1-9

 

9.

We called them grub days.

They were Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, I think. Immediately after lunch we’d queue inthe corridor, along the wall, craning to see, just ahead, the grub table, piled high with sweets.

Munchies, Skittles, Mars Bars and, best of all, Opal Fruits. (I took great offense¹ when Opal Fruitschanged their name to Starburst. Pure heresy². Like Britain changing its name.)Just the sight of that grub table made us swoon. Mouths watering, we’d talk about theimpending sugar rush as farmers in a drought talk about a forecast of rain. Meanwhile, I devised away of super-sizing my sugar rush. I’d take all my Opal Fruits and squeeze them together into onemassive gobstopper, then jam it into the side of my mouth. As the wad melted my bloodstreamwould become a frothy cataract³ of dextrose. Whatsoever⁴ thy hand findeth to do, do it with thymight.

The opposite of grub day was letter-writing day. Every boy was required to sit down andcompose a missive to his parents. At the best of times this was drudgery⁵. I could barely rememberwhen Pa and Mummy weren’t divorced, so writing to them without touching⁶ on their mutualgrievances, their messy breakup, required the finesse⁷ of a career diplomat⁸.

Dear Pa, How’s Mummy?

Hm. No.

Dear Mummy, Pa says you haven’t…

No.

But after Mummy disappeared, letter-writing day became impossible.

I’ve been told the matrons asked me to write a “final” letter to Mummy. I have a vaguememory of wanting to protest that she was still alive, and yet not doing so, for fear they’d think Iwas mad. Also, what was the point? Mummy would read the letter when she came out of hiding,so it wouldn’t be a total waste of effort.

I probably dashed off something pro⁹ forma, saying I missed her, school was fine, so on and soforth. I probably folded it once and handed it to the matron. I remember, immediately thereafter,regretting that I hadn’t taken the writing more seriously. I wished I’d dug deep, told my mother allthe things weighing on my heart, especially my regret over the last time we’d spoken on thephone. She’d called early in the evening, the night of the crash, but I was running around withWilly and my cousins and didn’t want to stop playing. So I’d been short with her. Impatient to getback to my games, I’d rushed Mummy off the phone. I wished I’d apologized for it. I wished I’dsearched for the words to describe how much I loved her.

I didn’t know that search would take decades.

 

1 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

2 heresy   

n.异端邪说；异教

参考例句：

• We should denounce a heresy.我们应该公开指责异端邪说。
• It might be considered heresy to suggest such a notion.提出这样一个观点可能会被视为异端邪说。

3 cataract   

n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障

参考例句：

• He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人。
• The way is blocked by the tall cataract.高悬的大瀑布挡住了去路。

4 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

5 drudgery   

n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作

参考例句：

• People want to get away from the drudgery of their everyday lives.人们想摆脱日常生活中单调乏味的工作。
• He spent his life in pointlessly tiresome drudgery.他的一生都在做毫无意义的烦人的苦差事。

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

7 finesse   

n.精密技巧，灵巧，手腕

参考例句：

• It was a disappointing performance which lacked finesse.那场演出缺乏技巧，令人失望。
• Lillian Hellman's plays are marked by insight and finesse.莉莲.赫尔曼的巨作以富有洞察力和写作技巧著称。

8 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

9 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？