2007年NPR美国国家公共电台五月-Ellie Lyden: Mother to an Irish Village

On May 25th, my aunt Ellie Lyden in Ireland turns 100. I say my aunt, and she is an aunt to me, but she's not really my aunt. When I went back with my grandfather to his ancestral village of Clifden, Ireland in 1986, he was eager to search for his relatives. We found Ellie and her brother Michael cutting turf for the fire across from a whitewashed¹, rose-covered cottage on the Galway road. It wasn't until decades later that I found out that my actual blood relations are most likely to Lydens who operate the local driving school, but by then, Ellie was family. I don't know if we were related. She said that day when I first met her. But we'll just go on as if we were. And so we have. I visited her nearly every year since.

At 100, Ellie makes me think about motherhood. She's never been a mother, nor have I. She's never married, I did only recently. She lived with her brother until he died. Yet she's mothered a whole village in Clifden. And in her way, a whole country, many people have found their way to her door, strangers who became friends. Across that doorstep where the roses grow, and the hydrangeas bloom a cobalt blue, is her hearth². It's now an oil stove where the tea's kept warm. On the walls just the same as the day we met, she keeps the pictures of Padraig Pearse, Gerry Adams, John F. Kennedy and Pope John Paul the 2nd.

Her laugh is still a girlish laugh. Her manner, gentle, and her white hair remains³ so curly. It reminds me of a silvered dandelion's puff⁴. When she was a girl, she wasn't allowed to emigrate. She stayed behind to take care of her mother who lived to be 102. Now, she looks out the very same windows that her mother did.

I think it's elders, like Ellie that Ireland really has to credit. They're the mighty⁵ who hung on when Irish life was grim and grey, riven by poverty and civil war, and suffering outmigration. Everyone who visits her sees the endurance in Ellie. There's a history she knows that others are forgetting, where the English barracks once stood in Clifden when the black and tans torched the town, and how IRA men on the run would come and hide.

For her 100th birthday, besides a private Mass celebrated⁶ at home, she'll be glad for everyday things-knitting socks and mittens⁷, chatting with Maureen, the cousin who cares so well for her. She'll coddle Rosie, her Border collie mix. Perhaps, she'll gather some of the bantam hen's eggs. I expect some of her visitors would be Clifden's younger entrepreneurs, whose Ireland couldn't be more different.

Ireland's changing, Jacky. Ellie tells me every year. Here's no one milking their own cows no more, nor making their own brown bread neither. But she still kneads and bakes that old soda⁸ bread loaf which I carry back with me on the plane.

Elli nurtures⁹ a very traditional piece of Ireland's past. Like all centenarians, she's getting a cash gift and a congratulatory card from the Irish president in Dublin, a city she's never even visited. This weekend, as America celebrates Motherhood, I'm reminded again that it is not only a biological fact; it's a quality of nurturing¹⁰ yourself, others, and a way of life.

And that's something Ellie Lyden has done for the last 100 years.
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hydrangea
[植] 八仙花属
cobalt
[化]钴(符号为Co), 钴类颜料, 由钴制的深蓝色
hearth
壁炉地面, 炉边, 家庭（生活）, 炉膛
dandelion
蒲公英
rive
To break or distress¹¹ (the spirit, for example).
torch
burn maliciously¹², as by arson¹³; "The madman torched the barns"
Mass
1.
a. Public celebration of the Eucharist in the Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant churches.
b. The sacrament of the Eucharist.
2. A musical setting of certain parts of the Mass, especially the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.
coddle
To treat indulgently; baby. See Synonyms¹⁴ at pamper¹⁵.
collie
A medium-to-large dog of a breed originating in Scotland as a sheepdog, having a long narrow muzzle¹⁶ and either a long thick straight coat or a short hard flat coat, depending on the variety.
bantam
矮脚鸡

1 whitewashed   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The wall had been whitewashed. 墙已粉过。
• The towers are in the shape of bottle gourds and whitewashed. 塔呈圆形，状近葫芦，外敷白色。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

2 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

5 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

8 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

9 nurtures   

教养，培育( nurture的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Art nurtures the soul and culture cultivates the mind. 艺术滋润心灵，文化陶冶情操。
• Who first loves and nurtures us and takes care of every need. 是谁先爱上我们，哺育我们，对我们无微不至。

10 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

11 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

12 maliciously   

adv.有敌意地

参考例句：

• He was charged with maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm. 他被控蓄意严重伤害他人身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His enemies maliciously conspired to ruin him. 他的敌人恶毒地密谋搞垮他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 arson   

n.纵火，放火

参考例句：

• He was serving a ten spot for arson.他因纵火罪在服十年徒刑。
• He was arraigned on a charge of arson.他因被指控犯纵火罪而被传讯。

14 synonyms   

同义词( synonym的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If you want to grasp English, you must carefully discriminate synonyms. 如果你想掌握好英语，你必须仔细区分同义词。
• Study the idioms and synonyms l wrote down before your test. 学考试前我给你写的习惯用语和同义字。

15 pamper   

v.纵容，过分关怀

参考例句：

• Don't pamper your little daughter.别把你的小女儿娇坏了！
• You need to pamper yourself and let your charm come through.你需要对自己放纵一些来表现你的魅力。

16 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。