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美国故事 SENEWS-2006-0715-Feature

时间:2007-05-14 00:57:23

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(单词翻译)

G sat in the bedroom and looked at the paper that covered the walls. He felt strange. He and his wife had slept in this room all of their married life. Yet he could not remember what the walls looked like. He had been blind. Now he could see again. He got up and he walked over to the wall. He touched the paper with its small red flowers and green leaves. The colors were old and dull.

G had gotten his sight back in the morning. He had opened his eyes and there it was, light. Light, he had not seen for 5 years. At first, the light was blurry1. Then he saw light shadows, then everything became bright and sharp. And so he simply sat there and looked at all the things around him. His wife and his son had cried when he told them. G said all the things they wanted to hear.

To his son, he said: "You have grown tall, tall as a tree. You are just like a man now. It is good to see you and your smile again."

It was not so easy to talk to his wife.

"You look the same, Lina, exactly the same."

It was a lie. But he kept on saying it. It helped to hide his feelings when he saw her old thin face. Lina had never been beautiful but her warm smile gave her a pretty look. Now the hard work of caring for a blind man showed on her face. She looked tired. G suddenly felt like rushing outside to do something to pay her for those difficult years.

After a time, Lina and their son left and G sat there and thought about the past. Everything would be different now, now that he could see again. In the afternoon G became tired. He rested as he looked at the old wallpaper. He began to wonder if he could start where he had left off. They had no money. Lina had thought about selling the farm but now that would not be necessary because he could work. With help from their son, they would keep the farm.

Ideas began to form in his mind. He thought about the future. The thought of working again began to excite3 him. At last, G felt brave enough to go outside. He wondered what changes would be there.

Lina looked worried. "Please be careful," she said. "The doctor said to rest and be quiet."

"Oh, I'll be all right," G answered and left the house.

The daylight hurt his eyes at first. He closed them for a few minutes. Then he slowly opened them and started to walk slowly toward4 the river. When he got there he sat on an old fallen tree and looked around. He saw his farm fields. He saw how much work was to be done. He started to make plans.

It was a day in late April. It was still cool. But G just sat there and looked and planned. He saw the wilding muddy5 river. He saw the purple hills reaching up to the sky. He saw the oak6 trees bigger now along the side of the river. They were covered with white flowers. He watched the black birds fly down to his fields. He had forgotten that they were so graceful7. G had a sudden2 urge8 to go out and work in the fields. But the feeling quickly left. He felt peaceful. He enjoyed the quiet happiness of seeing.

Nothing could stop him now, he thought. He would build his land into a good farm again. He began to plan again to organize his thoughts. When he had been blind his thoughts had been blind too. He looked at his hands. They were white and thin and soft. He would teach them to work again.

After a time, G got up and started to walk toward the house. Now that his thoughts were clear and he had plans. He wanted to talk to his wife and son. And then he wanted to feel the freedom he had missed so much. He started to run, smiling and talking happily to himself. He was excited that he could move so fast without any help. How wonderful to walk alone. He almost stepped on a frog that jumped between his feet.

"Out of the way, frog." he shouted and laughed. He laughed to the sky and to the trees and to the world.

It was then that he noticed a change. A grey curtain fell slowly down over the river and the valley. He stood still and opened his eyes as wide as he could. The curtain continued to fall now over the oak trees until they became tall shadows. G closed his eyes and put his hands against them. He hoped and hoped but when he opened them again, it was still dark. The dark fog was still there. This was how it had happened 5 years ago. He remembered it clearly. One minute he could see. The next minute a dark fog covered the light. He saw that the fog got thicker. The purple hills went first. Then the oak trees and their white flowers, then G saw that the farmland9 and the house were gone too. A terrible fear arose inside of him. He hit the air with his hands, trying to push the darkness back.

"No, please," he shouted. "Not again." He hit his hands together in helpless10 anger. But the shadows got darker.

"Stop! Stop!" He cried. "No more suffering! Give me a chance! Hold the darkness back, please!" G reached out to the sky and begged. But it came slow and heavy, the darkness grew. He could still hear the river but he could not see it. He started to run to leave the darkness behind him. As he ran he hit a tree. He got up and ran again. He felt no pain only cold terror11. Suddenly, he stopped running. He put his hands out and touched a rough12 old tree. He put his arms around the tree and started to laugh. He laughed for a long time and very loud. He was a fool, he thought, a weak-minded old fool. There was nothing to worry about. It was night. He had forgotten the night. Yes, that was why it was dark. It was always dark at night. In 5 years of blindness, he had forgotten. Night came early to the valley in April. G sat down under the tree, weak from laughing, wait until he told Lina and his son. They would laugh with him.

Of course, he was not blind again. If could not happen 2 times in 1 lifetime13. He leaned14 his head back against the tree and smiled once more. The late evening sun shone red on the tears that came from his eyes.

You have just heard the American Story "Dark". It was written by Josephine Johnson. Your storyteller was Shep O’Neal. The producer was Lowan Davids. It was published by Doubleday, Doran & Company in O.Henry Prize Stories of 1934. This is a copyrighted15 story, all rights reserved16. The Voice of America invites you to listen next week at the same time for another American story told in Special English. This is Shirley Griffith.
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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 blurry blurry     
adj.模糊的;污脏的,污斑的
参考例句:
  • My blurry vision makes it hard to drive. 我的视力有点模糊,使得开起车来相当吃力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The lines are pretty blurry at this point. 界线在这个时候是很模糊的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 sudden YsSw9     
n.突然,忽然;adj.突然的,意外的,快速的
参考例句:
  • All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
  • The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。
3 excite rnGxX     
v.刺激,使...兴奋,激励
参考例句:
  • The boy gets excite at once.这个男孩立刻变得很激动。
  • Try not to excite your baby too much before bedtime.睡觉前尽量别使宝宝太兴奋。
4 toward on6we     
prep.对于,关于,接近,将近,向,朝
参考例句:
  • Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
  • Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了,并跑了过去。
5 muddy L6KzF     
adj.泥泞的,污的,肮脏的;vt.使污浊,使沾上泥污
参考例句:
  • The road is very muddy.这条路非常泥泞。
  • They passed a muddy track through the forest.他们穿过森林的泥泞小路。
6 oak YHoxP     
n.栎树,橡树,栎木,橡木
参考例句:
  • The chair is of solid oak.这把椅子是纯橡木的。
  • The carpenter will floor this room with oak.木匠将用橡木铺设这个房间的地板。
7 graceful deHza     
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的
参考例句:
  • His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
  • The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。
8 urge lKKzH     
n.冲动,推动力,迫切的要求;vt.驱策,力劝,力陈,推动;vi.强烈要求
参考例句:
  • He has an urge to become a film star.他非常希望成为电影明星。
  • We should constantly urge ourselves on to study hard.我们要经常鞭策自己努力学习。
9 farmland ht7zIz     
n.农田,乡间的土地
参考例句:
  • They own 200 acres of farmland.他们拥有200英亩的农田。
  • If this wet land was drained,it would be good farmland.如果把这块湿地的水排干,这块地就会成为良田。
10 helpless FdAxb     
adj.无助的,无依无靠的;不能自力的
参考例句:
  • The other team was helpless and we had a real field day.对方队很弱,我们轻易取胜。
  • They felt helpless to do anything about it.他们对这事感到无能为力。
11 terror dI9z3     
n.恐怖;可怖的人(事)
参考例句:
  • We were in mortal terror of being found out. 我们非常害怕被发现。
  • That guy is a proper terror. 那家伙真是讨厌。
12 rough BXRxI     
adj.粗糙的;粗略的,大致的;粗野的,粗暴的
参考例句:
  • It's just a very rough translation.这只是一篇非常粗糙的译稿。
  • His reply was a bit rough.他的答复过于粗鲁了一点。
13 lifetime A1zxS     
n.一生,终身,寿命,使用期限
参考例句:
  • He wrote many books during his lifetime.他一生著作甚多。
  • During his lifetime his work was never published.他的作品在他的有生之年从未出版过。
14 leaned 725f4ee64e460865d2a6749276d2ed06     
v.(使)倾斜,屈身( lean的过去式和过去分词 );倚;依赖;使斜靠
参考例句:
  • He leaned forward, his hands clasped tightly together. 他俯身向前,双手十字交错地紧握着。
  • He leaned back, exulting at the success of his plan. 他向后一靠,为自己计划成功而得意扬扬。
15 copyrighted 32701401a789dc816ef17a1195e74c82     
获得…的版权( copyright的过去式 )
参考例句:
  • That magazine usurped copyrighted material. 那杂志盗用了版权为他人所有的素材。
  • Why is it common for students to download copyrighted music? 为什麽学生下载有版权的音乐如同家常便饭?
16 reserved NSczV     
adj.预订的;矜持的;储藏着的v.保留[储备]某物( reserve的过去式)
参考例句:
  • The star has a ski slope reserved exclusively for her. 这位明星有一个专门留给她的滑雪场地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He is very reserved. He does not say much. 他是个拘谨的人,不爱多说话。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

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