父亲让我洗盘子

　　周日吃过早饭后，父亲总会围上印有赛车图案的围裙说：“都走吧，我来洗盘子！”然后哼着民谣快乐地开工。我想，一个男孩的父亲穿上一件围裙一定会让人感觉不习惯。但我没有想到，有朝一日父亲会把这项任务交给我。

　　那是八月的最后一个周日。在我们从教堂回家的途中，父亲的心情似乎格外不错。“汤米，每个男孩子都需要承担责任，现在到了你承担更多家务的时候了。”

　　人们经常说在父亲和儿子中间存在着一种特殊的默契。当我马上要发火时他回到厨房中。他的右手拿着那件旧围裙。“我想让你拥有它，汤米。它不会使你的衣服变湿。”在我表示抗议前，他已把围裙系到了我身上。“谢谢你，儿子。你母亲和我都对此很感激。”

　　On Sundays my father always wore that dull gray apron¹ – the one with the race cars all over it. The ritual² began after breakfast when Dad always announced: "Go ahead everyone. I'll take care of the dishes!" With that my mother disappeared into the folds of the Sunday paper. Off came the suit coat he had worn to church that morning. Up went the shirtsleeves. On went that apron. For the next hour Dad did the dishes, singing ballads³ like "I Had a Hat When I Came In" and "Who Put the Chow in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder?"

　　I suppose it was strange for a boy's father to wear an apron – even one with race cars – but I never thought much of it until the day that Dad broke with tradition. It was the last Sunday in August. My father seemed in an expansive mood as we walked home from church together.

　　"Tommy," he said letting my name roll off his tongue. My mind raced ahead of his words: The birds and the bees? A new bike? A part-time job?

　　"There comes a time in every boy's life when he must take on responsibilities." This was important. I might even get to back the car out of the driveway.

　　"Responsibilities?" I asked.

　　"Yes. It's time you took a greater role in the household." Power tools? Boss my baby brother?

　　"Starting today, I want you to do the dishes on Sunday morning so your mother and I can work the crossword⁴ puzzle together."

　　"The dishes!?"

　　"Anything wrong with taking over the dishes, son?"

　　I started to say something about a man's job or woman's work, but I knew immediately that my protests would fall on deaf ears.

　　I didn't taste a bit of breakfast that morning. Dad seemed in a jovial⁵ mood as he described an exceptional⁶ Yankee game seen through the eyes of Mel Allen on the radio last night.

　　"Mickey Mantle⁷ drove the ball right over the center field wall," he said. "Just a straight line climb in right out of the stadium." He looked out the window as if trying to pick the ball out of the cloud formations. I tried to imagine Mickey Mantle wearing an apron.

　　Suddenly, everything grew quiet. My sister began to clear the table. My brother was scraping the last of the egg from his plate. And then that ancient family ritual that had filled so many Sunday mornings came to an end. My father announced: "Let's go read the paper, Hon."

　　"Aren't you doing the dishes?" my mother asked fretfully.

　　"Your oldest son has generously offered to fill the position."

　　My brother and sister stopped cold. So this was what my life had come to. A dark angel sat on my left shoulder and reminded me that I could hit a baseball farther than anyone in my class. I could bench-press my weight. I knew three declensions in Latin, the language of Caesar. Ask me to run through a rainstorm. Command me to ride the roller coaster – backward. These things I would do. But I could never do those dishes. There was nothing left but to refuse.

　　People often say there is a special chemistry between a father and a son. He came back into the kitchen just as I was about to storm out. He had loosened⁸ his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt – ready to relax. In his right hand was the old apron.

　　"I want you to have this, Tommy. It'll keep your clothes from getting wet." And before I could mount⁹ a protest, he had put the thing on me. "Thanks, Son. Your mother and I appreciate this."

　　With that he disappeared into the Sunday paper. I looked down at the plastic. It had seen better days. I could see my dad reaching for the dishes. The dark angel flew off. Soon I was singing about Mrs. Murphy's chowder. The words came out of nowhere. And out of nowhere I knew the kind of man I wanted to be.

1 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。

2 ritual   

adj.例行的，老规矩的，惯常的

参考例句：

• This was the monthly ritual.这是每月一次的例规。
• I realized that here the conventions required me to make the ritual noises.我意识到此时按照惯例我应该说些客套话。

3 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

4 crossword   

n.纵横字谜，纵横填字游戏

参考例句：

• He shows a great interest in crossword puzzles.他对填字游戏表现出很大兴趣。
• Don't chuck yesterday's paper out.I still haven't done the crossword.别扔了昨天的报纸，我还没做字谜游戏呢。

5 jovial   

adj.快乐的，好交际的

参考例句：

• He seemed jovial,but his eyes avoided ours.他显得很高兴，但他的眼光却避开了我们的眼光。
• Grandma was plump and jovial.祖母身材圆胖，整天乐呵呵的。

6 exceptional   

adj.优越的，杰出的，例外的，独特的，异常的

参考例句：

• He is a man of exceptional talent.他是位具有非凡才能的人。
• He showed exceptional musical ability.他显示出特殊的音乐才能。

7 mantle   

n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红

参考例句：

• The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green.大地披上了苍翠欲滴的绿色斗篷。
• The mountain was covered with a mantle of snow.山上覆盖着一层雪。

8 loosened   

v.解开( loosen的过去式和过去分词 )；放松；松弛；（使）放松

参考例句：

• He has loosened the soil up with a fork. 他用耙松过土了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The new policies loosened up foreign trade. 新政策使对外贸易有了更大的灵活性。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 mount   

n.山峰，乘用马，框，衬纸；vi.增长，骑上（马）；vt.提升，爬上，装备

参考例句：

• Their debts continued to mount up.他们的债务不断增加。
• She is the first woman who steps on the top of Mount Jolmo Lungma.她是第一个登上珠穆朗玛峰的女人。