名家散文鉴赏：The Chrysanthemums(菊花)_美文

名家散文鉴赏：The Chrysanthemums(菊花)

那男人进了尖木桩做的大门，而伊利莎兴奋地沿着两边都是天竺葵的小路跑到房子后面，回来的时候抱着一个大个儿的红花盆。手套已经不知道扔哪儿去了。她跪在苗床旁的地上，用手指挖些沙土，然后捧到那个新的红花盆里。接着她捡起准备好的一小捆苗，用自己有力的手指将它们插到沙子里，然后再用指节在周围拍了拍。男人低头看着她。“我会告诉你怎么做的，”她说。“你得记着，好告诉那位太太。”“好的，我尽力记住。”“那好，记着，这些幼苗会在一个月左右扎根。然后她就得把它们移栽出来，移到象这样肥沃的土壤里，每隔一英尺种一棵，你明白吗?”她抓起一满把黑色的土壤让他看。“它们会长得很快很高。你记着：告诉她七月的时候把它们剪短，剪到距地面大概八英寸高。”“在它们开花前吗?”他问。“是的，在开花前。”她的脸因为兴奋绷得紧紧的。“它们很快就会长起来;九月末就开始打花骨朵了。”

She stopped and seemed perplexed. "It's the budding that takes the most care," she said hesitantly. "I don't know how to tell you." She looked deep into his eyes, searchingly. Her mouth opened a little, and she seemed to be listening. "I'll try to tell you,” she said. “Did you ever hear of planting hands?" "Can't say I have, ma'am." "Well, I can only tell you what it feels like. It's when you're picking off the buds you don't want. Everything goes right down into your fingertips. You watch your fingers work. They do it themselves. You can feel how it is. They pick and pick the buds. They never make a mistake. They're with the plant. Do you see? Your fingers and the plant. You can feel that, right up your arm. They know. They never make a mistake. You can feel it. When you're like that you can't do anything wrong. Do you see that? Can you understand that?" She was kneeling on the ground looking up at him. Her breast swelled passionately. The man's eyes narrowed. He looked away self-consciously. "Maybe I know," he said. "Sometimes in the night in the wagon there -"