You Are My Dictionary
文章来源:未知 文章作者:enread 发布时间:2012-12-20 02:30 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
When my father came home there was laughter, rollicking(申斥,责骂), rolling laughter. He was strong and handsome; his thick, black, wavy1 hair fell into his black, laughing eyes. When he kissed me, I pushed his bristled2 mustache from my tender skin. His hands, thick and squared off at the tips, smelled of the sweet horsehair at the upholstery(垫衬物) factory. His fingernails carried the cotton lint3 he used to stuff stain sofas. 
 
He signed his name, Benjamin, but no one called him that, I called him Daddy Ben. People who could hear called him Benny. 
 
My father, like my mother, was deaf, so I grew up living in two worlds, our private world and the "hearing" world outside. I was on intimate terms with silence and the language of silence. 
 
My mother was born deaf, and so, I thought, was my father. Then one day he mentioned that he had not always been deaf. 
 
"You weren't ? How did you become deaf?" my hands asked. 
 
"I was sick, a long time. Ask Grandma," he replied. 
 
When Grandma Lizzie came to our apartment, I rushed to her, demanding an answer. She said, "Spinal4 meningits," and told how my father had been stricken with the disease when he was two. As he approached school age, his hearing diminished until there was none, not even the memory of sound. 
 
He was a bright child, but his intelligence was locked away. Without normal speech at the age when children begin to play with syllables5 and sounds, my father was separated from his own wit. His other sense did become more acute with time. But he never recovered from early verbal neglect. He could not read a book page by page. The flowing language, line after line, chapter after chapter, was too difficult to sustain. At times the written word confounded him more than the lips he strained to read. 
 
Even so, Daddy Ben was undefeated. He transformed pain into humor. "It is better to laugh at life," he'd say. "It makes easier a hard time." 
 
I began to understand what he meant one evening when my mother gave me money to phone a message to my father at the small upholstery shop where he had found temporary work. I went to a pay phone and dialed the number. 
 
"I have a message for Mr. Sidransky," I told the man who answered. 
 
"I don't know any Mr. Sidransky." The man was annoyed. 
 
"His first name is Ben. He is my father." 
 
"Listen, girlie, I don't have time for this. I'm busy." 
 
"He's deaf," I explained. 
 
"Oh, you mean the Dummy6. Why didn't you say that before?" 
 
I don't remember the rest of that conversation. All I remember is the word dummy. 
 
I had heard my parents described as deaf-and-dumb all through my childhood. I always took pains to explain that although they were deaf, they were not dumb, not were they mute. 
 
"Why do you let your boss call you Dummy?" I asked my father the next day. 
 
He shrugged7. "It is easier for them. They remember me." 
 
I was enraged8. "You are not a dummy. You are a smart man. Tell them your name is Benjamin." 
 
He smiled wanly9. "It is all right. I know I am not dummy, that is enough." He spoke10 of the men with benevolence11, forbearing their disdain12 when they called him Dummy or too roughly poked13 his shoulder for attention. In a world of fools. Locked in stillness, he was pleased with himself. But I was not. 
 
Dummy. I traced the hateful word on soot-laden cars and erased14 it with a swipe of my hand. I wrote it in my notebook, tore out the page and crumpled15(弄皱) the defamation16 into a ball. 
 
My father saw my anger. "Don't worry," he said. "I will improve my mind every day. I will learn new words, and you, Ruth, are my teacher. You are my dictionary." 
 
I hugged him. 
 
From that moment, the anger and shame that had coursed through me crystallized into resolve. I was determined17 that no one would call my father by that name again. I read the dictionary every night, absorbing language, and taught the words to my father. He was insatiable. He and I had purpose. Our minds melded in study. 
 
In this way, my father awakened18 my own thirst for language. 
 
"I tell you," he signed, then pulled his chair closer to mine. "Language is alive, like a person, like a river; always change, always new works. Not need to speak to know language." He knew language in a way I never will. It danced from his soul. 
 
His primary passion was clear thinking and comprehension. When I was in doubt about a concept that I was teaching him, he said, "You must ask the teacher again. Must be clear." 
 
The sign for the word clear is revealing. The tips of the fingers of each hand are closed, forming a small circle; the two circles join as the fingers touch, and then the hands are opened wide, permitting light to enter. It is a sign of illummination. 
 
Knowledge alone was not what my father sought. It was the process, not the product, that thrilled him. He taught me the art of questioning. If I didn't understand a teacher's response, he assumed I had asked my question wrong. "You smarter than teacher," he said. "Ask another question. Make sure teacher knows what you ask." 
 
And so I became skilled at communication. I questioned my teachers until I understood every facet19 of their teaching. It made no difference if the teacher was masterful of inept20; each had a gift for me. Week after week, I learned whatever was set before me in class and taught my father whatever I could. 
 
When I couldn't answer his inquiry21 at the most fundamental level, I promised to search for the answer until I could satisfy his wonder. "Now I understand," he would sign. 
 
Then one day there was a betrayal of my dreams. My father told me, "It is not important for girls to go to university. I work hard. I am tired. Now you must work, help support the family." 
 
I looked at him, not caring, not understanding the burdens he carried. I could have shouted, "I want to go to university. I want to be somebody." But I turned without a word and ran away. I stayed at my friend Julia's until night fell. 
 
My mother came looking for me. 
 
"He does not understand," I said. "I want to learn. I want to be a teacher." 
 
"We will explain all to your father," she signed, "He is sorry." 
 
As we walked slowly down the street, my father came toward us. He signed solemnly. "Do not be angry at Ben. I love you, daughter Ruth. You will go to university. I will go with you. You will teach me." 
 
My university years were wonderful. When I came home, my father, still demanding a question mind would say, "What did you ask professor today?" 
 
He would shaked his head at all the books - in the hall, on coffee tables, by the kitchen sink. 
 
"So many books, Too hard to read," he'd sign. "Tell me, who is the best writer in world?" 
 
I signed an opening paragraph of Mark Twain's, word for word. He watched my hands until his concentraition flagged. 
 
"Too many words, falling everywhere, like rocks coming down mountains. You explain better." 
 
Defeated, I dropped my eyes. Then he said with his fingers in the air, decreasing the space between his thumb and forefinger22. "Next time we read thin book, I sure to understand every word." His grin was huge. He made me laugh. 
 
One afternoon I rushed home overjoyed. "I won a prize, Mamma," I signed. "I earned a gold key for my university work; Phi Beta Kappa." I spelled each Greek letter for her. 
 
Our eyes met in a long smile. "You worked hard many years," she signed. "I proud of you." She took my face in her hands and kissed me. 
 
The moment my father opened the door, my mother, unable to contain her pleasure, pulled him into the living room. "Ben, I have a surprise." 
 
"I'll take off coat, hat." 
 
"No wait. I tell you now. Ruth has Phi Beta Kappa." 
 
"Funny words. What are you saying, Mary?" 
 
"They are letters of the Greek alphabet," I interjected. "It is the name of an honor society for the best students in university." 
 
He made the connection and shouted with his harsh voice and sweeping23 hands. "We have good luck! Tell me again how to spell the honor-club words." 
 
Once more I spelled the letters, and he etched them into his hand. Sitting on the sofa, he pulled me down to him and took me by the shoulders with both hands. In halting oral words he said, "Congratulations to daughter Ruth." 
 
We laughed, and he stroked my head in blessing24. "Now I'll take off my coat. Mamma, get some wine. We'll thank God and honor our daughter." 
 
It was only then that I realized I did not teach my father. He taught me. It was he who had engaged me in the conquest of language. It was he who told me to be direct, to be watchful25, to listen with my eyes and to ask with my mouth. From his silence, my father taught me the true power of speech. 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 wavy 7gFyX     
adj.有波浪的,多浪的,波浪状的,波动的,不稳定的
参考例句:
  • She drew a wavy line under the word.她在这个词的下面画了一条波纹线。
  • His wavy hair was too long and flopped just beneath his brow.他的波浪式头发太长了,正好垂在他的眉毛下。
2 bristled bristled     
adj. 直立的,多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词
参考例句:
  • They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动,他们都怒发冲冠。
  • All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先,大家都气得怒发冲冠。
3 lint 58azy     
n.线头;绷带用麻布,皮棉
参考例句:
  • Flicked the lint off the coat.把大衣上的棉绒弹掉。
  • There are a few problems of air pollution by chemicals,lint,etc.,but these are minor.化学品、棉花等也造成一些空气污染问题,但这是次要的。
4 spinal KFczS     
adj.针的,尖刺的,尖刺状突起的;adj.脊骨的,脊髓的
参考例句:
  • After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天,就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
  • Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。
5 syllables d36567f1b826504dbd698bd28ac3e747     
n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a word with two syllables 双音节单词
  • 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓,它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
6 dummy Jrgx7     
n.假的东西;(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头
参考例句:
  • The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹,只是一个假货。
  • The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。
7 shrugged 497904474a48f991a3d1961b0476ebce     
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式)
参考例句:
  • Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀,什么也没说。
  • She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩,装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 enraged 7f01c0138fa015d429c01106e574231c     
使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 ); 歜; 激愤
参考例句:
  • I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令,我极为恼火。
  • The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。
9 wanly 3f5a0aa4725257f8a91c855f18e55a93     
adv.虚弱地;苍白地,无血色地
参考例句:
  • She was smiling wanly. 她苍白无力地笑着。 来自互联网
10 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
11 benevolence gt8zx     
n.慈悲,捐助
参考例句:
  • We definitely do not apply a policy of benevolence to the reactionaries.我们对反动派决不施仁政。
  • He did it out of pure benevolence. 他做那件事完全出于善意。
12 disdain KltzA     
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑
参考例句:
  • Some people disdain labour.有些人轻视劳动。
  • A great man should disdain flatterers.伟大的人物应鄙视献媚者。
13 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
14 erased f4adee3fff79c6ddad5b2e45f730006a     
v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 );抹去;清除
参考例句:
  • He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案,写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义,消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 crumpled crumpled     
adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
  • She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。
16 defamation FY3zV     
n.诽谤;中伤
参考例句:
  • Character defamation can be either oral or written.人格诽谤既可以是口头的也可以是书面的。
  • The company sued for defamation.这个公司因受到诽谤而提起诉讼。
17 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
18 awakened de71059d0b3cd8a1de21151c9166f9f0     
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到
参考例句:
  • She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
19 facet wzXym     
n.(问题等的)一个方面;(多面体的)面
参考例句:
  • He has perfected himself in every facet of his job.他已使自己对工作的各个方面都得心应手。
  • Every facet of college life is fascinating.大学生活的每个方面都令人兴奋。
20 inept fb1zh     
adj.不恰当的,荒谬的,拙劣的
参考例句:
  • Whan an inept remark to make on such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合,怎么说这样不恰当的话。
  • He's quite inept at tennis.他打网球太笨。
21 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听,询问,调查,查问
参考例句:
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
22 forefinger pihxt     
n.食指
参考例句:
  • He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
  • He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。
23 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
参考例句:
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
24 blessing UxDztJ     
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿
参考例句:
  • The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
  • A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。
25 watchful tH9yX     
adj.注意的,警惕的
参考例句:
  • The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
  • It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。
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