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爱与人生:四季恋歌 Love and Life: Four Seasons(2)

  No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get any more information out of her daughter.
  无论多么努力,她都无法从她女儿那里得到更多的信息。

  “Let’s meet for coffee Saturday morning, okay, Mom? Listen, don’t worry. It’s good news. I just don’t want to tell you over the phone. It’s too good!”
  “妈妈,我们星期六早晨一起喝杯咖啡,怎么样?听着,别担心。是个好消息。我只是不想在电话里告诉你罢了。那消息太棒了!”

  It took her nearly all week to figure it out but once she did, she realized it couldn’t be more obvious. They’ve been dropping hints ever since her son-in-law became Chief Administrator of the place. What was it? Sunny Acres? Something-Meadows? Whatever. A “happenin’ retirement community for seniors” is how he describes it. Oh, please.
  她花了差不多一个星期的时间去思考这件事,不过等她一想明白了,她就发现这件事简直太明显不过了。自从她的女婿当上了那里的主管后,他们就一直在给她暗示。那叫什么来着?“阳光家园”?什么“草场”?管他呢!“正好是间专为退休老人开设的社区”,他就是这么描述的。哦,拜托!

  “We’ve got an apartment with your name on it, Mom!” They keep joking. Not funny. Not one bit funny. They’ll be living in it themselves before I ever will, she thought, as she grabbed her car keys to go meet her daughter. No way would she ever even consider leaving her home. Not a chance. It was all she had left of Michael and their years together. Oh, such wonderful years! His laughter still alive in every room, his books, their garden, the ocean. Coffee on the desk at sunrise, long walks on the beach. Oh, no. Absolutely not.
  “妈妈,我们以你的名义在那里弄了间房子!”他们总是这么开玩笑。不好笑。一点都不好笑。在我住进去之前让他们自己先住进去吧,她边想着,边抓起汽车钥匙准备去赴女儿的约。绝对别想让她离开自己的家。绝不可能。这里充满了她和迈克尔多年共度的时光所遗留下来的全部记忆。哦,那些日子多么精彩!他的笑声依然在每个房间里,他的书中,他们的花园里,还有海边回响。沐浴着日出阳光的咖啡,在海滨沙滩上的漫步。噢,不。绝对不行。

  “So, tell me, what exactly is this BIG surprise?” she asks in a voice that would make her 13)assertiveness training instructor proud.
  “那么,告诉我,那个大惊喜到底是什么?”她说话的语气都能让她自信训练课的指导老师感到骄傲了。

  Her daughter smiles, takes a deep breath and says, “Are you sure you’re ready?”
  她的女儿微笑着,深深吸了一口气,说道:“你确定你准备好了吗?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she answers, bracing herself.
  “我随时都准备好了,”她鼓起勇气回答道。

  “Okay. Here goes ... STAN AND I ARE GOING TO EUROPE!!”
  “好吧。是这样……斯坦和我将要去欧洲啦!!”

  That’s it? That’s the surprise? They’re NOT packing her off to a retirement community? She sits motionless, staring straight ahead.
  就是这样吗?这就是那个惊喜?他们不是要把她打发到某个退休老人社区去?她一动不动地坐在那里,眼睛凝视着前方。

  “Mom? Are you okay, Mom?” her daughter asks nervously.
  “妈妈?你还好吗,妈妈?”她的女儿紧张地问道。

  “I’m ...” she 14)stammers. “Oh, I’m fine. Oh, how wonderful! I ... I couldn’t be happier for you. When? For how long?”
  “我……”她结结巴巴地说道,“噢,我很好。噢,那真是太棒了!我……我太替你们高兴了。什么时候去?要去多久?”

  “I’ll tell you all the details in a minute,” her daughter answered, “But first I’d really like to ask a favor. Um ... do you think maybe you could keep the dog for us?”
  “我马上就告诉你所有的细节,”她的女儿回答道,“不过首先,我真的想要请你给我帮个忙。呃……你觉得你是否有可能帮我们照顾一下我们的狗狗呢?”

  WINTER   冬——收获季
  It’s Saturday morning, and she knows it is for sure because there’s nothing on TV but cartoons, and the groundskeeper isn’t out there 15)mowing the lawn or tending the roses. What’s his name? George? Greg? Nice young man. Loves her lemon bars.
  又是星期六清晨,她对此非常肯定,因为电视里什么节目都没有,全是卡通片,而且园丁也没在外面的草地上除草或照料玫瑰花。他叫什么名字?乔治?还是格雷格?很好的年轻人。喜欢吃她做的柠檬棒。

  She didn’t sleep well last night, but it doesn’t matter. Today’s going to be a good day anyway. Her granddaughter Jenny Rebecca, or is it Emily? Whichever. One of them will be here pretty soon to take her out to lunch. Beautiful girls they are. One named after a poet and one after a song.
  昨天晚上她睡得不好,不过这不要紧。不管怎么说,今天会是个好日子。她的外孙女詹妮·丽贝卡,还是艾米莉?随便哪个吧。她们其中的一个很快就要来这里接她出去吃午餐了。她们都是非常漂亮的女孩子。一个的名字源于一位诗人的名字,另一个源于一首歌。

  “You’re going to love the café, Grandma,” she told her when she called last night to remind her what time to be ready. “It’s a new little place near the boardwalk, right around the corner from that little antique shop. Maybe we can even take a walk on the beach.”
  “你会爱上那家咖啡店的,外婆!”外孙女昨晚打电话给她提醒她准备出门的时间时这么说。“这个新开张的小店离海滨的木板人行道很近,就在那家小古董店的拐角处。也许我们还能去海滩上散散步呢。”

  It was such a gorgeous morning. Maybe she would be able to walk for a bit. Oh, how she loved walking at the beach. How hard it was to give up the house. She missed it so. But living in Sunshine Meadows wasn’t nearly so bad as she thought. Beautiful gardens. Lovely people. Lots of new friends. The food was quite good. She really didn’t like to cook that much anymore. And she certainly was a lot safer. Not a chance she’d be on the floor for more than five minutes before someone would be here to help her if she fell again. Lots of folks around all the time. And her granddaughters make sure she gets to see the ocean at least twice a month. Wonderful girls.
  这天早上天气极好。也许她真的可以稍微走走。噢,她真喜欢在海滩上散步。要放弃自己的房子真是个艰难的决定。她实在想念那老房子。不过住在“阳光草场”并不像她当初想象地那么糟糕。这里有美丽的花园。友善的人们。许许多多的新朋友。食物也很棒。她现在确实不那么喜欢下厨了。而且她也的确比以前要安全许多。如果她再次跌倒在地,五分钟之内一定会有人前来帮助她,不会让她一直躺在地板上。四周总是有许多人在关心着她。而她的外孙女们也保证她每个月至少能去海边看两次海。多好的姑娘啊!

  The books are all ready to go. She put them in one of those 16)newfangled wrapping paper bags and set it by the door so she wouldn’t forget. Emily? Jenny? Whichever one is coming today asked to borrow them. She’s doing a poetry reading at her college next week and wants to include a few of Michael’s poems. She’s such a gifted poet. Her grandfather would be so proud.
  几本书都已经准备好了。她把它们放进一个新做的包装纸袋里,摆在门边,以免自己出门时忘了拿。艾米莉?还是詹妮?她们中的一个今天要过来借这几本书。下个星期外孙女会在她的大学举办一场诗歌朗诵会,想要朗读迈克尔的一些诗。她也是个非常有才华的诗人。她的外公会为她感到骄傲的。

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