02 The Mother with One Eye 只有一只眼睛的母亲
My mother had only one eye. When I was growing up, I hated her for it. I hated the uninvited attention it got me at school. I hated how the other children stared at her and looked away in disgust. My mother worked two jobs to provide for the family, but I was just embarrassed by her and didn’t want to be seen with her.
我妈妈只有一只眼睛。在我成长的过程中，我非常讨厌这样的她。我讨厌在学校受到的不请自来的关注的眼神。我讨厌别的孩子盯着她然后厌恶地转过头去。为了支撑这个家，我妈妈要做两份工作，但我却只觉得她令我很尴尬，不想被看到和她在一起。
As I grew up, I did whatever was in my power to distance myself from my mother. I studied hard and got a job overseas so I wouldn’t have to meet her. I got married and started raising a family of my own. I got busy with my job and family and with providing a comfortable life for my beloved children. I didn’t even think about my mother anymore.
随着我慢慢长大，我一直尽一切所能远离我的母亲。为了出国工作我努力学习，这样就可以再也不见到她。我结了婚，建立了自己的家庭。我忙于工作、家庭，为我爱的孩子提供舒适的生活。我甚至不再去想我的妈妈了。
Out of the blue, my mother came to visit one day. Her one-eyed face scared my young children and they started crying. I was angry at my mother for showing up unannounced and I forbid her to ever return to my home and new family life. I yelled and screamed, but my mother quietly apologized and left without saying another word.
突然有一天，妈妈来看我。她的一只眼睛吓哭了我年幼的孩子。对于我母亲的突然造访我非常生气，我要求她永远不要来我家，不要接触我现在的家庭生活。我尖声叫喊着，但是母亲安静地道了歉，没有再多说一句话就离开了。
An invitation to a high school
几十年后，受高中聚会的邀请，我回到了我的故乡。我忍不住开车路过儿时的家，在
reunion took me back to my hometown after decades. I could not resist driving past my childhood home and stopping by the old shack. My neighbors told me my mother had passed away and left a letter for me.
一幢老屋门口停了下来。邻居们告诉我，母亲已经去世了，留下了一封信给我。
“我亲爱的孩子：
“My dear child：
在开头我必须为突然出现在你家并吓坏了你可爱的孩子们而道歉。在你成长过程中我是如此令你尴尬，让你受辱，对此我也深深地自责。
I must begin by apologizing for visiting your home unannounced and frightening your beautiful children. I am also deeply sorry that I was such an embarrassment and source of humiliation to you when you were growing up.
I have learned that you may be coming back to town for your reunion. I may no longer be there when you come, and I think it is time to tell you an incident that happened when you were a young child. You see, my dear child, you were involved in an accident and lost one eye. I was devastated at the thought of my beloved child growing up with only one eye. I wanted you to see the beautiful world in all its glory, so I gave you my eye.
我得知你会在聚会的时候回来，但那时候我可能已经不在了，我想是时候该告诉你，在你小时候发生过一场意外。你知道的，我亲爱的孩子，你在那场事故中失去了一只眼睛。我无法接受和想象自己亲爱的孩子只能拥有一只眼睛。我想让你骄傲地看看这个美丽的世界，所以我把我的眼睛给了你。
我亲爱的孩子，我真心爱你，无论从前还是未来。我从没后悔把眼睛给了你，让你能够享受完整的生命，我死而无憾。
爱你的妈妈。”
My dear child, I always have and always will love you from the bottom of my heart. I have never regretted my decision to give you my eye, and I am at peace that I was able to give you the ability to enjoy a complete life.
Your loving mother.”
单词解析 Word Analysis
uninvited[ˌʌnɪnˈvaɪtɪd]adj.未经要求的，未获邀请的，不速而至的
例 She tactfully discouraged their uninvited guests from staying longer.
她巧妙地使这些不请自到的客人知趣儿，没有再待下去。
embarrassed[ɪmˈbærəst]adj.窘迫的；惭愧的；尴尬的
例 Polly, bewildered and embarrassed, dropped her head and scuffed her feet.
波莉既困惑又尴尬，低下头拖着脚走开了。
distance[ˈdɪstəns]v.把……远远甩在后面；疏远；与……保持距离
例 The author distanced himself from some of the comments in his book.
作者使自己书中的某些评论不带个人色彩。
unannounced[ˌʌnəˈnaʊnst]adj.事先未通知的
例 My first night in Saigon I paid an unannounced visit to my father’s cousins.
到西贡的第一个晚上，我给父亲的堂兄堂弟们来了个突然袭击。
reunion[riːˈjuːniən]n.（家庭、学校及其他团体成员的）团聚，重聚，聚会
例 The whole family was there for this big family reunion.
全家人都来参加了这次盛大的家庭聚会。
humiliation[hjuːˌmɪlɪˈeɪʃn]n.耻辱；屈辱；丢脸；蒙羞
例 She faced the humiliation of discussing her husband’s affair.
她面临了要谈及丈夫外遇的羞辱。
devastated[ˈdevəsteɪtɪd]adj.极为震惊难过的；非常伤心的
例 Teresa was devastated; her dreams shattered.
特雷莎伤心欲绝——她的梦想彻底破灭了。
glory[ˈglɔːri]n.光荣；荣耀
例 We were still basking in the glory of our Championship win.
我们依然沉浸在夺得锦标赛冠军的荣耀中。
regret[rɪɡˈret]v.对……感到后悔，因……遗憾
例 I simply gave in to him, and I’ve regretted it ever since.
我轻易就向他屈服了，从那以后我一直后悔。
语法知识点 Grammar Points
get married结婚，也可用be married，这里的marry作为不及物动词。
例 My best friend got married last weekend.
我最好的朋友上个周末结婚了。
get married/be married这两个短语后又都可接介词to+sb，表示“和……结婚”，这里我们一般不用get married with，这是习惯用法，约定俗成。
例 She got/was married to a teacher.
她和一个老师结婚了。
对于blue这个词，大家一定是再熟悉不过的。除了“蓝色”，还表示“忧伤”，我们熟悉的音乐类型蓝调，也是由此而来。out of the blue这个短语应用最广泛的意思是“突然地，意外地”。
表示“突然”的单词或短语非常多，比如suddenly, abruptly, unexpectedly, all at once, all of a sudden等。
例 There are so many things out of the blue in our life.
生活中就是有这么多出乎意料的事情。
例 The job offer came out of the blue, and I had to make a choice immediately.
这个工作机会来得太突然，我必须马上做出选择。
resist doing sth.反对做某事，抵制做某事，忍住去做
例 And don’t make the log complicated-that will only make you resist doing the log.
不要把日志做得很复杂——那样只会使你对做记录产生抵触情绪。
stop by/drop by顺道拜访
例 Why not stop by his office by office hours?
为什么不在办公时间去他办公室里谈谈？
经典名句 Famous Classics
1. Placid parents make a placid home.
平和的父母创造温馨的家。
2. Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
家是我们所爱的地方，双脚可以离开，心却不能。
3. From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other.
你从父母那里学会爱，学会笑，学会怎样走路。
4. A good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters.
一个好母亲相当于一百个好老师。
5. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.
金窝，银窝，不如自家的草窝。
6. If you are a winter grass, affection is the sun, warming your cold body.
如果你是冬日的小草，亲情就是太阳，为你温暖冰冷的身躯。
7. People always say that father’s love is so quiet but grand that it seems like a mountain. They always bury their love to children deep in the bottom of their hearts and never show it.
人们总说父爱如山，安静、伟岸，他们总把对孩子的爱深埋心底，从不显露。