双语有声阅读：带来欢乐的鹬

A Sandpiper to Bring You Joy

 

She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. 

 

She was building a sand castle or some thing and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea. “Hello, ”she said. I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child. “I’ m building, ”she said. “I see that. What is it？”I asked, not caring. “Oh, I don’t know. I just like the feel of the sand. ”That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided¹ by. “That’s a joy, ”the child said. “It’s what？”“It’s a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy. ”The bird went glissading down the beach. “Good-bye, joy, ”I muttered to myself, “hello, pain,”and turned to walk on. I was depressed；my life seemed completely out of balance. “What’s your name？”she wouldn’t give up. “Ruth, ”I answered. “I’m Ruth Peterson. ”“Mine’s Wendy. And I‘m six. ”“Hi, Wendy. ”She giggled³. “You’re funny, ”she said. In spite of my gloom I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle² followed me. “Come again, Mrs. P, ”she called. “We’ll have another happy day. ”

 

The days and weeks that followed belonged to others：a group of unruly Boy Scouts3), PTA4) meetings, an ailing⁴ mother. 

 

The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwasher. “I need a sandpiper, ”I said to myself, gathering⁵ up my coat. The never-changing balm of the seashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly⁶, but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity⁷ I needed. I had forgotten the child and was startled when she appeared. “Hello, Mrs. P, ”she said. “Do you want to play？”“What did you have in mind？”I asked, with a twinge of annoyance⁸. “I don’ t know. You say. ”“How about charades5)？”I asked sarcastically⁹

 

The tinkling¹⁰ laughter burst forth¹¹ again. “I don’t know what that is. ”“Then let’s just walk. ”Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness of her face. 

 

“Where do you live？”I asked. “Over there. ”She pointed¹² toward a row of summer cottages. Strange, I thought, in winter. “Where do you go to school？”“I don’ t go to school. Mommy says we’re on vacation. ”She chattered¹³ little-girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Windy said it had been a happy day. Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed.

 

带来欢乐的鹬

 

我在离我住处不远的沙滩上第一次碰见她时, 她才６岁。每当这个世界让我感到苦闷压抑时, 我就开上三四英里车来到这片沙滩。

她在用沙子盖城堡或是别的什么。她抬起头来, 眼睛跟大海一样蓝。“你好, ”她说。我点头回答, 说实在的, 我没有心思管一个小孩子。“我在盖东西, ”她说。“我看见了。那是什么？”我漫不经心地问道。“啊, 我不知道。我只是喜欢沙子的感觉。”那听上去不错, 我自忖, 然后我把鞋子脱掉。这时一只鹬滑翔而过。“那是一种欢乐, ”那孩子说道。“那是什么？”“那是一种欢乐。我妈妈说鹬给我们带来欢乐。”那鸟沿着海滩滑降。“再见吧, 欢乐, ”我喃喃自语, “你好, 痛苦。”说完就转身继续往前走去。我情绪低落；我的生活彻底失去了平衡。“你叫什么名字？”那女孩就是不放过我。“鲁思, ”我回答说。“鲁思•彼得森。”“我叫温迪, ６岁。”“你好, 温迪。”她咯咯地笑了。“你挺逗乐, ”她说。尽管我情绪忧郁, 我也笑了。

 

随后, 我走开了。她那音乐般的笑声从背后传来。“彼得森太太, 下次再来, ”她叫道。“我们还会有快乐的一天。”

 

以后的几天, 甚至几周是属于别人的：一群闹哄哄的童子军、家长教师联谊会的会议, 还有我那有病的妈妈。

一天早上我把手从洗碗机里拿出来时, 阳光明媚。“我需要一只鹬, ”我自语着拿起上衣。等待我的是来自漫步海边沙滩时持久不变的慰藉。微风略有寒意, 可我阔步前进, 试图重新获得我需要的宁静。我已经把那女孩忘了, 她出现时吓我一跳。“你好, 彼得森太太, ”她说道。“你想玩吗？”“你想玩什么？”我问道, 口气里显露出厌烦。“我不知道。你说吧。”“玩字谜游戏怎样？”我讥讽地问道。她又发出了那清脆的笑声。

 

“我不知道那是什么。”“那就让我们散步吧。”我看着她, 注意到她纤弱的白皙脸色。“你住在哪儿？”我问道。“那边。”她手指着一排避暑小屋。奇怪, 我心想, 怎么会在冬天住在避暑的小屋里。“你在哪儿上学？”“我不上学。妈妈说我们在度假。”我们一边在沙滩上往前走, 她一边喋喋不休地说着女孩子气的话, 但是我却在想别的事。我要回家时, 温迪说那一天过得很愉快。我感觉出奇地好, 朝她笑了笑表示同意。

 

1 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

3 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

7 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

8 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

9 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

10 tinkling   

n.丁当作响声

参考例句：

• I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
• To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话，犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

13 chattered   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
• We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。