2006年NPR美国国家公共电台六月-'Summering' in My Own Bathtub

With few days remaining this summer, I realize that I have worked through the entire season and haven't had time to do my traditional summer ritual, something I started 20 years ago.

That's Day to Day contributing writer Annabelle Gurwitch.

The summer of my freshman¹ year in college, I headed off to London for a semester abroad. Before my classes started I visited some family friends in their manor² house in a tiny pastoral village in Dorset, home of the novelist Thomas Hardy⁴. My days were spent tramping over rolling hills, baking shortbread, and at the end of each day I would take up a position in one of the many upstairs baths, a freestanding, old-fashioned, claw-and-ball tub with steaming hot water, ice tea, a few candles and a book. It seemed only appropriate to read a lot of Hardy that summer.

I had no way of knowing that, in fact, this would be my last carefree summer, that my family had suffered financial setbacks, I would need to drop out of college, I would actually be working as a mime⁵, dressed as a hamburger, handing out flyers for Arby's on a street corner in downtown Manhattan, when I finally finished reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

For much of my ten years in New York, as I was struggling to forge a career as an actress, I lived in an apartment which was so miniature that you could literally⁶ lie in bed, answer the door and fry an egg all at the same time. I also had a musically-inclined woodworking neighbor who for a period of four months mistakenly believed himself to be in love with me and I with him. He would play "If I Were a Carpenter and You Were a Lady" every time I returned to the building. The floor of my apartment was also slanted⁷. It was a sublet⁸ of a sublet of a sublet rented from my yoga teacher who was indicted⁹ years later in a pyramid money scheme. And on top of all of that I had been told that Serpico once lived in the building, which might explain why shady characters were often lurking in the vestibule. It's safe to say I wasn't receiving invitations to Capri and the closest I got to the Hamptons was a train ride to Coney Island. But my apartment did have a great Art deco, purple-tiled bathtub and a window which looked out onto vine-covered chimney tops, so after a long day of pounding the pavements, dropping off pictures and resumes to agents and performing in various off-off-nowhere-near-Broadway, depressing of avant-garde productions which received even more depressing reviews, one of which consisted of the single word :WHY?

I would return home and observe my summer ritual. A few candles later, a tall ice tea and a soak in the tub could transform any ordinary city night into the Dorset countryside. Now that I live in LA, I do over more summery-type things. My husband and I play baseball and swim at our neighbors' next door with our son, of course, that's what we do all year long. But as an actor and writer, I still don't find myself in a villa³ in Tuscany in August. Why? Because now I have just enough of an established career to be lucky enough to work a year round, so I haven't had my summer yet, until tonight, when I plan to brew¹¹ some ice tea, light some candles, take a hot bath and read a good book. Ah..

Radio stories, that one from actress and Day to Day contributing writer Annabelle Gurwitch.
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manor house:a big old house with a large area of land around it ;领主之宅邸
pastoral:typical of the simple peaceful life in the count;牧人的, 田园生活的, 牧师的
tramping:to walk somewhere slowly and with heavy steps;不定期运输
rolling:rolling hills have many long gentle slopes; 旋转的, 转动的, 摇摆的, 起伏的
freestanding:not fixed to a frame, wall, or other support ;独立式的, 不需依靠支撑物的
claw-and-ball:有抓球爪式脚的,有抓球爪式脚的家具的
no way:used to emphasize that you will not agree or be able to do something;不，决不
carefree:having no worries or problems; 无忧无虑的, 轻松愉快的, 不负责的
drop out of:to leave a school or university before your course has finished;不参与,退出,退学
flyer:a small sheet of paper advertising something;(广告)传单
sublet:to rent to someone else a property that you rent from its owner;转租,转租的房屋
yoga:a system of exercises that help you control your mind and body in order to relax;瑜咖
lurk:if something such as danger, a feeling etc lurks somewhere, it exists, but you may not see it or know about it ;潜藏, 潜伏, 埋伏
vestibule:space inside the front door of a public building; 门廊, 前厅
avant-garde:avant-garde music, literature etc is extremely modern and often seems strange or slightly shocking;先锋派, 前卫

1 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

2 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

3 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

4 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

5 mime   

n.指手画脚，做手势，哑剧演员，哑剧；vi./vt.指手画脚的表演，用哑剧的形式表演

参考例句：

• Several French mime artists will give some lectures this afternoon.几位法国哑剧表演艺术家将在今天下午做几场讲座。
• I couldn't speak Chinese,but I showed in mime that I wanted a drink.我不会讲汉语，但我作摹拟动作表示要一杯饮料。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 slanted   

有偏见的； 倾斜的

参考例句：

• The sun slanted through the window. 太阳斜照进窗户。
• She had slanted brown eyes. 她有一双棕色的丹凤眼。

8 sublet   

v.转租；分租

参考例句：

• I have sublet a flat to my friend for the summer.夏天我把一套公寓转租给一个朋友。
• There is a clause in the contract forbidding tenants to sublet.合同中有一条款禁止承租人转租房屋。

9 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

10 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 brew   

v.酿造，调制

参考例句：

• Let's brew up some more tea.咱们沏些茶吧。
• The policeman dispelled the crowd lest they should brew trouble.警察驱散人群，因恐他们酿祸。