美国小学英语教材5:第190课 罗伯特.E.李:从男孩到男人(4)（在线收听）

Life at Alexandria began very much like that at Stratford. Robert continued to love the out-of-doors, and his new surroundings were as beautiful as the old homestead; they had left. When he was a grown man, Lee returned to Alexandria for a visit. He was found gazing over I the fence at the garden in which he used to play. “I am looking,” he said, “to see if the old snow-ball trees are still here. I should have been sorry to miss them.”

在亚历山大的生活和斯特拉特福德非常相似。罗伯特仍然热爱户外，他的新环境和老宅基地一样美丽；他们已经离开了。李返回亚历山大进行访问。有人发现他越过篱笆凝视着他过去常玩耍的花园。“我在看，”他说，“看那些老雪球树是否还在这里。如果不在那儿我会感到遗憾的。”

But suddenly the carefree days ended. Robert’s father was forced to leave his family and go to the West Indies for his health. The brave mother stayed at home to watch over her children, although she was an invalid much of the time herself. More and more Mrs. Lee turned to her small son. And when the boy’s father died, she was able to depend entirely upon young Robert, although he was only eleven years old. His older brothers were away at school, and his sister was too small to be of any help.

但是，无忧无虑的日子突然结束了。罗伯特的父亲为了健康被迫离开家去了西印度群岛。这位勇敢的母亲呆在家里照看她的孩子，尽管她自己大部分时间都是病人。李太太越来越依赖她的小儿子。当男孩的父亲去世时，她完全依靠年轻的罗伯特，尽管他只有11岁。他的哥哥们去上学了，他的妹妹太小，帮不上什么忙。

The boy grew up almost over night. He became the young master of the house, carrying the keys, attending to the marketing, managing the outdoor tasks, and taking care of his mother’s horses. The strong sense of duty that grew up in him at this time stayed with him all his life. Just as he stepped into his father’s place and took charge of the household for his mother during his boyhood, so later in his life he became a great general.

这个男孩几乎是在一夜之间长大的。他成了家里的年轻主人，拿着钥匙、负责市场营销、管理户外事务、照顾母亲的马。在这个时候，他身上产生的强烈责任感伴随了他一生。就像他在童年时接替父亲，为母亲操办家务一样，后来他成为了一名伟大的将军。