A-Mothers-Place

AMother'sPlace母亲的位置byDonnaGamache唐娜•加玛科Dorothyfeelsthatsheisgettingoldanddoubtsherplaceinthefamily.Nowshewantstomoveoutandstartanewlife.Whydoesshewanttolivebyherself?Willshereallyleavehersonanddaughter-in-law?Readthefollowingstoryfortheanswers.多萝西觉得自己老了，开始怀疑起自己在家里的位置。现在她想搬出去住，开始新生活。为什么她要一个人生活？她真的想离开儿子和儿媳吗？阅读下面这篇文章，找找问题的答案。TherainstillfellinasilentgraysheetwhenDorothyopenedherbedroomcurtainstopeeroutside.Anothergrayday,grayandgloomy,shemuttered,thoughreallytherainwasmorethanwelcomeafterlastyear'sdrought.多萝西掀起卧室窗帘，看看窗面，天灰蒙蒙的，雨还在无声无息地下着。“又是灰蒙蒙的天,又阴又暗，”她喃喃自语道。实际上，去年的干旱后，这雨是大受欢迎的。Oldandgrayandgloomy,justlikeme,sheaddedtoherself,thoughitwasn'texactlytrue.Herhairwasn'tcompletelygray,andshewasonlyinhermid-fifties,middle-agedreally,sheknew.Andusuallysheactedyoungerthanheryears,ifanything.Shecouldstilldoalltheworkshe'deverdone－keepthehousegoing,plantandweedthegarden,drivethetruckwhenneeded－thoughmaybeshewasn'tasspeedyatsometasks,assheoncewas.AndTim,herson,didsuggestacoupleofyearsago,thatsheneedn'tbothertodrivethetractoranymore.Butthatwasbecauseitwasn'treallynecessary,anyway,itwasn'tbecauseshewasgettingold.Sowhy,allofasudden,didshefeelold?“老气横秋，灰不溜秋，郁郁寡欢，象我一样，”她对自己又说了这些，然而事实并非如此。她的头发并未全白，只有五十多岁，实际还是中年--这一点，她自己也清楚。她平日的行为举止，远远看不出实际年龄--无论从哪方面都看不出。她象过去一样能干--忙家务,在花园里种花、除草，开着拖拉机帮忙干农活--尽管有些事情她做起来不如以前那样利索。她的儿子蒂姆两三年前就建议她不必再开拖拉机了。不过那是因为确实没有必要，而不是因为她老了。那她为什么会突然觉得自己老了呢？Blameitontherain,shemuttered.But,watchingthroughthewindowasTimhurriedthroughthedownpourfrompigbarntocattleshed,sheknewtheanswer.She'dknownitlastnight,ofcourse,aftertheblowupwithJenny,Tim'swife.“都怪这场雨，”她嘟囔着。可是，当她透过窗户，看到蒂姆冒着大雨匆匆从猪圈跑到牛棚时，她就知道是为什么了。当然，昨晚与蒂姆的妻子詹妮吵架过后，她就知道了缘由。Oh,ithadn'tbeenarealblowup,justanargumentoverwheretoplantthegarden.Jennywanteditclosetothehouse,soshecouldworkthereoncethebabywasborn.Dorothyarguedthattheclosestgardenpatchneededfallowing.They'dleftthedecisiontoTim,whosidedwithJenny,andDorothystumpedofftobedat8.30p.m.,feelingoldandlonely,andmissingSteveasshehadn'tmissedhimforalongtime.哦，那也不是真的吵架，只不过是争论花园该建在哪儿。詹妮想让花园靠近住房，孩子出生后她也能兼干些活儿。多萝西认为，屋子旁边的那块园地应该空着。她俩让蒂姆作最后决定，结果蒂姆支持詹妮。于是多萝西晚上八点半就气冲冲地上床了，感到苍老无力，孤立无助，从来没有这么想念过史蒂夫。Steve－Dorothy'shusband－haddiedtenyearsago,whenTimwasjusttwenty.Timhadquithisagriculturecourseattheuniversityandcomehometoworkthefarm,toilinglikeaTrojantopayoffthedebtshisfatherleft.Dorothyworkedalongsidehim,inthebeginning,untilheprovedhimself;thengraduallysherelinquishedmoreoftheworktohimandconcentratedonhergardenandflowers,andthehousework.史蒂夫——多萝西的丈夫——十年前去世了，那时蒂姆年仅二十岁。蒂姆中断了大学的农学课程，回到农场干活。他象特洛伊人一样辛苦地工作，偿还父亲欠下的债务。最初多萝西和他一块干，一直干到他能完全上手；于是，她就逐渐把更多的农活交给蒂姆做，自己专心伺弄花园，种些花草，操持家务。Thingsdidn'tchangemuchwhenTimmarriedJennytwoyearsago.Dorothywondered,inthebeginning,howthearrangementwouldworkout,forshestayedinthehouseandJennyjustmovedin.Itcouldn'thavebeeneasyforJenny,Dorothyknewthat,tomoveintoyourmother-in-law'shouseandletherrunyourlife.两年前蒂姆结婚了，但情况并没有多大改变。刚开始，多萝西还在想如何安排才算妥善，因为她呆在家里，詹妮又搬来住。多萝西知道：对詹妮来说，住到婆婆家，还让婆婆来掌管自己的生活，不是一件容易的事情。Buttherehadn'tbeenmuchchange,really.Everybodyadapted.Jennyworkedatthepotatoplantintown,andkeptherjob.Dorothysurrenderedsomeofthehouseworktoher,andoccasionalmeals,butshestilldidmostoftheday-to-dayhouseholdrunning.Jennyeitherworkeddays,orslept,dependingonhershiftsattheplant.Mostoftensheworkednightsandsleptuntilfourorso.但是他们婚后，一切真的并没有多大的改变。每个人都适应了。詹妮婚前在镇上的土豆加工厂工作，婚后还继续在那里上班。多萝西主动把一部分家务活让詹妮做，偶尔还让她做几顿饭，但是家里大部分的日常家务仍由她自己操持。詹妮白天有时上班，有时睡觉，得看她在厂里上什么班。大多数时候她上夜班，白天她一直睡到下午四点左右。ThewashingwasstillDorothy'sresponsibility,andthegardenworkandtheflowerbeds.ShestilldrovedinnerouttothefieldsforTim,andsometimesshedrovethetruck,duringharvestorspringwork.Shewasn'treadytoretireyet!洗洗刷刷仍是多萝西的事，还有整理园子和花坛的活。她照旧开车到田里给蒂姆送饭。秋收或春耕时她有时候还开卡车。她还没准备退休呢！ButitlookslikeI'llhaveto,shemurmured,turningawayfromthewindowtodress.Lastnightwasjustthetipoftheiceberg.Therestwillshowupsoon.Thingswerechangingnow.TimandJenny'sbabywasdueintwomonths,andlastweekJennystoppedworkingatthepotatoplant.Ican'ttakeallthebendinganylonger,shesaid.Andanyway,Ineedtimetogetthingsreadyforthebaby.“但看来我必须得退休了，”她喃喃自语，一边转过身去穿衣服。“昨晚只露出了冰山一角。剩下的很快就会都显露出来，”她想。现在情况正在发生变化。蒂姆和詹妮的孩子还有两个月就要出世了。上个星期，詹妮辞去了土豆加工厂的工作。“我再也弯不下腰了，”她说。“不管怎么说，我也需要时间为孩子的出生作作准备。”She'dbeenhomenow,fulltime,foraweek.She'dpreparedallthemealsduringthattime,anddrivenTim'sdinnerouttohiminthewestfieldforthelasttwodays.Lastnightshe'dannouncednewplansforthegarden,andthat'swhentheargumentdeveloped.I'mredundant,Dorothythought,thenrealizedshewasspeakingoutloud.Areliconthisfarm.Theydon'tneedmehereanymore.Notthatanythinghadbeensaidtothateffect.Therehadbeennosuggestionsthatsheshouldmoveoutandleavethehousetothem.Buttheymustbethinkingthat,weren'tthey?现在，詹妮整天都呆在家里，已经一个星期了。这段时间里，每一餐都是她做的，前两天她还开车到农场西部的田里给蒂姆送晚饭。昨晚她宣布重新布置园子，于是就发生了争吵。“我是多余的，”多萝西心想，随后才发觉自己大声说了出来。“我在农场派不上用场了。他们不再需要我了。”事情还没到那个地步。从未有人提过要她离开。但是他们一定是这样想的，不是吗？Thehousewassmall,withonlytwobedroomsandthestudy.Originally,ofcourse,sheandStevehadplannedthestudytobeathirdbedroom.ButwhenTimwastheironlychild,thestudywascreatedinstead.Now,TimandJennyplannedtochangeitintoababy'sroom.Butshe'dnoticedJenny'sg