书城外语爱在尘埃堆积的角落(英文爱藏双语系列)
1191200000055

第55章 家书 (2)

One day she came to us, and mum instantly knew what had happened. All hope had disappeared from her eyes. They stood hand in hand for a long time without saying a word. Then mum said: “We better go to church. There are certain things in life so great that we cannot comprehend them.” When mum came back home, she couldn’t get the red-haired boy out of her mind.

After the war was over, mum put away the pen and paper. “Finito,” she said. But she was wrong. The women who had come to her for help in writing to their sons now came to her with letters from their relatives in Italy. They also came to ask her for her help in getting American citizenship.

On one occasion mum admitted that she had always had a secret dream of writing a novel. “Why didn’t you?” I asked.

“All people in this world are here with one particular purpose,” she said. “Apparently, mine is to write letters.” She tried to explain why it absorbed her so.

“A letter unites people like nothing else. It can make them cry, it can make them laugh. There is no caress more lovely and warm than a love letter, because it makes the world seem very small, and both sender and receiver become like kings in their own kingdoms. My dear, a letter is life itself!”

Today all mum’s letters are lost. But those who got them still talk about her and cherish the memory of her letters in their hearts.

至今,我仍记得母亲的那些信。事情要追溯到1941年的12月。每天晚上,母亲总要坐在厨房的大饭桌旁,写信给我的弟弟约翰。约翰是在那年夏天应征入伍的。自从日本袭击珍珠港后,他就杳无音讯了。

约翰从没回信,我不知道为什么母亲还要这样一直坚持写下去。

“等等看吧,总有一天他会回信的。”母亲断言。她坚信思想和文字是息息相通的,这种关联强大得如同上帝赐予人类的光芒,这道光芒终有一天会照到约翰。

我不知道她是否只是在安慰自己、父亲,还有我们这几个孩子。但我知道,我们一家人因此更为亲密了。终于有一天,我们盼到了约翰的回信,他安然无恙,驻扎在太平洋的一个岛屿上。

母亲写信时总署名“塞西莉娅·卡普奇”,每次我都要取笑她几句:“为什么不直接写‘母亲’ 呢?”

以前我一直没在意她把自己当成塞西莉娅·卡普奇,而不是母亲。我禁不住以另一种眼光去审视自己的母亲,她如此瘦弱、矮小,即使穿上高跟鞋,身高仍不足一米五。

母亲从不刻意地修饰自己,除了那枚结婚戒指外,她基本不戴其他首饰。柔顺黑亮的头发自然地盘在颈后,从不剪短发或烫发。鼻梁上那副小小的银丝眼镜只有在睡觉时才摘下来。

母亲每次写完信,都会把信交给父亲,让他寄出去。然后,她把水烧开,和我们围坐在桌旁,追忆昔日的美好时光:那时我们这个意裔的美籍家庭人丁兴旺,父母亲和我们八个兄弟姐妹——五男三女,快乐地生活在一起。现在大家因工作、入伍或婚姻等原因纷纷离开了家,只有我留了下来,真是难以想象。

第二年春天,母亲又开始给另外两个儿子写信。每天晚上,她都要先写好三封内容不同的信,然后让我和父亲在后面加上自己的问候。

渐渐地,母亲写信的事传开了。一天,一个身材矮小的女人敲开我们家的门,用颤抖的声音问母亲:“您真的会写信吗?”

“我经常写信给我的儿子们。”

“那你也能读信?”女人低声问。

“当然。”

女人打开她的包,拿出一摞航空信:“请您大声读给我听吧。”

这些信都是女人的儿子写来的,他是名战士,现在在欧洲。母亲还依稀记得他的模样:满头红发,常和兄弟们一起坐在我们家门前的楼梯上。母亲一封接一封地把信用英文翻译成意大利文读出来。听完,那女人满眼泪水地说:“现在,我一定要给他回信。”但是她该如何做呢?

“奥塔维娅,去冲杯咖啡。”母亲在客厅大声叫我,然后带那个女人到厨房的桌旁坐下,拿出钢笔、墨水和信纸开始写信。写完后又大声读给她听。

“这些的确都是我想说的话,您是怎么知道的呢?”

“我常坐下看儿子的来信,就像你一样,根本不知道该怎么写才好。”

几天后,女人带来一个朋友,而后络绎不绝地一个接一个的朋友被带来……他们的儿子都奋斗在战场上,都需要写信。妈妈成了我们城镇的通讯员,有时她一整天都在写信。

母亲总是坚持让大家署自己的名字。一位花白头发的女人要母亲教她如何签名:“我真想亲手写下自己的名字,让儿子看到我的笔迹。”于是,母亲手把手地教她在纸上一遍遍地写,直到她自己可以签名了。

第二天,母亲帮那个女人写好信,让她亲手签名,女人露出了灿烂的笑容。

有一天她到我家来,眼中失去了往日的光芒,母亲立刻明白了。两人握着手,久久不语。然后母亲说:“我们还是去教堂吧。生命中有许多我们无法解释的深奥的事情。”母亲回家后,一直忘不了那个红头发的小男孩。

战争结束后,母亲把纸笔收起来,说:“一切都结束了。”但是她错了。那个曾让母亲帮忙给儿子写信的女人又来了,带着意大利亲人的来信。他们还让母亲帮忙给他们的亲属申请入籍。

一次,母亲坦言,她一直有个秘密梦想,那就是自己写本小说。“那为什么不着手写呢?”我问。

“每个人来到这个世界上都带着一个特定的目的。很显然,我的目的就是写信。” 母亲试图解释她如此沉迷于写信的原因。

“信可以把人们紧紧连在一起,这是其他任何东西都无法取代的。它能使我们哭,使我们笑。一封情书比任何爱抚都令人感到亲切和温暖,因为它缩小了世界,写信人和收信人都是自己世界的国王。亲爱的,要知道,信就是生命本身啊!”

今天,虽然母亲所有的信都遗失了,但那些收到信的人仍在谈论着她,并将这些与信有关的记忆珍藏在心底。

记忆填空

1. I don’t know she said that to calm herself, dad all of us down. But I do know that it helped us stick together, and one day a really did arrive. Johnny was on an island in the Pacific.

2. next spring mum had got two more sons to to. Every evening she wrote three different letters which she gave to me and afterwards so we could our greetings.

3. Today all mum’s letters are . But those who got them still talk about her and cherish the memory of her letters in their .

佳句翻译

1. 约翰是在那年夏天应征入伍的。

2. 鼻梁上的那副小小的银丝眼镜只有在睡觉时才摘下来。

3. 母亲试图解释她如此沉迷于写信的原因。

短语应用

1. We had not heard from him since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

hear from:收到……的信;受……的批评

2. She never wore make-up or jewelry except for a wedding ring of gold.

except for:除了……以外;要不是由于