《怦然心动》｜单词注释｜Chapter 4
The Sycamore Tree
1
I love to watch my father paint. Or really, I love to hear him talk while he paints.
2
The words always come out soft and
somehow
heavy when he's brushing on the
layers
of a
landscape
.
somehow /ˈsʌmhaʊ/ adv. 不知怎么地
layer /ˈleɪər/ n. 层
landscape /ˈlændskeɪp/ n. 风景画
3
Not sad.
Weary
, maybe, but
peaceful
.
weary /ˈwɪri/ adj. 疲倦的
peaceful /ˈpiːsfl/ adj. 平静的
4
My father doesn't have a
studio
or anything, and since the garage is
stuffed
with things that everyone thinks they need but no one ever uses, he paints outside.
studio /ˈstuːdioʊ/ n. 画室
stuffed /stʌft/ adj. 塞满了的
5
Outside is where the best landscapes are,
only
they're
nowhere
near our house. So what he does is keep a camera in his truck.
only /'onli/ conj. [非正式]不过
nowhere /ˈnoʊwer/ n. 荒芜的地区
6
His job as a
mason
takes him to lots of different locations, and he's always
on the lookout for
a great sunrise or sunset, or even just a nice field with sheep or cows.
mason /'mesn/ n. 泥瓦匠
on the lookout for 寻找
7
Then he picks out one of the
snapshots
, clips it to his
easel
, and paints.
snapshot /'snæpʃɑt/ n. (拍)快照
easel /ˈiːzl/ n. 画架
8
The paintings come out fine, but I've always felt a little sorry for him, having to paint beautiful scenes in our
backyard
, which is not exactly
picturesque
.
backyard /ˌbækˈjɑːrd/ n. 后院
picturesque /ˌpɪktʃəˈresk/ adj. 风景如画的
9
It never was
much of
a yard, but after I started
raising
chickens, things didn't exactly improve.
much of a 称得上
raise /reɪz/ v. 饲养
10
Dad doesn't seem to see the backyard or the chickens when he's painting, though.
11
It's not just the snapshot or the
canvas
he sees
either
.
canvas /ˈkænvəs/ n. 帆布
either /'iðɚ/ pron. (两者之中)任何一个
12
It's something much bigger.
13
He gets this look in his eye like he's
transcended
the yard, the neighborhood, the world.
transcend /trænˈsend/ vt. 超出
14
And as his big,
callused
hands sweep a tiny
brush
against
the canvas, it's almost like his body has been
possessed
by some graceful
spiritual
being.
callus /'kæləs/ n. 老茧
brush /brʌʃ/ n. 画笔
possess /pəˈzes/ (尤指邪恶的鬼魅或精灵）缠住
spiritual /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəl/ adj. 心灵的
15
When I was little, my dad would let me sit beside him on the porch while he painted,
as long as
I'd be quiet.
as long as 只要
16
I don't do quiet easily, but I discovered that after five or ten minutes without a
peep
, he'd start talking.
peep /piːp/ n. 窥视
17
I've learned a lot about my dad that way.
learn /lɜːrn/ vt. 得知
18
He told me all sorts of stories about what he'd done when he was my age, and other things, too - like how he got his first job
delivering
hay
, and how he
wished
he'd finished college.
deliver /dɪˈlɪvər/ vi. 运送
hay /heɪ/ n. 干草
wish /wɪʃ/ vt. 渴望
19
When I got a little older, he still talked about himself and his childhood, but he also started asking questions about me.
20
What were we learning at school? What book was I
currently
reading? What did I think about this or that.
21
Then one time he surprised me and asked me about Bryce. Why was I so crazy about Bryce?
22
I told him about his eyes and his hair and the way his cheeks
blush
,
blush /blʌʃ/ vi. 脸红
23
but I don't think I explained it very well because when I was done Dad shook his head and told me in soft, heavy words that I needed to start looking at the whole landscape.
24
I didn't really know what he meant by that, but it made me want to
argue
with him.
argue /ˈɑːrɡjuː/ vt. 争辩
25
How could he possibly understand about Bryce? He didn't know him!
26
But this was not an arguing spot. Those were
scattered
throughout
the house, but not out here.
scatter /ˈskætər/ vt. 使散播
throughout /θruːˈaʊt/ prep. (表示区域)遍及...场所
27
We were both quiet for a record-breaking amount of time before he kissed me on the forehead and said, “
Proper
lighting is everything, Julianna.”
proper /ˈprɑpɚ/ adj. 恰当的
28
Proper lighting? What was that supposed to mean?
29
I sat there wondering, but I was afraid that
by
asking I'd be
admitting
that I wasn't mature enough to understand, and for some reason it felt obvious.
admit /ədˈmɪt/ vt. & vi. 承认
30
Like I should understand.
31
After that he didn't talk so much about events as he did about
ideas
.
idea /aɪ'diə/ n. 想法
32
And the older I got, the more
philosophical
he seemed to get.
philosophical /ˌfɪləˈsɑːfɪkl/ adj. 哲学上的
34 I don't know if he really got more philosophical or if he just thought I could
handle
it now that I was in the
double digits
.
handle /ˈhændl/ vt. 触摸
double digit 十位数
33
Mostly the things he talked about floated around me, but once in a while something would happen and I would understand exactly what he had meant.
35
“A painting is more than the sum of its parts,” he would tell me, and then go on to explain how the cow by itself is just a cow,
meadow /ˈmedoʊ/ n. 草地
36
and the
meadow
by itself is just grass and flowers, and the sun peeking through the trees is just a beam of light,
37
but put them all together and you've got magic.
38
I understood what he was saying, but I never felt what he was saying until one day when I was up in the sycamore tree.
39
The sycamore tree had been at the top of the hill forever.
40
It was on a big vacant lot, giving
shade
in the summer and a place for birds to
nest
in the spring.
shade /ʃeɪd/ n. 树荫
nest /nest/ vi. 筑巢
41
It had a
built-in
slide
for us, too.
built-in /ˈbɪltˈɪn/ adj. 内置的
slide /slaɪd/ n. 滑梯
42
Its trunk bent up and around in almost a complete
spiral
, and it was so much fun to ride down.
spiral /ˈspaɪrəl/ n. 螺旋形之物
43
My mom told me she thought the tree must have been
damaged
as a
sapling
but survived, and now, maybe a hundred years later, it was still there, the biggest tree she'd ever seen.
damage /ˈdæmɪdʒ/ n. 损害
sapling /'sæplɪŋ/ n. 幼树
44
“A
testimony
to
endurance
” is what she called it.
testimony /ˈtestɪmoʊni/ n. 证明
endurance /ɪnˈdʊrəns/ n. 耐力
45
I had always played in the tree, but I didn't become a serious climber until the fifth grade, when I went up to rescue a kite that was stuck in its branches.
46
I'd first spotted the kite floating free through the air and then saw it dive-bomb somewhere up the hill by the sycamore tree.
47
I've
flown
kites before and I know - sometimes they're gone forever, and sometimes they're just waiting in the middle of the road for you to rescue them.
flown /flon/ vt. 放飞(fly的过去分词)
48
Kites can be lucky or they can be
ornery
.
ornery /ˈɔːrnəri/ adj. 难对付的
49
I've had both kinds, and a lucky kite is
definitely
worth chasing after.
definitely /ˈdefɪnətli/ adv. 明确地
50
This kite looked lucky to me.
51
It wasn't anything
fancy
, just an old-fashioned
diamond
with blue and yellow
stripes
.
fancy /ˈfænsi/ adj. 花哨的
diamond /ˈdaɪəmənd/ adj. 菱形的
stripe /straɪp/ n. 条纹
52
But it
stuttered
along in a friendly way, and when it dive-bombed, it seemed to do so from
exhaustion
as opposed to
spite
.
stutter /ˈstʌtər/ v. 时断时续地移动
exhaustion /ɪɡˈzɔːstʃən/ n. 精疲力竭
as opposed to 与......形成对照
spite /spaɪt/ n. 恶意
53
Ornery kites dive-bomb out of spite.
54
They never get exhausted because they won't stay up long enough to
poop out
.
poop out (使)筋疲力尽
55
Thirty feet up they just sort of
smirk
at you and crash for the fun of it.
smirk /smɜːrk/ n. 幸灾乐祸地笑
56
So Champ and I ran up to Collier Street, and after
scouting
out the road, Champ started barking at the sycamore tree.
scout /skaʊt/ v. 寻找
57
I looked up and spotted it, too, flashing blue and yellow through the branches.
58
It was a long ways up, but I thought I'd
give it a shot
.
give a shot 试一试
59
I
shinnied
up the trunk, took a
shortcut
across the slide, and started climbing.
shinny /'ʃɪni/ vi. 攀爬
shortcut /'ʃɔrt,kʌt/ n. 捷径
60
Champ
kept a good eye on me
, barking me along, and soon I was higher than I'd ever been.
keep an eye on 密切照看
61
But still the kite seemed forever away.
62
Then below me I noticed Bryce coming around the corner and through the vacant lot.
63
And I could tell from the way he was looking up that this was his kite.
64
What a lucky, lucky kite this was
turning out
to be!
turn out 证明是
65
“Can you climb that high?” he called up to me.
66
“Sure!” I called back. And up, up, up I went!
67
The branches were strong, with just the right amount of
intersections
to make climbing easy.
intersection /ˌɪntərˈsekʃn/ 交叉点
68
And the higher I got, the more amazed I was by the view.
69
I'd never seen a view like that!
70
It was like being in an airplane above all the
rooftops
, above the other trees. Above the world!
rooftop /'rʊf'tɑp/ n. 屋顶
71
Then I looked down. Down at Bryce.
72
And suddenly I got
dizzy
and weak in the knees.
dizzy /ˈdɪzi/ adj. 晕眩的
73
I was miles off the ground!
74
Bryce shouted, “Can you reach it?”
75
I
caught my breath
and managed to
call down
, “No problem!” then forced myself to concentrate on those blue and yellow stripes, to focus on them and only them as I shinnied up, up, up.
catch breath 喘口气
call down 朝下面大声叫喊
76
Finally I touched it; I grasped it; I had the kite in my hand!
77
But the string was tangled in the branches above and I couldn't seem to pull it free.
78
Bryce called, “Break the string!” and somehow I managed to do just that.
79
When I had the kite free, I needed a minute to rest. To recover before starting down.
80
So instead of looking at the ground below me, I held on tight and looked out. Out across the rooftops.
81
That's when the fear of being up so high began to
lift
, and in its place came the most amazing feeling that I was flying.
lift /lɪft/ vi. 消散
82
Just
soaring
above the earth,
sailing
among the clouds.
soar /sɔːr/ vi. 翱翔
sail /seɪl/ vi. 航行
83
Then I began to notice how wonderful the
breeze
smelled.
breeze /briːz/ n. 微风
84
It smelled like … sunshine. Like sunshine and wild grass and
pomegranates
and rain!
pomegranate /'pɑmɪɡrænɪt/ n. 石榴
85
I couldn't stop breathing it in, filling my lungs again and again with the sweetest smell I'd ever known.
86
Bryce called up, “Are you stuck?” which brought me down to earth.
87
Carefully I backed up,
prized
stripes in hand, and as I
worked my way
down, I could see Bryce
circling
the tree, watching me to make sure I was okay.
prized /praɪzd/ adj. 珍贵的
work one's way 努力前进
circle /'sɝkl/ vt. & vi. 环绕
88
By the time I
hit
the slide, the
heady
feeling I'd had in the tree was changing into the heady
realization
that Bryce and I were
alone
.
hit /hɪt/ vt. 达到（一个特定的水平，阶段，数字）
heady /ˈhedi/ adj. 令人陶醉的
realization /ˌriːələˈzeɪʃn/ n. 认识
alone /ə'lon/ adv. 单独地
89
Alone!
90
My heart was
positively
racing as I held the kite out to him.
positively /'pɑzətɪvli/ adv. 极其
91
But before he could take it, Champ
nudged
me from
behind
and I could feel his cold, wet nose against my skin.
nudge /nʌdʒ/ v. 轻推移动
behind /bɪ'haɪnd/ n. 屁股
92
Against my skin?!
93
I grabbed my jeans in back, and that's when I realized the
seat
of my pants was
ripped
wide open
.
seat /sit/ n. (裙子或裤子的）臀部
rip /rɪp/ vi. 被撕裂
wide open 大开的
94
Bryce laughed a little nervous laugh, so I could tell he knew, and for once mine were the cheeks that were
beet
red.
beet /bit/ n. (因愤怒、难堪或觉得热而)脸红
95
He took his kite and ran off, leaving me to
inspect
the damage.
inspect /ɪnˈspekt/ vi. 进行检查
96
I did eventually
get over
the embarrassment of my jeans, but I never got over the view.
get over 从中恢复过来
97
I kept thinking of what it felt like to be up so high in that tree.
98
I wanted to see it, to feel it, again. And again.
99
It wasn't long before I wasn't afraid of being up so high and found the spot that became my spot.
100
I could sit there for hours, just looking out at the world.
101
Sunsets were amazing. Some days they'd be purple and pink, some days they'd be a blazing orange, setting fire to clouds across the horizon.
102
It was on a day like that when my father's
notion
of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts moved from my head to my heart.
notion /ˈnoʊʃn/ n. 见解
103
The view from my sycamore was more than rooftops and clouds and wind and colors combined.
104
It was magic.
105
And I started
marveling
at how I was feeling both
humble
and
majestic
.
marvel /ˈmɑːrvl/ vi. 感到惊讶
humble /ˈhʌmbl/ adj. 卑微的
majestic /məˈdʒestɪk/ adj. 雄伟的
106
How was that possible? How could I be so full of peace and full of wonder?
107
How could this simple tree make me feel so complex? So alive.
108
I went up the tree every chance I got.
109
And in junior high that became almost every day because the bus to our school
picks up
on Collier Street, right in front of the sycamore tree.
pick up (汽车；飞机)承载
110
At first I just wanted to see how high I could get before the bus
pulled up
,
pull up 停下来
111
but
before long
I was leaving the house early so I could get
clear
up to my spot to see the sun rise, or the birds flutter about, or just the other kids
converge
on the
curb
.
before long 在短时间内
clear /klɪr/ adv. 清晰地
converge /kənˈvɜːrdʒ/ v. (使)汇聚
curb /kɜːrb/ n. [美]路缘
112
I tried to convince the kids at the bus stop to climb up with me, even a little ways, but all of them said they didn't want to get dirty.
113
Turn down a chance to feel magic for fear of a little dirt?
114
I couldn't believe it.
115
I'd never told my mother about climbing the tree.
116
Being the truly sensible adult that she is, she would have told me it was too dangerous.
117
My brothers, being brothers, wouldn't have cared.
118
That left my father. The one person I knew would understand.
119
Still
, I was afraid to tell him.
still /stɪl/ conj. 尽管如此
120
He'd tell my mother and pretty soon they'd insist that I stop.
121
So I kept quiet, kept climbing, and felt a somewhat lonely joy as I looked out over the world.
122
Then a few months ago I found myself talking to the tree.
123
An entire conversation, just me and a tree.
124
And on the climb down I felt like crying.
125
Why didn't I have someone real to talk to?
126
Why didn't I have a best friend like everyone else seemed to?
127
Sure, there were kids I knew at school, but none of them were close friends.
128
They'd have no interest in climbing the tree. In smelling the sunshine.
129
That night after dinner my father went outside to paint.
130
In the cold of the night, under the glare of the porch light, he went out to put the
finishing
touches
on a sunrise he'd been working on.
finishing /'fɪnɪʃɪŋ/ adj. 最后的
touch /tʌtʃ/ n. 润色
131
I got my jacket and went out to sit beside him, quiet as a mouse.
132
After a few minutes he said, “What's on your mind, sweetheart?”
133
In all the times I'd sat out there with him, he'd never asked me that.
134
I looked at him but couldn't seem to speak.
135
He mixed two
hues
of orange together, and very softly he said, “Talk to me.”
hue /hjuː/ n. 色调
136
I sighed so heavily it surprised even me.
137
“I understand why you come out here, Dad.”
138
He tried kidding me. “Would you mind explaining it to your mother?”
139
“Really, Dad. I understand now about the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.”
140
He stopped mixing. “You do? What happened? Tell me about it!”
141
So I told him about the sycamore tree.
142
About the view and the sounds and the colors and the wind, and how being up so high felt like flying. Felt like magic.
143
He didn't interrupt me once, and when my
confession
was
through
, I looked at him and whispered, “Would you climb up there with me?”
confession /kənˈfeʃn/ n. 坦白
through /θru/ adj. 结束的
144
He thought about this a long time, then smiled and said,
145
“I'm not much of a climber anymore, Julianna, but I'll give it a shot, sure. How about this weekend, when we've got lots of daylight to work with?”
146
“Great!”
147
I went to bed so excited that I don't think I slept more than five minutes the whole night.
148
Saturday was right
around the corner
.
around the corner adv. 即将来临
149
I couldn't wait!
150
The next morning I raced to the bus stop
extra
early and climbed the tree.
extra /ˈekstrə/ adv. 特别地
151
I caught the sun rising through the clouds, sending streaks of fire from one end of the world to the other.
152
And I was in the middle of making a mental list of all the things I was going to show my father when I heard a noise below.
153
I looked down, and parked right beneath me were two trucks. Big trucks.
154
One of them was
towing
a long, empty
trailer
, and the other had a
cherry picker
on it—the kind they use to work on overhead
power lines
and
telephone poles
.
tow /toʊ/ vt. 牵引
trailer /ˈtreɪlər/ n. 拖车
cherry picker 车载式吊车
power line 输电线
telephone pole 电话线杆
155
There were four men standing around talking, drinking from
thermoses
, and I almost called down to them, “I'm sorry, but you can't park there…. That's a bus stop!”
thermos /'θɝməs/ n. 热水瓶
156
But before I could, one of the men reached into the back of a truck and started unloading tools.
157
Gloves
. Ropes. A chain.
Earmuffs
. And then chain saws. Three chain saws.
glove /ɡlʌv/ n. 手套
earmuffs /'ɪəmʌfs/ n. 耳套
158
And still I didn't get it.
159
I kept looking around for what it was they could possibly be there to cut down.
160
Then one of the kids who rides the bus showed up and started talking to them, and pretty soon he was pointing up at me.
161
One of the men called, “Hey! You better come down from there. We
gotta
take this thing down.”
gotta /ˈɡɑtə/ n. 〈美俚〉必须
162
I held on to the branch tight, because suddenly it felt as though I might fall.
163
I managed to
choke
out, “The tree?”
choke /tʃoʊk/ vt. & vi. (使)窒息
164
“Yeah, now come on down.”
165
“But who told you to cut it down?”
166
“The owner!” he called back.
167
“But why?”
168
Even from forty feet up I could see him
scowl
.
scowl /skaʊl/ vi. 皱眉
169
“Because he's gonna build himself a house, and he can't very well do that with this tree
in the way
. Now come on, girl, we've got work to do!”
in the way 挡道的
170
By that time most of the kids had gathered for the bus.
171
They weren't saying anything to me, just looking up at me and turning from time to time to talk to each other.
172
Then Bryce appeared, so I knew the bus was about to arrive.
173
I searched across the rooftops and sure enough, there it was, less than four blocks away.
174
My heart was crazy with panic.
175
I didn't know what to do! I couldn't leave and let them cut down the tree!
176
I cried, “You can't cut it down! You just can't!”
177
One of the men shook his head and said,
178
“I am this close to calling the police. You are
trespassing
and
obstructing
progress on a
contracted
job. Now are you going to come down or are we going to cut you down?”
trespass /ˈtrespəs/ vi. 打扰
obstruct /əbˈstrʌkt/ vt. 妨碍
contracted /kən'træktɪd/ adj. 已定约的
179
The bus was three blocks away.
180
I'd never
missed school
for any reason
other than
legitimate
illness
, but I knew in my heart that I was going to miss my
ride
.
miss school 缺课
other than 除了
legitimate /lɪˈdʒɪtɪmət/ adj. 合情合理的
illness /'ɪlnəs/ n. 疾病
ride /raɪd/ n. 交通工具
181
“You're going to have to cut me down!” I yelled.
182
Then I had an idea.
183
They'd never cut it down if all of us were in the tree.
184
They'd have to listen!
185
“Hey, guys!” I called to my classmates.
186
“Get up here with me! They can't cut it down if we're all up here! Marcia! Tony! Bryce! C'mon, you guys, don't let them do this!”
187
They just stood there, staring up at me.
188
I could see the bus, one block away.
189
“Come on, you guys! You don't have to come up this high. Just a little ways. Please!”
190
The bus blasted up and pulled to the curb in front of the trucks, and when the doors folded open, one by one my classmates climbed on board.
191
What happened after that is a bit of a blur.
192
I remember the neighbors gathering, and the police with
megaphones
.
megaphone /'mɛɡəfon/ n. 扩音器
193
I remember the
fire brigade
, and some guy saying it was his
blasted
tree and I'd
darn
well better get out of it.
fire brigade n. 消防队
blasted /'blæstɪd/ adj. 该死的
darn /dɑrn/ adv. 非常
194
Somebody tracked down my mother, who cried and
pleaded
and acted not at all the way a sensible mother should, but I was not coming down.
plead /pliːd/ vi. 恳求
195
I was not coming down.
196
Then my father came racing up.
197
He jumped out of his
pickup truck
, and after talking with my mother for a few minutes, he got the guy in the cherry picker to give him a lift up to where I was.
pickup truck n. 敞蓬小型载货卡车
198
After that it was all over.
199
I started crying and tried to get him to look out over the rooftops, but he wouldn't.
200
He said that no view was worth his little girl's safety.
201
He got me down and he took me home, only I couldn't stay there.
202
I couldn't stand the sound of chain saws in the distance.
203
So Dad took me with him to work, and while he
put up
a block wall, I sat in his truck and cried.
put up 建造
204
I must've cried for two weeks
straight
.
straight /stret/ adv. 连续地
205
Oh, sure, I went to school and I
functioned
the best I could, but I didn't go there on the bus.
function /ˈfʌŋkʃn/ vi. 工作
206
I started riding my bike instead, taking the long way so I wouldn't have to go up to Collier Street.
207
Up to a pile of sawdust that used to be the earth's most magnificent sycamore tree.
208
Then one evening when I was locked up in my room, my father came in with something under a towel.
209
I could tell it was a painting because that's how he transports the important ones when he shows them in the park.
210
He sat down, resting the painting on the floor in front of him.
211
“I always liked that tree of yours,” he said. “Even before you told me about it.”
212
“Oh, Dad, it's okay. I'll get over it.”
213
“No, Julianna. No, you won't.”
214
I started crying. “It was just a tree….”
215
“I never want you to convince yourself of that. You and I both know it isn't true.”
216
“But Dad…”
217
“Bear with me a minute, would you?” He took a deep breath.
218
“I want the spirit of that tree to be with you always. I want you to remember how you felt when you were up there.”
219
He hesitated a moment, then handed me the painting.
220
“So I made this for you.”
221
I pulled off the towel, and there was my tree.
222
My beautiful, majestic sycamore tree.
223
Through the branches he'd painted the fire of sunrise, and it seemed to me I could feel the wind.
224
And way up in the tree was a tiny girl looking off into the distance, her cheeks flushed with wind. With joy. With magic.
225
“Don't cry, Julianna. I want it to help you, not hurt you.”
226
I wiped the tears from my cheeks and gave a
mighty
sniff.
mighty /ˈmaɪti/ adj. (动作)用力的
227
“Thank you, Daddy,” I choked out. “Thank you.”
228
I hung the painting across the room from my bed.
229
It's the first thing I see every morning and the last thing I see every night.
230
And now that I can look at it without crying, I see
more than
the tree and what being up in its branches meant to me.
more than 不只是
231
I see the day that my
view
of things around me started changing.
view /vjuː/ n. 看法
232
I see the day that my
view
of things around me started changing.
233
