A Sandpiper To Bring You Joy

 　　She was six years old when I first met her on the beach near where I live. I drive to this beach, a distance of three or four miles, whenever the world begins to close in on me. She was building a sandcastle or something and looked up, her eyes as blue as the sea.

　　"Hello," she said. I answered with a nod, not really in the mood to bother with a small child. "I'm building," she said.

　　"I see that. What is it?" I asked, not caring.

　　"Oh, I don't know, I just like the feel of sand.

　　"That sounds good, I thought, and slipped off my shoes. A sandpiper glided¹ by.

　　"That's a joy," the child said.

　　"It's a what?"

　　"It's a joy. My mama says sandpipers come to bring us joy." The bird went glissading down the beach. "Good-bye joy," I muttered to myself, "hello pain," and turned to walk on. I was depressed²; my life seemed completely out of balance.

　　"What's your name?" She wouldn't give up.

　　"Ruth," I answered. "I'm Ruth Peterson."

　　"Mine's Wendy... I'm six."

　　"Hi, Wendy."

　　She giggled⁴. "You're funny," she said. In spite of my gloom I laughed too and walked on. Her musical giggle³ followed me.

　　"Come again, Mrs. P," she called. "We'll have another happy day."

　　The days and weeks that followed belong to others: a group of unruly Boy Scouts⁵, PTA meetings, and ailing⁶ mother. The sun was shining one morning as I took my hands out of the dishwater. "I need a sandpiper," I said to myself, gathering⁷ up my coat. The ever-changing balm of the seashore awaited me.

　　The breeze was chilly⁸, but I strode along, trying to recapture the serenity⁹ I needed. I had forgotten the child and was startled when she appeared.

　　"Hello, Mrs. P," she said. "Do you want to play?"

　　"What did you have in mind?" I asked, with a twinge of annoyance¹⁰.

　　"I don't know, you say."

　　"How about charades¹¹?" I asked sarcastically¹².

　　The tinkling¹³ laughter burst forth¹⁴ again. "I don't know what that is."

　　"Then let's just walk." Looking at her, I noticed the delicate fairness

　　of her face. "Where do you live?" I asked.

　　"Over there." She pointed¹⁵ toward a row of summer cottages. Strange, I thought, in winter.

　　"Where do you go to school?"

　　"I don't go to school. Mommy says we're on vacation." She chattered¹⁶ little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind was on other things. When I left for home, Wendy said it had been a happy day.

　　Feeling surprisingly better, I smiled at her and agreed. Three weeks later, I rushed to my beach in a state of near panic. I was in no mood to even greet Wendy. I thought I saw her mother on the porch and felt like demanding she keep her child at home.

　　"Look, if you don't mind," I said crossly when Wendy caught up with me, "I'd rather be alone today."

　　She seems unusually pale and out of breath.

　　"Why?" she asked.

　　I turned to her and shouted, "Because my mother died!" and thought, my God, why was I saying this to a little child?

　　"Oh," she said quietly, "then this is a bad day."

　　"Yes, and yesterday and the day before and-oh, go away!"

　　"Did it hurt? "

　　"Did what hurt?" I was exasperated¹⁷ with her, with myself.

　　"When she died?" "Of course it hurt!" I snapped, misunderstanding, wrapped up in myself. I strode off.

　　A month or so after that, when I next went to the beach, she wasn't there. Feeling guilty, ashamed and admitting to myself I missed her, I went up to the cottage after my walk and knocked at the door. A drawn¹⁸ looking young woman with honey-colored hair opened the door.

　　"Hello," I said. "I'm Ruth Peterson. I missed your little girl today and wondered where she was."

　　"Oh yes, Mrs. Peterson, please come in" "Wendy talked of you so much.

　　I'm afraid I allowed her to bother you. If she was a nuisance, please, accept my apologies."

　　"Not at all-she's a delightful¹⁹ child," I said, suddenly realizing that I meant it. "Where is she?"

　　"Wendy died last week, Mrs. Peterson. She had leukemia. Maybe she didn't tell you." Struck dumb, I groped for a chair. My breath caught.

　　"She loved this beach; so when she asked to come, we couldn't say no.

　　She seemed so much better here and had a lot of what she called happy days. But the last few weeks, she declined rapidly..." her voice faltered²⁰.

　　"She left something for you...if only I can find it. Could you wait a moment while I look?"

　　I nodded stupidly, my mind racing²¹ for something, anything, to say to this lovely young woman. She handed me a smeared²² envelope, with MRS. P printed in bold, childish letters. Inside was a drawing in bright crayon hues-a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird. Underneath²³ was carefully printed: A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY

　　Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heart that had almost forgotten to love opened wide. I took Wendy's mother in my arms. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I muttered over and over, and we wept together.

　　The precious little picture is framed now and hangs in my study. Six words- one for each year of her life- that speak to me of harmony, courage, undemanding love. A gift from a child with sea-blue eyes and hair the color sand--- who taught me the gift of love.

1 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

4 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 scouts   

侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员

参考例句：

• to join the Scouts 参加童子军
• The scouts paired off and began to patrol the area. 巡逻人员两个一组，然后开始巡逻这个地区。

6 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

8 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

9 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

10 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

11 charades   

n.伪装( charade的名词复数 )；猜字游戏

参考例句：

• She and her three brothers played charades. 她和3个兄弟玩看手势猜字谜游戏。 来自辞典例句
• A group of children were dressed to play charades. 一群孩子穿着夜礼服在玩字迷游戏。 来自辞典例句

12 sarcastically   

adv.挖苦地，讽刺地

参考例句：

• 'What a surprise!' Caroline murmured sarcastically.“太神奇了!”卡罗琳轻声挖苦道。
• Pierce mocked her and bowed sarcastically. 皮尔斯嘲笑她，讽刺地鞠了一躬。

13 tinkling   

n.丁当作响声

参考例句：

• I could hear bells tinkling in the distance. 我能听到远处叮当铃响。
• To talk to him was like listening to the tinkling of a worn-out musical-box. 跟他说话，犹如听一架老掉牙的八音盒子丁冬响。 来自英汉文学

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 chattered   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
• We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。

17 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

18 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

19 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

20 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

21 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

22 smeared   

弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上

参考例句：

• The children had smeared mud on the walls. 那几个孩子往墙上抹了泥巴。
• A few words were smeared. 有写字被涂模糊了。

23 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。