美国故事 SENEWS-2006-1104-Feature

I had the somewhat¹ unrealistic idea that I would find interesting stories at every crossroads throughout the American countryside. So the cameraman, soundman and I started out with great hope from New York City. For a few rainy days, we drove through the small towns of New England, the northeast corner of the United States. We drove aimlessly without one idea in our heads. I began to get nervous, wondering if an idea would ever come. Then, the sun came out and the wind started to blow, and bright autumn leaves shook and fell off the trees, yellow and red and gold rained down all around us. In every town children were playing in hills of leaves.

We got the camera out, and did our first story about how pretty it all was. As a news reporter I was used to going fast and working hard. These kinds of stories, however, seem to work best when I went slowly and took it easy. When I finally shook off the sense of speed of a newsman I did not have to worry about finding² stories any longer. They found me.

In Westerville, Ohio, I met Professor John Franklin Smith. He taught speech and drama at Augsburg College until he was 70 years old. Then, the school rules said he had to retire. He could not imagine leaving the students behind. So when he was forced to retire, he just kept working at the college. He had continued to work for 15 years as a cleaning man in the gymnasium⁴.

“During my years as a professor,” he said, “I would walk through the gym and see the man cleaning the floor. I knew what a mop was and what a bucket was. It was hard work for me at first, but I got used to it. It is necessary to work and I try to do it well.”

I asked him which brought him more satisfaction, being a professor or being a cleaning man. He smiled and said, “It is not fair to ask me a question like that. I think I would have to say that every age in life has its own rewards. I am still looking ahead,” this 85-years-old man said, “I do not want to die, there is too much fun in the world and a lot of good folks, a lot of them, and good books to read, and fish to catch and pretty women to look at and good men to know. Why, life is a joy!”

Charles Kuralt also visited Pilottown in Louisiana, near the mouth of the Mississippi River. All the houses there are built on thick wooden legs so they will not be washed away when the river floods. The community can be reached only by boat or seaplane that is where he met Andy Spiral⁵.

Andy Spiral was a hunter and fisherman. He read books written in the Greek language. And for 10 years, he was the only teacher in a one-room school. Why did he stay in such a lonely place? “Well,” he said, “they have trouble getting teachers to live here. Somebody has to teach the children.”

As they continue driving across the United States looking for interesting stories, the "On The Road Team" found a grain mill⁶ on a little river in the state of Maryland. The man who operated the mill was Captain Frank³ Lingual⁷. He was 81 years old.

The Linchester Mill ground corn for settlers in 1681. A hundred years later, it ground corn for the army of General George Washington during America's War for Independence from Britain. And it was still grinding⁹ corn almost 200 years after that. It must have been the oldest continually¹⁰ operated business in the country. Yet, the mill did not interest me as much as the miller¹². He had been working beside his millstone for 65 years. Was he tired of the job? “Yes,” Frank Lingual said, “yes, there really is no profit in it anymore, but these farmers depend on me, you see. There is no other place around here to grind⁸ their corn.”

In Professor John Franklin Smith, teacher Andy Spiral and miller Frank Lingual, I saw Americans of a sort I had not known before. They were linked to the places where they lived. And they worked not so much for themselves as for others. “It is necessary work,” Professor Smith had said, “Somebody has to teach the children.” Mr. Spiral had said. “These farmers depend on me.” Captain Lingual had said. Their purposes and jobs seemed completely honorable¹³ to me. They did not feel they were better than anyone else. They were not working just to make a lot of money. I read the papers everyday. The front pages were full of greedy, self-important, hostile¹⁴ people. The backroads were another country.

In April of that year, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior was murdered. In June, Robert Kennedy was murdered as he campaigned for president. Several American cities exploded in riots¹⁵ and flames. I felt so sad for the two dead men and for the country they had done so much to change for the better. I might have thought the country was going in sin¹¹ if I had not been on the road. I had eyes and ears. I kept meeting people who made me feel sure about the future. In July, I met Pat¹⁶ Baker¹⁷, a young white woman in Reno, Nevada. The night Martin Luther King was killed, Pat Baker sat up late.

“I have to do something about this.” she thought. On her way to work, she had often passed a big empty space in a black community. She wondered why the city had not made a park in the empty space. Now, she went to see the man who represented her community on the City Council¹⁸. He told her there was no money to build a park. He explained how difficult it would be to raise the money. Pat Baker decided¹⁹ she could not wait. She went to talk with people in the black community. She went to garden supply companies and cement²⁰ companies and builders and the heads of local building unions. Soon, her idea became everybody's idea.

At 7:30 one Friday morning, a crowd began to gather at the empty space in Reno, Nevada. An hour later, good soil was being spread by men in big machines, men who were not used to working for free. They were working for free. I stood there and watched. By noon, cement had been poured for a tennis court. Before the sun went down, a basketball court was done. Many people worked all night. On Saturday morning, a crowd of several hundred people came to work, black and white, old and young. They planted trees and grass and made paths and places to sit. By Sunday afternoon, the park was finished.

I went back there more than 20 years later. In the shade of the trees which were now very tall, people were sitting and playing in the park. I thought back to the weekend that the park was built, a black man had looked around and said, “This is the best thing that has happened since I came to Reno.” He did not mean the park itself, he meant building the park.

In that first year on the road, I fell in love with my native land. I rode the Wabash cannonball train through Indiana; I rode the Delta²¹ Queen Paddlewheel steamboat down the Ohio River; I rode the cable²² cars up and down the hills of San Francisco. I spent time among Pennsylvania Dutch farmers in Cookstown Pennsylvania and Greek Sponge²³ fisherman in Tarpon springs Florida. I met Ancy Binks there, the roadside poet of Gordon Junction²⁴ Illinois. At his store, he sold gasoline²⁵ for 39 cents a gallon and his poems for 10 cents a piece.

That first year, I produced 47 stories from 23 states, all of them my own discoveries. The biggest discovery of all was about myself. On the backroads of America I felt at home at last, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

1 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

2 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。

3 frank   

adj.坦白的，直率的，真诚的

参考例句：

• A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
• She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。

4 gymnasium   

n.体育馆，健身房

参考例句：

• Our school has a big gymnasium.我们学校有座大型体育馆。
• The game will be staged in the gymnasium.竞赛将在体育馆举行。

5 spiral   

adj.螺旋的；n.螺旋（线）；vi.盘旋上升（或下降）

参考例句：

• The production in this factory is spiral.这个厂的产量呈盘旋上升。
• Their profits began to spiral down disastrously.他们的利润开始螺旋形地急剧下降。

6 mill   

n.磨坊，碾磨机；制造厂，工厂；vt.磨，碾

参考例句：

• The rice mill was wrecked by the enemy bombing.碾米厂遭到了敌机的轰炸。
• The farmer took his grain to the mill.这个农民把谷子送到磨房。

7 lingual   

adj.语言的；舌的

参考例句：

• Over here,they're not even lingual.在这，他们甚至什么话都说不来。
• Its brilliant elegant lingual art can be called"Great works".它那璀灿优美的语言艺术，真可谓“天地妙文”。

8 grind   

n.（常贬义）用功的学生，书呆子；vt.磨，磨碎

参考例句：

• Would you please grind a pound of coffee for me? 请给我磨一磅咖啡好吗？
• Do you find learning English a grind?你觉得学英语是一件苦差事吗？

9 grinding   

adj.磨的，磨擦的，碾的v.磨碎，嚼碎( grind的现在分词 )；旋转开动；压迫，折磨

参考例句：

• The powerful lords were guilty of grinding the villagers under their heels. 那些大领主的罪过是以权势欺压村民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This old mill has been grinding away for over 50 years. 50多年来，这间老磨坊一直在磨粮食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 continually   

adv.不间断地，不停地；多次重复地

参考例句：

• The other kids continually taunted him about his size.其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
• The US is continually building up its armed forces.美军正持续加强它的三军。

11 sin   

n.罪，罪孽，过失；vi.犯罪，违反

参考例句：

• It's a sin to waste food.浪费食品是一种罪过。
• It's a sin to be indoors on holiday.假期中待在家里实在是罪过。

12 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

13 honorable   

adj.光荣的，荣誉的；可敬的，高尚的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honorable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honorable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

14 hostile   

adj.不友好的，敌对的；敌方的，敌人的

参考例句：

• The local people are hostile to outsiders.当地人敌视外地人。
• Their hostile looks showed that he was unwelcome.他们怀敌意的表情说明他不受欢迎。

15 riots   

n. 暴乱, 骚乱, 暴动 vi. 骚乱, 闹事

参考例句：

• the instigators of the riots 煽动骚乱的人
• The riots are a clear manifestation of the people's discontent. 骚乱清楚地表明了人们的不满情绪。

16 pat   

n.轻拍，拍打声；vt.轻拍，拍打；vi.轻跑，轻击；adv.适时，彻底；adj.油腔滑调的，恰好的，合适的

参考例句：

• Could you hear the pat?你能听到轻轻的拍击声吗？
• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。

17 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

18 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

19 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

20 cement   

n.水泥；胶结材料；vt.粘结；巩固

参考例句：

• We need 100 tons of cement at most for this project.这项工程满打满算有一百吨水泥就足够了。
• Let's cement the parts together.咱们来把这些部件粘接在一起吧。

21 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

22 cable   

n.缆绳，索；电缆；电报；vt.电汇，打电报

参考例句：

• Don't forget to cable us as soon as you arrive.别忘了一到就给我发个电报。
• The worker attached a cable.工人连接电缆。

23 sponge   

n.海绵，海绵状的东西；v.用海绵擦拭，吸收掉， 抹掉

参考例句：

• The child is screwing water out of a sponge.小孩正把海绵中的水挤出来。
• You should try to sponge out the memory of the accident.你该努力抹除那次事故的记忆。

24 junction   

n.连接，接合；交叉点，接合处，枢纽站

参考例句：

• There's a bridge at the junction of the two rivers.两河的汇合处有座桥。
• You must give way when you come to this junction.你到了这个路口必须让路。

25 gasoline   

n.(美)汽油

参考例句：

• This car runs 5 miles on a gallon of gasoline.这部汽车一加仑汽油可以行驶五英里。
• There is still some gasoline left in the tank.油箱里还剩下一些汽油。