Spring Thaw　春天的融化

时间：2024-03-21 03:20:45

（单词翻译:单击）

Spring Thaw1　春天的融化
◎ Bertrand Russell
Every April I am beset2 by the same concern — that spring might not occur this year. The
landscape looks forsaken3, with hills, sky and forest forming a single graymeld, like the wash an artist
paints on a canvas before the masterwork. My spirits ebb4, as they did during an April snowfall when I
first came to Maine 15 years ago. “Just wait,” a neighbor counseled. “You’ll wake up one morning
and spring will just be here.”
And look, on May 3 that year I awoke to a green so startling as to be almost electric, as if spring
were simply a matter of flipping5 a switch. Hills, sky and forest revealed their purples, blues6 and
green. Leaves had unfurled, goldfinches had arrived at the feeder and daffodils were fighting their
way heavenward.
Then there was the old apple tree. It sits on an undeveloped lot in my neighborhood. It belongs
to no one and therefore to everyone. The tree’s dark twisted branches sprawl7 in unpruned abandon.
Each spring it blossoms so profusely9 that the air becomes saturated10 with the aroma11 of apple. When I
drive by with my windows rolled down, it gives me the feeling of moving in another element, like a
kid on a water slide.
Until last year, I thought I was the only one aware of this tree. And then one day, in a fit of
spring madness, I set out with pruner12 and lopper to remove a few errant branches. No sooner had I
arrived under its boughs13 than neighbors opened their windows and stepped onto their porches. These
were people I barely knew and seldom spoke14 to, but it was as if I had come unbidden into their
personal gardens.
My mobile home neighbor was the first to speak. “You’re not cutting it down, are you?”
Another neighbor winced15 as I lopped off a branch. “Don’t kill it, now,” he cautioned. Soon half the
neighborhood had joined me under the apple arbor16. It struck me that I had lived there for five years
and only now was learning these people’s names, what they did for a living and how they passed the
winter. It was as if the old apple tree gathering17 us under its boughs for the dual18 purpose of
acquaintanceship and shared wonder. I couldn’t help recalling Robert Frost’s words:
The trees that have it in their pent-up buds
To darken nature and be summer woods
One thaw led to another. Just the other day I saw one of my neighbors at the local store. He
remarked how this recent winter had been especially long and lamented19 not having seen or spoken at
length to anyone in our neighborhood. And then, recouping his thoughts, he looked at me and said,
“We need to prune8 that apple tree again.”
每年4月我总是被同一个念头困扰着——今年的春天可能不会再来了吧。四周的景色看起
来一片凄凉，小山、天空和森林灰蒙蒙的，就像艺术家的名画尚未完成之前画布上的底色一
般。我的情绪十分低落，就像15年前我初次来到缅因州，迎来一次4月的降雪那样。“只有等
等看了，”一个邻居劝我，“说不定哪一天你一觉醒来，春天已经来临了。”
果不其然，那年的5月3日，当我醒来时，发现屋外绿意逼人，简直让人惊异，春天好像
开了闸一般突然间就来到了眼前。小山、天空和森林姹紫嫣红，展示出它们的蓝色和绿色。
树叶舒展开来，黄雀翩翩飞来觅食，黄水仙也朝天竞相生长。
同时，还有那棵老苹果树。它耸立在我家旁边的一块荒地中。它不属于任何人，所以也
就归每个人所有。苹果树乌黑扭曲的枝条因未经修剪而恣意蔓生。每年春天，它便蓬勃绽开
花蕾，空气中弥漫着苹果花的芳香。当我开着车窗驱车经过之时，它让我觉得仿佛到了另一
个天地，像一个孩子在乘坐水滑梯一样。
直到去年为止，我还以为只有我意识到了这棵树的存在。后来有一天，在一个明朗的春
天引起的疯狂中，我拿着整枝器和修枝剪，想除去一些杂乱无章的树枝。我刚站到树下，邻
居们就纷纷打开窗户，或者走到门廊上。这些人我几乎都不认识，也很少说过话，但眼前这
情形就像我未经允许擅自闯进他们的私家花园一样。
一位住在活动房中的邻居第一个发言：“你不是要砍倒它吧？”当我砍掉一条树枝的时
候，另一个邻居心疼得跟什么似的。“喂，别把它弄死了。”他警告道。很快，附近几乎一半
的人都跑过来，和我一起站在了树荫下。我突然意识到我已经在这儿住了五年，直到现在我
才开始了解这些人的名字，他们是如何谋生的，他们是如何过冬的。好像这棵老苹果树把我
们召集到树下是为了双重目的：为了让我们彼此认识，以及共享自然的美妙。这时，我不禁
回忆起罗伯特·弗罗斯特的诗句：
春树幽闭的芽中藏着碧绿
即将长成荫荫夏木和幽幽树林
那次融洽的交流开了个好头。就在几天前，我在附近的店里看见一个邻居在购物。他说
去年冬天特别漫长，无不遗憾地感慨长时间在这附近见不到邻居，也没跟他们说过话。然
后，他又想了一下，看着我说：“我们需要再给那棵苹果树修修枝了。”

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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 thaw fUYz5     
v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和
参考例句：
  • The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
  • The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。
2 beset SWYzq     
v.镶嵌；困扰，包围
参考例句：
  • She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
  • The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。
3 Forsaken Forsaken     
adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词
参考例句：
  • He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
  • He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。
4 ebb ebb     
vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态
参考例句：
  • The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
  • They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。
5 flipping b69cb8e0c44ab7550c47eaf7c01557e4     
讨厌之极的
参考例句：
  • I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
  • Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。
6 blues blues     
n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐
参考例句：
  • She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
  • He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。
7 sprawl 2GZzx     
vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延
参考例句：
  • In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
  • He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。
8 prune k0Kzf     
n.酶干；vt.修剪，砍掉，削减；vi.删除
参考例句：
  • Will you prune away the unnecessary adjectives in the passage?把这段文字中不必要的形容词删去好吗？
  • It is our job to prune the side branches of these trees.我们的工作就是修剪这些树的侧枝。
9 profusely 12a581fe24557b55ae5601d069cb463c     
ad.abundantly
参考例句：
  • We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture. 我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。
  • He had been working hard and was perspiring profusely. 他一直在努力干活，身上大汗淋漓的。
10 saturated qjEzG3     
a.饱和的，充满的
参考例句：
  • The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
  • a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液
11 aroma Nvfz9     
n.香气，芬芳，芳香
参考例句：
  • The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee.满屋子都是咖啡的香味。
  • The air was heavy with the aroma of the paddy fields.稻花飘香。
12 pruner 9a36a8d497400745deae866de6a45ceb     
修枝剪
参考例句：
13 boughs 95e9deca9a2fb4bbbe66832caa8e63e0     
大树枝( bough的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。
  • A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。
14 spoke XryyC     
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
15 winced 7be9a27cb0995f7f6019956af354c6e4     
赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • He winced as the dog nipped his ankle. 狗咬了他的脚腕子，疼得他龇牙咧嘴。
  • He winced as a sharp pain shot through his left leg. 他左腿一阵剧痛疼得他直龇牙咧嘴。
16 arbor fyIzz0     
n.凉亭；树木
参考例句：
  • They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
  • You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。
17 gathering ChmxZ     
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。
18 dual QrAxe     
adj.双的；二重的，二元的
参考例句：
  • The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
  • He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。
19 lamented b6ae63144a98bc66c6a97351aea85970     
adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
  • We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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