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The Last Word Was Love
最后的落款是“爱你们的”
William Saroyan
威廉·萨罗扬
A long time ago when I was eleven my mother and my father had a prolonged quarrel.
很久以前，在我11岁的时候，我爸妈之间发生了一场持续了很长时间的争吵。
The quarrel picked up the minute my father got home from work at Graff's, where he was a forty-seven-year-old assistant—to everybody.
每当爸爸从格拉夫商店下班回到家，争吵就开始了。在格拉夫商店工作时，他是个47岁的助理，给其他所有店员跑腿。
Graff's sold everything from food to ready-made clothing, animal traps, and farm implements.
格拉夫商店什么都卖，从食品到成衣，从动物捕捉器到农具。
My father had taken the job only for the daily wage of three dollars, which he received in coin at the end of every twelve-hour day.
爸爸在那里工作只为了赚每天3美元的工资，每天工作12个小时后，他都可以领到硬帀。
He didn't mind the nature of the work, even though his profession was teaching,
他不介意这份工作的性质，尽管他的专业是老师，
and, he didn't care that it might end at any moment, without notice.
他也不介意随时可能在毫无预告的情况下被人解雇。
He'd already had the job six months, from late summer to early spring, when the quarrel began to get on my brother's nerve.
他做这份工作已经6个月了，从去年夏末到今年初春，哥哥拉尔夫开始为他们的争吵感到烦恼。
I didn't even begin to notice the quarrel until Ralph pointed it out to me.
但是，我却一直没有注意到父母吵架的事，直到拉尔夫告诉我。
I admired him so much that I joined him in finding fault with my mother and father.
我一直非常敬佩他，我跟着他一起开始挑爸妈的毛病。
First, though, I'd better describe the quarrel, if that's possible.
不过现在，如果可能的话，我想最好先来描述一下这场争吵。
To begin with, there was my mother running the house, and there was my father working at Graff's.
首先，妈妈操持整个家庭，爸爸在格拉夫商店打工。
There was my brother, Ralph, at the top of his class at high school.
哥哥拉尔夫在高中班上名列前茅。
There I was near the bottom of my class at junior high.
而我在读初中，成绩在班上基本上是垫底的。
And there was our nine-year-old sister, Rose, just enjoying life without any fuss.
我们有个9岁大的妹妹罗丝，她无忧无虑地过着日子。
