每天一点英文 22 visit with a tramp

I was swinging on the front gate, trying to decide whether to walk down the street to play with Verna, my best friend in fifth grade, when I saw a tramp come up the road.

"Hello, little girl," he said. "Is your mama at home?"

I nodded and swung the gate open to let him in the yard. He looked like all the tramps who came to our house from the hobo camp by the river during the Great Depression. His shaggy hair hung below a shapeless hat, and his treadbare shirt and trousers had been rained on and slept in. He smelled like a bonfire.

He shuffled¹ to the door. When my mother appeared, he asked,"Lady, could you spare a bite to eat?"

"I think so. Please sit on the step."

He dropped onto the narrow wooden platform that served as the front porch of our two-room frame house. In minutes my mother opened the screen and handed him a sandwich made from thick slices of homemde bread and generous chunks² of boiled meat. She gave him a tin cup of milk." I thank you ,lady," he said.

I swung on the gate, watching the tramp wolf down the sandwich and drain the cup. Then he stood and walked back through the gate."They said your mama would feed me," he told me on the way out.

Verna had said the hobos told one another who would feed them."They never come to my house," she had announced proudly.

So why does Mama feed them? I wondered. A window, she worked as a waitress in the mornings and sewed at nights to earn money. Why should she give anythingto men who didn't work at all?

I marched inside."Verna's mother says those men are too lazy to work. Why do we feed them?

My mother smiled. Her blue housedress matched her eyes and emphasized her auburn hair.

"Lovely, we don't know why those men don't work," she said." But they were babies once. And their mothers loved them, like I love you." She put her hands on my shoulders and drew me close to her apron³, which smelled of starch⁴ and freshly baked bread.

"I feed them for their mothers, because if you were ever hungry and had nothing to eat, I would want their mothers to feed you."

What have you gained from the story?

精美中文翻译：

我在院门口晃悠，想着要不要去街对面找维那玩，她是我五年级最好的朋友。这时，我看见从街上走来一个流浪汉。

“你好，小姑娘，”他说，“你妈妈在家吗？”

我点点头，把门打开让他进了院子。经济大萧条时期，有许多流浪汉从那边的游民营来过我家，他看起来跟他们一样，蓬乱的头发从那顶不像样的帽子下露了出来，破破烂烂的衬衣和裤子显然被雨水淋湿过，还穿着睡过觉。他浑身散发着一种篝火烧焦的味道。

他慢吞吞地坐在台阶上等一下。

他坐在狭长的木板平台上，那是两间屋的走廊。不一会儿，妈妈打开帘子，递给他一个三明治，用家里自制的厚面包片夹着几大块熟肉。她还给了他一杯牛奶。“谢谢您，夫人。”他说。

我在门上一边摇晃着，一边看着这个流浪汉狼吞虎咽地吃下那个三明治，喝干牛奶，然后，他站起来，往外面走穿过了大门。“他们说你妈妈会给我东西吃。”他出门的时候对我说。

维那曾说过，谁给流浪汉们东西吃，他们就会互相转告。“他们从不去我家。”她骄傲地说道。

妈妈为什么要给他们东西吃呢？我很奇怪。妈妈是一个寡妇，上午在餐厅做服务员，晚上还要做缝纫来挣钱。她为什么要把东西给这些毫不相干的人吃呢？

我大步走进屋子，“维那的妈妈说，这些人太懒了，不工作。我们为什么要他们给吃的呢？”

妈妈笑了，她蓝色的围裙和眼睛很相称，也衬托着她赤褐色的头发。

“宝贝，我们不知道他们为什么不工作，”她说，“但他们也曾是孩子，他们的妈妈爱他们，就像我爱你一样。”她把双手放在我肩头，把我拉到她的围裙边，围裙散发出浆洗过的和新烤的面包的味道。

“我给他们东西吃，是为了他们的妈妈。如果你饿了，又什么吃的都没有，我很希望他们的妈妈也能给你东西吃。”哈哈

1 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

3 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

4 starch   

n.淀粉；vt.给...上浆

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews.玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。
• I think there's too much starch in their diet.我看是他们的饮食里淀粉太多了。