We were gathered together, all ten of us, for our widowed mother's 80th birthday. The conversation was of early struggles, walking to work and saving¹ up in clothing clubs, when my elder sister said, "Of course, we were bound² to be poor because we were such a big family. Mom, why did you have so many children?"

 

Mother looked around at us all and said, "Well, where did you want to me to stop?"

 

我们总共十个人，聚在一起祝贺已成为寡妇的妈妈的八十岁生日。谈的话题是我们家早年的艰辛，走着去上班，在“新衣会”里存钱准备买衣裳。这时我姐姐说：“当然，我们的生活没法子不艰难，因为我们家孩子太多了。妈妈，您为什么要生这么多的孩子呢？”

 

妈妈看了我们一圈说：“那么，你想让我在哪儿停住呢？”

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