How my childish imagination glowed with the splendour of their enterprise! I idealized them as the bravest and most generous men that ever sought a home in a strange land. I thought they desired the freedom of their fellow men as well as their own. I was keenly surprised and disappointed years later to learn of their acts of persecution that make us tingle with shame, even while we glory in the courage and energy that gave us our "Country Beautiful."
我童年的想象力是如此地多姿多彩!我理想化地把先民们视做最勇敢、最有气魄的开拓者,因为他们要在一片陌生的土地上寻找家园。我想,他们不但要为自己争取自由,还要为民族利益争取自由。多年后,我才了解到他们的出走是由于受到了迫害,这让我深感震惊和失望,我为人类的非理性行为感到羞愧,尤其是当我们以先辈们建立的“美丽新世界”引以为豪的时候。
Among the many friends I made in Boston were Mr. William Endicott and his daughter. Their kindness to me was the seed from which many pleasant memories have since grown. One day we visited their beautiful home at Beverly Farms. I remember with delight how I went through their rose-garden, how their dogs, big Leo and little curly-haired Fritz with long ears, came to meet me, and how Nimrod, the swiftest of the horses, poked his nose into my hands for a pat and a lump of sugar. I also remember the beach, where for the first time I played in the sand. It was hard, smooth sand, very different from the loose, sharp sand, mingled with kelp and shells, at Brewster. Mr. Endicott told me about the great ships that came sailing by from Boston, bound for Europe. I saw him many times after that, and he was always a good friend to me; indeed, I was thinking of him when I called Boston "the City of Kind Hearts."
威廉·恩迪考特先生和他的女儿也是我在波士顿结交的朋友。他们的友善如同播撒在我心底的种子,随着时光的流逝,许多美好的回忆也慢慢开花结果。有一天,我们去贝弗利农庄拜访他们美丽的家。我依然记得当时的情景:我如何兴高采烈地穿过他们家的玫瑰花园;如何遇到了他们家的大狗利奥,还有卷毛长耳小狗弗里茨;行动敏捷的大马宁录又如何伸着鼻子吃我手里的黄油和糖块。我还记得那片海滩,我就是在那里第一次玩沙子的。那是一种质地坚硬、手感爽滑的沙子,同布鲁斯特的掺杂着海藻和贝壳,松软扎手的沙子截然不同。恩迪考特先生还跟我讲了有关巨轮从波士顿起航驶往欧洲的事。后来我又见过他许多次,他一直是我的好朋友。事实上,每当我把波士顿叫做“慈爱之城”的时候,我就会想起他。
来源:可可英语 //m.moreplr.com/Article/201704/505420.shtml