289bf143a9b02127a884     
v.背诵( recite的现在分词 );详述,列举
参考例句:
  • 'sit around all day reciting Buddhist scriptures, like your grandmother? “不然就像你婆婆那样整天诵经念佛。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
  • What are you reciting from the Analects for?" 你们何以背《论语》?” 来自汉英文学 - 围城
23 softly HiIzR4     
adv.柔和地,静静地,温柔地
参考例句:
  • He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻,她听不见。
  • She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。
24 disease etMxx     
n.疾病,弊端
参考例句:
  • The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
  • He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。
25 tissues 79654ca5ba0bc2dbc0ee54a48bab4e31     
n.组织( tissue的名词复数 );薄纸;棉纸;一套
参考例句:
  • The teacher showed the students the pictures of brain tissues. 老师给学生们看脑组织的图片。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Give some face tissues to me. 给我些面巾纸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
26 trembling omTwh     
n.发抖adj.发抖的v.发抖( tremble的现在分词 );焦虑;颤动;轻轻摇晃
参考例句:
  • My legs were trembling with fear. 我吓得双腿直发抖。
  • Daddy was trembling with anxiety as to how the talks would go. 爸爸为那些商谈的进展而焦虑不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
27 melts 2e8240f26299d178d1bceb610ebfccec     
(使)融[溶,熔]化( melt的第三人称单数 ); 溶解; (使)消散,消失; (使)软化,变得温柔
参考例句:
  • The morning fog usually melts away as the sun rises. 晨雾通常在太阳升起时消失。
  • It is difficult to tell where the blue melts into the green. 很难说蓝色是在什么地方变成绿色了。
28 desirable hw6xX     
adj.值得拥有的;可取的,有利的
参考例句:
  • Some reasonable adjustments seem desirable.某些合理的调整似乎是可取的。
  • Prolonged negotiation was not desirable.拖长了的谈判并不是大家所想要的。
29 settle azRwE     
vi.安家;定居;停留;vt.使定居;安排;解决
参考例句:
  • I have to settle my affairs before leaving here.离开这儿以前,我得把一些私人的事情安排妥当。
  • She has decided how she should settle the matter.她已做出决定如何来了解这件事。
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