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Abel Halleck was 59 years old when his wife Estelle died. Her death was sudden1 and unexpected2, the kind of death you cannot forget. Abel Halleck buried his wife, then, he stopped doing anything. His work, the world, life and all its possibilities were no longer important to him. He had learned3 quickly that the laws about the life he had trusted did not really exist after all. For a year Abel Halleck did nothing, but one morning he decided4 to study Latin5. He chose Latin because it was a dead language. It would never be important or even useful to him in the years he had left to live.
And so, Abel Halleck entered a Latin class taught by Silvia Warren on Monday evenings. Silvia Warren was thin and small; her long straight hair was silver-gray. She smiled easily at everything, like a young person. She had taught Latin for 23 years at the local high school. When she was 53 the school stopped offering6 Latin. Latin was not useful in a world excited by technology and space travel. Silvia Warren retired7, now, she spent her time painting, taking pictures, playing the piano and visiting with her friends. She also taught Latin to adults at the local high school in the evening. She had never married or even been in love. She wondered about this more than anything else about her life. Men had found her good-looking and still did, but no one had come along, ever.
During the first Latin class that night, a storm darkened the sky. After class, Abel Halleck walked with Silvia Warren to the door near the school parking8 lot. They stood near the open door watching the storm. "It’s a bad night to be out." he said. She nodded. "But it can’t rain this hard for long." she said. She held her books tightly9 to her body and disappeared into the rain.
When Abel Halleck left the building a few minutes later, he saw her bending over the engine of her car. "It won't start." she said. He looked at the engine, after a moment, he found the problem. "It's the radio static10 depressor." he said, try it now. The car started at once. "Wait," he said, "you might still have problems before you get home, stop at my house and I'll fix it for you."
He drove11 home slowly and put his car into the large garage connected to his house. Silvia Warren drove in after him. Abel Halleck's garage was really a workshop. Here he had all the tools and equipments he needed to create or repair any thing. In less than 5 minutes, he fixed12 her car. There, he said, "Better than new. Um, would you like a cup of coffee?" She walked with him to the door that connected the garage to the house. Abel Halleck moved his fingers over a metal square on the door and it opened. "What are you, Mr. Halleck, a magician13?" Silvia Warren laughed excitedly. "I'm retired, he said, but I was an inventor. I understood how things worked and I found ways to make them work better." He told her about the work he had done. He had not spoken so much to someone for a long time.
The following Monday evening, Abel Halleck went back to Silvia Warren's Latin class and he returned every Monday night. They got to know each other better. Silvia Warren introduced him to her closest friend, Mildred Lethem who taught biology and collected rare14 butterflies. One afternoon, the 3 of them met for a coffee. "I think you'll be interested in insects, Mr. Halleck." Mildred Lethem told him, they are a lot like machines. They are fascinating15 because they are perfectly16 predictable. "You'll always know what they will do." "I'm too busy," Abel Halleck said sharply17, "My head is too full of Latin." He finished his coffee, said goodbye and left. Halfway18 home from Mildred Lethem's house, he turned around and drove to the local public library. He wanted to find out if she was right when she said insects were perfectly predictable. In one book called The Life of Insects he learned about diapauses. He read, this condition is a means19 for surviving adverse20 seasons. The insect enters a deep sleep, all growth21 stops and its body functions slow down. The state of diapause can last for two or three years, or even longer. But finally it ends and the insect awakes to continue its normal life. Abel Halleck closed the book.
His days filled up. He studied Latin, visited his daughter and her family once a week. He met with Silvia Warren and Mildred Lethem for dinner often. And when April came, he went with them into the country. The experience was new to Abel Halleck. He knew about engines and machines, but the woods and the river, the animals and the insects of the fields belonged to another world. He watched Mildred Lethem and Silvia Warren as they explored ahead of him. Silvia jumped up on a wide, flat rock. Throwing open her arms to the sky, she began reciting22 Latin poetry to the wild flowers and the blue sky. Abel Halleck smiled and looked up the sky himself. When he looked down, she was gone. Mildred Lethem was running to the rock. He stood up quickly and hurried down the side of the hill to them. Silvia was lying very still on the ground when he reached her. Mildred Lethem was by her side, crying softly23.
At the hospital, the doctor asked them, "Are you her family?" "No," Mildred Lethem said, "there is no family. We are her friends." They were sitting in a small office where they had been waiting for hours. "We don't have all the tests back yet." the doctor continued, "But it looks like a form of lupus erythematosis." "What is that?" Abel Halleck asked. The doctor explained. "It was a blood disease24 that caused the body to attack its own tissues25. In time, it killed." "How much time?" Abel Halleck asked. "It’s not predictable," the doctor said, "The disease suddenly goes away and then just as it suddenly returns. With lupus, you never know." Abel Halleck did not sleep well. He woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning, got dressed and drove to the university three hours away. At the university he went to the library. He took the Latin that he knew and used it to make a gift for her. He wanted to say what he wanted her to know in language better than his own. So, he worked his way through books of Latin poetry and stories. When he found a sentence he wanted, he wrote it down in Latin.
From Lucretius, he wrote, like children trembling26 in the dark, we sit and are afraid. And all our fears are empty like the things children imagine in the dark. From Horace, the ice melts27 and spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then, back to winter when nothing moves. From Catullus, her favorite poet, he copied, if I wished for a thing and a thing past hoping for should come to a man, will he not welcome it the more? Therefore, it is more welcome to me than gold that Lesbia brings back my desirable28. Then, he picked up his pen to write to her in his own words, all of this means that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If there is comfort anywhere, it is in the truth and in the act of this words.
Mildred Lethem was with her when he came into the hospital room. He handed Silvia Warren the paper. She read it and cried, then, she dried her eyes. She looked up at him, smiling and nodded once. And together, they settle29 down to wait for the long night soon to come.
And so, Abel Halleck entered a Latin class taught by Silvia Warren on Monday evenings. Silvia Warren was thin and small; her long straight hair was silver-gray. She smiled easily at everything, like a young person. She had taught Latin for 23 years at the local high school. When she was 53 the school stopped offering6 Latin. Latin was not useful in a world excited by technology and space travel. Silvia Warren retired7, now, she spent her time painting, taking pictures, playing the piano and visiting with her friends. She also taught Latin to adults at the local high school in the evening. She had never married or even been in love. She wondered about this more than anything else about her life. Men had found her good-looking and still did, but no one had come along, ever.
During the first Latin class that night, a storm darkened the sky. After class, Abel Halleck walked with Silvia Warren to the door near the school parking8 lot. They stood near the open door watching the storm. "It’s a bad night to be out." he said. She nodded. "But it can’t rain this hard for long." she said. She held her books tightly9 to her body and disappeared into the rain.
When Abel Halleck left the building a few minutes later, he saw her bending over the engine of her car. "It won't start." she said. He looked at the engine, after a moment, he found the problem. "It's the radio static10 depressor." he said, try it now. The car started at once. "Wait," he said, "you might still have problems before you get home, stop at my house and I'll fix it for you."
He drove11 home slowly and put his car into the large garage connected to his house. Silvia Warren drove in after him. Abel Halleck's garage was really a workshop. Here he had all the tools and equipments he needed to create or repair any thing. In less than 5 minutes, he fixed12 her car. There, he said, "Better than new. Um, would you like a cup of coffee?" She walked with him to the door that connected the garage to the house. Abel Halleck moved his fingers over a metal square on the door and it opened. "What are you, Mr. Halleck, a magician13?" Silvia Warren laughed excitedly. "I'm retired, he said, but I was an inventor. I understood how things worked and I found ways to make them work better." He told her about the work he had done. He had not spoken so much to someone for a long time.
The following Monday evening, Abel Halleck went back to Silvia Warren's Latin class and he returned every Monday night. They got to know each other better. Silvia Warren introduced him to her closest friend, Mildred Lethem who taught biology and collected rare14 butterflies. One afternoon, the 3 of them met for a coffee. "I think you'll be interested in insects, Mr. Halleck." Mildred Lethem told him, they are a lot like machines. They are fascinating15 because they are perfectly16 predictable. "You'll always know what they will do." "I'm too busy," Abel Halleck said sharply17, "My head is too full of Latin." He finished his coffee, said goodbye and left. Halfway18 home from Mildred Lethem's house, he turned around and drove to the local public library. He wanted to find out if she was right when she said insects were perfectly predictable. In one book called The Life of Insects he learned about diapauses. He read, this condition is a means19 for surviving adverse20 seasons. The insect enters a deep sleep, all growth21 stops and its body functions slow down. The state of diapause can last for two or three years, or even longer. But finally it ends and the insect awakes to continue its normal life. Abel Halleck closed the book.
His days filled up. He studied Latin, visited his daughter and her family once a week. He met with Silvia Warren and Mildred Lethem for dinner often. And when April came, he went with them into the country. The experience was new to Abel Halleck. He knew about engines and machines, but the woods and the river, the animals and the insects of the fields belonged to another world. He watched Mildred Lethem and Silvia Warren as they explored ahead of him. Silvia jumped up on a wide, flat rock. Throwing open her arms to the sky, she began reciting22 Latin poetry to the wild flowers and the blue sky. Abel Halleck smiled and looked up the sky himself. When he looked down, she was gone. Mildred Lethem was running to the rock. He stood up quickly and hurried down the side of the hill to them. Silvia was lying very still on the ground when he reached her. Mildred Lethem was by her side, crying softly23.
At the hospital, the doctor asked them, "Are you her family?" "No," Mildred Lethem said, "there is no family. We are her friends." They were sitting in a small office where they had been waiting for hours. "We don't have all the tests back yet." the doctor continued, "But it looks like a form of lupus erythematosis." "What is that?" Abel Halleck asked. The doctor explained. "It was a blood disease24 that caused the body to attack its own tissues25. In time, it killed." "How much time?" Abel Halleck asked. "It’s not predictable," the doctor said, "The disease suddenly goes away and then just as it suddenly returns. With lupus, you never know." Abel Halleck did not sleep well. He woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning, got dressed and drove to the university three hours away. At the university he went to the library. He took the Latin that he knew and used it to make a gift for her. He wanted to say what he wanted her to know in language better than his own. So, he worked his way through books of Latin poetry and stories. When he found a sentence he wanted, he wrote it down in Latin.
From Lucretius, he wrote, like children trembling26 in the dark, we sit and are afraid. And all our fears are empty like the things children imagine in the dark. From Horace, the ice melts27 and spring comes followed by summer soon to die. For after her comes autumn and then, back to winter when nothing moves. From Catullus, her favorite poet, he copied, if I wished for a thing and a thing past hoping for should come to a man, will he not welcome it the more? Therefore, it is more welcome to me than gold that Lesbia brings back my desirable28. Then, he picked up his pen to write to her in his own words, all of this means that we like the insects must die. Death must come to all living creatures. If there is comfort anywhere, it is in the truth and in the act of this words.
Mildred Lethem was with her when he came into the hospital room. He handed Silvia Warren the paper. She read it and cried, then, she dried her eyes. She looked up at him, smiling and nodded once. And together, they settle29 down to wait for the long night soon to come.
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1
sudden
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| n.突然，忽然；adj.突然的，意外的，快速的 | |
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2
unexpected
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| adj.想不到的，意外的 | |
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3
learned
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| adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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4
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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Latin
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| adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语 | |
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6
offering
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| n.提供，奉献物，牲礼 | |
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7
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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8
parking
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| n.停车，停机，停放 | |
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9
tightly
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| adv.紧紧地，坚固地，牢固地 | |
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10
static
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| adj.静的；静态的 | |
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11
drove
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| vbl.驾驶，drive的过去式；n.畜群 | |
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12
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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13
magician
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| n.魔术师，变戏法的人，术士 | |
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14
rare
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| adj.稀罕的，罕有的，珍贵的，稀薄的，半熟的，非常的；adv.非常 | |
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15
fascinating
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| adj.迷人的，吸引人的，使人神魂颠倒的 | |
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16
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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17
sharply
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| adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地 | |
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18
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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19
means
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| n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富 | |
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20
adverse
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| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
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21
growth
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| n.生长，栽培 | |
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22
reciting
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| v.背诵( recite的现在分词 )；详述，列举 | |
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23
softly
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| adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地 | |
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24
disease
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| n.疾病，弊端 | |
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25
tissues
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| n.组织( tissue的名词复数 )；薄纸；棉纸；一套 | |
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26
trembling
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| n.发抖adj.发抖的v.发抖( tremble的现在分词 )；焦虑；颤动；轻轻摇晃 | |
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27
melts
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| （使）融[溶，熔]化( melt的第三人称单数 )； 溶解； （使）消散，消失； （使）软化，变得温柔 | |
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28
desirable
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| adj.值得拥有的；可取的，有利的 | |
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29
settle
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| vi.安家；定居；停留；vt.使定居；安排；解决 | |
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