月随我行

 　　When the Moon Follows Me

　　Mary E. Potter

　　Each of my sons made the discovery early. We would be riding in the car at night, and a little voice would call out from the back seat, “Hey, the moon is following us!” I would explain that the moon was not actually gliding¹ along with our car. There would be another period of critical observation and the final verdict, delivered more quietly this time: “But it really is moving. I can see it.”

　　I thought of that one evening as I was driving. The moon, one day short of fullness, rode with me, first gliding smoothly², then bouncing over the bumpy³ stretches, now on my right, then straight ahead, the silver light washing over dry grasses in open fields, streaking⁴ along through black branches, finally disappearing as the road wound its way through the hills.

　　When I crested⁵ the hill in the village, there it was again —— grown suddenly immense, ripe, flooding the town with a sprawling⁶ light so magical I began to understand why it is said to inspire “looniness.” I could hardly wait to get back home to show the boys.

　　Robert was in the bathtub, so I grabbed John. “ Close your eyes and come see what followed me home,” I said, hoping to increase the dramatic impact. I led him out into the night. “Okay. Open! Isn’t it beautiful?”

　　John blinked a few times and looked at me as if I might, indeed, be loony. “Mom, it’s just the moon. Is this the surprise?” I suppose he was hoping for a puppy.

　　I should have realized that, being only ten, he was probably too young to know how much we sometimes need the magic and romance of moonlight——a light that is nothing like the harsh glare of the sun that it reflects.

　　Often in the soothing⁷, restorative glow we stare transfixed, bouncing our ambitions and hopes and plans off this great reflector. We dream our dreams; we examine the structure of our lives; we make considered decisions.

　　The night after I showed John the moon, he burst breathlessly through the door, calling, “Mom, come out for a minute!” This time, he led me, coatless and shivering.

　　Past the row of pine trees that line the road, the sky opened up with the full moon on it, suspended so precariously⁸ close that it might come hurtling toward us—— incandescent⁹, even larger and more breathtaking than the night before, climbing its motionless climb over the molten silver of our pond. Even a ten-year-old could see this wasn’t just the moon. This was The Moon.

　　When I turned around, John was grinning, expectant, studying my face intently to see if he had pleased me. He had. I knew that now the moon was following him too.

　　月随我行

　　玛丽 波特

　　我的每个儿子在很小时候就发现这一现象了。当我们晚上开车的时候，后座总会传来一种稚嫩的声音“嘿，月亮一直跟着我们耶！”我总是要解释，月亮并非真正悄悄地跟在我们车后面。他就会仔细地观察一下，然后得出最后结论，再一次用较冷静的口吻说：“但是它真的在动，我能看到呀。”

　　一天晚上，我在开车的时候想起了这件事。再过一天就要盈满的月亮随我一路同行；它起初平稳滑行，然后就在崎岖的路上跃动；一会儿在我右边，一会儿又跑到我前面；最后，随着路在山间绕了个弯，它也就消失了。

　　当我到达村子里的山顶时，它又出现了——变大了，而且看起来也很饱满，一片银辉把整个村庄都笼罩了；看到这么神奇的景象我才明白月亮为什么能激发“疯狂”之情。我迫不及待地赶回家，想让孩子们看看这一景象。

　　罗伯特正在洗澡，于是我就一把拉上约翰。“闭上你的眼睛，出来看看什么随我回家了。”我这样说着，希望能增强戏剧性的效果。我把他带到外面的夜色中，对他说：“好了，可以睁开眼睛了。看，漂不漂亮啊？”

　　约翰眨了眨眼，盯着我，仿佛我真的发疯了一样。“妈妈，这不就是月亮吗？有什么稀奇的？”我猜他是希望我带只小狗回来。

　　我本应意识到，一个只有十岁的孩子，也许因为太年轻，搞不懂我们有时候是多么需要月光的魅力和浪漫。常常地，在那滋润并另我们出神的月光滤波中，我们的抱负、希望和蓝图就投映在月亮这反射物上。我们怀着梦想，审视着生活并做出深思熟虑的决定。

　　就在我让约翰看月亮的第二个晚上，他突然气喘吁吁地跑进屋里，喊着：“妈妈，出来一下！”这一次他拉着我。当时我没穿外衣，不由得一阵哆嗦。

　　走过路边林立的松树，天空开朗，圆月不稳定地悬在空中，仿佛就要向我们飞撞过来——它发着光，比前天晚上更大更令人心驰神往，在银光融融的池塘上悄悄爬了出来。即使一个十岁的孩子也看得出来，这不仅仅是月亮。这是真正意义上的月亮。

　　当我转过身，约翰露齿而笑，十分期待，并且专注地看着我，想知道他是否把我逗乐了。他确实做到了（把我逗乐了）。我意识到月亮也正随他同行。

1 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

2 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

3 bumpy   

adj.颠簸不平的，崎岖的

参考例句：

• I think we've a bumpy road ahead of us.我觉得我们将要面临一段困难时期。
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track.铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。

4 streaking   

n.裸奔（指在公共场所裸体飞跑）v.快速移动( streak的现在分词 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• Their only thought was of the fiery harbingers of death streaking through the sky above them. 那个不断地在空中飞翔的死的恐怖把一切别的感觉都赶走了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Streaking is one of the oldest tricks in the book. 裸奔是有书面记载的最古老的玩笑之一。 来自互联网

5 crested   

adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点

参考例句：

• a great crested grebe 凤头䴙䴘
• The stately mansion crested the hill. 庄严的大厦位于山顶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

7 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

8 precariously   

adv.不安全地；危险地；碰机会地；不稳定地

参考例句：

• The hotel was perched precariously on a steep hillside. 旅馆危险地坐落在陡峭的山坡上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The phone was perched precariously on the window ledge. 电话放在窗台上，摇摇欲坠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 incandescent   

adj.遇热发光的， 白炽的，感情强烈的

参考例句：

• The incandescent lamp we use in daily life was invented by Edison.我们日常生活中用的白炽灯，是爱迪生发明的。
• The incandescent quality of his words illuminated the courage of his countrymen.他炽热的语言点燃了他本国同胞的勇气。