第24章新月集

第24章新月集

twelveoclock

mother，idowanttoleaveoffmylessonsnow.ihavebeenatmybookallthemorning.

yousayitisonlytwelveo'clock.supposeitisn'tanylater；can'tyoueverthinkitisafternoonwhenitisonlytwelveo'clock？

icaneasilyimaginenowthatthesunhasreachedtheedgeofthatrice-field，andtheoldfisher-womanisgatheringherbsforhersupperbythesideofthepond.

icanjustshutmyeyesandthinkthattheshadowsaregrowingdarkerunderthemadartree，andthewaterinthepondlooksshinyblack.

iftwelveo'clockcancomeinthenight，whycan'tthenightcomewhenitistwelveo'clock？

十二点钟

妈妈，我真想现在不做功课了。我整个早晨都在念书呢。

你说，现在还不过是十二点钟。假定不会晚过十二点罢；难道你不能把不过是十二点钟想象成下午么？

我能够很容易地想象：现在太阳已经到了那片稻田的边缘上了，老态龙钟的渔婆正在池边采撷香草做她的晚餐。

我闭上了眼就能够想到，马塔尔树下的阴影是更深黑了，池塘里的水看来黑得发亮。

假如十二点钟能够在黑夜里来到，为什么黑夜不能在十二点钟的时候来到呢？

authorship

yousaythatfatherwritesalotofbooks，butwhathewritesidon'tunderstand.

hewasreadingtoyoualltheevening，butcouldyoureallymakeoutwhathemeant？

whatnicestories，mother，youcantellus！whycan'tfatherwritelikethat，iwonder？

didheneverhearfromhisownmotherstoriesofgiantsandfairiesandprincesses？

hasheforgottenthemall？

oftenwhenhegetslateforhisbathyouhavetogoandcallhimanhundredtimes.

youwaitandkeephisdisheswarmforhim，buthegoesonwritingandforgets.

fatheralwaysplaysatmakingbooks.

ifeverigotoplayinfather'sroom，youcomeandcallme，“whatanaughtychild！”

ifimaketheslightestnoise，yousay，“don'tyouseethatfather'sathiswork？”

what'sthefunofalwayswritingandwriting？

whenitakeupfather'spenorpencilandwriteuponhisbookjustashedoes，—a，b，c，d，e，f，g，h，i，—whydoyougetcrosswithme，then，mother？

youneversayawordwhenfatherwrites.

whenmyfatherwastessuchheapsofpaper，mother，youdon'tseemtomindatall.

butifitakeonlyonesheettomakeaboatwith，yousay，“child，howtroublesomeyouare！”

whatdoyouthinkoffather'sspoilingsheetsandsheetsofpaperwithblackmarksalloveronbothsides？

著作家

你说爸爸写了许多书，但我却不懂得他所写的东西。