The beautiful sound of violin
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2012-05-04 02:31 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)

When Dad played his fiddle1(小提琴) , the world became a bright star. To him violin was an instrument of faith, hope and charity. At least a thousand times, my mother said, "Your papa would play his fiddle if the world was about to blow up."

And once Dad came about as close to that as could ever be possible.

Everything on Nubbin Ridge—and on a majority of the small farms in Texas—was built around cotton as the money crop. But in the early years of the century, the boll weevil(棉子橡皮虫) began devastating2 the cotton farms in the south.

And in May of 1910 folks all over the nation were in a space-age state of turmoil3 over Halley's Comet. There were all sorts of frightening stories about the comet, the main one being that the world would pass through its tail, said to be millions of miles long.

Between the threats of comet and weevils, the farmers were running low on optimism. One night, the farmers gathered at our farm to discuss what to do. When everyone had found seats, Will Bowen suggested, "Charley, how about getting down your fiddle and bow and giving us a little music?"

"Aw, I don't think anybody'd want to hear me saw the gourd4(葫芦) tonight,"Dad replied.

"Come on, Mr Nordyke," one of the younger women urged, "why don't you play for us."

Dad had a knack5 for getting people in the mood for his music. Knowing of the scattered6 prejudice against the fiddle, he eased into a song titled Gloryland. It was a church song with church tones, but it was fairly fast with some good runs. He shifted from Gloryland to The Bonnie Blue Flag, a Confederate war song, which created a big stir—foot stamping, hand clapping and a few rebel yells.

Will Bowen, apparently7 having forgotten Halley's Comet, shouted, "How about giving us Sally Goodin?" Dad played the old breakdown8 with vigor9. Several men jumped up and jigged10 around. Children gathered around and gazed wide-eyed at the performance.

All our neighbors went home whistling or humming. Very few remembered to look toward the northwest to see whether the comet and its wicked tail were still around...

One evening, Will Bowen called dad on the telephone and said, "Charley, I'm downhearted(无精打采的) and blue. Every time a square forms, there are four boll weevils waiting there to puncture11 it with their snouts. Just wondered if you could play a tune12 or two for me?"

"I sure could, Will," Dad said. "Could you come over?"

"No. I mean play on the phone box."

"The phone box?"

"Sure," Mr Bowen said. "I can hear you talk. Why couldn't I hear the fiddle?"

Dad took the fiddle to the telephone and thumped13 the strings14. Putting the receiver to his ear, he said, "Hear anything. Will?"

"Sure can," Mr Bowen said. "Could you try Sally Goodin and play it just like you did the other night?" Dad handed the receiver to me. He stepped up to the mouthpiece on the wall box and cut loose on Sally Goodin. I could bear Mr Bowen whistling and yelling.

By the time the tune was finished there were half a dozen neighbors on the line, and they talked about how wonderful the music sounded over the telephone. They made numerous requests; I relayed them to Dad and he played the numbers.

Our party line broadcasts became regular features of community life. On rough-weather days of winter when farm folks were forced to remain in the house, someone would ring us and ask Dad to play, and usually it developed into a network affair. Our phone kept ringing with requests for music until radio came in.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 fiddle GgYzm     
n.小提琴;vi.拉提琴;不停拨弄,乱动
参考例句:
  • She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
  • Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。
2 devastating muOzlG     
adj.毁灭性的,令人震惊的,强有力的
参考例句:
  • It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
  • Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。
3 turmoil CKJzj     
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱
参考例句:
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
4 gourd mfWxh     
n.葫芦
参考例句:
  • Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一块去?你一定是疯了。
  • Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫芦瓢给我,我好把水舀出去。
5 knack Jx9y4     
n.诀窍,做事情的灵巧的,便利的方法
参考例句:
  • He has a knack of teaching arithmetic.他教算术有诀窍。
  • Making omelettes isn't difficult,but there's a knack to it.做煎蛋饼并不难,但有窍门。
6 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
7 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
8 breakdown cS0yx     
n.垮,衰竭;损坏,故障,倒塌
参考例句:
  • She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
  • The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障,但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。
9 vigor yLHz0     
n.活力,精力,元气
参考例句:
  • The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
  • She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在,她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。
10 jigged 23561b2506a3a3bc5412b4e410bc0b57     
v.(使)上下急动( jig的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • He jigged up and down with excitement. 他激动得又蹦又跳。
  • He jigged up and down in anger. 他气得又蹦又跳。 来自辞典例句
11 puncture uSUxj     
n.刺孔,穿孔;v.刺穿,刺破
参考例句:
  • Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
  • My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞,需要修补。
12 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
13 thumped 0a7f1b69ec9ae1663cb5ed15c0a62795     
v.重击, (指心脏)急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Dave thumped the table in frustration . 戴夫懊恼得捶打桌子。
  • He thumped the table angrily. 他愤怒地用拳捶击桌子。
14 strings nh0zBe     
n.弦
参考例句:
  • He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上,随意地拨着吉他的弦。
  • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
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