英语名篇诵读 母亲的影响

Mother's Influence

母亲的影响

Eddie Cloer(埃迪·克勒尔)

A young mother set her feet on the pathway of life. “Is the way long?” She asked.

And her guide said, “Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end

of it, but the end will be better than the beginning.” But the young mother was happy and would

not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children and

gathered flowers for them along the way and bathed with them in the clear springs . The sun

shone on them, and life was good. And the young mother cried, “Nothing will be lovelier than

this.”

Then the night came. And the storms and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear

and cold. And the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle¹ , and the children

said, “Oh, Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and we know that no harm can come to us.”

And the mother said, “This is better than the brightness of the day, for I have taught my children

courage.”

And the morning came. And there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and soon grew

weary. And the mother was weary, too, but she said to the children, “A little patience and we are

there.” So the children climbed and climbed, and when they reached the top, they said, “Mother,

we could not have done it without you.” And when the mother lay down to sleep that night, she

looked up at the stars and said, “This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned

fortitude² in the face of hardness . Yesterday I gave them courage — today I gave them

strength.”

And the next day the strange clouds came, clouds of war and hate and evil. And the children

groped and stumbled, but the mother said, “Look up. Lift up your eyes to the Light.” And the

children looked up and saw above the clouds the Everlasting³ Glory, and it guided them and

brought them beyond the darkness.

And the days went on and the years. And the mother grew old, and she was little and bent⁴.

But her children were tall and strong and walked with courage. And when the way was hard, they

helped their mother; and when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was light as a feather.

And at last they came to a hill. And beyond the hill they could see a shining road and gates flung

wide, and the mother said, “I have reached the end of my journey, and I know that the end is better

than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them.” And the

children said, “You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the

gates.”

And they stood and watched their mother as she went on alone. And the gates closed after

her, and they said, “We cannot see her, but she is with us still. A mother like ours is more than a

memory — she is a living presence.”

一位年轻母亲踏上了人生这条小路。“这条路长吗？”她问道。

她的向导回答说：“是的，而且也很艰难。在你到达生命尽头之前，你会老的。但是尽

头会比开头好。”但是，年轻母亲很高兴，她不相信有什么会比现在这些年更好的。于是她

伴着孩子们嬉戏，沿路为他们采集鲜花，和他们一起在清泉里沐浴。阳光照在他们身上，

生活多美好。于是年轻的母亲高声说：“没有什么比这更美好的了。”

接着夜晚到来了。暴风雨袭来，小路一片漆黑，孩子们又怕又冷，浑身颤抖。母亲把

孩子们拉在身边，用自己的斗篷为他们遮雨。孩子们说：“哦，妈妈，我们不怕，有你在身

边，我们知道不会受伤害。”母亲说：“这比晴朗的白天更好，因为我教会了孩子们勇敢。”

早晨来临了。前面有一座小山，孩子们往上爬，很快就爬累了。母亲也很疲惫，但是

她对孩子们说：“坚持一会儿，我们就快到了。”于是，孩子们爬呀爬，当他们爬到山顶的

时候，他们说：“妈妈，没有你，我们爬不上来。”当母亲那天夜里躺下睡觉的时候，她抬

头望着满天星斗，说：“今天比前一天好，因为我的孩子学会了在艰难困苦面前要有毅力。

昨天我给他们勇气——今天我给他们力量。”

第二天，奇怪的乌云飘来，那是战争、仇恨和邪恶的乌云。孩子们摸索着，踉跄着，

但是母亲说：“往上看，抬起眼睛看那圣光。”于是孩子们抬头看，看到乌云上方上帝的永

恒之光，那光引导着他们，带着他们走出了黑暗。

一天天过去了，一年年过去了。母亲变老了，矮小驼背。但是她的孩子们变得高大、

结实，走起路来豪迈自信。小路难走的时候，他们搀扶着母亲；小路坑洼不平的时候，他

们抬起了母亲，因为她已身轻如鸿毛。最后他们来到一座小山。在小山的对面，他们可以

看到一条金光大道，门户洞开，母亲说：“我已经到了人生旅途的终点，我知道终点比起点

好，因为我的孩子们能够单独走自己的路了，他们的孩子也会跟着他们。”她的孩子们

说：“你会永远跟我们一起走的，妈妈，即使你进了那些门。”

接着，他们站着看自己的母亲一个人继续走。门在她身后一扇扇关闭了。他们说：“我

们看不见她，但她与我们同在。我们的妈妈不只存在于回忆中——她永远活在我们心间。”

1 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。

2 fortitude   

n.坚忍不拔；刚毅

参考例句：

• His dauntless fortitude makes him absolutely fearless.他不屈不挠的坚韧让他绝无恐惧。
• He bore the pain with great fortitude.他以极大的毅力忍受了痛苦。

3 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

4 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。