The Tollefson Boy Goes to College

 

 

       In a little while, the Tollefson boy’s going to get into the ¹⁾chevy with his mother. And they’re going to pick up his aunt Mary and grandma and his great uncle Senator Kay Torvellts. And all of them are going to drive into St. Cloud where he is to register for the fall term at St. Cloud State University ----the whole ²⁾motley ³⁾bunch of them.

“Why? Why? It’s just registration,” he’s told his mother. “It’s like getting a driver’s license¹. It takes about ten minutes. Why do we have to take everybody with us?”

       She says, “Because they’re proud of you. They want to be there.”

       “Oh,” he says. “Why don’t you just take them and leave me at home?”

       “Oh no, Johnny,” she says. “You’re the one who’s getting registered for college.”

       He thinks about the Flambeauxs as they drive into St. Cloud, him in the front seat ⁴⁾squeezed in between grandma and his mother driving, his Uncle Senator Torvolts in the back seat with Aunt Mary. All the windows are rolled up, because grandma can’t stand ⁵⁾drafts. And they’re all talking at the same time and saying dumb things.

       Aunt Mary reads ⁶⁾billboards out loud. You already know what they’re saying but she reads them even down the highway. And there in front of them is a house being carried on a ⁷⁾flatbed truck down the highway, and they get up behind it and Aunt Mary says, “Well, look at that, Johnny! There’s a house on the highway. Ain’t that a ⁸⁾deal!”

       “Look at them, horses over there, Johnny! My! What a whole bunch of them!”

       “Ah, it’s a warm day today, isn’t it, Johnny?”

       And his great uncle in the back seat! Whoever had a great uncle whose first name was Senator? How to explain to people that his mother just named him Senator because she felt it was a good name?

       And he’s sitting in the back seat and he’s talking a mile a minute even though everybody else is talking. He’s saying, “Oh, what a wonderful day it is today, Johnny! Ahh, boy, you’re going to remember this day the rest of your life. Oh, the sun is shinning! Oh, God is good, Johnny.”

       Finally they come up towards the campus and he’s ⁹⁾crouching lower and lower in the front seat, ¹⁰⁾ducking his head and putting his hand up to his face. What if somebody sees him with this bunch?

       Around and round they go, looking for a parking space. Up one street down the other around the block three, four times and finally his mother says, “Oh ¹¹⁾gracious! I don’t know what to do. Should I park downtown and walk or should I double park or...”

       Johnny said, “No!” He said, “Just stop here.” He said, “I’ll run in and it will only take me a couple of minutes. You all stay in the car.”

       And he jumps out of the car right over his grandma and runs as fast as he can go up the walk and into the building. Poor child. He really wants them to run after and catch up with him, but they won’t today. Some day they will.

       Meanwhile they sit there in the car, Aunt Mary and Senator K in the back seat and Momma and grandma in the front. And Senator is saying, “Ah, it’s a wonderful day! He’s a good boy. He’s going to do well. I’m proud I was here to see it!” ^CE

 

 

04、托勒家小子上大学

 

成长的日子里，终有一天我们将恍然明白，曾以为无比难堪的爱，才是驱动我们前行的原动力，和最眷恋不舍的人间真情。

再过一会儿，托勒家小子和他妈妈就有得忙了。他们要去接玛丽姨妈和姥姥还有舅姥爷参议员·凯·托威茨。然后他们全体开车到圣克劳去，因为托勒家小子要到圣克劳大学报到秋季入学--和这花花绿绿的一大家子一起去。

“为什么？为什么？不过是注个册嘛，”他对妈妈说，“那跟拿驾驶执照一样。只用十分钟时间。为什么必须人人到场？”

她说:“因为他们为你感到骄傲啊。他们都想到场。”

“哦，”他说，“不如你带他们去，把我留在家里好了。”

“噢，这可不行，尊尼，”她说，“要去学校报到的人是你。”

他们驱车前往圣克劳，他挤在车前位，在姥姥和他妈妈的中间，心里想着弗雷标克思一家。舅老爷参议员·托威茨和玛丽姨妈坐在后座上，所有的窗子都摇了上去，因为姥姥受不了车风。而且他们同时发言，说着无聊的话。

玛丽姨妈大声地念着广告牌上的字。你已经知道广告牌上说什么了，可她还是要念出来，甚至是一路念。公路前方有辆卡车拖车拖着一座屋子，他们在后面立起身来看，玛丽姨妈说：“啊，看啊，尊尼！路上有个房子。可不是件大事吗！”

“看啊，尊尼，那边有马！天哪，一大群马啊！”

“啊，天气多暖和啊，是不是，尊尼？”

还有这位坐在后座的舅姥爷！谁的舅姥爷会起名叫参议员呢？怎样去跟别人解释，他妈妈给他起名叫参议员是因为她觉得这名字好听？

他正坐在后座上滔滔不绝，尽管其他人也都在说着话。他说：“噢，今天天气多好啊，尊尼！噢，老天，你一辈子都会记住这一天的。噢，阳光灿烂！噢，太好了，尊尼。”

他们终于进了校园，他在前座越坐越低，埋着头，捂着脸。万一给人看到他和这一家子人在一起怎么办？

他们转了一圈又一圈找停车位。绕着街区开过一条又一条街道，兜了三、四圈后，他妈妈说道：“哦，老天！我没办法了。是停到市区然后走路呢，还是靠别人的车停，还是……”

尊尼说：“不！”他说：“停这好了。”他说∶“我跑过去只要几分钟。你们全待在车里。”

然后他越过姥姥跳下车去，飞快地跑起来，跑上人行道，跑进大楼里--可怜的孩子。他多么希望他们跟上来赶上他，可他们今天却没有。以后他们会的。

与此同时，他们正坐在车里，玛丽姨妈和参议员舅姥爷坐在后座，妈妈和姥姥坐在前座。参议员说道：“啊，天气真好！他是个好孩子。他能办好事情。能亲眼见证，我感到太骄傲了！” CE

 

1) chevy [5tFevi] n. 追赶

2) motley [5mCtli] a. 五颜六色的

3) bunch [bQntF ]n. 一群，一伙

4) squeeze [skwi:z] v. 挤

5) draft [dra:ft] n. 气流

6) billboard² [5bilbC:d] n. 广告牌

7) flatbed [flAt-bed] n. 有平台可装货的卡车拖车

8) deal [di:l] n. 重要的人或事

9) crouch³ [krautF v. 蜷缩，蹲伏

10) duck [dQk] v. 躲避，突然低下头或身子

11) gracious [5greiFEs] int. 天哪！啊呀！

 

1 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

2 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

3 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。