床下的玩具爸爸

When I was a little kid， a father was like the light in the refrigerator. Every house had one， but no one really knew what either of them did once the door was shut.

My dad left the house every morning and always seemed glad to see everyone again at night. He opened the jar of pickles (腌菜) when no one else at home could. He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go into the basement (地下室) by himself.

He cut himself shaving (剃胡須)， but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood that whenever it rained， he got the car and brought it around to the door. When anyone was sick， he went out to get the prescription (處方，藥方) filled.

He kept busy enough. He set mousetraps (捕鼠夾). He cut back roses so the thorns (刺，棘刺) wouldn't snag (使鉤破，是戳破) you when you came to the front door. He oiled1 my roller skates (旱冰鞋)， and they went faster. When I got my bike， he ran alongside me for at least a thousand miles until I got the hang of it.

He signed all my report (成績(jī)報(bào)告單) cards. He took a lot of pictures， but was never in them. He tightened up mother's sagging2 clothesline every week or so (…左右). I was afraid of everyone else's father， but not my own.

Whenever I played house3， the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll， so I had him say， \"I'm going off4 to work now，\" and threw him under the bed.

When I was nine years old， my father didn't get up one morning and go to work. He went to the hospital and died the next day.

There were a lot of people in the house who brought all kinds of good food. We had never had so much company (客人) before. He never did anything. I did not know his leaving would hurt so much.

在我很小的時(shí)候，父親就像冰箱里的那盞燈一樣。家家戶(hù)戶(hù)都有那盞燈，可沒(méi)有人真正知道，冰箱的門(mén)關(guān)后，里面會(huì)怎樣。

父親每天早晨出門(mén)，晚上他回來(lái)見(jiàn)到每個(gè)人時(shí)，總是很高興的樣子。他總能打開(kāi)別人都打不開(kāi)的泡菜瓶。他還敢獨(dú)自一個(gè)人去地下室，而其他人是做不到的。

他剃胡須時(shí)刮破了臉，卻從沒(méi)人吻他表示安慰或因此而感到不安。大家都理所當(dāng)然地認(rèn)為，只要一下雨，肯定是父親將車(chē)掉頭開(kāi)到門(mén)口。如果家里誰(shuí)生病了，又是父親出去找醫(yī)生開(kāi)藥方。

他總是忙這忙那。他安放捕鼠夾;他修剪玫瑰刺，好讓人們通過(guò)前門(mén)時(shí)不會(huì)被刺掛著;他為我的旱冰鞋上油，讓它們轉(zhuǎn)得更暢快;當(dāng)我有了自行車(chē)，又是他陪我跑了至少1000英里，直到我掌握技巧為止。

他為我所有的成績(jī)單簽名。他還為我們拍了許多照片，然而照片上卻沒(méi)有他自己。差不多每周他都會(huì)幫媽媽將下垂的晾衣繩綁得更緊。我害怕別人的父親，但我從不怕他。

在我玩過(guò)家家時(shí)，玩具媽媽有好多好多事情要做，但我卻不知道玩具爸爸該做什么。我只好扮作他說(shuō):“我要去上班了。”然后把玩具爸爸扔到床下。

9歲那年的一天早晨，父親沒(méi)有起床去上班。他進(jìn)了醫(yī)院，第二天就去世了。

家里來(lái)了好多好多的人，他們帶來(lái)了各種各樣好吃的食物。我們家從來(lái)沒(méi)有來(lái)過(guò)這么多客人。父親再也不能為我們做任何事情了，而他的離去更是讓我感到從未有過(guò)的巨大悲痛。

注釋

1. oil vt. 給…加潤(rùn)滑油

2. sagging adj. 下垂的

3. play house (兒童)做“小人家”游戲

4. go off 離開(kāi)，出發(fā)