佚名/Anonymous
My six-year-old granddaughter stares at me as if she is seeing me for the first time.“Grandma, you are an antique,”she says.“You are old.Antiques are old.You are my antique.”
I am not satisfied to let the matter rest there.I take out the Webster’s Dictionary and read the definition to Jenny.I explain,“An antique is not only just old, it’s an object existing since or belonging to earlier times...a work of art...piece of furniture.”“Antiques are treasured,”I tell Jenny as I put away the dictionary.“They have to be handled carefully because they sometimes are very valuable.In order to quality as an antique, the object has to be at least 100 years old.”
“I’m only 67,”I remind Jenny.
We look around the house for other antiques, besides me.There is a bureau that was handed down from one aunt to another and finally to our family.“It’s very old.”I tell Jenny.I try to keep it polished and I show it off whenever I can.You do that with antiques.“When Jenny gets older and understands such things, I might also tell her that whenever I look at the bureau or touch it, I am reminded of the aunt so dear to me who gave me the bureau as a gift.I see her face again though she is no longer with us.I even hear her voice, and recall her smile.I remember myself as a little girl leaning against this antique, listening to one of her stories.The bureau does that for me.
There is a picture on the wall purchased at a garage sale.It is dated 1867.“Now that’s an antique,”I boast.“Over 100 years old.”Of course it is marked and scratched and not in very good condition.“Sometimes age does that,”I tell Jenny.“But the marks are good marks.They show living, being around.That’s something to display with pride.In fact, sometimes, the more an object shows age, the more valuable it can become.”It is important that I believe this for my own self-esteem.
Our tour of antiques continues.There is a vase on the floor.It has been in my house for a long time.I’m not certain where it came from, but I didn’t buy it new.And then there is the four poster bed, sent to me 40 years ago by an uncle who slept in it for fifty years.
One thing about antiques, I explain to Jenny, is that they usually have a story.They’ve been in one home and then another, handed down from one family to another, traveling all over the place.They’ve lasted through years and years.
They could have been tossed away, or ignored, or destroyed, or lost.But instead, they survived.
For a moment Jenny looks thoughtful.“I don’t have any antiques but you.”she says.Then her face brightens.
“Could I take you to school for show and tell?”
“Only if I fit into your backpack.”I answer.
And then Jenny’s antique lifted her up and embraced her in a hug that would last through the years.
六歲大的孫女好像第一次見到我似的，盯著我看了許久，然後說：“奶奶，你是件古董。你老，古董也老。你是我的古董。”
於是，我找出一本《韋氏字典》，把這個詞的定義讀給小孫女珍妮聽，以免她再誤解下去。我解釋道：“古董不僅是古老的，它還是從很久以前流傳下來的物品，例如一件藝術品，或是一件家具。”我邊合上字典，邊對珍妮說：“古董是人們珍藏的寶物。有時對於很貴重的古董，人們一定要小心謹慎地收藏。一件物品至少要有一百年的曆史，才有資格稱為古董。”
我提醒她說：“我隻有67歲。”
我們環顧四周，在屋內尋找除了我以外的古董。那裏有個櫃子，它是從一位姑媽那裏一代代傳下來，最終傳到我們家的。我告訴珍妮：“這是個很古老的櫃子，我盡量把它保養得美麗無瑕，隻要有機會就會展示給人們看。對待古董就應該這樣。”也許等珍妮長大了，能懂得一些事情時，我還會告訴她，每當我看到這個櫃子或是撫摸它時，就會想起送我們櫃子的那位可親的姑媽。雖然她早已離開人世，但我對她的微笑依然記憶猶新。還記得當我還是個小女孩時，常常靠在這個櫃子旁邊聽她講故事。這個櫃子總讓我想起當年的時光。
牆上有一幅在舊貨市場上買的，它上麵所標的日期是1867年。“它的曆史已經超過了一百年，現在也算是一件古董了。”我自誇道。當然它的保養狀況不是很好，已經有了明顯的刮痕。“歲月有時會讓一切都留下痕跡。”我對珍妮說，“然而這些痕跡都是曾經生活和存在的象征，是值得自豪地展示給世人的，因此它們都是美好的。事實上，有時，一件物品的年代越久，它的價值也就越高。”我之所以相信，是因為這些對於維護我個人的自尊心很重要。
搜尋古董的旅程還在繼續。地板上的花瓶，擺放在我的房子裏已經很久了。我肯定當時買的是舊貨，但從哪兒買的，我已經不記得了。再就是40年前一位叔叔送給我的那張床，它有四根帷杆。之前，叔叔在這張**已經睡了50年。
我向珍妮解釋，古董通常都有一段故事，這是它們的特點之一。它們曾被收藏在不同的家庭，從一家傳到另一家，甚至走遍了全國各地，年複一年，最終流傳了下來。
也許它們曾被拋棄，或被遺忘，或曾遭破壞，又或是曾被遺失，但最終它們幸存了下來。“除了你之外，我不要其他古董。”珍妮沉思了好一會兒說，然後開心地笑了。
“我能把你帶到學校給同學們看，給他們講你的故事嗎？”
我回答說：“可是你的書包要裝得下我才行啊。”
之後，“珍妮的古董”將珍妮抱起，緊緊擁入懷中。那個擁抱將會永存在歲月的記憶中。
1.belong to
belong表示“屬於”，後麵一般要接介詞to。
例：It belongs to you.
我屬於你。
belongings的意思是“財物”。
例：I put a few personal belongings in a bag.
我把幾件私人物品裝進包中。
2.lean
lean的意思是“倚，靠；傾斜；依賴”。
lean against表示“靠在……”。
lean toward表示“傾向……”。
例：He leans toward a career in chemistry.
他傾向做化學工作。
lean on“施壓”。
例：Don’t lean on him.
不要給他施壓。
1.In order merely to keep food on the table for_________, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by_________, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying_________he could find in the neighborhood.
2.To pay homage to Albert for all that he had_________, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s_________hands with palms together and thin stretched skyward.
當愛召喚你時，跟隨它，雖然它的道路艱難而險峻。
當它展翅擁抱你時，依順它，雖然它羽翼中的利刃會傷害你。
當它開口對你說話時，相信它，雖然它的聲音會像狂風盡掃園中花朵似的擊碎你的夢。