一诺：我们为什么爱她？

这是奴隶社会的第 3189 篇文章

We love Bee because she took us fishing in the local river.  She said we did a good job even if the fish were tiny and our shoes muddy.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她带我们在家附近的小河里钓鱼，虽然我们钓到的鱼都很小，而且搞的鞋上全是泥，她还会说我们做得很棒。）

We love Bee because, when we were frightened from having caught a turtle instead of a fish, she took the hook out for us.  She did it without hurting the turtle.

（我们爱 Bee，因为当我们钓到了一只小乌龟，而不是一条鱼，因此吓得不得了的时候，她会把鱼钩拿出来，而且拿鱼钩的时候没有伤害到那只小乌龟。）

We love Bee because when we were small she did not scold us if we lost our mittens.  Instead she bought new mittens, found a strip of cloth, sewed one mitten to each end, and then threaded the strip through the sleeves of our winter coats so that the mittens would always be right there, dangling, ready for our hands at any time.

（我们爱 Bee，因为我们小的时候丢了手套，她不会骂我们，她会买新的手套，然后找一个布条，把两只手套缝在布条的两端，然后把布条和手套从冬天厚衣服的袖子里伸出来，就挂在那里，这样当我们需要的时候手套就总在那里。）

We love Bee because she rubbed noses with us.   When we were little we thought all mothers did that. But when we grew up we didn't notice a whole lot of other people doing it.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她总和我们碰鼻子。我们小时候以为所有的妈妈都这样做，长大以后发现其实并不是。）

We love Bee because she called us peanut butter、Peppercorn、Applesauce、Apple pie、Sugar pie、Sugar plum、Plum pudding、Pumpkin pudding、Lamb roast. What else?——Toppers.  She called us "toppers."  When we were little we didn't know what she meant by "toppers."  After we grew up, we still didn't know.  But we knew it meant love.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她叫我们花生酱，叫我们胡椒，叫我们苹果酱、苹果派、小甜梅子、梅子布丁、南瓜布丁、烤羊肉，还叫我们 Toppers。小时候我们不知道 toppers 是什么意思，长大以后我们还是不知道 toppers 是什么意思，但我们知道它是爱的意思。）

We love Bee because the dog loved Bee.  When we weren't home Echo followed Bee from room to room.  Echo knew whom to rely on.

（我们爱 Bee，因为我们家的狗爱 Bee。我们不在家的时候， Echo 形影不离地跟着 Bee。它知道谁是最可以依靠的。）

We love Bee because she chose the best pieces of food to put on our plates.  She put the best pieces on everybody's plates.  She would put the best piece on anybody's plate.  She put the chicken's neck on her own plate.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她会选最好的食物放在我们的盘子里，她会把最好的食物放在每个人的盘子里，她会把最好的食物放在任何人的盘子里，她把鸡脖子放在自己的盘子里。）

We love Bee because she was from Nebraska.  She went to a lot of other places in this world, but she was always from Nebraska.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她是内布拉斯卡州人，她去过世界上很多地方，但她总是 Nebraska 州的人。）

We love Bee because, when she put on our socks she said, "First one foot, then the other; Martha's a sister and Perry's a brother."

（我们爱 Bee，因为当她给我们穿袜子的时候，她会说，“先穿一只脚，再穿另一只脚。Martha 是妹妹，Perry 是哥哥。”）

We love Bee because she tied baby Bruce to her back with a cloth and let him pound her shoulders while she did all kinds of other things.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她把小弟弟 Bruce 用布缠在她的背上，在她忙忙碌碌做各种事情的时候，她就让小弟弟在后面用小手打她的肩膀。）

We love Bee because of the holes in her underwear. She could risk her life for us, but she didn't care if there were holes in her underwear.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她的内衣上常常有洞，她为我们可以献出自己的生命，但她对自己内衣上的洞却从不在乎。）

We love Bee because she always wrote "GOOD!" on our homework, and on every piece of scribble-art we ever scribbled.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她总在我们的家庭作业上写很棒，也在我们各种随便画的所谓的艺术作品上这样写。）

We love Bee because she never exploded in anger.  Never.  Not once. Amazing. She had reason enough.  She just couldn't do it.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她从来不发火，从来没有，一次也没有，让人难以置信。她有足够的理由发火，她就是做不来。）

We love Bee because of the color or her hair. When she was little, she tells us, it was blond.  As she grew up it turned brown, then black.  Then it started to turn gray.  That was when we first knew her.  In fact we may have been the reason for the grayness.  First it was salt-and-pepper gray, then fuller gray.  Eventually it turned white, and then, with age, yellow.  To counter the yellow, Bee put in blue-ing, and sometimes put in too much, so that her hair turned slightly blue.  She re-adjusted, and it was white again, and stayed white to the end.  To review: her hair color in life was blond, brown, black, grey, white, yellow, white, blue, white.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她头发的颜色，当她是小姑娘的时候，她告诉我们头发是金黄色的，她长大的时候头发变成了棕色，然后是黑色，然后又变成了灰白色。我们知道她的时候，她头发就是那个颜色。也许我们其实就是她的头发变成灰白色的原因。最开始是那种盐和胡椒的那样的灰色，后来变成全是灰白色，最后变成了白色，然后随着她年龄的增长又变成了黄色。为了掩盖那种发黄的白，她会放上一些发蓝的颜色，有的时候放太多了，所以她的头发变成了蓝色。她就调整了一下，那又变成白色了，然后一直到最后还是白色。所以，综述一下她的头发的颜色是金黄色、棕色、黑色、灰色、白色、黄色、白色、蓝色、白色。）

We love Bee because she said "Piffle!" when she disagreed. She said it to your face.  She would have said it to the face of the President of the United States exactly the same way.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她不同意你的观点的时候会说 Piffle，而且会直接说到你的脸上，哪怕是美国总统出现，她也会一样这样说。）

We love Bee because she gave us good backrubs.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她会揉我们的背。）

We love Bee because, when a disturbed young man at her school used a knife to threaten other students, and then defied the school authorities as well, Bee solved the matter by slowly approaching the boy and reassuring him that everything would be OK.  The boy gave her the knife.

（我们爱 Bee，因为当在她的学校，一个处于困境的男孩子用一把刀去威胁其他的学生并反抗校长的命令的时候， Bee 慢慢地走向那个男孩子，跟他说一切都是会好的，那个男孩子把刀给了她。）

We love Bee because she didn't ask you if you wanted mashed turnips. She always piled them onto your plate and then, when it was too late for you to contribute an opinion, she said "This is good!"  She always meant it, too.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她给你吃萝卜泥的时候从来不问你，她会把萝卜泥满满的放在你的盘子上，然后当你并没有时间说出自己的意见的时候，她就会说“这个很好”，而且她是真心实意的。）

We love Bee because those turnips were in fact good.  So were the sweet potatoes.  Roast pork.  Celery with cream cheese. Pumpkin pudding. Lemon cake.  Everything else.

（我们爱 Bee，因为那些萝卜泥真的很好，同样好的还有她做的地瓜、烤猪肉、芹菜蘸软奶酪、南瓜布丁、柠檬蛋糕，所有都很好。）

We love Bee because, when we stopped the car on the roadside to relieve ourselves during family trips, and when we waited for her to squat and then said, "Look, a circus is coming!," she always looked up, panicky, and said "Oh, no!!".  It was the same every time.  Always fresh.

（我们爱 Bee，因为当我们全家出去玩，在路边停下来解决问题的时候，我们会等到她蹲下来，然后大声喊“看，马戏团来啦”，她总是非常惊恐地向上看，说“啊，不要”，每次都是这样，屡试不爽。）

We love Bee because she never showed irritation when we teased her. Instead she laughed at herself.  Really laughed.

（我们爱 Bee，因为每次我们逗她的时候，她从来不发火，而是和我们一起笑，真正的大笑。）

We love Bee because she was close to nature.  She knew the names of 56 wildflowers on a one-acre plot. Her favorite colors were gray and brown. At winter solstice she could feel the days start to get longer.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她是自然的孩子，她能够说出一英亩的土地上 56 种野花的名字。她最喜欢的颜色是灰色和棕色，到冬至的时候她能够感到天在变长。）

We love Bee because she made us drink cod liver oil.  Heaven knows what it really was, but it was called "cod liver oil" and Bee said it was good for us and we did drink it, by gum.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她总让我们喝鳕鱼油，天知道那到底是什么东西，但它的名字是鳕鱼油。Bee 说这个对我们好，我们喝了，而且喝了好多。）

We love Bee because, in her senior years when her mind was failing, she would play hearts with us even when she didn’t enjoy it. She couldn’t think well enough to know what card to play.  She would just guess, play a card, and lose.  She did it because she didn’t want to ruin the game for everybody else.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她步入老年，脑子已经衰退的时候，还会跟我们玩扑克牌，哪怕她其实已经并不喜欢玩了。她已经不知道该出什么牌了。她只能猜，然后输掉。她这样做，是因为不想因为她让别人都玩得不尽兴。）

We love Bee because, whenever we had to leave her, she stood waving her hand as long as possible. No doubt she was waving even after we had disappeared.  She cried, too.

（我们爱 Bee，因为每一次我们离开，她都站在那儿长久的挥手。毫无疑问，哪怕我们在她眼前消失，她还在那儿挥手，她也会哭。）

We love Bee because she loved us.

（我们爱 Bee，因为她爱我们。）

We love Bee because, even though her ears do not hear this poem, we can feel that her spirit does.

（我们爱 Bee，因为虽然她的耳朵听不到这首诗了，我们能感觉到她的灵魂还可以。）

We love Bee because, even when she dies, the beauty of her life gives us joy.

（我们爱 Bee，因为哪怕她已经去世，她生命的大美还是给我们带来无限的欢心。）

Perry Link    

November 10, 2002

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你好，小芳