妈妈与孩子(Mother and child)

　　那是1961年的圣诞节。我在俄亥俄州的一个小镇上教小学三年级。班上27个孩子都在积极参加礼物赠送日的活动。

　　a tree covered with tinsel and gaudy paper chains graced one corner. in another rested a manger scene produced from cardboard and poster paints by chubby, and sometimes grubby, hands. someone had brought a doll and placed it on the straw in the cardboard box that served as the manger. it didn\'t matter that you could pull a string and hear the blue-eyed, golden-haired dolly say, my name is susie. but jesus was a boy baby! one of the boys proclaimed. nonetheless, susie stayed.

　　教室的一角被一棵树装点得熠熠生辉，树上缀满了金银丝帛和华丽的彩纸。教室的另一角是一个涂着海报油彩由纸板制成的马槽，这出自孩子们那胖乎乎、脏兮兮的小手。有人带来了一个娃娃，把它放在纸板槽里的稻草上(假装小耶稣)。只要拉拉它身上的一条细绳，这个蓝眼睛、金发的娃娃就会说道，我叫苏西，不过这都没有关系。一个男孩提出：耶稣可是个小男孩呀!不过苏西还是留了下来。

　　each day the children produced some new wonder -- strings of popcorn, hand-made trinkets, and german bells made from wallpaper samples, which we hung from the ceiling. through it all she remained aloof, watching from afar, seemingly miles away. i wondered what would happen to this quiet child, once so happy, now so suddenly withdrawn. i hoped the festivities would appeal to her. but nothing did. we made cards and gifts for mothers and dads, for sisters and brothers, for grandparents, and for each other. at home the students made the popular fried marbles and vied with one another to bring in the prettiest ones. you put them in a hot frying pan, teacher. and you let them get real hot, and then you watch what happens inside. but you don\'t fry them too long or they break.so, as my gift to them, i made each of my students a little pouch for carrying their fried marbles. and i knew they had each made something for me: bookmarks carefully cut, colored, and sometimes pasted together; cards and special drawings; liquid embroidery doilies, hand-fringed, of course.