英語(yǔ)美文:我的野蠻祖母
英語(yǔ)美文:我的野蠻祖母
以下是小編整理的情感類英語(yǔ)美文欣賞:我的野蠻祖母,希望對(duì)你有所感觸。
My grandmother was an iron-willed woman, thefeared matriarch of our New York family back in the1950s.
When I was five years old, she invited some friendsand relatives to her Bronx apartment for a party.Among the guests was a neighborhood big shot whowas doing well in business. His wife was proud oftheir social status and let everyone at the partyknow it. They had a little girl about my age who wasspoiled and very much used to getting her own way.
Grandmother spent a lot of time with the big shot and his family. She considered them themost important members of her social circle and worked hard at currying their favor.
At one point during the party, I made my way to the bathroom and closed the door behind me.A minute or two later, the little girl opened the bathroom door and grandly walked in. I was stillsitting down.
"Don't you know that little girls aren't supposed to come into the bathroom when a little boy isusing it!?" I hollered.
The surprise of my being there, along with the indignation I had heaped upon her, stunnedthe little girl. Then she started to cry. She quickly closed the door, ran to the kitchen, andtearfully complained to her parents and my grandmother.
Most of the partygoers had overheard my loud remark and were greatly amused by it. But notGrandmother.
She was waiting for me when I left the bathroom. I received the longest, sharpest tongue-lashing of my young life. Grandmother yelled that I was impolite and rude and that I hadinsulted that nice little girl. The guests watched and winced in absolute silence. So forceful wasmy grandmother's personality that no one dared stand up for me.
After her harangue was over and I had been dismissed, the party continued, but theatmosphere was much more subdued.
Twenty minutes later, all that changed. Grandmother walked by the bathroom and noticed atorrent of water streaming out from under the door.
She shrieked twice—first in astonishment, then in rage. She flung open the bathroom doorand saw that the sink and tub were plugged up and that the faucets were going at full blast.
Everyone knew who the culprit was. The guests quickly formed a protective barricade aroundme, but Grandmother was so furious that she almost got to me anyway, flailing her arms as iftrying to swim over the crowd.
Several strong men eventually moved her away and calmed her down, although she sputteredand fumed for quite a while.
My grandfather took me by the hand and sat me on his lap in a chair near the window. He was akind and gentle man, full of wisdom and patience. Rarely did he raise his voice to anyone, andnever did he argue with his wife or defy her wishes.
He looked at me with much curiosity, not at all angry or upset. "Tell me," he asked, "why didyou do it?"
"Well, she yelled at me for nothing," I said earnestly. "Now she's got something to yellabout."
Grandfather didn't speak right away. He just sat there, looking at me and smiling.
"Eric," he said at last, "you are my revenge."
20世紀(jì)50年代我們家住在紐約,當(dāng)時(shí)祖母是一家之主,也是一個(gè)令人敬畏的強(qiáng)悍女人。
我5歲那年,她邀請(qǐng)了一些親戚朋友到布朗克斯的公寓里聚會(huì)。在客人中有個(gè)做生意發(fā)了財(cái)?shù)拇罂?,他的妻子神氣地向大家炫耀他們家的社?huì)地位。他們有個(gè)嬌氣的小女兒,年紀(jì)跟我差不多,脾氣很蠻橫。
祖母殷勤地伺候著那個(gè)大款和他的家人,她把他們看作是她的社交圈里最重要的人物,因此她不遺余力地逢迎他們。
晚會(huì)進(jìn)行中,我走進(jìn)了洗手間并隨手把門關(guān)上。大概一兩分鐘后,我當(dāng)時(shí)還坐在馬桶上,那個(gè)小女孩推開(kāi)洗手間的門,大模大樣地走了進(jìn)來(lái)。
“難道你不知道當(dāng)一個(gè)男孩在使用洗手間的時(shí)候女孩子是不可以進(jìn)來(lái)的嗎!?”我生氣地嚷著說(shuō)。
聽(tīng)到我生氣的吼聲,她一下子驚呆了,然后“哇”的一聲哭了起來(lái)。她飛快地關(guān)上門向廚房跑去,邊哭邊向她的父母和我的祖母告狀。
大多數(shù)的客人其實(shí)都聽(tīng)到了我的怒罵聲,他們都被逗樂(lè)了,可祖母一點(diǎn)都沒(méi)笑。
當(dāng)我從洗手間出來(lái),祖母劈頭蓋臉地把我罵了一通,罵我沒(méi)禮貌、少教養(yǎng)、沖撞了那可愛(ài)的小女孩。客人們都在靜靜地看著,我的祖母實(shí)在太霸道了,根本沒(méi)有人敢為我說(shuō)話。
等她罵完叫我滾開(kāi)之后,晚會(huì)繼續(xù)進(jìn)行,但氣氛已經(jīng)大大減弱。
可二十分鐘之后,一切全都變了。當(dāng)祖母從洗手間走過(guò)的時(shí)候,她發(fā)現(xiàn)有股水流從門縫里涌出來(lái)。
她先是驚異地叫了一聲,很快又憤怒地尖叫起來(lái)。她猛力地撞開(kāi)洗手間的門,發(fā)現(xiàn)洗手盆和浴缸都被塞子塞住了,水龍頭被擰到最大,水正嘩啦啦地直流。
每個(gè)人都知道是誰(shuí)搞的鬼,客人們馬上在我周圍形成了一堵人墻保護(hù)我。憤怒的祖母使勁地?fù)]舞著雙手,樣子就像在人堆里游泳一樣。好幾次她差點(diǎn)夠著我。
最后幾個(gè)魁梧的男人才把祖母制住,把她拉開(kāi)讓她冷靜下來(lái),但她還是氣急敗壞地嚷了好一陣子。
祖父這時(shí)走了過(guò)來(lái),牽著我的手到靠窗的一張椅子上坐下,還把我抱到他的膝蓋上坐。祖父的性格好,脾氣也特別好。他很少提高嗓門和別人說(shuō)話,也從來(lái)沒(méi)有和祖母吵架,也從來(lái)沒(méi)有違背過(guò)祖母的意愿。
他很好奇地打量著我,沒(méi)有半點(diǎn)生氣或煩惱的樣子,“告訴我,”他說(shuō),“你為什么要這樣做呢?”
“是這樣的,她先無(wú)緣無(wú)故地罵了我一頓,”我認(rèn)真地說(shuō),“這回她罵我就有理由了!”
祖父沒(méi)有馬上說(shuō)話,他只是坐在那兒,笑瞇瞇地看著我。
最后他終于開(kāi)口說(shuō):“艾里克,我的乖孫子,你總算替爺爺出了口氣!”