http://s3/middle/4c595b06t8f51541dd992&690

 

 

                          Rice Dudding

                           忍耐的报答

 

    Shelia stomped into the staff room, her uniform plastered with

someone's dinner."I don't know how you do it!"she fumed to Helen, the

nurse supervising the evening shift."Mrs. Svoboda just threw her tray

at me again, and she's so agitated I don't know how I'll be able to

clean her up before bed. Why don't you have so much trouble with her?"

    Helen smiled sympathetically,"I've had my share of rough nights

with her, too.But I've been here, longer and, of corse, I knew her

husband.""yeah, Tony. I've heard about him. It's about the only word

I can understand when she gets going."

    "Shelis,"Helen began hesitantly,"I know it's hard to work with

people like Mrs. Svoboda. When Mrs.Svoboda was admitted she wasn't

as bad as she is now, but she was still pretty spicy. She used to

give me grief over the smallest things-her tes wasn't hot enough, her

bed wasn't made up right. On her bad days she'd accuse ue all of

stesling her things. I had no patience with her, until one day her

husband happened to be there during bath time. I was gearing up foe

the usual fight with her when he asked if he could help."Sure," I said

gratefully. Good thing the safety restraints were on because she began

kicking and screaming."

    "I began washing her quickly, anxious to get it over with, when

Troy laid his hand on my arm."Give her a monment to get used to the

water,"he asked. Then he began talking softly in Russian.After a few

moments she became calm and semed to listen to him.Very gently, he

took the cloth and soap from me and washed each of her hands. Then

slowly and carefully, he washed her arms and shoulders, working his

way over the wrinkled, sallow skin. Each touch was a caress, each

movemont a promise. After a while, she closed her eyes and relaxed

into the warm water."My beautiful Nadja,"the old man murmured."You

are so beautiful".To my surprise, Mrs. Svoboda opened her eyes and

murmured back,"My beautiful Troy,"Even more astonishing, she had tears

in her eyes!"

    Helen took a deep breath and continued her story."Mrs. Svoboda

stayed calm that ahole afternoon. Her husband helped me dress her

and feed her lunch. She complained about the food and at one point

knocked over her soup.Mr. Svobada patiently cleaned it up and waited

until her tantrum was over. Then he slowly fed her the rest of her

meal and talked to her until she was ready to go to bed. I was concerned

about than old man. He looked completely exhausted. I asked him why he

insisited on doing so much by himself when we were paid to do it. He 

turned to me and said simply,"Because I love her."

You don't understand, he continued.We've been married for almost

forty-nine years. When we started out, life on the farm was harder

than you can imagine. The drought killed our crops, and there wasn't

enough pasture for the cattle. Our children were small, and I didin't

know how we were going to survive the winter. I was very hard to live

with that year.Nadja put up with my moods, and left me alone, but one

 night I blew up at the supper table.She'd made our favorite treat, rice

pudding, and all I cold think about was how much suger and milk she'd used."

     "Suddenly I just couldn't take it. I picked up my bowl and threw it

against the wall, and stormed out to the barn. I don't know how long I

stayed there, but around sundown,Najia came out to find me."Troy",she

said."you are not along in your troubles. I promised to stabd by you

through everything life brought our way. But if you won't let me, then

you have to go."She had tears in her eyes, but her voice was fiem."when

you are ready to be with us again, we are here." Then she kissed my cheek

and walked back to the house."

    "I stayed in the barn that night, and the next day I headed into town

to look for a job. There was nothing , of course, but I keep looking. After

about a week, I was ready to give up.I felt a complete failure, at farming,

as a man. I started for home, not knowing if I'd be welcome, but I didn't

have anywhere else to go. When she saw me coming down the lane,Nadja came

out running, her apron strings riving. She threw her arms around me and I

began to weep. I clung to her like a newborn baby."

    "I f she could stay committed to me during my worst times, during

the hardest time of our life, the least I can do is to comfort her now.

And remind her of the good times we had. We always smiled at each other

when we ate rice pudding, and it's one of the few things she still remembers."

    Helen was quite. Suddenly Shelia pushed back her chair,"My break is

over."she said,dabbing at the tears that rolled down her cheeks."And I

know an old lady who needs another dinner."She  smiled at Helen."If I

ask them nicely, I'll bet the kitchen can rustle up a dish of rice

pudding for her,too."

 

词汇笔记：

agitated  激动的，表现不安的

sympathetically  悲怜地，富有同情心地

hesitantly  迟疑地，踌躇地

concerned   担心的；烦恼的；忧虑的

 

精美词句

1 、Each touch was a caress, each movemont a promise.

2、."you are not along in your troubles. I promised to stabd by you

through everything life brought our way. But if you won't let me,

then you have to go."She had tears in her eyes, but her voice was

fiem."when you are ready to be with us again, we are here."

 

短语家族：

I asked him why he insisited on doing so much by himself when we

were paid to do it.

insisited on   坚持，强调

Najia put up with my woods, and left me alone, but one night I

blew up at the supper table.

put up with    忍受；容忍

 

读后感言：这篇文章我感觉有些难度！看到最后我还是忍不住眼角湿润，

          感动于这对老人的爱，打字速度感觉在提高，遇到了难一点

          的文章，就会多看看、多记住一些单词。