U5 A Mother's Place 母亲的位置

by Donna Gamache 唐娜?加玛科

Dorothy feels that she is getting old and doubts her place in the family. Now she wants to move out and start a new life. Why does she want to live by herself? Will she really leave her son and daughter-in-law? Read the following story for the answers.

多萝西觉得自己老了，开始怀疑起自己在家里的位置。现在她想搬出去住，开始新生活。为什么她要一个人生活？她真的想离开儿子和儿媳吗？阅读下面这篇文章，找找问题的答案。

The rain still fell in a silent gray sheet when Dorothy opened her bedroom curtains to peer outside. \last year's drought.

多萝西掀起卧室窗帘，看看窗面，天灰蒙蒙的，雨还在无声无息地下着。“又是灰蒙蒙的天,又阴又暗，”她喃喃自语道。实际上，去年的干旱后，这雨是大受欢迎的。

\and gray and gloomy, just like me,\she added to herself, though it wasn't exactly true. Her hair wasn't completely gray, and she was only in her mid-fifties, middle-aged really, she knew. And usually she acted younger than her years, if anything. She could still do all the work she'd ever done － keep the house going, plant and weed the garden, drive the truck when needed － though maybe she wasn't as speedy at some tasks, as she once was. And Tim, her son, did suggest a couple of years ago, that she needn't bother to drive the tractor anymore. But that was because it wasn't really necessary, anyway, it wasn't because she was getting old. So why, all of a sudden, did she feel old?

“老气横秋，灰不溜秋，郁郁寡欢，象我一样，”她对自己又说了这些，然而事实并非如此。她的头发并未全白，只有五十多岁，实际还是中年 -- 这一点，她自己也清楚。她平日的行为举止，远远看不出实际年龄 -- 无论从哪方面都看不出。她象过去一样能干 -- 忙家务,在花园里种花、除草，开着拖拉机帮忙干农活 -- 尽管有些事情她做起来不如以前那样利索。她的儿子蒂姆两三年前就建议她不必再开拖拉机了。不过那是因为确实没有必要，而不是因为她老了。那她为什么会突然觉得自己老了呢？

\it on the rain,\she muttered. But, watching through the window as Tim hurried through the downpour from pig barn to cattle shed, she knew the answer. She'd known it last night, of course, after the blow up with Jenny, Tim's wife.

“都怪这场雨，”她嘟囔着。可是，当她透过窗户，看到蒂姆冒着大雨匆匆从猪圈跑到牛棚时，她就知道是为什么了。当然，昨晚与蒂姆的妻子詹妮吵架过后，她就知道了缘由。

Oh, it hadn't been a real blow up, just an argument over where to plant the garden. Jenny wanted it close to the house, so she could work there once the baby was born. Dorothy argued that the closest garden patch needed fallowing. They'd left the decision to Tim, who sided with Jenny, and Dorothy stumped off to bed at 8.30 p.m., feeling old and lonely, and missing Steve as she hadn't missed him for a long time. 哦，那也不是真的吵架，只不过是争论花园该建在哪儿。詹妮想让花园靠近住房，孩子出生后她也能兼干些活儿。多萝西认为，屋子旁边的那块园地应该空着。她俩让蒂姆作最后决定，结果蒂姆支持詹妮。于是多萝西晚上八点半就气冲冲地上床了，感到苍老无力，孤立无助，从来没有这么想念过史蒂夫。

Steve － Dorothy's husband － had died ten years ago, when Tim was just twenty. Tim had quit his agriculture course at the university and come home to work the farm, toiling like a Trojan to pay off the debts his father left. Dorothy worked alongside him, in the beginning, until he proved himself; then gradually she relinquished more of the work to him and concentrated on her garden and flowers, and the housework.

史蒂夫——多萝西的丈夫——十年前去世了，那时蒂姆年仅二十岁。蒂姆中断了大学的农学课程，回到农场干活。他象特洛伊人一样辛苦地工作，偿还父亲欠下的债务。最初多萝西和他一块干，一直干到他能完全上手；于是，她就逐渐把更多的农活交给蒂姆做，自己专心伺弄花园，种些花草，操持家务。

Things didn't change much when Tim married Jenny two years ago. Dorothy wondered, in the beginning, how the arrangement would work out, for she stayed in the house and Jenny just moved in. It couldn't have been easy for Jenny, Dorothy knew that, to move into your mother-in-law's house and let her run your life.

两年前蒂姆结婚了，但情况并没有多大改变。刚开始，多萝西还在想如何安排才算妥善，因为她呆在家里，詹妮又搬来住。多萝西知道：对詹妮来说，住到婆婆家，还让婆婆来掌管自己的生活，不是一件容易的事情。

But there hadn't been much change, really. Everybody adapted. Jenny worked at the potato plant in town, and kept her job. Dorothy surrendered some of the house work to her, and occasional meals, but she still did most of the day-to-day household running. Jenny either worked days, or slept, depending on her shifts at the plant. Most often she worked nights and slept until four or so.

但是他们婚后，一切真的并没有多大的改变。每个人都适应了。詹妮婚前在镇上的土豆加工厂工作，婚后还继续在那里上班。多萝西主动把一部分家务活让詹妮做，偶尔还让她做几顿饭，但是家里大部分的日常家务仍由她自己操持。詹妮白天有时上班，有时睡觉，得看她在厂里上什么班。大多数时候她上夜班，白天她一直睡到下午四点左右。

The washing was still Dorothy's responsibility, and the garden work and the flower beds. She still drove dinner out to the fields for Tim, and sometimes she drove the truck, during harvest or spring work. She wasn't ready to retire yet!

洗洗刷刷仍是多萝西的事，还有整理园子和花坛的活。她照旧开车到田里给蒂姆送饭。秋收或春耕时她有时候还开卡车。她还没准备退休呢！

\the tip of the iceberg. The rest will show up soon.\due in two months, and last week Jenny stopped working at the potato plant. \any longer,\

“但看来我必须得退休了，”她喃喃自语，一边转过身去穿衣服。“昨晚只露出了冰山一角。剩下的很快就会都显露出来，”她想。现在情况正在发生变化。蒂姆和詹妮的孩子还有两个月就要出世了。上个星期，詹妮辞去了土豆加工厂的工作。“我再也弯不下腰了，”她说。“不管怎么说，我也需要时间为孩子的出生作作准备。”

She'd been home now, full time, for a week. She'd prepared all the meals during that time, and driven Tim's dinner out to him in the west field for the last two days. Last night she'd announced new plans for the garden, and that's when the argument developed. \

she was speaking out loud. \had been said to that effect. There had been no suggestions that she should move out and leave the house to them. But they must be thinking that, weren't they?

现在，詹妮整天都呆在家里，已经一个星期了。这段时间里，每一餐都是她做的，前两天她还开车到农场西部的田里给蒂姆送晚饭。昨晚她宣布重新布置园子，于是就发生了争吵。“我是多余的，”多萝西心想，随后才发觉自己大声说了出来。“我在农场派不上用场了。他们不再需要我了。”事情还没到那个地步。从未有人提过要她离开。但是他们一定是这样想的，不是吗？

The house was small, with only two bedrooms and the study. Originally, of course, she and Steve had planned the study to be a third bedroom. But when Tim was their only child, the study was created instead. Now, Tim and Jenny planned to change it into a baby's room. But she'd noticed Jenny's glance in the direction of her own bedroom. If Dorothy didn't occupy it, then the baby could. And what a pity it was to reconvert the study, with all its space for Tim's farm records. The kitchen was small, too, for a farm kitchen. Too small for two women to work there all the time. They'd be in each other's way, Dorothy knew that. How would they ever manage at canning time?

房子不大，只有两间卧室和一个书房。原先她和史蒂夫曾计划把书房用作卧室。既然蒂姆是他俩唯一的孩子，房间就成了书房。如今，蒂姆和詹妮打算把它改成婴儿房。但她曾经注意到詹妮的目光瞥向她的房间。要是多萝西不住着这间房子，那么孩子就可以住了。改装书房是件令人伤感的事，里面都是蒂姆的农场记录。作为一个农场的厨房，厨房也不大。根本容不下两个女人整天在那儿干活。多萝西明白，她们会彼此碍事。做罐头的季节她们怎么办呢？

She sighed, and turned back to look outside once more. A few yards away, the lilacs hung heavy in the rain. She could almost smell them, though her window was shut. While she watched, Tim made a dash for the house, splashing through large puddles as he ran. It must have been pouring all night. Surprisingly, she'd slept, though her mind was churning when she went to bed. There was only one possible solution, she had decided: to move out, move into town and establish a new life. Life was full of changes, and this would be one of them. She'd adapted after Steve's death, and after Tim's marriage; she could do it again.

她叹了口气,又转身望着窗外。几码远外，丁香花在雨里沉甸甸地挂在枝上。她几乎能闻到花香，尽管窗子关着。这时，她看到蒂姆正往房子这边跑过来，身后边溅起大滩的雨水。雨一定是下了一整夜。奇怪的是，昨夜她居然睡着了，去睡觉时她心里还难受着呢。她认定，解决的办法只有一个：搬出去，搬到镇上，开始新生活。生活总是变化多端，这只是一个变化而已。史蒂夫死后她适应了变化，蒂姆结婚后她也适应了；她可以再适应一次。

There were a couple of houses available in town, she knew, small houses suitable for a middle-aged widow who didn't need much space. And there were suites available, if she could stand living in an apartment without a yard or garden. The solution was there. And yet － to leave the farm where she'd spent the last thirty years? To leave these fields and pastures where she'd worked first with Steve, later with Tim? To leave behind the poplar grove where she liked to bird-watch; the small creek where she and Steve walked, in younger years, and made their plans; the swimming hole where Steve taught Tim to swim? How could she leave these memories behind?

她知道，镇上还有几座空房子。小型的房子是适合一个中年寡妇住的，不需要多大空间。要是她能忍受没有院子、没有花园的公寓，还有空着的套间可以住。这就是解决的办法。可是 -- 离开她度过了三十年岁月的地方吗？在农田和牧场，她最初跟史蒂夫，后来又跟蒂姆一起工作过，要抛下这些不顾吗？她喜欢在

小树林里看鸟；她和史蒂夫年轻时曾在小溪边漫步，在那儿他们计划过未来；在那个小池子里，史蒂夫曾教蒂姆游泳；把这些全抛下吗？她怎么能把这些记忆全都抛在脑后呢？

Opening the curtains wider, to let in what light there was, she turned and went out to the kitchen. Tim and Jenny were there, Tim working on his usual big breakfast, Jenny relaxing with a cup of coffee. Dorothy saw the look that passed between them as she came out. What were they planning? Had they decided to ask her to move? To leave the farm? Well, she'd fool them. She'd have her say first!

她把窗帘拉开一些，让光线多少照进来，然后就转身去厨房。蒂姆和詹妮都在。和往常一样，蒂姆专心吃着一大份早餐，詹妮悠闲地喝着一杯咖啡。多萝西注意到，她出来时他们两人对望了一眼。他们在策划什么？是不是要让她搬走？离开农场？好吧，她要愚弄他们一下。她要掌握发言权！

\\guess we have to talk, don't we? There have to be some changes made here, don't there?\\please,\all, you'll probably be doing most of the garden work still. So we'll leave the garden up to you. Where it is and what you want to plant. You'll be officially in charge, Garden Manager, if that's okay.\

“妈，要咖啡吗？”蒂姆问道。不等她回答就给她倒了一杯咖啡，他很了解她的习惯。“谢谢，”她喃喃着，边说边坐到椅子里。然后，她心意已决，目光锐利地看着吉姆。“我想我们得谈谈，对吧？家里得有点变化，不是吗？”“妈，”蒂姆打断她。“关于昨晚的事，我们向您道歉。我们考虑不周。孩子出生后会有好多事情，所以大部分园子里的活，可能还得由您干。我们想由您全权打理园子。您想把它建在哪儿就建在哪儿，您想种什么就种什么。如果可以，您正式负责，园子总管。”

Dorothy closed her mouth, the wind gone from her sails for a moment. Then she squared her shoulders and started again. \More than that. In this house, I'm in the way.\－ \多萝西闭着嘴，好象帆一时没了风一样，不知道说什么好了。然后她正了正身子，再度开口。“但是除了园子之外，还有事情，对吧？我们还是面对问题吧。家里没人需要我了。不止如此，在这座房子里，我碍手碍脚了。”“妈妈——”蒂姆想开口，但是她的声音更高。

\your own without your mother always looking over your shoulder. And I'll make a new life for myself.\Abruptly she stopped, took a gulp of coffee, though it was almost too hot, and stared out the window at the rain.

“依我看呢，解决的办法就是我搬到镇上去住，房子给你和詹妮，你们过自己的生活，不用我整天在后面盯着你们。我也要开始自己的新生活。”她突然打住了。虽然咖啡很烫，她喝了一大口，然后盯着窗外的雨。

For a few minutes silence reigned. Then Tim spoke again. \is, okay. But I don't believe it is. I think you're making a sacrifice because you think that's what we want. And you don't have to, you know. It's not necessary.\Dorothy didn't answer.

沉默好一会儿后，蒂姆又开口了：“妈妈，您真的想过那样的生活吗？如果是，那好吧。但我不信。我想您在作出牺牲，因为您以为那就是我们想要的。您知道，您不必非得如此，大可不必。”他停下来吃了会儿吐司，但多萝西没有说话。

\tell you.\to sound like that. It just came out that way. \another woman in your house. But we don't want you to leave. We need you here, even if you don't realize it. We'll need you more, once the baby comes. We'll need you to help babysit, if Jenny is working with me. Or we'll still need you to help me, if Jenny is busy with the baby.\another idea.\

“妈，我们还有一个主意，”詹妮轻声说，有点迟疑。“要是您不喜欢就直说，但我们想告诉您。”“想说什么就说，”多萝西嘟哝着。她知道自己的声音听起来又老又冲，她也不想那样，但话一出口就成那样了。蒂姆说：“詹妮和我都清楚，对您来说，在自己家里和另一个女人住在一起并不容易。但是我们也不想让您走。我们需要您，也许您还没有意识到。孩子一出生，我们会更需要您。如果詹妮和我一块儿干活，我们就需要您帮着看孩子。要是詹妮忙着看孩子，我们也需要您来帮我。”他停了停。“但我们还有一个想法。”

Dorothy turned away from the window where she'd been staring resolutely at the rain, and looked at him. He looked so much like Steve when he set his chin in that determined way. \trailer that Jim Briscoe is selling. We thought maybe we'd buy it and move it into the yard here for us. Only, it's small. Not really big enough for us, with the baby and all. So, well, we wondered, what about using the trailer for you?\would be a little closer to the garden, and you could still have your own piece of land and flower beds.\多萝西眼睛一直牢牢地盯着窗外的雨，这时转过头来，看着他。他看上去真象史蒂夫，那样坚毅地昂着下巴。“我和詹妮看过布里斯格正在出售的车拖活动住屋。我们想，也许可以买下来，放到咱们的院子里。只不过，活动住屋不大。我俩用的话，确实小了点，还有孩子什么的。所以，哦，我们想，活动住屋给您用，可以吗？”詹妮插话说：“我们可以把活动住屋搭在丁香丛的另一面，这样离园子更近些，而且您仍然有自己的一块地和花坛。”

\well,\don't want you moving to town, leaving the farm, unless that's what you want.\though he had run out of words, and turned back to his breakfast.

“我们住得很近，又不用住在一起，”蒂姆说。“我知道这是您的房子，要是您不喜欢这个想法，那么，”他耸耸肩。“我们可以找个大一点的活动住屋，我们住，您还住在这里。可是我们不喜欢您搬到镇上去，离开农场，除非您真的想那么做。”他突然停住了，好象没话可说了一样，就接着吃早餐。

There was a long silence, broken only by the patter of rain on the window. There must be a wind starting up, Dorothy thought momentarily. And it's blown a weight off my shoulders.

一阵长时间的沉默，只有雨拍打在窗户上的声音。一瞬间，多萝西想：“一定起风了，风把我肩上的重荷都吹走了。”

Then, through the sudden lump in her throat, she spoke. \look at the trailer to see what I'll need?\ 然后，象是喉咙里有东西突然卡住一样，她开口了：“我认为这主意很好，蒂姆，詹妮。什么时候我可以去看看活动住屋，看我还有什么需要添置的？”她笑了笑，希望他们没看到自己的眼睛湿润了。

\It's just newly painted.\“最好等雨停了，地面干点再说，”蒂姆说。“我们不想让活动住屋沾上泥。活动住屋是新漆的。”“什么雨？”多萝西问道，白天的抑郁一扫而空。“什么雨？”