The Sycamore Tree

1

I love to watch my father paint. Or really, I love to hear him talk while he paints.

2

The words always come out soft and?

somehow

?heavy when he's brushing on the?

layers

?of a?

landscape

.

somehow /?s?mha?/ adv.?不知怎么地

layer /?le??r/ n.?層

landscape /?l?ndske?p/ n.?風(fēng)景畫(huà)

3

Not sad.?

Weary

, maybe, but?

peaceful

.

weary /?w?ri/ adj.?疲倦的

peaceful /?pi?sfl/ adj.?平靜的

4

My father doesn't have a?

studio

?or anything, and since the garage is?

stuffed

?with things that everyone thinks they need but no one ever uses, he paints outside.

studio /?stu?dio?/ n.?畫(huà)室

stuffed /st?ft/ adj.?塞滿(mǎn)了的

5

Outside is where the best landscapes are,?

only

?they're?

nowhere

?near our house. So what he does is keep a camera in his truck.

only /'onli/ conj. [非正式]不過(guò)

nowhere /?no?wer/ n.?荒蕪的地區(qū)

6

His job as a?

mason

?takes him to lots of different locations, and he's always?

on the lookout for

?a great sunrise or sunset, or even just a nice field with sheep or cows.

mason /'mesn/ n.?泥瓦匠

on the lookout for?尋找

7

Then he picks out one of the?

snapshots

, clips it to his?

easel

, and paints.

snapshot /'sn?p?ɑt/ n. (拍)快照

easel /?i?zl/ n.?畫(huà)架

8

The paintings come out fine, but I've always felt a little sorry for him, having to paint beautiful scenes in our?

backyard

, which is not exactly?

picturesque

.

backyard /?b?k?jɑ?rd/ n.?后院

picturesque /?p?kt???resk/ adj.?風(fēng)景如畫(huà)的

9

It never was?

much of

?a yard, but after I started?

raising

?chickens, things didn't exactly improve.

much of a?稱(chēng)得上

raise /re?z/ v.?飼養(yǎng)

10

Dad doesn't seem to see the backyard or the chickens when he's painting, though.

11

It's not just the snapshot or the?

canvas

?he sees?

either

.

canvas /?k?nv?s/ n.?帆布

either /'ie?/ pron. (兩者之中)任何一個(gè)

12

It's something much bigger.

13

He gets this look in his eye like he's?

transcended

?the yard, the neighborhood, the world.

transcend /tr?n?send/ vt.?超出

14

And as his big,?

callused

?hands sweep a tiny?

brush

?

against

?the canvas, it's almost like his body has been?

possessed

by some graceful?

spiritual

?being.

callus /'k?l?s/ n.?老繭

brush /br??/ n.?畫(huà)筆

possess /p??zes/ (尤指邪惡的鬼魅或精靈）纏住

spiritual /?sp?r?t?u?l/ adj.?心靈的

15

When I was little, my dad would let me sit beside him on the porch while he painted,?

as long as

?I'd be quiet.

as long as?只要

16

I don't do quiet easily, but I discovered that after five or ten minutes without a?

peep

, he'd start talking.

peep /pi?p/ n.?窺視

17

I've learned a lot about my dad that way.

learn /l??rn/ vt.?得知

18

He told me all sorts of stories about what he'd done when he was my age, and other things, too - like how he got his first job?

delivering

?

hay

, and how he?

wished

?he'd finished college.

deliver /d??l?v?r/ vi.?運(yùn)送

hay /he?/ n.?干草

wish /w??/ vt.?渴望

19

When I got a little older, he still talked about himself and his childhood, but he also started asking questions about me.

20

What were we learning at school? What book was I?

currently

?reading? What did I think about this or that.

21

Then one time he surprised me and asked me about Bryce. Why was I so crazy about Bryce?

22

I told him about his eyes and his hair and the way his cheeks?

blush

,

blush /bl??/ vi.?臉紅

23

but I don't think I explained it very well because when I was done Dad shook his head and told me in soft, heavy words that I needed to start looking at the whole landscape.

24

I didn't really know what he meant by that, but it made me want to?

argue

?with him.

argue /?ɑ?rɡju?/ vt.?爭(zhēng)辯

25

How could he possibly understand about Bryce? He didn't know him!

26

But this was not an arguing spot. Those were?

scattered

?

throughout

?the house, but not out here.

scatter /?sk?t?r/ vt.?使散播

throughout /θru??a?t/ prep. (表示區(qū)域)遍及...場(chǎng)所

27

We were both quiet for a record-breaking amount of time before he kissed me on the forehead and said, “

Proper

lighting is everything, Julianna.”

proper /?prɑp?/ adj.?恰當(dāng)?shù)?/p>

28

Proper lighting? What was that supposed to mean?

29

I sat there wondering, but I was afraid that?

by

?asking I'd be?

admitting

?that I wasn't mature enough to understand, and for some reason it felt obvious.

admit /?d?m?t/ vt. & vi.?承認(rèn)

30

Like I should understand.

31

After that he didn't talk so much about events as he did about?

ideas

.

idea /a?'di?/ n.?想法

32

And the older I got, the more?

philosophical

?he seemed to get.

philosophical /?f?l??sɑ?f?kl/ adj.?哲學(xué)上的

34 I don't know if he really got more philosophical or if he just thought I could?

handle

?it now that I was in the?

double digits

.

handle /?h?ndl/ vt.?觸摸

double digit?十位數(shù)

33

Mostly the things he talked about floated around me, but once in a while something would happen and I would understand exactly what he had meant.

35

“A painting is more than the sum of its parts,” he would tell me, and then go on to explain how the cow by itself is just a cow,?

meadow /?medo?/ n.?草地

36

and the?

meadow

?by itself is just grass and flowers, and the sun peeking through the trees is just a beam of light,

37

but put them all together and you've got magic.

38

I understood what he was saying, but I never felt what he was saying until one day when I was up in the sycamore tree.

39

The sycamore tree had been at the top of the hill forever.

40

It was on a big vacant lot, giving?

shade

?in the summer and a place for birds to?

nest

?in the spring.

shade /?e?d/ n.?樹(shù)蔭

nest /nest/ vi.?筑巢

41

It had a?

built-in

?

slide

?for us, too.

built-in /?b?lt??n/ adj.?內(nèi)置的

slide /sla?d/ n.?滑梯

42

Its trunk bent up and around in almost a complete?

spiral

, and it was so much fun to ride down.

spiral /?spa?r?l/ n.?螺旋形之物

43

My mom told me she thought the tree must have been?

damaged

?as a?

sapling

?but survived, and now, maybe a hundred years later, it was still there, the biggest tree she'd ever seen.

damage /?d?m?d?/ n.?損害

sapling /'s?pl??/ n.?幼樹(shù)

44

“A?

testimony

?to?

endurance

” is what she called it.

testimony /?test?mo?ni/ n.?證明

endurance /?n?d?r?ns/ n.?耐力

45

I had always played in the tree, but I didn't become a serious climber until the fifth grade, when I went up to rescue a kite that was stuck in its branches.

46

I'd first spotted the kite floating free through the air and then saw it dive-bomb somewhere up the hill by the sycamore tree.

47

I've?

flown

?kites before and I know - sometimes they're gone forever, and sometimes they're just waiting in the middle of the road for you to rescue them.

flown /flon/ vt.?放飛(fly的過(guò)去分詞)

48

Kites can be lucky or they can be?

ornery

.

ornery /???rn?ri/ adj.?難對(duì)付的

49

I've had both kinds, and a lucky kite is?

definitely

?worth chasing after.

definitely /?def?n?tli/ adv.?明確地

50

This kite looked lucky to me.

51

It wasn't anything?

fancy

, just an old-fashioned?

diamond

?with blue and yellow?

stripes

.

fancy /?f?nsi/ adj.?花哨的

diamond /?da??m?nd/ adj.?菱形的

stripe /stra?p/ n.?條紋

52

But it?

stuttered

?along in a friendly way, and when it dive-bombed, it seemed to do so from?

exhaustion

?

as opposed to

?

spite

.

stutter /?st?t?r/ v.?時(shí)斷時(shí)續(xù)地移動(dòng)

exhaustion /?ɡ?z??st??n/ n.?精疲力竭

as opposed to?與......形成對(duì)照

spite /spa?t/ n.?惡意

53

Ornery kites dive-bomb out of spite.

54

They never get exhausted because they won't stay up long enough to?

poop out

.

poop out (使)筋疲力盡

55

Thirty feet up they just sort of?

smirk

?at you and crash for the fun of it.

smirk /sm??rk/ n.?幸災(zāi)樂(lè)禍地笑

56

So Champ and I ran up to Collier Street, and after?

scouting

?out the road, Champ started barking at the sycamore tree.

scout /ska?t/ v.?尋找

57

I looked up and spotted it, too, flashing blue and yellow through the branches.

58

It was a long ways up, but I thought I'd?

give it a shot

.

give a shot?試一試

59

I?

shinnied

?up the trunk, took a?

shortcut

?across the slide, and started climbing.

shinny /'??ni/ vi.?攀爬

shortcut /'??rt,k?t/ n.?捷徑

60

Champ?

kept a good eye on me

, barking me along, and soon I was higher than I'd ever been.

keep an eye on?密切照看

61

But still the kite seemed forever away.

62

Then below me I noticed Bryce coming around the corner and through the vacant lot.

63

And I could tell from the way he was looking up that this was his kite.

64

What a lucky, lucky kite this was?

turning out

?to be!

turn out?證明是

65

“Can you climb that high?” he called up to me.

66

“Sure!” I called back. And up, up, up I went!

67

The branches were strong, with just the right amount of?

intersections

?to make climbing easy.

intersection /??nt?r?sek?n/?交叉點(diǎn)

68

And the higher I got, the more amazed I was by the view.

69

I'd never seen a view like that!

70

It was like being in an airplane above all the?

rooftops

, above the other trees. Above the world!

rooftop /'r?f'tɑp/ n.?屋頂

71

Then I looked down. Down at Bryce.

72

And suddenly I got?

dizzy

?and weak in the knees.

dizzy /?d?zi/ adj.?暈眩的

73

I was miles off the ground!

74

Bryce shouted, “Can you reach it?”

75

I?

caught my breath

?and managed to?

call down

, “No problem!” then forced myself to concentrate on those blue and yellow stripes, to focus on them and only them as I shinnied up, up, up.

catch breath?喘口氣

call down?朝下面大聲叫喊

76

Finally I touched it; I grasped it; I had the kite in my hand!

77

But the string was tangled in the branches above and I couldn't seem to pull it free.

78

Bryce called, “Break the string!” and somehow I managed to do just that.

79

When I had the kite free, I needed a minute to rest. To recover before starting down.

80

So instead of looking at the ground below me, I held on tight and looked out. Out across the rooftops.

81

That's when the fear of being up so high began to?

lift

, and in its place came the most amazing feeling that I was flying.

lift /l?ft/ vi.?消散

82

Just?

soaring

?above the earth,?

sailing

?among the clouds.

soar /s??r/ vi.?翱翔

sail /se?l/ vi.?航行

83

Then I began to notice how wonderful the?

breeze

?smelled.

breeze /bri?z/ n.?微風(fēng)

84

It smelled like … sunshine. Like sunshine and wild grass and?

pomegranates

?and rain!

pomegranate /'pɑm?ɡr?n?t/ n.?石榴

85

I couldn't stop breathing it in, filling my lungs again and again with the sweetest smell I'd ever known.

86

Bryce called up, “Are you stuck?” which brought me down to earth.

87

Carefully I backed up,?

prized

?stripes in hand, and as I?

worked my way

?down, I could see Bryce?

circling

?the tree, watching me to make sure I was okay.

prized /pra?zd/ adj.?珍貴的

work one's way?努力前進(jìn)

circle /'s?kl/ vt. & vi.?環(huán)繞

88

By the time I?

hit

?the slide, the?

heady

?feeling I'd had in the tree was changing into the heady?

realization

?that Bryce and I were?

alone

.

hit /h?t/ vt.?達(dá)到（一個(gè)特定的水平，階段，數(shù)字）

heady /?hedi/ adj.?令人陶醉的

realization /?ri??l??ze??n/ n.?認(rèn)識(shí)

alone /?'lon/ adv.?單獨(dú)地

89

Alone!

90

My heart was?

positively

?racing as I held the kite out to him.

positively /'pɑz?t?vli/ adv.?極其

91

But before he could take it, Champ?

nudged

?me from?

behind

?and I could feel his cold, wet nose against my skin.

nudge /n?d?/ v.?輕推移動(dòng)

behind /b?'ha?nd/ n.?屁股

92

Against my skin?!

93

I grabbed my jeans in back, and that's when I realized the?

seat

?of my pants was?

ripped

?

wide open

.

seat /sit/ n. (裙子或褲子的）臀部

rip /r?p/ vi.?被撕裂

wide open?大開(kāi)的

94

Bryce laughed a little nervous laugh, so I could tell he knew, and for once mine were the cheeks that were?

beet

?red.

beet /bit/ n. (因憤怒、難堪或覺(jué)得熱而)臉紅

95

He took his kite and ran off, leaving me to?

inspect

?the damage.

inspect /?n?spekt/ vi.?進(jìn)行檢查

96

I did eventually?

get over

?the embarrassment of my jeans, but I never got over the view.

get over?從中恢復(fù)過(guò)來(lái)

97

I kept thinking of what it felt like to be up so high in that tree.

98

I wanted to see it, to feel it, again. And again.

99

It wasn't long before I wasn't afraid of being up so high and found the spot that became my spot.

100

I could sit there for hours, just looking out at the world.

101

Sunsets were amazing. Some days they'd be purple and pink, some days they'd be a blazing orange, setting fire to clouds across the horizon.

102

It was on a day like that when my father's?

notion

?of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts moved from my head to my heart.

notion /?no??n/ n.?見(jiàn)解

103

The view from my sycamore was more than rooftops and clouds and wind and colors combined.

104

It was magic.

105

And I started?

marveling

?at how I was feeling both?

humble

?and?

majestic

.

marvel /?mɑ?rvl/ vi.?感到驚訝

humble /?h?mbl/ adj.?卑微的

majestic /m??d?est?k/ adj.?雄偉的

106

How was that possible? How could I be so full of peace and full of wonder?

107

How could this simple tree make me feel so complex? So alive.

108

I went up the tree every chance I got.

109

And in junior high that became almost every day because the bus to our school?

picks up

?on Collier Street, right in front of the sycamore tree.

pick up (汽車(chē)；飛機(jī))承載

110

At first I just wanted to see how high I could get before the bus?

pulled up

,

pull up?停下來(lái)

111

but?

before long

?I was leaving the house early so I could get?

clear

?up to my spot to see the sun rise, or the birds flutter about, or just the other kids?

converge

?on the?

curb

.

before long?在短時(shí)間內(nèi)

clear /kl?r/ adv.?清晰地

converge /k?n?v??rd?/ v. (使)匯聚

curb /k??rb/ n. [美]路緣

112

I tried to convince the kids at the bus stop to climb up with me, even a little ways, but all of them said they didn't want to get dirty.

113

Turn down a chance to feel magic for fear of a little dirt?

114

I couldn't believe it.

115

I'd never told my mother about climbing the tree.

116

Being the truly sensible adult that she is, she would have told me it was too dangerous.

117

My brothers, being brothers, wouldn't have cared.

118

That left my father. The one person I knew would understand.

119

Still

, I was afraid to tell him.

still /st?l/ conj.?盡管如此

120

He'd tell my mother and pretty soon they'd insist that I stop.

121

So I kept quiet, kept climbing, and felt a somewhat lonely joy as I looked out over the world.

122

Then a few months ago I found myself talking to the tree.

123

An entire conversation, just me and a tree.

124

And on the climb down I felt like crying.

125

Why didn't I have someone real to talk to?

126

Why didn't I have a best friend like everyone else seemed to?

127

Sure, there were kids I knew at school, but none of them were close friends.

128

They'd have no interest in climbing the tree. In smelling the sunshine.

129

That night after dinner my father went outside to paint.

130

In the cold of the night, under the glare of the porch light, he went out to put the?

finishing

?

touches

?on a sunrise he'd been working on.

finishing /'f?n????/ adj.?最后的

touch /t?t?/ n.?潤(rùn)色

131

I got my jacket and went out to sit beside him, quiet as a mouse.

132

After a few minutes he said, “What's on your mind, sweetheart?”

133

In all the times I'd sat out there with him, he'd never asked me that.

134

I looked at him but couldn't seem to speak.

135

He mixed two?

hues

?of orange together, and very softly he said, “Talk to me.”

hue /hju?/ n.?色調(diào)

136

I sighed so heavily it surprised even me.

137

“I understand why you come out here, Dad.”

138

He tried kidding me. “Would you mind explaining it to your mother?”

139

“Really, Dad. I understand now about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.”

140

He stopped mixing. “You do? What happened? Tell me about it!”

141

So I told him about the sycamore tree.

142

About the view and the sounds and the colors and the wind, and how being up so high felt like flying. Felt like magic.

143

He didn't interrupt me once, and when my?

confession

?was?

through

, I looked at him and whispered, “Would you climb up there with me?”

confession /k?n?fe?n/ n.?坦白

through /θru/ adj.?結(jié)束的

144

He thought about this a long time, then smiled and said,

145

“I'm not much of a climber anymore, Julianna, but I'll give it a shot, sure. How about this weekend, when we've got lots of daylight to work with?”

146

“Great!”

147

I went to bed so excited that I don't think I slept more than five minutes the whole night.

148

Saturday was right?

around the corner

.

around the corner adv.?即將來(lái)臨

149

I couldn't wait!

150

The next morning I raced to the bus stop?

extra

?early and climbed the tree.

extra /?ekstr?/ adv.?特別地

151

I caught the sun rising through the clouds, sending streaks of fire from one end of the world to the other.

152

And I was in the middle of making a mental list of all the things I was going to show my father when I heard a noise below.

153

I looked down, and parked right beneath me were two trucks. Big trucks.

154

One of them was?

towing

?a long, empty?

trailer

, and the other had a?

cherry picker

?on it—the kind they use to work on overhead?

power lines

?and?

telephone poles

.

tow /to?/ vt.?牽引

trailer /?tre?l?r/ n.?拖車(chē)

cherry picker?車(chē)載式吊車(chē)

power line?輸電線(xiàn)

telephone pole?電話(huà)線(xiàn)桿

155

There were four men standing around talking, drinking from?

thermoses

, and I almost called down to them, “I'm sorry, but you can't park there…. That's a bus stop!”

thermos /'θ?m?s/ n.?熱水瓶

156

But before I could, one of the men reached into the back of a truck and started unloading tools.

157

Gloves

. Ropes. A chain.?

Earmuffs

. And then chain saws. Three chain saws.

glove /ɡl?v/ n.?手套

earmuffs /'??m?fs/ n.?耳套

158

And still I didn't get it.

159

I kept looking around for what it was they could possibly be there to cut down.

160

Then one of the kids who rides the bus showed up and started talking to them, and pretty soon he was pointing up at me.

161

One of the men called, “Hey! You better come down from there. We?

gotta

?take this thing down.”

gotta /?ɡɑt?/ n.?〈美俚〉必須

162

I held on to the branch tight, because suddenly it felt as though I might fall.

163

I managed to?

choke

?out, “The tree?”

choke /t?o?k/ vt. & vi. (使)窒息

164

“Yeah, now come on down.”

165

“But who told you to cut it down?”

166

“The owner!” he called back.

167

“But why?”

168

Even from forty feet up I could see him?

scowl

.

scowl /ska?l/ vi.?皺眉

169

“Because he's gonna build himself a house, and he can't very well do that with this tree?

in the way

. Now come on, girl, we've got work to do!”

in the way?擋道的

170

By that time most of the kids had gathered for the bus.

171

They weren't saying anything to me, just looking up at me and turning from time to time to talk to each other.

172

Then Bryce appeared, so I knew the bus was about to arrive.

173

I searched across the rooftops and sure enough, there it was, less than four blocks away.

174

My heart was crazy with panic.

175

I didn't know what to do! I couldn't leave and let them cut down the tree!

176

I cried, “You can't cut it down! You just can't!”

177

One of the men shook his head and said,

178

“I am this close to calling the police. You are?

trespassing

?and?

obstructing

?progress on a?

contracted

?job. Now are you going to come down or are we going to cut you down?”

trespass /?tresp?s/ vi.?打擾

obstruct /?b?str?kt/ vt.?妨礙

contracted /k?n'tr?kt?d/ adj.?已定約的

179

The bus was three blocks away.

180

I'd never?

missed school

?for any reason?

other than

?

legitimate

?

illness

, but I knew in my heart that I was going to miss my?

ride

.

miss school?缺課

other than?除了

legitimate /l??d??t?m?t/ adj.?合情合理的

illness /'?ln?s/ n.?疾病

ride /ra?d/ n.?交通工具

181

“You're going to have to cut me down!” I yelled.

182

Then I had an idea.

183

They'd never cut it down if all of us were in the tree.

184

They'd have to listen!

185

“Hey, guys!” I called to my classmates.

186

“Get up here with me! They can't cut it down if we're all up here! Marcia! Tony! Bryce! C'mon, you guys, don't let them do this!”

187

They just stood there, staring up at me.

188

I could see the bus, one block away.

189

“Come on, you guys! You don't have to come up this high. Just a little ways. Please!”

190

The bus blasted up and pulled to the curb in front of the trucks, and when the doors folded open, one by one my classmates climbed on board.

191

What happened after that is a bit of a blur.

192

I remember the neighbors gathering, and the police with?

megaphones

.

megaphone /'m?ɡ?fon/ n.?擴(kuò)音器

193

I remember the?

fire brigade

, and some guy saying it was his?

blasted

?tree and I'd?

darn

?well better get out of it.

fire brigade n.?消防隊(duì)

blasted /'bl?st?d/ adj.?該死的

darn /dɑrn/ adv.?非常

194

Somebody tracked down my mother, who cried and?

pleaded

?and acted not at all the way a sensible mother should, but I was not coming down.

plead /pli?d/ vi.?懇求

195

I was not coming down.

196

Then my father came racing up.

197

He jumped out of his?

pickup truck

, and after talking with my mother for a few minutes, he got the guy in the cherry picker to give him a lift up to where I was.

pickup truck n.?敞蓬小型載貨卡車(chē)

198

After that it was all over.

199

I started crying and tried to get him to look out over the rooftops, but he wouldn't.

200

He said that no view was worth his little girl's safety.

201

He got me down and he took me home, only I couldn't stay there.

202

I couldn't stand the sound of chain saws in the distance.

203

So Dad took me with him to work, and while he?

put up

?a block wall, I sat in his truck and cried.

put up?建造

204

I must've cried for two weeks?

straight

.

straight /stret/ adv.?連續(xù)地

205

Oh, sure, I went to school and I?

functioned

?the best I could, but I didn't go there on the bus.

function /?f??k?n/ vi.?工作

206

I started riding my bike instead, taking the long way so I wouldn't have to go up to Collier Street.

207

Up to a pile of sawdust that used to be the earth's most magnificent sycamore tree.

208

Then one evening when I was locked up in my room, my father came in with something under a towel.

209

I could tell it was a painting because that's how he transports the important ones when he shows them in the park.

210

He sat down, resting the painting on the floor in front of him.

211

“I always liked that tree of yours,” he said. “Even before you told me about it.”

212

“Oh, Dad, it's okay. I'll get over it.”

213

“No, Julianna. No, you won't.”

214

I started crying. “It was just a tree….”

215

“I never want you to convince yourself of that. You and I both know it isn't true.”

216

“But Dad…”

217

“Bear with me a minute, would you?” He took a deep breath.

218

“I want the spirit of that tree to be with you always. I want you to remember how you felt when you were up there.”

219

He hesitated a moment, then handed me the painting.

220

“So I made this for you.”

221

I pulled off the towel, and there was my tree.

222

My beautiful, majestic sycamore tree.

223

Through the branches he'd painted the fire of sunrise, and it seemed to me I could feel the wind.

224

And way up in the tree was a tiny girl looking off into the distance, her cheeks flushed with wind. With joy. With magic.

225

“Don't cry, Julianna. I want it to help you, not hurt you.”

226

I wiped the tears from my cheeks and gave a?

mighty

?sniff.

mighty /?ma?ti/ adj. (動(dòng)作)用力的

227

“Thank you, Daddy,” I choked out. “Thank you.”

228

I hung the painting across the room from my bed.

229

It's the first thing I see every morning and the last thing I see every night.

230

And now that I can look at it without crying, I see?

more than

?the tree and what being up in its branches meant to me.

more than?不只是

231

I see the day that my?

view

?of things around me started changing.

view /vju?/ n.?看法

232

I see the day that my?

view

?of things around me started changing.

233