妈妈总是知道
A Mother Knows
琳恩·鲁斯·米勒 / Lynn Ruth Miller
Not all women who have children are mothers. You can tell a true mother by the penetrating look in her eye. A mother always knows everything about you. Absolutely everything.
I had such a mother. I could hide nothing from her. When I would walk into the house after pigging out on chocolate cake at the neighbor's, she would glance at me and say,
"How many times do I have to tell you not to eat between meals? No dessert for you tonight, young lady."
I looked at her, dumbfounded: How could she see across the street and through the walls of my friend's house, while she was cleaning the bathroom floor?
"How did you know that?" I asked, wiping crumbs from my chin.
"A mother always knows," she said."I can read your forehead. Hand me the Bon Ami. I see a fingerprint on the doorknob. "
When I would race into the house from school, my eyes popping like a choked fish, my mother would simply point to the bathroom door. "How did you know I had to go?" I asked, as I galloped to the toilet with my legs twisted like a pretzel.
My mother would shrug. "I read it on your forehead."
When I got a bit older, her forehead reading became truly remarkable. I could hide absolutely nothing from that woman's penetrating gaze. I would come home from a date, and my mother would scowl ominously.
"Do you know what time it is?" she'd say. "Men don't marry fast girls. "
"We were only holding hands, for God's sake," I lied, rubbing my chafed mouth.
"You can't fool me, Lynn Ruth," said my mother."I can read the whole vulgar story on your forehead. Put some lotion on your face, or you'll look like a raw tomato tomorrow. "
Her amazing knowledge of things she could not see sharpened the farther away I was from home. I arrived at college my freshman year, disoriented and lonesome for the very place I had denounced as a suffocating prison a few hours before. As I settled down on the dormitory bed for a good cry, my mother walked in the door.
"You forgot your pillow," she said and handed me the very one I had used the night before.
I had done my own packing and had shut the door to my room when we left the house to drive to Ann Arbor. My mother was so nearsighted she couldn't see products on the supermarket shelf without her glasses. How could she possibly make out the print on a forehead 60 miles away? Apparently, my mother could also hear the thoughts rattling around in my brain, for she then answered my unspoken question.
"A mother always knows. "she said. "I also brought you some brownies and Rosemary
Clooney's latest record release. "
并不是所有拥有孩子的女人都是母亲。你可以通过她们的眼神辨认出哪一位才是真正的母亲。一位母亲通常知道所有关于你的事，绝对是每一件事。
我就有这样一位母亲，在她的面前，我无法隐藏一切。在邻居家吃完巧克力回家时，母亲会看着我说："我跟你说过多少次，不要在两餐之间吃东西？今天晚上不要吃甜点了，小姐。"
我望着她发愣：她刚才在清理浴室的地板，怎么会看到街道，怎么会看透朋友家的墙？
"您是怎么知道的？"我一边擦去黏在下巴上的蛋糕屑一边问道。
"妈妈总是知道，"她说，"我可以从你的脑门上读出来。把波纳米甜点递给我。我从门把手上看到了一个手印。"
放学到家时，我会跑进房间，眼睛瞪得像一条窒息的金鱼，母亲就会指着卫生间的门，"您怎么知道我要去那里？"我边问，边跑向卫生间，两腿扭得像一块脆卷饼。母亲耸了耸肩，"我可以从你的脑门上读出来。"
等我长大一些时，她读我脑门的本领已经到了"炉火纯青"的地步了。我没有什么事情能够瞒得过她那"明察秋毫"的眼睛。我约完会回到家时，母亲就会板着脸。
"你知道现在几点了吗？"她会这样问，"男人不会与轻易得到的女孩结婚的。"
"我们只不过是牵手而已，看在上帝的份上。"我一边擦着自己有些发烫的嘴唇，一边撒谎答道。
"你骗不过我的，琳恩o鲁斯，"母亲说，"我可以从你的脑门上读出你那粗俗的故事。往脸上擦点乳液吧，否则明天你看起来会像个生番茄。"
她可以洞察到她看不到的事情，我离家越远，她的洞察力就越敏锐。在我上大学的第一天，我就分不清方向，感到很寂寞，有点想家，就在很短的几个小时之前，我还对这个憋闷的监牢怨声载道。当我在宿舍的床上收拾好准备大哭一场时，母亲进来了。
"你忘了你的枕头了。"她边说边递给我昨晚用过的枕头。
在我驾车前往安阿伯之前，我收拾好行李，关上房门离开了。母亲的眼睛近视得厉害，她不戴眼镜根本看不清超市货架上的东西。她是怎么在60英里之外看到我脑门上的印迹的？显而易见，母亲也能听到我脑中的思想，因此她回答了我还没有来得及问的问题。
"妈妈总是知道，"她说，"我给你带了一些巧克力，还有罗斯玛丽o克隆妮的最新唱片。"
在将近30岁时，我出了一次车祸。那时，我已经大学毕业，从父母家搬了出来。每天晚上10点，母亲总会拿着一本庸俗的书和一杯热牛奶上床休息，然后在11点的时候看新闻。在电视上，她看见担架在移动，有一个人躺在上面，只有两只脚露在被单外面，整个人平得像一本杂志。母亲立刻起身，叫醒了父亲。
"快穿衣服，"她说，"我们要去趟医院，那是琳恩o鲁斯。"
时间没有减弱母亲惊人的直觉。事实上，随着我的年龄的增长，她的这种直觉也越来越敏锐。我结 婚时，她透过我的婚纱就读出了我很快就会离婚。我开始找工作时，她在我收到拒绝信之前就知道 了我面试的结果。在我搬到另一个城市后，我在一起街头暴力事件中受了重伤，我带着全身的针缝伤口和淤青从医院回到了家。在我摇摇晃晃地走进卧室时，电话响了，是母亲。
"琳恩·鲁斯，"她说，"告诉我发生了什么事。"
她已经知道了。
5年后，母亲患上了癌症。虽然每晚我都会打电话给她，可一直都没有去探望过她，直到我突然有一
种强烈的欲望想要去看她。于是第二天，我乘飞机回家了。躺在枕头、被单、帮助维持生命的器具
中的她显得如此瘦小，我几乎都找不到她。她用瘦弱的胳膊抱住了我。
"哦，琳妮，"她低声地说道，"你怎么猜到我是多么想让你到这里来？"
"我从您的脑门上读到的。" 我流着泪说。
"在加利福尼亚？"母亲问我。
那时，我意识到所有的女人都是母亲，但是只有很少的女儿会如此幸运。我抱着母亲说："女儿总是知道。"
记忆填空
1. I looked at her, dumbfounded: could she see across the street and through the walls of my friend's house, she was cleaning the bathroom floor?
2. My mother was so nearsighted she couldn't see products on the supermarket without her glasses. How could she make out the print on a forehead sixty away?
3. Five years my mother succumbed to cancer. Although I called her every night, I did not go to her until my urge to see her overwhelmed me. I flew home the day.
佳句翻译
1. 一位母亲通常知道所有关于你的事，绝对是每一件事。
2. 当我在宿舍的床上收拾好准备大哭一场时，母亲进来了。
3. 我开始找工作时，她在我收到拒绝信之前就知道了我面试的结果。
短语应用
1. How could she possibly make out the print on a forehead 60 miles away？
make out：辨别出；理解
2. ...the body on it flat as a pile of magazines except for two tremendous feet protruding from the sheet.
except for：除了……以外
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