英文短篇故事（纽约）383 Honor the Living

 　　Jerry's brother Dean¹ was years older than Jerry. Jerry and his wife were visiting Dean and his wife. It was shortly after their mom's funeral. Jerry said, "No more funerals for me. I went to Dad's. I went to Mom's. Enough is enough. I want to remember people living on their feet, not lying in their casket." Dean said, "So, when I die, you're not coming to my funeral? A funeral is for showing love and respect. I want you to be there." Jerry said, "You won't care if I'm there or not. You'll be dead!" Dean said, "Yes, but I'm alive now. What you're saying is very upsetting to me." Jerry grunted². "Okay, if it eases your mind, I'll be there." Later, Jerry told his wife he had lied. She said, "Everyone's going to know you lied when you don't go to Dean's funeral." Jerry said, "Everyone except Dean."

1 Dean   

n.(大学)院长，系主任，教务长

参考例句：

• The students much like the new dean.学生们很喜欢这位新系主任。
• Who is the dean of the Foreign Languages Department?外语系主任是谁？

2 grunted   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说

参考例句：

• She just grunted, not deigning to look up from the page. 她只咕哝了一声，继续看书，不屑抬起头来看一眼。
• She grunted some incomprehensible reply. 她咕噜着回答了些令人费解的话。