評論
打印
One spring morning, 18-month-old Lucy and I boarded a train for Morgantown to visit Aunt Ruth. A woman offered me half her seat in the crowded car. I thanked her and busied myself with Lucy, while the woman turned her attention to the landscape speeding by.
一個春天的上午，我和才18個月大的露西坐火車去摩根敦看望魯思姨媽。在擁擠的車廂里，一位婦人把她的一半座位讓給我坐，我向她道了謝，便忙著照料露西，那婦人則轉過頭去看著窗外一閃而過的風景。
After settling my baby in my arms for a nap, I started to talk with the woman. She said she was going to Morgantown to see her daughter and brand–new grandson. “Surely you know my aunt, Ruth Wood,” I said. “She's had a real-estate office in Morgantown for years.”
讓孩子躺在我懷里睡著后，我開始跟那婦人交談。她說她去摩根敦看女兒和剛出生的外孫。“你一定認識我的姨媽魯思·伍德，”我說。“她在摩根敦經營一家房地產公司有好多年了。”
“No,” she answered. “I've been away a long time, and that name is not familiar to me.”
“不認識，”她回答說。“我離家很久了，不熟悉那個名字。”
For several minutes, the woman looked out the window. Then, without turning her head, she began to speak.
那婦人向車窗外看了幾分鐘。接著，她開始說話了，頭還是沒轉過來。
“There was a Miss Lucy Wood, a teacher, in Morgantown years ago. She probably left there before you were born. You said the name Wood, and, suddenly, I can't stop thinking about her. I haven't thought of her for years, but once I loved her very much. She was my teacher. My parents owned a bakery on Watts Street. They were on the verge of divorce. They fought and quarreled all the time. I had to work very hard at home and in the bakery, too.
“許多年前，摩根敦有個露西·伍德小姐，是個教師。可能你還沒出生她就離開那兒了。你說起了伍德這個姓，我不由得一下子就想起了她。我有好多年沒想起過她了，可是，我曾經非常熱愛她。她是我的老師。我父母在沃茨街上開面包店。他們鬧得快要離婚了。兩人整天又打又吵的。我也只好家里、店里兩邊忙著照應。
