1、My Mother's Gift母亲的礼物Suzanne Chazin苏珊娜·蔡津I grew up in a small town where the elementary school was a ten-minute walk from my houseand in an age , not so long ago , when children could go home for lunch and find their motherswaiting.我是在一个小镇上长大的，从镇上的小学校到我家，只需步行10分钟。离当前不算太太久远的那个时代，小学生可以回家吃午饭，而他们的母亲，
2、则会老早在家等候着。At the time, I did not consider this a luxury, although today it certainly would be. I took it forgranted that mothers were the sandwich-makers, the finger-painting appreciators and thehomework monitors. I never questioned that this ambitious, intelligent woman, who had hada career befo
3、re I was born and would eventually return to a career, would spend almost everylunch hour throughout my elementary school years just with me.这一切对如今的孩子来说，无疑是一种奢望了，可是那时的我，却并不以为然。我觉得做母亲的给她的孩子制作三明治，鉴赏指画，检查他们的家庭作业，都是理所当然的事。我从来没有想过：像我母亲这样一个颇有抱负又很聪明的女人，在我降生之前，她有一份工作，而且后来她又谋了份差事，可是，在我上小学那几年，她却几乎天天陪着我吃午饭，
4、一同打发午餐时的每一分钟。I only knew that when the noon bell rang, I would race breathlessly home. My mother would bestanding at the top of the stairs, smiling down at me with a look that suggested I was the onlyimportant thing she had on her mind. For this, I am forever grateful.只记得，每当午时铃声一响，我就一口气地往家里跑。母亲总是
5、站在门前台阶的最高层，笑盈盈地望着我--那神情分明表示：我便是母亲心目中唯一最重要的东西了。为此，我一辈子都要感谢我的母亲。Some sounds bring it all back: the highpitched squeal of my mother's teakettle, the rumble ofthe washing machine in the basement and the jangle of my dog's license tags as shebounded down the stairs to greet me. Our time together seeme
6、d devoid of thegerrymandered schedules that now pervade my life.如今，每当我听到一些声音，像母亲那把茶壶水开时发出的尖叫声，地下室洗衣机的隆隆声，还有，我那条狗蹦下台阶冲我摇头摆尾时它脖子上那牌照发出的撞击声，便会勾起我对往事的回忆。和母亲在一起的岁月，全然没有充斥于我的生活中的、事先做好的安排往往任意改动。可是，和母亲在一起的那些岁月里，这样的现象似乎根本不存在。One lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had been
7、picked to bethe princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstakingly rehearsed my lineswith me. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped onstage,every word disappeared f
