【英文文学】恋恋笔记本 The Notebook.docx

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1、【英文文学】恋恋笔记本 The NotebookChapter 1WHO AM I? And how, I wonder, will this story end?The sun has come up and I am sitting by a window that is foggy with the breath of a life gone by. Im a sight this morning: two shirts, heavy pants, a scarf wrapped twice around my neck and tucked into a thick sweater k

2、nitted by my daughter thirty birthdays ago. The thermostat in my room is set as high as it will go, and a smaller space heater sits directly behind me. II clicks and groans and spews hot air like a fairy-tale dragon, and still my body shivers with a cold that will never go away, a cold that has been

3、 eighty years in the making. Eighty years. I wonder if this is how it is for everyone my age.My life? It isnt easy to explain. It has not been the rip-roaring spectacular I fancied it would be, but neither have I burrowed around with the gophers. I suppose it has most resembled a blue-chip stock: fa

4、irly stable, more ups than downs, and gradually trending upwards over time. Ive learned that not everyone can say this about his life. But do not be misled. I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts, and Ive led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to

5、 me and my name will soon be forgotten, but Ive loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me this has always been enough.The romantics would call this a love story: the cynics would call it a tragedy. In my mind its a little bit of both, and no matter how you choose to view it in the end, it

6、does not change the fact that it involves a great deal of my life. I have no complaints about the path Ive chosen to follow and the places it has taken methe path has always been the right one. I wouldnt have had it any other way.Time, unfortunately doesnt make it easy to stay on course. The path is

7、 straight as ever, but now it is strewn with the rocks and gravel that accumulate over a lifetime. Until three years ago it would have been easy to ignore, but its impossible now. There is a sickness rolling through my body; Im neither strong nor healthy, and my days are spent like an old party ball

8、oon: listless, spongy and growing softer over time.I cough, and through squinted eyes I check my watch. I realize it is time to go. I stand and shuffle across the room; stopping at the desk to pick up the notebook I have read a hundred times. I slip it beneath my arm and continue on my way to the pl

9、ace I must go.I walk on tiled floors, white speckled with grey. Like my hair and the hair of most people here, though Im the only one in the hallway this morning. They are in their rooms, alone except for television, but they, like me, are used to it. A person can get used to anything, given enough

10、lime.I hear the muffled sounds of crying in the distance and know who is making them. The nurses see me and we smile and exchange greetings. I am sure they wonder about me and the things that I go through every day. I listen as they begin to whisper among themselves when I pass.“There he goes again.

11、” I hear. “I hope it turns out well.” But they say nothing directly to me about it.A minute later, I reach the room. The door has been propped open for me, as it usually is. There are two nurses in the room, and as I enter they say “Good morning” with cheery voices, and I take a moment to ask about

12、the kids and the schools and upcoming vacations. We talk above the crying for a minute or so. They do not seem to notice: they have become numb to it, but then again, so have I.Afterwards I sit in the chair that has come to be shaped like me. They are finishing up now; her clothes are on, but she is

13、 cry?ing. It will become quieter after they leave. I know. The excite?ment of the morning always upsets her, and today is no exception. Finally the nurses walk out. Both of them touch me and smile as they walk by. I sit for just a second and stare at her, but she doesnt return the look. I understand

14、, for she doesnt know who I am. Im a stranger to her. Then, turning away, I how my head and pray silently for the strength I know I will need.Ready now. On go the glasses, out of my pocket comes a magnifier. I put it on the table for a moment while I open the notebook. It takes two licks on my gnarl

15、ed finger to get the well-worn cover open to the first page. Then I put the magnifier in place.There is always a moment right before I begin to read the story when my mind churns, and I wonder, will it happen today? I dont know, for I never know beforehand and deep down it really doesnt matter. Its

16、the possibility that keeps me going. And though you may call me a dreamer or a fool. I believe that anything is possible.I realize that the odds, and science, are against me. But science is not the total answer. This I know, this I have learned in my life?time. And that leaves me with the belief tha

17、t miracles, no matter how inexplicable or unbelievable, are real and can occur without regard to the natural order of things. So once again, just as I do every day, I begin to read the notebook aloud, so that she can hear it, in the hope that the miracle that has come to dominate my life will once a

18、gain prevail.And maybe, just maybe, it will.Chapter 2It was early October 1946, and Noah Calhoun watched the fading sun sink lower from the porch of his plantation-style home. He liked to sit here in the evenings, especially after working hard all day, and let his thoughts wander. It was how he rela

19、xed, a routine hed learned from his father.He especially liked to look at the trees and their reflections in the river. North Carolina trees are beautiful in deep autumn: greens, yellows, reds, oranges, every shade in between, their dazzling colours glowing with the sun. The house was built in 1772,

20、 making it one of the oldest, as well as largest, homes in New Bern. Originally it was the main house on a working plantation, and he had bought it right after the war ended and had spent the last eleven months and a small fortune repairing it. The reporter from the Raleigh paper had done an arti?cl

21、e on it a few weeks ago and said it was one of the finest restor?ations hed ever seen. At least the house was. The rest of the property was another story, and that was where Noah had spent most of the day.The home sat on twelve acres adjacent to Brices Creek, and hed worked on the wooden fence that

22、lined the other three sides of the property; checking for dry rot or termites, replacing posts where he had to. He still had more work to do on the west side, and as hed put the tools away earlier hed made a mental note to call and have some more timber delivered. Hed gone into the house, drunk a gl

23、ass of sweet tea, then showered, the water washing away dirt and fatigue.Afterwards hed combed his hair back, put on some faded jeans and a long-sleeved blue shirt, poured himself another glass of tea and gone to the porch, where he sat every day at this time.He reached for his guitar, remembering h

24、is father as he did so, thinking how much he missed him. Noah strummed once, adjusted the tension on two strings, then strummed again, soft, quiet music. He hummed at first, then began to sing as night came down around him.It was a little after seven when he stopped and settled back into his rocking

25、 chair. By habit, he looked upwards and saw Orion, the Big Dipper and the Pole Star, twinkling in the autumn sky.He started to run the numbers in his head, then stopped. He knew hed spent almost his entire savings on the house and would have to find a job again soon, but he pushed the thought away a

26、nd decided to enjoy the remaining months of restoration without worrying about it. It would work out for him, he knew: it always did.Cem, his hound dog, came up to him then and nuzzled his hand before lying down at his feet. Hey girl, howre you doing?” he asked as he patted her head, and she whined

27、softly, her soft round eyes peering upwards. A car accident had taken one of her legs, but she still moved well enough and kept him company on nights like these. He was thirty-one now, not too old, but old enough to be lonely. He hadnt dated since hed been back here, hadnt met anyone who remotely in

28、terested him, It was his own fault, he knew. There was something that kept a distance between him and any woman who started to get close, something he wasnt sure he could change even if he tried. And sometimes, in the moments before sleep, he won?dered if he was destined to be alone for ever.The eve

29、ning passed, staying warm, nice. Noah listened to the crickets and the rustling leaves, thinking that the sound of nature was more real and aroused more emotion than things like cars and planes. Natural things gave back more than they took, and their sounds always brought him back to the way man was

30、 supposed to he. There were times during the war, especially after a major engagement, when he had often thought about these simple sounds. “Itll keep you from going crazy,” his father had told him the day hed shipped out. “Its Gods music and itll take you home.”He finished his tea, went inside, fou

31、nd a book, then turned on the porch light on his way back out. After sitting down again, he looked at the book. It was old, the cover was torn, and the pages were stained with mud and water. It was Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, and he had carried it with him throughout the war. He let the book op

32、en randomly and read the words in front of him: This is thy hour, 0 Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,Away from hooks, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themesthou lovest best,Night, sleep, death and the stars. He smiled to

33、himself. For some reason Whitman always reminded him of New Bern, and he was glad hed come back. Though hed been away for fourteen years, this was home and he knew a lot of people here, most of them from his youth. It wasnt surprising. Like so many southern towns, the people who lived here never cha

34、nged, they just grew a bit older.His best friend these days was Gus, a seventy-year-old black man who lived down the road. They had met a couple of weeks after Noah bought the house, when Gus had shown up with some homemade liquor and Brunswick stew, and the two had spent their first evening togethe

35、r getting drunk and telling stories. Now Gus showed up a couple of nights a week, usually around eight. With four kids and eleven grandchildren in the house, he needed to get out now and then, and Noah couldnt blame him. Usually Gus would bring his harmonica and, after talking for a little while, th

36、eyd play a few songs together.Hed come to regard Gus as family. There really wasnt anyone else, at least not since his father died last year. He was an only child and his mother had died of influenza when he was two. And though he had wanted to at one time, he had never married.But he had been in lo

37、ve once, that he knew. Once and only once, and a long time ago. And it had changed him forever. Per?fect love did that to a person, and this had been perfect.Coastal clouds slowly began to roll across the evening sky, turn?ing silver with the reflection of the moon. As they thickened, he leaned his

38、head back against the rocking chair. His legs moved automatically, keeping a steady rhythm, and he felt his mind drift?ing back to a warm evening like this fourteen years ago.It was just after graduation 1932, the opening night of the Neuse River Festival. The town was out in full, enjoying barbecue

39、s and games of chance. It was humid that nightfor some reason he remembered that clearly. He arrived alone, and as he strolled through the crowd, looking for friends, he saw Fin and Sarah, two people hed grown up with, talking to a girl hed never seen before. She was pretty, he remembered thinking,

40、and when he finally joined them, she looked his way with a pair of hazy eyes. “Hi,” shed said simply as she offered her hand. “Finleys told me a lot about you.”An ordinary beginning, something that would have been forgot?ten had it been anyone but her. But as he shook her hand and met those striking

41、 emerald eyes, he knew before hed taken his next breath that she was the one he could spend the rest of his life look?ing for but never find again. She seemed that good, that perfect.From there, it went like a tornado wind. Fin told him she was spending the summer in New Bern with her family, becaus

42、e her father worked for a tobacco firm, and though he only nodded, the way she was looking at him made his silence seem okay. Fin laughed then, because he knew what was happening, and Sarah suggested they get some cherry cokes, and the four of them stayed at the festival until the crowds were thin a

43、nd everything closed up for the night. They met the following day, and the day after that, and they soon became inseparable. Every morning but Sunday, when he had to go to church, he would finish his chores as quickly as possible, then make a straight line to Fort Totten Park, where shed be waiting

44、for him. Because she was a newcomer and hadnt lived in a small town before, they spent their days doing things that were completely new to her. He taught her how to bait a line and fish the shallows for largemouth bass and took her exploring through the backwoods of the Croatan Forest. They rode in

45、canoes and watched summer thunderstorms, and it seemed as though theyd always known each other.But he learned things as well. At the town dance in the tobacco barn, it was she who taught him how to waltz and do the Charleston, and though they stumbled through the first few songs, her patience with h

46、im eventually paid off, and they danced together until the music ended. He walked her home afterwards, and when they paused on the porch after saying good night, he kissed her for the first time and wondered why he had waited as long as he had.Later in the summer he brought her to this house, looked

47、 past the decay, and told her that one day he was going to own it and fix it up. They spent hours together talking about their dreamshis of seeing the world, hers of being an artistand on a humid night in August. They both lost their virginity. When she left three weeks later, she took a piece of hi

48、m and the rest of summer with her. He watched her leave town on an early rainy morning, watched through eyes that hadnt slept the night before, then went home and packed a hag. He spent the next week alone on Harkers Island.Noah checked his watch. Eight twelve. He got up and walked to the front of t

49、he house and looked up the road. Gus wasnt in sight, and Noah figured he wouldnt be coming. He went back to his rocker and sat again.He remembered talking to Gus about her. The first time he mentioned her. Gus started to shake his head and laugh. “So thats the ghost you been running from.” When asked what he meant. Gus said. “You know, the ghost, the memory. I been watchin you workin day and night, slavin so hard you barely have time to catch your breath. People do that for three reasons. Either they crazy, or