(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Our story today is Hard Rock Maple. It is about two people living in New England. They seemed like the hard rock maple trees, often found in that area. Nothing can make them move. Today's story was written by Fredric C. Heali. Here is Sharp O'Neal with our story.
Old man Cowben worked in a wheat mill, not far from his house. Cowben's wife had died many years before. Now he lived with his son Averite. Father and son were happy living together in the old family house. They liked eating together and talking about what happened during the day. After eating, they would sit in the living room and read. Their life together was warm and pleasant.
But one night after supper, Cowben and Averite said short things to each other. Averite quickly walked out of the room, he said no more to his father that night. The next morning, the old man awoke early and cooked his own breakfast, usually he would cook for his son, too. But this morning, the father went to work without even talking to his son. Averite got out of the bed when he heard the door closed. He made his own breakfast for the first time in many years. He was still angry with his father. The old man came home after a long day of work at the mill. Averite returned from the store two hours later, neither man talked to the other. They were still angry, and this night they did not even eat together.
Many days and nights passed in the same way. Father and son did not talk, or even look at together. They still lived under the same roof. But they acted like two strangers. After eating, Cowben sat in his chair and read a newspaper, Averite sat across the room in another chair reading a book. Sometimes while reading, Averite would slowly look up toward his father, he wondered what kind of a person his father really was. He knew that he was a good worker and that he was honest, but his father did not seem friendly with anyone. He seemed to have no emotions. Averite could not remember ever seeing his father kiss his mother, the son wondered "What kind of man is he really?". Many more days and nights passed with father and son saying nothing to each other. Days became months, but the heavy silence between the two men continued. They still lived in the same old house, but they did not talk.
One Sunday morning, Averite looked out of the window and saw that the ground was covered with snow. Someone would have to clean the snow of the sidewalk, either him or his father. If Averite offered to clean the sidewalk, his father might think he was trying to be friendly. He did not want his father to think so, he was still angry with him. But if Averite did not do the work, his father might think that he was being too cruel. Averite did not want him to think that either. While he was deciding what to do, Averite heard a noise outside. He looked out of the window again, he saw his father cleaing the snow of the sidewalk. The old man had been one step ahead of his son. Father had made the decision. More weeks passed, and father and son still did not talk to each other.
Then one day, Averite saw that his chair in the living room was getting old. The seat was broken. It needed to be fixed. Averite remembered that this old maple wood chair had been in the house for many years, it had been there even before Averite was born. "It is still a good chair" , he thought to himself, "I will not throw it away, I will have it fixed". Averite called his friend Alfred on the telephone. Alfred worked in a store where he fixed old tables and chairs. Averite asked him please to come to the house to look at his old broken chair. The old man was home when Alfred came to the house. "Hello, Alfred, I have not seeing you for years. Not since you were a little boy". Averite was in the kitchen while the two men were talking. He was surprised to hear his father's voice, he had not heard Cowben talk for almost five years. Averite thought to himself, "so my father will talk to other people", this made him angrier. "I will never talk to him now", Averite said.
Eight more years passed, Cowben, the father, and Averite, the son, still had nothing to say to each other. The days and nights were still the same. The two men ate alone than they sat in the living room and read. Cowben was getting very old.
One day, he stopped working, then he was home all the time. One night, Averite looked at his father for the first time in weeks. Father looked tired and lonely. The old man's hair had become completely white just like snow. The son felt sorry for his father. He said to himself "we are together, even though we do not talk. I am lucky to have someone here with me. It would be terribly lonely without him. And then another winter came, the cold wind blew and the ground was again covered with snow. Inside the old house, father laid sick. He was very old now and it did not seem he would live much longer. Averite drove his father to the hospital in town. A young doctor took him to a private room. Averited waited outside in the hall. A few minutes later, the doctor came out and said "you can see your father now". The doctor and Averite walked into Cowben's room. The son went , the old man was asleep. Cowben looked very tired. Averite sat down in the chair next to the bed and waited. After a time, Cowben moved a little, but he did not open his eyes. Averite wondered if he would ever see his father's eyes again. Then the doctor came back, he told Averite that he knew that he and his father had said nothing to each other for twenty years. "That is our personal business" Averite said. Then the doctor told him how sick his father was. "He might die soon," said the doctor, "you should talk to him now, it would be your last chance." Suddenly the old man opened his eyes, he looked around the room, he looked at the young doctor, and he looked at his son. He smiled weakly at Averite, and Averite smiled back at the sick old man. Then Cowben opened his mouth and tried to talk. Averite quickly put his hand over his father's mouth. He did not want to hear Cowben's voice even though that was the last chance. The old man did not try to talk anymore. His eyes closed again and he was asleep for a long time. The doctor said "He will not wake again, he is dead".
Averite moved from his chair and got his hat and coat. He walked to the door and then turned to the bed. He wanted to look at his father for the last time. The doctor said with anger,"He wanted to say something to you before he died. Why did you stop him?" Averite answered "It was my father who first made the decision that we should not talk. He was the one who felt we had nothing further to say to each other. I do not want to hear him to say he was sorry. I did not want him to ever think he was wrong". Then Averite walked out of the hospital. He drove home very slowly. When he entered the old white house, everthing seemed strange. He said to himself "This will be a lonely house now".
You have just heard the American story Hard Rock Maple, it was written by Fredric C. Heali. It was published in Yankee Magazine in June, 1966.
重点解析
1.ahead of 在...之前
Abruptly the group ahead of us came to a standstill.
忽然我们前面的队伍停了下来。
2.for the first time 第一次
Streams had run dry for the first time in memory.
溪流在记忆中第一次干涸了。
3.throw away 扔掉
I should know by now not to throw away the directions until we've finished cooking.
我现在应该明白，饭没做完之前，不要把食谱扔掉。
4.all the time 一直
Ray was very giggly and joking all the time.
瑞一直咯咯笑着开玩笑。
参考译文
我们今天要讲的故事是《硬岩枫树》。它是关于两个生活在新英格兰的人的故事。新英格兰地区有很多的硬岩枫树，他们似乎很喜欢。什么也移动不了它们。这个故事的作者是弗雷德里克·C·希利。本故事由夏普·奥尼尔为您讲述。
老人考本在离他家不远的一家小麦加工厂工作。考本的妻子在许多年前就去世了。他和他儿子亚威利特同住。父亲和儿子一起幸福地生活在古老的家庭房子里。他们喜欢一起吃饭，谈论白天发生的事情。吃完饭，他们会坐在客厅里看书。他们在一起的生活很温馨愉快。
但是有一天晚上晚饭后，考本和埃弗里特互相说了些简短的话。埃弗里特很快走出房间，那天晚上他没有再对父亲多说什么。第二天早上，老人醒得很早，只做了自己的早饭，通常他也会给儿子做饭。但是今天早上，父亲去上班了，甚至没有和儿子说一声。听到关上门的声音，阿维莱特下了床。多年来，他第一次自己做早餐。他还在生他父亲的气。老人在磨坊工作了一整天后回到了家。两小时后，阿韦莱特从店里回来，两个人都没有说话。他们仍然很生气，今晚他们甚至没有一起吃饭。
许多日日夜夜都是这样度过的。父子俩不说话，甚至都不看对方。他们仍然住在同一屋檐下。但他们表现得像两个陌生人。吃完饭，考本坐在椅子上看报纸，艾弗里特坐在房间另一把椅子上看书。有时看书的时候，艾弗里特会慢慢地抬头看父亲，他想知道他父亲到底是个什么样的人。他知道父亲是个好工人，而且很诚实，但他父亲似乎对任何人都不友好。他似乎没有感情。艾弗里特不记得有没有看到过父亲亲吻他的母亲，儿子想知道“父亲究竟是个什么样的男人？”父亲和儿子彼此不说话的情况又持续了很多日夜。然后几个月过去了，但两人之间严重的冷战仍在继续。他们仍然住在老房子里，但是他们不说话。
一个星期天的早晨，艾弗莱特向窗外望去，看到地上覆盖着积雪。得有人来清理人行道上的积雪，不是他就是他的父亲。如果阿韦莱特主动提出清扫人行道，他的父亲可能会认为他是在表示友好。他不想让他父亲这么想，因为他还在生他的气。但如果艾弗里特不去扫雪，他的父亲可能会认为他太残忍了。埃弗里特也不想让他那样想。当埃弗里特决定该怎么办时，他听到外面有声音。他再次向窗外望去，他看见他父亲正在清理人行道上的积雪。老人比他儿子早了一步。父亲已经做了决定。又过了几个星期，父子俩仍然不说话。
后来有一天，埃弗里特发现他客厅里的椅子变老了。椅子坏了。它需要修理。埃弗里特记得这把旧的枫木椅子已经在房子里很多年了，甚至在埃弗里特出生之前就已经在那里了。“这还是一把好椅子，”他心想，“我不会把它扔掉的，我会把它修好的。”。埃弗里特打电话给他的朋友阿尔弗雷德。阿尔弗雷德在一家修理旧桌椅的店铺工作。埃弗里特请他到屋里来看看他那把破椅子。阿尔弗雷德来到家时，老人在家。“你好，阿尔弗雷德，我好几年没见你了。从你还是个小男孩起就没有了。两个人谈话时，艾弗里特在厨房里。听到他父亲的声音，他很惊讶，他已经有五年没听考本说话了。埃弗里特心想，“我父亲会跟别人说话了”，这让他更加愤怒。“我现在再也不和他说话了，”艾弗里特说。
又过了八年，父亲考本和儿子埃弗里特仍然无话可说。日日夜夜依旧如此。两个人单独吃饭，而不是坐在客厅里读书。考本已经很老了。
有一天，他不再工作，然后他一直在家。一天晚上，阿威莱特几个星期来第一次看着他的父亲。父亲看上去疲惫而孤独。老人的头发全白了，像雪一样。儿子为他的父亲感到难过。他对自己说：“即使我们不说话，我们还在一起。”我很幸运有人在这里陪着我。如果没有他，那我将是非常孤独的。又是一个冬天，又是一个寒冷的冬天。在老房子里，父亲病倒了。他现在很老了，看来活不了多久了。埃弗里特开车送他父亲去城里的医院。一位年轻的医生带他去了一间私人病房。他在外面的门厅里等着。几分钟后，医生出来说：“你现在可以见你爸爸了。”医生和艾弗莱特走进了考本的房间。儿子走了，老人睡着了。考本看起来很累。埃弗里特坐在床边的椅子上等待着。过了一段时间，考本动了一下，但是他没有睁开眼睛。埃弗里特想知道他是否还能再见到他父亲的眼睛。然后医生回来了，他告诉埃弗里特，他知道他和他父亲20年来没有说过任何话。“这是我们的私事，”埃弗里特说。然后医生告诉他他父亲病得有多严重。“他可能很快就会死，”医生说，“你现在应该和他说说话，这是你最后的机会。”突然，老人睁开了眼睛，他环顾了一下房间，看了看年轻的医生，还看了看他的儿子。他虚弱地对埃弗里特笑了笑，埃弗里特也对那个生病的老人笑了笑。接着，考本张开嘴想说话。埃弗里特很快用手捂住父亲的嘴。他不想听到考本的声音，尽管那是最后的机会。老人不再说话了。他的眼睛又闭上了，睡了很长时间。医生说：“他不会再醒了，他已经死了。”
阿韦莱特从椅子上起身，拿起帽子和外套。他走到门口，然后目光转向床。他想最后一次看他的父亲。医生生气地说：“他想在死前对你说些什么。”你为什么阻止他？”埃弗里特回答说：“是我父亲首先决定我们不应该说话。他觉得我们没什么可说的了。我不想听到他道歉。我不想让他认为自己错了。然后埃弗里特走出了医院。他车开得很慢，回到了家。当他走进白色的老房子时，一切都显得很奇怪。他对自己说：“这将是一个孤独的房子了。”你们刚刚听的是一个美国故事《硬岩枫树》，它是由弗雷德里克·C·希利写的。它于1966年6月发表在《美国佬》杂志上。
