第248期：希腊三部曲：追逐阳光之岛

想成为我们的主播，欢迎加微信 xdfbook 投稿。 一段美文，一首英文歌，或是一点生活感想，全由你做主。 《希腊三部曲：追逐阳光之岛》 My Family and Other Animals In order to celebrate her ) first entry into the sea we decided to have a moonlight picnic down at the bay, and sent an invitation to Theodore, who was the only stranger that Mother would tolerate on such a great occasion. The day for the great immersion ) arrived, food and wine were prepared, the boat was cleaned out and filled with cushions, and everything was ready when Theodore turned up. On hearing that we had planned a moonlight picnic and swim he reminded us that on that particular night there was no moon. Everyone blamed everyone else for not having checked on the moon's progress, and the argument went on until dusk. Eventually we decided that we would go on the picnic in spite of everything, since all the arrangements were made, so we staggered ) down to the boat, loaded down with food, wine, and towels, and set off down the coast. Eventually we reached the bay, spread out the rugs on the sand, arranged the food, placed the battalion ) of wine-bottles in a row in the shallows to keep cool, and the great moment had arrived. Amid much cheering Mother removed her housecoat and stood revealed in all her glory, clad ) in the bathing-costume which made her look, as Larry pointed out, like a sort of marine Albert Memorial ). Roger behaved very well until he saw Mother wade into ) the shallow water in a slow and dignified ) manner. He then got terribly excited. He seemed to be under the impression that the bathing-costume was some sort of sea monster that had enveloped ) Mother and was now about to carry her out to sea. Barking wildly, he flung himself to the rescue, grabbed one of the frills ) dangling so plentifully round the edge of the costume, and tugged ) with all his strength in order to pull Mother back to safety. Mother, who had just remarked that she thought the water a little cold, suddenly found herself being pulled backwards. With a squeak ) of dismay she lost her footing and sat down heavily in two feet of water, while Roger tugged so hard that a large section of the frill gave way. Elated ) by the fact that the enemy appeared to be disintegrating ), Roger, growling encouragement to Mother, set to work to remove the rest of the offending monster from her person. We writhed ) on the sand, helpless with laughter, while Mother sat gasping ) in the shallows, making desperate attempts to regain her feet, beat Roger off, and retain at least a portion of her costume. Unfortunately, owing to the extreme thickness of the material from which the costume was constructed, the air was trapped inside; the effect of the water made it inflate ) like a balloon, and trying to keep this airship of frills and tucks under control added to Mother's difficulties. In the end it was Theodore who shooed ) Roger away and helped Mother to her feet. Eventually, after we had partaken of ) a glass of wine to celebrate and recover from what Larry referred to as Perseus's rescue of Andromeda ), we went in to swim, and Mother sat discreetly ) in the shallows, while Roger crouched nearby, growling ominously ) at the costume as it bulged ) and fluttered ) round Mother's waist. The phosphorescence ) was particularly good that night. By plunging your hand into the water and dragging it along you could draw a wide golden-green ribbon of cold fire across the sea, and when you dived as you hit the surface it seemed as though you had plunged into a frosty furnace ) of glinting ) light. When we were tired we waded out of the sea, the water running off our bodies so that we seemed to be on fire, and lay on the sand to eat. Then, as the wine was opened at the end of the meal, as if by arrangement, a few fireflies appeared in the olives behind us—a sort of overture ) to the show. First of all there were just two or three green specks ), sliding smoothly through the trees, winking regularly. But gradually more and more appeared, until parts of the olive-grove were lit with a weird green glow. Never had we seen so many fireflies congregated ) in one spot; they flicked through the trees in swarms ), they crawled on the grass, the bushes and the olive-trunks, they drifted in swarms over our heads and landed on the rugs, like green embers . Glittering streams of them flew out over the bay, swirling over the water, and then, right on cue ), the porpoises ) appeared, swimming in line into the bay, rocking rhythmically through the water, their backs as if painted with phosphorous. In the centre of the bay they swam round, diving and rolling, occasionally leaping high in the air and falling back into a conflagration ) of light. With the fireflies above and the illuminated porpoises below it was a fantastic sight. We could even see the luminous trails beneath the surface where the porpoises swam in fiery ) patterns across the sandy bottom, and when they leapt high in the air, the drops of emerald ) glowing water flicked from them, and you could not tell if it was phosphorescence or fireflies you were looking at. 为了庆祝她第一次入海游泳，我们决定在海湾举办一次月光野餐，并向西奥多(编注：这一家人的朋友，是个医生)发出了邀请，他是妈妈在这样一个盛大的场合唯一能容许的外人。令人激动的入水的日子到来了，美食和美酒都已备好，小船已被清洗一新并铺满了衬垫，等西奥多到来的时候，一切都已准备就绪。听到我们计划了月光野餐和游泳，西奥多提醒我们那一晚是没有月光的。每个人都在责怪别人没有查明月亮的盈缺，争吵一直持续到黄昏。最终，我们决定无论如何都要去野餐，因为一切都已安排就绪，所以我们带着沉甸甸的食物、酒水和浴巾，步履蹒跚地下到海边，上了小船，沿着海岸出发了。 终于，我们到达了海湾。我们在沙滩上铺好毯子，摆好食物，把大批红酒瓶在浅水处摆成一排使其保持清凉，然后激动人心的时刻来了。在热烈的欢呼声中，妈妈脱掉了她的家居服，踌躇满志地站在那里，身上裹着那件泳衣，她看起来就像——用拉里(编注：作者的大哥)的说法——海里的阿尔伯特纪念碑。罗杰(编注：他们的狗狗)一直表现良好，直到它看见妈妈以缓慢而高贵的姿态走进浅水中，之后就变得兴奋异常。似乎在罗杰看来，妈妈那泳衣就像某种海怪一样裹挟着她，现在还要把她带到海里去。它疯狂地吠叫着，猛冲过去展开营救，咬住泳衣边缘其中一个圆鼓鼓的飘来荡去的褶边，竭尽全力地拉拽，想把妈妈拉回安全的地方。妈妈刚说完觉得水有一点儿凉，就突然发现自己正被往回拽。 随着一声惊恐的尖叫，她失足跌倒，一屁股重重地坐在了两英尺深的水里，而罗杰拉扯得太用力，以至于妈妈泳衣上的一大块褶边都被扯掉了。看到敌人貌似崩溃瓦解，罗杰感到洋洋得意，它冲妈妈吼叫着为妈妈鼓劲儿，并开始努力驱赶她身上其他正在欺负她的怪物(泳衣褶边)。我们在沙滩上直打滚，笑得乐不可支，而妈妈则坐在浅水滩里喘着粗气，不顾一切地尝试着站起来，打跑罗杰，保住至少一部分泳衣。不走运的是，由于这件泳衣的布料实在太厚了，空气被裹在了里面，在水的作用下，它像个气球一样膨胀起来，妈妈还得努力控制那些褶皱荷叶边构成的“飞艇”，这使得妈妈的行动难上加难。最后，还是西奥多挥手赶走了罗杰，帮助妈妈站了起来——这被拉里称为了“珀耳修斯拯救安德洛米达”。最终，我们共饮了一瓶葡萄酒，来庆祝并从这段插曲中平复下来，之后就下水去游泳了。妈妈小心翼翼地坐在浅水区里，而罗杰则蜷缩在旁边，朝着妈妈腰间鼓胀摆动的泳衣恶狠狠地吠叫着。 那晚的磷光格外漂亮。把双手伸进水里搅动水面，你会在海里划出一条宽宽的金绿色冷火般的带子；当你俯身跳进水里,撞击水面的时候，你似乎纵身投入了波光闪烁的冰冷火炉。游累了，我们便涉水走出大海，海水沿着身体流下，让我们看起来如浴火一般。随后我们躺在沙滩上，开始吃东西。接下来，野餐接近尾声，我们开启了一瓶红葡萄酒，就在此时，犹如有意安排的一般，一些萤火虫出现在我们身后的橄榄树上——就像某种表演的序曲。 起初，只有两三个绿色的亮点在树丛里轻快地滑翔舞动，有规律地一闪一闪着。但是渐渐地，越来越多的萤火虫出现了，直到橄榄树丛中很多地方都被一种怪异的绿光点亮。我们从没见过这么多萤火虫聚集在一起。它们成群结队地穿越树丛，在草地上、灌木丛里和橄榄树的枝干上爬行，它们在我们头顶成群地飘荡飞舞，又降落在那些毯子上，就像一簇簇绿色的小火苗。一条条闪闪发光的萤火虫带飞到了海湾上方，在水面上聚集打转。紧接着，就在那时，海豚出现了。它们排成一队游进了海湾，在水中有节奏地摇摆着，背鳍好似被涂上了磷光。它们在海湾中央成群结队地游来游去，俯冲旋转，偶尔高高地跃到空中，然后落回一片光火之中。天上有萤火虫，海里有发光的海豚，那景象可真奇妙。我们甚至可以看到海面下发光的踪迹，海豚们在那里成群地游过海底的沙滩，构成火线交织的图案。当它们高高跃到空中，闪着翠绿色光芒的水滴从它们身上落下，让你无法分辨那是磷光还是你刚刚凝视的萤火虫。 文章摘自：《新东方英语·中学生》杂志2017年8月号