1. A single knoll rises out of the plain in Oklahoma, north and west of the Wichita Range. For my people, the Kiowas, it is an old landmark, and they gave it the name Rainy Mountain. The hardest weather in the world is there. Winter brings blizzards, hot tornadic winds arise in the spring, and in summer the prairie is an anvil's edge. The grass turns brittle and brown, and it cracks beneath your feet. There are green belts along the rivers and creeks, linear groves of hickory and pecan, willow and witch hazel. At a distance in July or August the steaming foliage seems almost to writhe in fire. Great green and yellow grasshoppers are everywhere in the tall grass, popping up like corn to sting the flesh, and tortoises crawl about on the red earth, going nowhere in the plenty of time. Loneliness is an aspect of the land. All things in the plain are isolate; there is no confusion of objects in the eye, but one hill or one tree or one man. To look upon that landscape in the early morning, with the sun at your back, is to lose the sense of proportion. Your imagination comes to life, and this, you think, is where Creation was begun.

2. I returned to Rainy Mountain in July. My grandmother had died in the spring, and I wanted to be at her grave. She had lived to be very old and at last infirm. Her only living daughter was with her when she died, and I was told that in death her face was that of a child.

3. I like to think of her as a child. When she was born, the Kiowas were living the last great moment of their history. For more than a hundred years they had controlled the open range from the Smoky Hill River to the Red, from the headwaters of the Canadian to the fork of the Arkansas and Cimarron. In alliance with the Comanches, they had ruled the whole of the southern Plains. War was their sacred business, and they were among the finest horsemen the world has ever known. But warfare for the Kiowas was preeminently a matter of disposition rather than of survival, and they never understood the grim, unrelenting advance of the U.S. Cavalry. When at last, divided and illprovisioned, they were driven onto the Staked Plains in the cold rains of autumn, they fell into panic. In Palo Duro Canyon they abandoned their crucial stores to pillage and had nothing then but their lives. In order to save themselves, they surrendered to the soldiers at Fort Sill and were imprisoned in the old stone corral that now stands as a military museum. My grandmother was spared the humiliation of those high gray walls by eight or ten years, but she must have known from birth the affliction of defeat, the dark brooding of old warriors.

4. Her name was Aho, and she belonged to the last culture to evolve in North America. Her forebears came down from the high country in western Montana nearly three centuries ago. They were a mountain people, a mysterious tribe of hunters whose language has never been positively classified in any major group. In the late seventeenth century they began a long migration to the south and east. It was a journey toward the dawn, and it led to a golden age. Along the way the Kiowas were befriended by the Crows, who gave them the culture and religion of the Plains. They acquired horses, and their ancient nomadic spirit was suddenly free of the ground. They acquired Tai-me, the sacred Sun Dance doll, from that moment the object and symbol of their worship, and so shared in the divinity of the sun. Not least, they acquired the sense of destiny, therefore courage and pride. When they entered upon the southern Plains they had been transformed. No longer were they slaves to the simple necessity of survival; they were a lordly and dangerous society of fighters and thieves, hunters and priests of the sun. According to their origin myth, they entered the world through a hollow log. From one point of view, their migration was the fruit of an old prophecy, for indeed they emerged from a sunless world.

5. Although my grandmother lived out her long life in the shadow of Rainy Mountain, the immense landscape of the continental interior lay like memory in her blood. She could tell of the Crows, whom she had never seen, and of the Black Hills, where she had never been. I wanted to see in reality what she had seen more perfectly in the mind's eye, and traveled fifteen hundred miles to begin my pilgrimage.

6. Yellowstone, it seemed to me, was the top of the world, a region of deep lakes and dark timber, canyons and waterfalls. But, beautiful as it is, one might have the sense of confinement there. The skyline in all directions is close at hand, the high wall of the woods and deep cleavages of shade. There is a perfect freedom in the mountains, but it belongs to the eagle and the elk, the badger and the bear. The Kiowas reckoned their stature by the distance they could see, and they were bent and blind in the wilderness.

7. Descending eastward, the highland meadows are a stairway to the plain. In July the inland slope of the Rockies is luxuriant with flax and buckwheat, stonecrop and larkspur. The earth unfolds and the limit of the land recedes. Clusters of trees, and animals grazing far in the distance, cause the vision to reach away and wonder to build upon the mind. The sun follows a longer course in the day, and the sky is immense beyond all comparison. The great billowing clouds that sail upon it are shadows that move upon the grain like water, dividing light. Farther down, in the land of the Crows and Blackfeet, the plain is yellow. Sweet clover takes hold of the hills and bends upon itself to cover and seal the soil. There the Kiowas paused on their way; they had come to the place where they must change their lives. The sun is at home on the plains. Precisely there does it have the certain character of a god. When the Kiowas came to the land of the Crows, they could see the darklees of the hills at dawn across the Bighorn River, the profusion of light on the grain shelves, the oldest deity ranging after the solstices. Not yet would they veer southward to the caldron of the land that lay below; they must wean their blood from the northern winter and hold the mountains a while longer in their view. They bore Tai-me in procession to the east.

8. A dark mist lay over the Black Hills, and the land was like iron. At the top of a ridge I caught sight of Devil's Tower upthrust against the gray sky as if in the birth of time the core of the earth had broken through its crust and the motion of the world was begun. There are things in nature that engender an awful quiet in the heart of man; Devil's Tower is one of them. Two centuries ago, because they could not do otherwise, the Kiowas made a legend at the base of the rock. My grandmother said: “Eight children were there at play, seven sisters and their brother. Suddenly the boy was struck dumb; he trembled and began to run upon his hands and feet. His fingers became claws, and his body was covered with fur. Directly there was a bear where the boy had been. The sisters were terrified; they ran, and the bear after them. They came to the stump of a great tree, and the tree spoke to them. It bade them climb upon it, and as they did so it began to rise into the air. The bear came to kill them, but they were just beyond its reach. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky, and they became the stars of the Big Dipper.” From that moment, and so long as the legend lives, the Kiowas have kinsmen in the night sky. Whatever they were in the mountains, they could be no more. However tenuous their well-being, however much they had suffered and would suffer again, they had found a way out of the wilderness.

9. My grandmother had a reverence for the sun, a holy regard that now is all but gone out of mankind. There was a wariness in her, and an ancient awe. She was a Christian in her later years, but she had come a long way about, and she never forgot her birthright. As a child she had been to the Sun Dances; she had taken part in those annual rites, and by them she had learned the restoration of her people in the presence of Tai-me. She was about seven when the last Kiowa Sun Dance was held in 1887 on the Washita River above Rainy Mountain Creek. The buffalo were gone. In order to consummate the ancient sacrifice--to impale the head of a buffalo bull upon the medicine tree--a delegation of old men journeyed into Texas, there to beg and barter for an animal from the Goodnight herd. She was ten when the Kiowas came together for the last time as a living Sun Dance culture. They could find no buffalo; they had to hang an old hide from the sacred tree. Before the dance could begin, a company of soldiers rode out from Fort Sill under orders to disperse the tribe. Forbidden without cause the essential act of their faith, having seen the wild herds slaughtered and left to rot upon the ground, the Kiowas backed away forever from the medicine tree. That was July 20, 1890, at the great bend of the Washita. My grandmother was there. Without bitterness, and for as long as she lived, she bore a vision of deicide.

10. Now that I can have her only in memory, I see my grandmother in the several postures that were peculiar to her: standing at the wood stove on a winter morning and turning meat in a great iron skillet; sitting at the south window, bent above her beadwork, and afterwards, when her vision failed, looking down for a long time into the fold of her hands; going out upon a cane, very slowly as she did when the weight of age came upon her; praying. I remember her most often at prayer. She made long, rambling prayers out of suffering and hope, having seen many things. I was never sure that I had the right to hear, so exclusive were they of all mere custom and company. The last time I saw her she prayed standing by the side of her bed at night, naked to the waist, the light of a kerosene lamp moving upon her dark skin. Her long, black hair, always drawn and braided in the day, lay upon her shoulders and against her breasts like a shawl. I do not speak Kiowa, and I never understood her prayers, but there was something inherently sad in the sound, some merest hesitation upon the syllables of sorrow. She began in a high and descending pitch, exhausting her breath to silence; then again and again--and always the same intensity of effort, of something that is, and is not, like urgency in the human voice. Transported so in the dancing light among the shadows of her room, she seemed beyond the reach of time. But that was illusion; I think I knew then that I should not see her again.

11. Houses are like sentinels in the plain, old keepers of the weather watch. There, in a very little while, wood takes on the appearance of great age. All colors wear soon away in the wind and rain, and then the wood is burned gray and the grain appears and the nails turn red with rust. The windowpanes are black and opaque; you imagine there is nothing within, and indeed there are many ghosts, bones given up to the land. They stand here and there against the sky, and you approach them for a longer time than you expect. They belong in the distance; it is their domain.

12. Once there was a lot of sound in my grandmother's house, a lot of coming and going, feasting and talk. The summers there were full of excitement and reunion. The Kiowas are a summer people; they abide the cold and keep to themselves, but when the season turns and the land becomes warm and vital they cannot hold still; an old love of going returns upon them. The aged visitors who came to my grandmother's house when I was a child were made of lean and leather, and they bore themselves upright. They wore great black hats and bright ample shirts that shook in the wind. They rubbed fat upon their hair and wound their braids with strips of colored cloth. Some of them painted their faces and carried the scars of old and cherished enmities. They were an old council of warlords, come to remind and be reminded of who they were. Their wives and daughters served them well. The women might indulge themselves; gossip was at once the mark and compensation of their servitude. They made loud and elaborate talk among themselves, full of jest and gesture, fright and false alarm. They went abroad in fringed and flowered shawls, bright beadwork and German silver. They were at home in the kitchen, and they prepared meals that were banquets.

13. There were frequent prayer meetings, and great nocturnal feasts. When I was a child I played with my cousins outside, where the lamplight fell upon the ground and the singing of the old people rose up around us and carried away into the darkness. There were a lot of good things to eat, a lot of laughter and surprise. And afterwards, when the quiet returned, I lay down with my grandmother and could hear the frogs away by the river and feel the motion of the air.

14. Now there is a funeral silence in the rooms, the endless wake of some final word. The walls have closed in upon my grandmother's house. When I returned to it in mourning, I saw for the first time in my life how small it was. It was late at night, and there was a white moon, nearly full. I sat for a long time on the stone steps by the kitchen door. From there I could see out across the land; I could see the long row of trees by the creek, the low light upon the rolling plains, and the stars of the Big Dipper. Once I looked at the moon and caught sight of a strange thing. A cricket had perched upon the handrail, only a few inches away from me. My line of vision was such that the creature filled the moon like a fossil. It had gone there, I thought, to live and die, for there, of all places, was its small definition made whole and eternal. A warm wind rose up and purled like the longing within me.

15. The next morning I awoke at dawn and went out on the dirt road to Rainy Mountain. It was already hot, and the grasshoppers began to fill the air. Still, it was early in the morning, and the birds sang out of the shadows. The long yellow grass on the mountain shone in the bright light, and a scissortail hied above the land. There, where it ought to be, at the end of a long and legendary way, was my grandmother's grave. Here and there on the dark stones were ancestral names. Looking back once, I saw the mountain and came away.

Words and Expressions from the Text

1. blizzard: a severe snowstorm characterized by cold temperatures and heavy drifting of snow

2. hickory: 山核桃属植物，source of edible nuts

3. pecan: 美洲山核桃树，source of edible nuts

4. witch hazel: 金缕梅，extracts from this bush have medicinal qualities

5. canyon: a long, narrow valley between high cliffs, often with a stream flowing through it

6. corral: a closure for holding or capturing horses, cattle or other animals

7. cleavage: a division or split

8. elk: 美洲赤鹿

9. badger: 獾

10. flax: 亚麻

11. buckwheat: 荞麦

12. stonecrop: （植物）景天

13. larkspur: 翠雀属植物

14. sweet clover: 草木犀植物

15. lee: a sheltered place，especially one on that side of anything away from the wind

16. deity: the state of being a god; divine nature; a god or goddess

17. solstice: （天文）至：夏至，冬至；a culminating or high point

18. caldron: a large kettle or boiler

19. to wean: to cause （oneself or someone else） to give up a former habit；to withdraw （a person）by degrees （from a habit，object of affection, etc.）as by substituting some other interest

20. to score: to make cuts or lines in or on

21. to impale: to pierce through or fix with a sharp object

22. deicide: the killing of a god

23. skillet: a small frying pan

24. opaque: not able to be seen through; not transparent or translucent

25. ample: large

26. nocturnal: of the night

27. wake: a watch or vigil held over the body of a dead person during the night before burial

28. cricket: 蟋蟀

29. to perch: to alight or rest on

30. to purl: to flow with a gentle movement and a murmuring sound

31. scissortail:（美洲）叉尾霸鹟 a bird，found in the southwestern United States， Mexico，and Central and South America，having along and forked tail

Notes on the Background

1. N. Scott Momaday: One of the foremost American Indian/ Native American writers and the first American Indian writer to receive a Pulitzer Prize for literature. Momaday was born in 1934 in Lamton, Oklahoma, Kiowa county in southwestern Oklahoma. Momaday belongs to a generation of American Indians born when most tribal communities had 1ong ceased to exist as vital social organizations. His Kiowa ancestors shared with other Plains Indians the horrors of disease, military defeat, and cultural and religious deprivation in the 19th century. Their only chance of survival was to adapt themselves to new circumstances. His father, a well known artist/painter, was a Kiowa, deeply committed to his Kiowa heritage, but his mother, a well known painter and writer, was one-eighth Cherokee and seven-eighths Euro-American blends. Young Scott spent his childhood in several different southwestern communities where he was in close contact with Native American as well as Hispanic and Anglo children. After studying at Virginia military academy, Momaday attended the University of New Mexico (B.A. in political science), the University of Virginia (briefly to study law), and Stanford (M.A. and ph. D. in English). Momaday has won as Academy of American Poets Prize and has taught at Berkeley, Stanford, and most recently, the University of Arizona. In addition to his teaching and writing, Momaday is also a distinguished painter who explores traditional Indian motifs on canvas. From 1963 to 1969 Momaday was an assistant and later associate professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara. There he taught American Indian studies and was very much concerned with the Indian oral tradition. In 1969 he published The Way to Rainy Mountain. The book is Momaday’s inquiry into his Indian past in an attempt to determine the extent to which it has shaped him and the degree to which he has become detached from the mythical worldview of his ancestors. His other works include The Names: A memoir (1976), and a collection of prose and poetry In The Presence of the Sun (1992).

2. American Indian history: immigrates, British warriors, lived a quiet peaceful life first, but later, they lived a bitter life because of the minor wars against British, Spanish, and American whites. Christian people. Indian religion, worship idols, so their religion not respected. Different immigrants have different religions. Reservation, returned, disappointed.

3. The Kiowas: (pl. Kiowa; or Kiowas) North American Indians whose history is reconstituted by Momaday in this text. In the 17th century they inhabited west Montana, but by about 1700 they had moved to an area southeast of the Yellowstone River. Here they came into contact with the Crow Indians who gave them permission to settle into the Black Hills. While living there, they acquired horses. Then they were chased out by the Dakota and the Cheyenne tribes from that area. The migration of the Kiowas continued into the Wichita Mountains. There the Kiowas had their first contact with the Comanches. The two tribes were at war until the close of the 18th century. Finally they came together and formed an alliance. Together they often raided Mexican settlements. During this time the Kiowas became very wealthy with an easy access to buffalo. However, this security was short-lived due to the arrival of white settlers into this area. The U.S. troops forced the Kiowas into a reservation in 1868. The Kiowas broke out of the reservation in 1874 and resumed active warfare with the white settlers. Consequently, many of their chiefs and warriors were caught and deported. Now a large number of the Kiowas remain in Oklahoma.

4. The Smoky Hill River: It raises the Great Plants, east Colorado and flows east through across Kansas to join the Republican River.

5. The Red River: 2,090 km long, it is the southernmost of the large tributaries of the Mississippi River.

6. The Canadian River: The Canadian (1, 458 km) rises in New Mexico, and flows through east through northern Texas and central Oklahoma into the Arkansas River in Oklahoma.

7. The Arkansas River: The Arkansas (2, 330 km) rises in the Rocky Mountains and flows southeast across the plains to the Mississippi River.

8. The Cimarron River: It rises in New Mexico and flows east to the Arkansas River.

9. The Comanches: North American Indians, who adopted a plains culture. They were excellent horsemen and extremely warlike. The effectively prevented white settlers from passing safely through their territory for more than a century.

10. The Staked Plains: Also called Llano Estacado, the region is a level, semi-arid plateau in east New Mexico and west Texas. The wind-swept grasslands were formerly used for cattle ranching, now dotted with farms and oil fields.

11. Fort Sill: A U.S. military post in southwest Oklahoma, named after a Civil War general.

12. The Crows: North American Indians who called themselves “bird people”. They ranged chiefly in the area of the Yellowstone River and were a hunting tribe typical of the Plains cultural area.

13. Tai-me, the sacred Sun Dance doll: The Sun dance was a religious ceremony typical of the Plains Indians. The dance was attended with symbolic rites. The dance was attended with symbolic rites. The Sun Dance period Took place in mid-summer, and was considered to be very festive and scared. Momaday explains in one of his interviews, “Tai-me is the Sun Dance fetish of the Kiowas. It is a fetish which is medicine. And it was the most of powerful medicine in the tribe. The only time it was exhibited to view was during the Sun Dance.” The word fetish means an object believed by superstitious people to have magical power. In other places of his work, Momaday refers to the Sun Dance fetish as a bundle.

14. The Black Hills: Rugged mountains in southwest South Dakota and northeast Wyoming. The hills rise 765m above the surrounding Great Plains. The mountains received their name from the heavily forested slopes that appear black from afar.

15. Yellowstone: A large region covering northwestern Wyoming and also narrow strips of southern Montana and eastern Idaho. The Yellowstone River flows from northwestern Wyoming through Montana into the Mississippi River, with a length of 1, 079km. There are two big waterfalls on the river, and Yellowstone Lake is 354 sq. km. Yellowstone National Park since the late19th century has been a large nature preserve in this area.

16. Devil’s Tower: Devil’s Tower is a massive single steep-sided rock, and, possibly, an erosional remnant of a volcanic neck. The rock at Devil’s Tower is about 40 million years ago. The Devil’s Tower rises 1,267 feet above the nearby Belle Fouche River. Known by several northern Plains Indian tribes as Bears Lodge, it has played a role in shaping Indian legends and folklore, and now is a scared site of worship for many American Indians. It has long served as a landmark for travelers and explores.

17. Buffalo: The formal name of the animal is Northern American bison. The buffalo was the Plains Indians’ stuff of life, supplying them with food, clothing, shelter, and fuel. The Kiowas were once wealth when they had an abundance of buffalo. The opening of the West by railroads brought a small army of professional hunters who systematically slaughtered the great herds for their hides to be sold at markets. By 1878, the southern herds were gone, and five years later those in the north had been nearly exterminated. English “sportsmen” and American army officers vied with each other in the wanton slaughter. During three short years - 1872 - 1874 - the number so killed was estimated in millions.

Notes on the Text

Para. 1

1. What is the role of the first paragraph?

The opening paragraph of the essay is a lyrical description of the author’s ancestral land, which plays a key role in his exploration of his Kiowa identity. The land is crucial for Momaday because the migration of his people took place here. The land is the visible embodiment of the tribal history. The old days are gone forever. The Kiowa warriors are dead. The culture has almost disappeared. What remains is the land which is the visible embodiment of their people’s past. By directly involving himself with the landscape of his ancestors, the author is able to identify more closely with them and relive their experiences in his imagination more vividly.

2. A single knoll rises out of the plain… the Wichita Range.

(1) Translate the sentence in to Chinese: 一座孤零零的小山拔地而起。

(2) Knoll: a hillock

(3) Wichita Range: Wichita Mountains, located in south Oklahoma.

(4) Here the word range means a series of connected mountains considered as a single system.

3. Landmark:

A landmark is any prominent feature of the landscape, such as a tree, a hill or a building, serving to identify a particular locality. Rainy Mountain is where the author’s grandmother lived and died. She is buried with the author’s grandfather and many other Kiowa warriors.

4. The hardest weather in the world is there.

What specific detail does the author use to prove this statement?

Winter blizzards, hot tornadic winds in spring, the prairie like an anvil’s edge in summer, brittle and brown grass, steaming foliage writhing in fire, etc.

Blizzard: A violent snowstorm with winds blowing at a minimum speed of 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour and visibility of less than one-quarter mile (400 meters) for three hours. 暴风雪; A very heavy snowstorm with high winds. 大风雪

5. And in summer the prairie is an anvil’s edge:

(1) Explain the meaning in your own words: In summer the earth of the prairie is extremely hot and hard.

(2) An anvil is a heavy block of iron or steel with a smooth, flat top on which metals are shaped by hammering. Here the word anvil is used metaphorically.

6. The grass turned brittle and brown…

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese: 草变得枯黄，又脆又黄。

(2) Brittle: easily broken and cracked because it is hard and inflexible.

(3) Both brittle and brown begin with the sound “b”. This rhetorical device is called alliteration, which is the repetition of an initial sound, usually of a consonant in two or more words of a phrase, a line of poetry, etc. In the same paragraph there are willow and witch haze, and great green-and-yellow grasshoppers. There are many examples of alliteration in this essay. The frequent use of alliteration shows the author’s special interest in the sound of language, the rhythm of language, how words sound to him and the reader.

7. There are green belts…witch hazel.

Express the idea in your own words: the rivers and creeks are lined with groves of green hickory, pecan, willow, and witch hazel.

8. At a distance in July or August...almost to writhe in fire:

(1) Translate this sentence into Chinese: 从远处望去,七八月里的树叶热的冒烟,犹如在火中挣扎。

(2) foliage: (uncomfortable) the leaves of a plant

(3) to writhe: to twist and turn the body as in agony. Example: He lie on the floor writhing in pain.

(4) Note the use of words like steaming and fire. The author uses steaming, fire, writhe figurative to show how hot and dry the place is.

9. ... popping up like corn to sting the flesh…:

(1) Translate to the phrase into Chinese: 像玉米花一样爆裂开, 刺得人痛。

(2) popping up like corn: When a grasshopper hops, it pops up, making a sudden movement like corn being roasted.

10. Loneliness is an aspect of the land:

Loneliness is a major quality of this landscape. As we can see, the depiction of the land is injected with the author’s own emotions and imagination, bringing out the spirit of the place. The author emphasizes loneliness perhaps because this quality enables one to concentrate one’s mind on the earth.

11. All things in the plain are isolate; there is no confusion of objects in the eye.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese: 平原上的一切都是疏离开的,所见之物不会混杂在一起让人看不清楚。

(2) Note the set phrase “in the eye”, not eyes. The word eye is used in the singular not to mean the concrete organ of sight, but man’s power of seeing or observing. Some other idioms with the word eye in the singular form:

More examples:

• to have your eye on something: to have noticed something

• not to see eye to eye: to disagree with someone

• to my eye: in my opinion

• to have a good eye for something: to be good at recognizing what is attractive and valuable

• more than meets the eye: more complicated than it seems to be at first

12. but one hill or one tree or one man:

The using of “one” instead of an indefinite article “a” emphasizes the fact that there is only one hill, only one tree or only one man.

13. To look upon that landscape - is to lose the sense of proportion:

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese: 清晨,太阳在你背后冉冉升起,此时观看大地,你会失去平时的比例感。

(2) To lose the sense of proportion means that some objects may seem larger (or smaller) than they really are. Probably, the bright morning sunlight makes objects seem to be out of proportion.

14. Your imagination comes to life… Creation was begun:

(1) Explain the meaning in your own words: The landscape makes your imagination vivid and lifelike, and you believe that the creation of the whole universe was begun right here. Different cultures and religions have different myths about how the universe began.

(2) The Creation, with a capitalized C and the definite article the, is a theological term, meaning the act by God, according to the Bible, of making the universe, including the world and everything in it. Here the author capitalizes the word about omits the article the, perhaps to show that he’s talking about the creating of the universe as a Kiowa imagines. Later in the essay he talks about the emergency of his people according to the Kiowa myth.

Para. 2

15. What is the function of Paragraph 2?

In the second paragraph the author explains his purpose of his visit to Rainy Mountain: to be at his grandmother’s grave. This paragraph serves as a transitional link between the description of the land in the first paragraph and the narration of his grandmother’s and his people’s stories in the following paragraphs.

16. infirm: weak or ill especially because one is old

17. I was told that in death her face was that of a child:

In death, she was peaceful and free from all earthly worries and miseries. Her face looked like that of a child. Only in death can one return to childhood innocence and peacefulness. The word “child” is repeated in the first sentence of the next paragraph: I like to think of her as a child. Structurally the two paragraphs are smoothly connected. In meaning, the author seems to say that life is but a circle---one begins as a child and ends like a child, and in death one returns to where one begins.

Para. 3

18. What is the main idea of paragraph 3?

This paragraph sums up the history of the Kiowas as a Plains Native culture – the golden time and the decline in their history.

19. I like to think of her as a child.

Why does the author like to think of her as a child? His grandmother was born (around 1880) at a time when the Kiowas were still living in their golden time or to be more exact, the last moment of their golden time. Starting from the third paragraph the author links his grandmother with the history of Kiowas. This narrative structure will continue in the following parts of the essay.

20. …the open range from the Smoky Hill River… Cimarron.

This large and open area covers most parts of the central and western Kansas and Oklahoma states.

Range: a large, open area of land.

21. The Red: The Red River: 2,090 km long, it is the southernmost of the large tributaries of the Mississippi River.

22. Headwaters: The beginning of a large steam or river.

23. The Canadian: The Canadian river (1, 458 km) rises in New Mexico, and flows through east through northern Texas and central Oklahoma into the Arkansas River in Oklahoma.

24. fork: The point where a river is divided into two or more branches, or where branches join to from a river.

25. The Arkansas: The Arkansas River (2, 330 km) rises in the Rocky Mountains and flows southeast across the plains to the Mississippi River.

26. The Cimarron: The Cimarron River. It rises in New Mexico and flows east to the Arkansas River.

27. The Comanches: An American Indian tribe. North American Indians, who adopted a plains culture. They were excellent horsemen and extremely warlike. The effectively prevented white settlers from passing safely through their territory for more than a century.

28. …they had ruled the whole of the southern Plains.

The Indians of the Great Plains inhabited two major sub-regions. The northern Plains, from Dakota and Montana southward to Nebraska, were dominated by several large tribes who spoke Sioux languages, as well as by the Flatheads, Blackfeet, Crows and some other Indian tribes. The so-called Five Civilized Tribes pursued an agricultural life there. In western Kansas lived the Pawnees. Surrounding these were the truly nomadic tribes of western Kansas, Colorado, eastern New Mexico, and Texas – the Comanches, Kiowas, and Arapahos.

29. But warfare for the Kiowas… rather than of survival…

(1) Explain the meaning of your own words: Warfare was important for the Kiowas more because of their militant tendency than because of their need for survival. The Kiowas often fought just because they were good warriors, because they fought out of habit, character, nature, not because they needed extra lands or material gains for the sake of surviving and thriving.

(2) preeminently: much more important

(3) disposition: a particular type of character which makes someone more likely to behave or react in a certain way; temperament; an inclination, tendency. The word disposition is used to refer to the normal or prevailing aspect of one’s nature. Examples: 1) He had a cheerful disposition. 2) He had a disposition to quarrel.

a matter: a decision, a situation, etc.

(4) a matter of disposition: 出于本性,由于习惯

a matter: a decision, a situation, etc.

Some phrases with the word matter. Note the different meaning of the word matter in these phrases:

• A matter of opinion: a question of different views

• A matter of life and death: an extremely serious or dangerous situation the could end in death.

• A matter of time: used to say that something will definitely happen sooner or later

• A matter of taste: depending on your taste, your judgment

• A matter of seconds: only a few seconds

30. ....they never understood the grim, unrelenting advance of the U.S. Cavalry.

(1) The Kiowas didn’t know why the U. S. Cavalry kept advancing toward them so cruelly and relentlessly.

(2) Grim: fierce; cruel; savage.

(3) Unrelenting: relentless, refusing to yield; inflexible.

(4) Why didn’t Kiowas understand the grim, unrelenting advance of the U. S. Cavalry?

Wars were common among different Indian tribes. The cause of war was simple. Most often, they fought for the simple necessity of survival: food, pastures, etc. When a group won a battle, they would typically stop advancing upon their defeated enemy and they would celebrate their victory. Yet, the U. S. Cavalry seemed different. They never gave up advancing even when they won. This puzzled the Indians. The truth is that the U. S. Cavalry was sent to accompany and protect the non-Indian, mostly white settlers. In the 19th century, the American frontier kept moving westward. This westward expansion brought constant conflicts between the Native Americans and non-Indian newcomers. When such conflicts occurred, the U. S. Government and Army would invariably be on the side of the latter. For more information, read the additional background in Part II.

31. ill-provisioned: without adequate supplies, especially, food

32. In Palo Duro Canyon they abandoned… but their lives.

(1) store: when used in the plural form, the word means supplies, especially food, closing, arms, etc.

(2) pillage: the act of plundering

(3) but their lives: except their lives

33. My grandmother was spared the humiliation of those high gray walls by eight or ten years…

(1) Explain the meaning in our own words: Luckily, my grandmother did not suffer the humiliation of being put into a closure for holding animals, for she was born eight or ten years after the event. The Kiowas were humiliated because they were treated like animals.

(2) spare: to save or free a person from something (e. g. to spare someone trouble)

(3) those high gray walls: walls of the stone corral

34. …but she must have known... old warriors.

(1) From her early childhood, she must have heard what had happened from her parents and grandparents. Therefore she must have known the great pain and distress brought by defeat, and she must have seen how they had kept thinking about their defeat in a gloomy and hopeless way.

(2) to brood: to keep thinking about something in a distressed or troubled way. The Kiowas kept thinking because they were unable to forget the past wrong done to them, because the humiliation was too deep for them to forget.

Para. 4

35. What is the main idea of paragraph 4?

This paragraph is about how the Kiowas migrated from western Montana and how the migration transformed the Kiowas. Like Paragraph 3, this part uses the author’s grandmother’s story as a focal point，but quickly moves on to the story of the Kiowa people. The use of words like “she belonged to the last culture” and “her forebears” smoothes the transition.

36. ... the last culture to evolve in North America.

Before the arrival of the Europeans, there had been numerous Native Indian cultures that had existed for a long, long time in North America. After the Kiowas’ migration to the Great Plains from Montana three centuries ago, they acquired horses and the Sun Dance culture. They changed their old ways of living and developed their new culture gradually. The author says that this was the last culture to evolve in North America.

37. ... whose language has never been positively classified in any major group.

The Native Indian languages are classified mainly geographically, not linguistically. Perhaps because of the migration of the Kiowas, their language has never been definitely classified in any major group of the Native Indian languages.

38. It was a long journey toward dawn... golden age.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence in your own words: They moved toward the east, where the sun rises, and also toward the beginning of a new culture, which led to the greatest moment in their history.

(2) The word “dawn” has two meanings: the beginning of daylight; daybreak and the beginning of something. Both meanings suit the context here in that the Kiowa people not only moved toward the sun, but also toward the beginning of a new era in their history.

39. Along the way the Kiowas were befriended by the Crows...

Indian wars were frequent in history. Yet, in the process of their migration, the Crows helped the Kiowas by giving them horses and the religion of the Plains, both of which were essential for the transformation of the Kiowas from a mountain people to a plains people.

The Crows: A Native American Indians who called themselves “bird people”, formerly inhabiting an area of the northern Great Plains between the Platte and Yellowstone rivers, now located in southeast Montana. The Crow became nomadic buffalo hunters (hunting tribe) after migrating west from the Missouri River in North Dakota in the 18th century.

40. …and their ancient nomadic spirit was suddenly free of the ground.

(1) nomadic: of, characteristic of nomads, who are members of a tribe or group of people having no permanent home, but moving constantly in search of food, pasture, etc.

(2) What does “free of the ground” mean?

As a nomadic people, they had no permanent home and were constantly on the move. When they lived in the mountains in Montana, they had no horses and therefore they had to walk on foot all the time. In a sense they were tied to the ground, or they were not free of the ground. Now they were able to gallop on horseback. This gave them a new freedom of movement, thus completely liberating their ancient nomadic spirit.

41. They acquired Tai-me, the sacred Sun Dance doll--- in the divinity of the sun.

(1) Tai-me: the sacred object of warship in their Sun Dance religion, or the Sun Dance fetish of the Kiowas. It is a fetish which is medicine. And it was the most powerful medicine in the tribe. The only time it was exhibited to view was during the Sun Dance.

(2) Sun Dance: The Great Plains Indians worshiped the sun as their god. The Sun Dance was the religious ceremony widely practiced among Native American peoples of the Great Plains, it took place in mid-summer, typically marked by several days of fasting and group dancing and sometimes including ritual self-torture, as in penance or to induce a trance or vision. The dance was attended with symbolic rites. One of the rites was to hang Tai-me, the Sun Dance fetish, and a bundle of medicine from a tree. It was considered to be very festive and sacred.

(3) the object and symbol of their worship: 他们的崇拜物和象征物

(4) Explain the meaning of this sentence in your own words: They came into possession of Tai-me, the object and symbol of their worship - the Sun Dance religion. This object was worshiped by all tribes that: regarded the sun as deity.

42. Not least, they acquired the sense of destiny, therefore courage and pride.

(1) not least: last but not least, equally important

(2) destiny: fate; an inevitable succession of events as determined supernaturally or by necessity, implying a favorable outcome

43. No longer were they slaves to... priests of the sun.

(1) Note the inversion of the sentence order for emphasis.

(2) slave: a person who is completely dominated by some influence, habit, person, etc. Note the preposition used with it is “to”, not “of”. Example: She doesn't want to be a slave to fashion.

(3) lordly: (adj.) haughty, like a lord. The word “lordly” echoes the word “pride”. And it is contrasted with the word “slave”.

(4) priests of the sun: pious believers of the Sun Dance religion

44. According to their origin myth, they entered the world through a hollow log.

(1) their origin myth: myth about the origin of their ancestors, where they originally came from, how they entered the world

(2) a hollow log: a log with an empty space in it

(3) Different cultures have different origin myths. These myths even vary from one Indian group to another. However, many Indian tribes share the same belief that they entered the world from underground.

45. From one point of view... from a sunless world.

(1) from one point of view: in a sense, in a way

(2) What does the old prophecy refer to? It refers to their origin myth.

(3) What does the sunless world refer to?

It refers to the mountains of Montana where they had lived before their migration to the Great Paints. Those mountains were so high and were covered with such dense forests that the sunlight could not penetrate them.

(4) Explain the mean in the sentence in you own words: In a sense, their migration confirmed the ancient myth that they entered the world from a hollow log, for they did emerge from the sunless world of the mountains.

Para. 5

46. What is the role of Paragraph 5?

In this paragraph, the author returns to his grandmother again. Since she is the immediate reason for him to come to Rainy Mountain, she is the link between the author and his ancestors.

47. Although my grandmother... in her blood.

(1) Although my grandmother never left Rainy Mountain in her long life, the immense landscape of the Great Plains lay in her memory as if she had lived there herself.

(2) The continental interior refers to the Great Plains.

48. The Black Hills: See Note 14. Now the Black Hills are a major recreational area of the northern plains. One of the tourist spots there is the famous Mt. Rushmore National Memorial.

49. I wanted to see in reality... my pilgrimage.

(1) Note the contrast between “in reality” and “in the mind’s eye”.

(2) the mind’s eye: in imagination, Aho had never been to places like the Black Hills, but she had seen them quite well in imagination, for she had heard so much about them from the older generations. It is through the oral tradition that the Kiowa cultural heritage has been handed down from generation to generation.

(3) pilgrimage: a journey made by a pilgrim, especially to a shrine or holy place; any long journey to a place of historical interest. For Momaday, the journey is indeed to a holy place, a place where his ancestors lived and thrived in their golden age.

Para. 6

50. What is the main idea of Paragraph 6?

The Kiowas felt a sense of confinement in Yellowstone, Montana.

51. Yellowstone: See Note 15.

52. The top of the world: the best of the world 世界上最好的地方

the top: (informal) the best

53. But, beautiful as it is, one might have the sense of confinement there.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese：虽然黄石地区很美，但人们可能有受束缚、被禁锢的感觉。

(2) beautiful as it is: although it is beautiful

(3) confinement: state of being kept within limits; restriction, imprisonment

54. The sky in all directions is close at hand... deep cleavages of shade.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese：放眼望去，四周天际线近在咫尺，伸手可及。这天际线是一道树的高墙和一条条幽深的裂缝。

(2) skyline: the line along which the sky seems to touch the earth; visible horizon

(3) close at hand: very close

(4) cleavage: division, split

(5) the high wall of the woods and deep cleavages of shade: This part is in apposition with the word “skyline”, a further explanation of the word.

55. There is prefect freedom… The badger and the bear.

(1) Explain the implied meaning of the sentence: I admit there is perfect freedom in the mountains, but only animals can enjoy this freedom thoroughly. The Kiowas did not feel free at all. Here this sentence echoes the idea of “the sense of confinement” expressed earlier.

(2) The eagle and the elk, the badger and the bear: Alliteration again. Of all animals inhabiting in that large area, the author chooses a pair beginning with “e” and a pair with “b” to achieve a poetic effect. Also the author uses the singular form of the noun with the definite article “the” to denote a group.

56. The Kiowas reckoned their stature by the distance... in the wilderness.

(1) As hunters, it was very important for the Kiowas to be able to see far. So if a Kiowas could see very far, he would be respected by the fellow Kiowas. In other words, their stature was measured by the distance they could see. Yet, because of the dense forests, they could not see very far, and they could hardly stand straight. Thus the author says they were bent and blind in the wilderness.

(2) Note the repetition of the initial sound “b” in bent and blind. Beside, the author employs the rhetorical devise of hyperbole to make the description more vivid and effective. Hyperbole is exaggeration for effect and not meant to be taken literally. Although they felt a sense of confinement, they were certainly not bent and blind.

(3) to reckon: to judge, consider, estimate

(4) stature: the degree to which someone is admired or regarded as important. Example: Louis Armstrong was a musician of world stature.

Para. 7

57. What is the main idea of Paragraph 7?

This paragraph is a depiction of the landscape which they came upon when they got out of the highlands in Montana. The new landscape is open, limitless and sunlit, allowing them a new vision into unknown distances. This forms a sharp contrast with the sunless mountainous landscape of Yellowstone. The sense of confinement and limitation in the mountains gave way to a sense of freedom in the plains. The description is very pictorial: the author is good at painting pictures with words. In an interview with Wm. T. Morgan, Jr. In 1975, Momaday said, “I have always been concerned to see what I’m writing, and I have a real image of the subject I am treating. I deal a lot in descriptive writing. I write descriptions of things. I try to render them to the mind's eye accurately. To that extent I would say that my writing tends to be pictorial, I really want to see things in my writing, literally, and I want the reader to see what I'm talking about, to have a visual impression.”

58. Descending eastward, the highland meadows are a stairway to the plain.

(1) The subject of the verb “descending” is the highland meadows. The highland meadows, which are on the slope of the Rocky Mountains, descend from west to east.

(2) The Rocky Mountains (or the Rockies) are a mountain system in West North America, extending from central North Mexico to North Alaska, over 4,828 km. Long.

(3) The word “stairway” is used metaphorically. The sloping meadows are like a Stairway going down from a higher level to a lower level.

59. In July the inland slope of the Rockies is luxuriant with flax and buckwheat，stone crop and larkspur.

(1) the inland slope: the side of the Rocky Mountains facing the Great Plains，not the side facing the Pacific Ocean lying to the west of the Rocky Mountains

(2) luxuriant (with): growing strongly and thickly

(3) Translate the sentence into Chinese：七月，落基山脉面向平原的内坡上长满了亚麻、荞麦、景天和翠雀等各种植物。

60. Clusters of trees... to build upon the mind.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence in your own words: The earth unfolds and the limit of the land is far in the distance, where there are clusters of trees and animals eating grass. This landscape makes one see far and broadens one's horizon. Remember that they could not see far into the distance in the forest-covered mountains.

(2) cause the vision to reach away: make one see far into the distance，broaden one's horizon

(3) cause... wonder to build upon the mind: cause wonder to grow, make their imagination grow

61. The sun follows a longer course in the day... beyond all comparison.

(1) Why does the sun follow a longer course in the day?

Because of the low horizon, the sun rises early and sets down late, thus making the day longer and night shorter than in the mountains.

(2) the sky is immense beyond all comparison：天空宽阔无比

beyond all comparison：无可比拟，无以伦比

This forms a contrast with the sentence in Paragraph 6: “The skyline in all directions is close at hand.”

62. The great billowing clouds that sail… upon the grain like water…

(1) Note the figure of speech connected with water-billowing, sail, like water. When you use an extended metaphor, stick to the same metaphor and avoid using mixed metaphors.

(2) to billow: to surge, swell in large waves of water

(3) Express the idea in your own way: Clouds swell like large waves and move like sails upon the sky, casting shadows on the grain fields. As the clouds move, the shadows move, too, making some patches of land brighter and some darker.

63. Sweet clover takes hold of the hills… seal the soil.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese：草木犀长满了山丘，它低垂的枝叶盖到地上，密密地封住土壤。

(2) take hold of: to get control or possession of

(3) seal the soil: cover the soil tightly to prevent it from being washed away

64. at home: comfortable, at ease

65. Precisely there does it have the certain character of a god.

(1) Note the inversion of the sentence order for emphasis. The word “there” is being stressed.

(2) the certain character of a god: Here the word “certain” means unquestionable, not to be doubted.

(3) After their migration to the plains, the Kiowas began to worship the sun as their god. The Sun Dance was their religious ceremony, and Tai-me was the Sun Dance fetish, their object of religious worship.

66. When the Kiowas came to the land... after the solstices.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese: Kiowa人来到Crow人的土地上，他们在黎明时，隔着Bighorn河可以看到山的背阴处，明媚的阳光照在层层的庄稼地上。

(2) The Bighorn River, which is 741 km. Long, is formed in west central Wyoming and flows north to join the Yellowstone River in south Montana.

(3) profusion: a pouring forthwith with great liberality; abundance; a great amount or quantity

(4) grain shelves: terraced fields of grain

(5) The oldest deity refers to the sun.

(6) After the solstices, the sun plays the dominant role.

67. Not yet would they veer southward to the caldron… a while longer in their view.

(1) Note the inversion of the sentence order.

(2) Explain the meaning of the sentence in your own words: They would not yet change the direction southward to the land lying below which was like a large kettle. First, they must give their bodies some time to get used to the plains. Secondly, they didn’t want to lose sight of the mountains so soon.

(3) to veer: to change the direction, change the course

(4) the caldron of the land; the land that is like a caldron. The use of implied comparison and the noun “caldron” instead of the attributive clause makes the description more vivid.

Other examples:

They lived in a palace of a house.

It is a dark cave of a room.

Before him stood a little shrimp of a fellow.

(5) the land that lay below: Now they are stopping by the Bighorn River in Wyoming, midway between the highlands of Montana and the Great Plains.

(6) wean: The word “wean” originally means to withhold mother’s milk from the baby or the young mammal and substitute it with other nourishment. It is used here metaphorically. The Kiowas paused on their way; not in a hurry to go on toward the southeast because they wanted to give their bodies some time, to get accustomed to the change of weather and other physical conditions.

68. They bore Tai-me in procession to the east: They carried Tai-me in their migration to the east, With the acquisition of Tai-me, the sacred Sun Dance fetish, the Kiowas entered into an alliance with the sun，their highest deity.

Para. 8

69. What is the main idea of Paragraph 8?

In this paragraph the author describes Devil’s Tower and tells the Kiowas’ legend about it.

70. The land was like iron: The land was barren and hard. This sentence echoes the expression “the prairie is an anvil’s edge” in Paragraph 1.

71. At the top of a ridge I caught sight of Devil’s Tower... the world was begun.

(1) Translate the sentence into Chinese: 在一座山脊顶上，我看到魔鬼塔高高插人灰蒙蒙的天空，似乎在时间诞生之时，地核开裂，地壳破裂，宇宙的运动从此开始。

(2) Devil’s Tower: See Note 16. The rolling hills of the 1,347 acre park are covered with pine forests, woodlands, and prairie grasslands. Deer, prairie dogs, and other wildlife are abundant. It was proclaimed in 1906 as the first national monument by president Theodore Roosevelt. Millions of people will recognize the shape of Devil’s Tower from the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, which featured the Tower as the landing spot of the awesome Mother Ship. Devil’s Tower is one of the legendary places in American Indian cultures. There are different versions of the origin of the Tower. Some tribes call it Bears Lodge. It is an important place in the Kiowas history. When Momaday was a baby his parents made a trip to the Black Hills with him. There, Momaday was given a Kiowa name - Tsoaitalee, “Rock Tree Boy” in English, which was derived from the Kiowa story about Devil’s Tower.

(3) upthrust: a geological term meaning an upheaval of a part of the earth’s crust

(4) core: the central portion of the earth

(5) crust: the solid, rocky outer portion or shell of the earth

(6) The motion of the world was begun: Everything in the world was made moving. The use of the passive voice suggests that there was a force that began the motion of the world.

72. There are things in nature that engender an awful quiet in the heart of man…

(1) to engender: to bring into being, bring about, produce

(2) awful: inspiring awe, full of awe. The sentence means that people are awe-stricken when they see spectacular things in nature.

73. Two centuries ago, because they could not do otherwise... of the rock.

Two centuries ago, because the Kiowas could not explain how Devil’s Tower was formed in scientific terms, the only thing they could do was to make up a story by imagination at the base of the rock.

74. Suddenly the boy was struck dumb: Suddenly the boy became dumb, unable to speak.

75. Run upon his hands and feet：用手脚爬行

76. Directly there was a bear where the boy had been.

(1) The meaning of the sentence is that the boy had turned into a bear.

(2) Why did he become a bear, not some other animal?

In the Kiowas culture，the bear is regarded as the most powerful of all animals. In an interview with Bettye Givens in 1982, Momaday says, “Bears are wonderful creatures. They are human-like，adventurous, powerful, curious, extremely confident in their elements. If you took a lion and you pitted him against the bear, I would bet on the bear. Bears are powerful.” He also says, “I identify with the bear because I’m intimately connected with that story. And so I have this bear power. I turn into a bear every so often. I feel myself becoming a bear… The boy who turns into a bear, what does that mean? What is the metaphor? What is the symbolism there? I suspect it is that part of man which is subhuman. Primitive. Most people cannot recover nature. At one time, we lived in nature. But somewhere along the way, we were severed from nature. And we cannot any longer comprehend the creatures of nature, We don't know about them as we once did. But this boy is an exception. He turns into a bear; that means that he reconstructs that link with nature.”

77. It bade them climb upon it: The tree ordered them to climb upon it.

78. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws: The bear rose upright on its back legs and scratched the bark of the tree around with its sharp claws. In this legend, Devil’s Tower was that tree, and the marks on the rock formation were scratches left by the bear.

79. Borne: the past participle of the verb “bear”. To bear means to carry someone or something, especially something important. Example: The emperor was borne along in a sedan chair.

80. They became the stars of the Big Dipper:

(1) the Big Dipper:（大熊座内的）北斗七星

(2) The seven sisters became the stars of the Big Dipper.

81. From that moment, and so long as the legend lives… in the night sky.

What is the symbolic meaning of this legend? In the legend the seven sisters are immortalized. With this legend, the Kiowas established a kinship with the stars. They had already been allied with the sun through Tai-me. Now that they were related to the Big Dipper through the myth of Devil’s Tower, they stood in good relation to the universe. The sun and the stars protected them day and night. This prepared them for the coming of their golden age.

82. Whatever they were in the mountains, they could be no more.

Explain the meaning of the sentence: They were a mountain people in Montana, and now they had completely been transformed into a plains people.

Para. 9

83. What is the main idea of Paragraph 9?

In this paragraph the author tells about the last days of the Sun Dance culture by using his grandmother as a witness.

84. My grandmother had a reverence for the sun… out of mankind.

(1) reverence: a feeling or attitude of deep respect, love, and awe for something sacred; holy regard

(2) all but gone out of mankind: In American spoken English, the word “but” is used to emphasize what you are saying. Example: Go there but fast.

85. she had come a long way about: She had changed a lot before becoming a Christian. “Have come a long way” means to have developed or changed a lot. Example: Psychiatry has come a long way since the 1920s.

86. …She never forgot her birthright.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: Although she became a Christian in her later years, she never forgot her cultural heritage as a Kiowa.

(2) birthright: a right or rights that a person has because of being born in a certain family, nation, etc.

87. As a child she had been… in the presence of Tai-me.

(1) See Note 12 about the Sun Dance.

(2) The restoration of her people in the presence of Tai-me: Tai-me was the most powerful medicine the Kiowas possessed. During a Sun Dance ceremony, it was hung from a tree and worshiped as the bringer of good luck. This was the only time when it was exhibited for viewing. In the presence of Tai-me, the Kiowas were revived, healed and energized. After the ceremony, an important member of the Kiowa tribe was responsible for keeping Tai-me, Only this keeper had the right to open it.

88. The buffalo were gone: About the buffalo, see Note 17. The buffalo not only supplied the Kiowas with food and clothing, but also was the animal representation of the sun.

89. In order to consummate the ancient sacrifice… the Goodnight herd.

(1) to consummate: to make complete, perfect

(2) sacrifice: the act of offering something to a god, especially in former times by killing a animal or a person in a religious ceremony

(3) to impale: to push a sharp pointed object through something or someone. One of the Sun Dance rites was to pierce the head of a buffalo bull and hang it upon the medicine tree.

(4) to beg and barter: Alliteration To barter means to trade by exchanging goods or serves without using money.

(5) Goodnight: Charles Goodnight (1836-1927) was a Texas cattleman, born in Macoupin County, Illinois. He went to Texas in 1846, where he joined the Texas Rangers and became a noted scout and Indian fighter. He was later a pioneer in cattle ranching in New Mexico and Colorado and in 1866 laid out the Goodnight cattle trail from Texas to Wyoming, later extended (1875) to Colorado. In 1877, in partnership with John Adair, he established in the Texas Panhandle the J A Ranch of nearly 1 million acres (404,700 hectares), on which he maintained about 100,000 head of cattle. By crossing bison and Polled Angus cattle he produced the first herd of cattle. He also bred bison and is thereby credited with preserving the remnant of the South Plains herd.

(6) herd: a number of cattle, sheep, or other animals feeding, living, or being driven together

90. As a living Sun Dance culture: After the Sun Dance culture was forbidden and destroyed, it ceased to exist.

91. Hide: an animal’s skin, especially when it has been removed to be used for leather

92. Before the dance could begin… to disperse the tribe.

(1) The orders came from the U. S. Government. Judged by the values of Christianity and European civilization, the Native American cultures appeared to be inferior and backward. The U.S. government perceived the Sun Dance as idolatry and therefore abolished it by force. For the Kiowa people, the Sun Dance was their holiest religious ceremony. Forbidden to practice their own religion, they were cut off from the life-sustaining power of the sun.

(2) to disperse: to break up and scatter in all directions, Example: The police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

93. Forbidden without cause the essential act… from the medicine tree.

(1) Forbidden without cause the essential act of their faith: Without cause they were forbidden to perform the most important part of their religion. No reason was given for abolishing the Sun Dance religion. But actually there was a reason. See Note 92 (1). without cause：毫无理由

(2) having seen the wild herds slaughtered and left to rot upon the ground: The white new comers and merchants killed buffalo in large numbers for commercial purposes, mainly for the hides. So after killing the animals, they would leave the dead bodies rotting on the ground. To slaughter means to kill large numbers of (people) in a cruel or violent way.

(3) The above two phrases explain why the Kiowas backed away forever from the medicine tree.

(4) The medicine tree was the tree from which the Sun Dance medicine bundle was hung.

94. …At the great bend of the Washita.

(1) bend: a bent or curving part of a river

(2) the Washita: The Washita River,720 km. long, rises in the Texas Panhandle near the Oklahoma line and flows southeast to the Red River.

95. Without bitterness, and for as long as she lived, she bore a vision of deicide.

(1) Why without bitterness? Maybe the Kiowas had suffered too much to feel bitter, or maybe they accepted this as their fate.

(2) deicide: the killing of a god. “-cide” is a suffix forming nouns. It means (i) a killer (e. g. pesticide); (ii) a killing (e. G. Suicide, genocide)

96. In summing up we can see that in Paragraphs 4 to 9, the author, by involving himself with the landscape, explores the three stages of the Kiowas’ culture- emergence, evolution and decline. His grandmother serves as a focus or a link by which the author moves his narrative from one stage to another.

Para. 10

97. What is the main idea of Paragraph 10?

For the first time, the author concentrates only on his grandmother's story rather than mixing it with the history of the whole Kiowa tribe. Also for the first time the author shifts the focus of depicting the landscape to describing a person - his grandmother Aho as an old woman.

98. Now that I can have her only in memory…came upon her…

(1) This is a long sentence with several participle phrases portraying the different postures peculiar to his grandmother. Each posture is described in precise details - standing at the wood stove on a winter morning, turning meat in a great iron skillet, sitting at the south window, bent above her beadwork, looking down for a long time into the fold of her hands, going out upon a cane very slowly, and praying. The method the author uses here is similar to montage, a technique often employed in films as well as in literature and music. Montage is the art or process of selecting, editing, and piercing together separate sections of cinema or television film to form a continuous whole; the technique of producing a new composite whole from fragments of pictures, words, music, etc.

(2) now that: because of something, as a result of something

(3) posture: the position or carriage of the body in standing or sitting; bearing. The word refers to the habitual or assumed disposition of the parts of the body in standing, sitting, etc.

(4) skillet: a flat heavy cooking pan with a long handle

(5) beadwork: decorative work in beads. American Indians like to wear beads as decoration.

(6) when her vision had failed: when she could not see well

vision: the ability to see

To fail means to become weaker, cease functioning; break down.

Examples:

Her health is failing.

The engine has failed.

He broke down with a heart failure.

99. She made long rambling prayers out of... many things:

Since she had seen many things, experienced a lot in her long life, she talked about suffering and hope in her long and disconnected prayers.

100. … so exclusive were they of all mere custom and company.

(1) Note the inversion for stressing the word“exclusive”。

(2) exclusive (of): not including or allowing for (e. g. the cost exclusive of taxes)

(3) custom and company: Alliteration again. “Custom” means a usual practice, a habitual way of behaving; habit. “Company” means companionship, a group of people gathered for a social purpose, etc.

(4) The meaning of this sentence is that his grandmother’s prayers did not follow any customary way of praying, and she did not want anyone else to hear them.

101. The last time I saw her she prayed standing by the side of her bed... like a shawl.

(1) Unlike the first sentence of this paragraph, which juxtaposes several postures together, these two sentences focus on only one posture of his grandmother—praying by the side of her bed at night. Here the author uses the technique of closeup instead of montage. With words he creates a memorable portrait of his grandmother. Apparently, as an artist, he knows how to use light in painting the portrait. This is a fine example demonstrating the author' s ability to create a visual impression.

(2) naked to the waist: She didn’t wear anything on the upper part of her body above the waist. Note the preposition “to”.

(3) drawn: pulled up

(4) shawl: a piece of fabric, usually rectangular and often folded into a triangle, worn over the shoulders or head or wrapped round a baby.

102. …but there was something inherently sad in the sound… the syllables of sorrow.

(1) sad in the sound: alliteration

(2) inherently: existing in someone or something as a natural and inseparable quality

(3) some merest hesitations: very small hesitations

(4) syllables of sorrow: alliteration

103. She began in a high, descending pitch… in the human voice.

(1) pitch: the degree of highness or lowness of a tone

(2) exhausting her breath to silence: using up all her breath and then becoming silent

(3) always the same intensity of effort: always with great effort

(4) something that is, and is not, like urgency in the human voice: Note the ambiguity here.

104. Transported so in the dancing light among the shadows… the reach of time.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: In this way she was entranced in the dancing light among the shadows of her room, and she seemed to be timeless; it seemed that she would live forever.

(2) transport: carry away with emotion; entrance

(3) beyond the reach of time: timeless. The implied meaning is that she would live forever.

105. But that was illusion; I knew then that I should not see her again: That she was timeless was a false idea, not in accord with facts of life. The fact was that I realized that this was going to be my last time to see her. The implied meaning is that she would die soon.

Paras. 11-12

106. Paragraph 11 is about the old houses at Rainy Mountain, which the author's grandmother and other Kiowas used to live in, but which are now empty. This paragraph serves as a transition between the depiction of Grandma Aho and the reunion at her house.

107. There, in a very little while, wood takes on the appearance of great age: There, in a very short time, wood will look as if it were very old (because of the wind and rain).

108. The windowpanes are black and opaque… given up to the land.

(1) windowpane: a single piece of glass in a window

(2) opaque: not letting light pass through, not transparent

(3) Explain the implied meaning of the sentence: For an outsider, the old house looks empty; but for someone who knows and cherishes the history of the Kiowas, the house reflects the undying spirit of the Kiowa people, who gave their lives to the land.

109. Paragraphs 11 and 12 describe the reunions that were once held at the grandmother's house when the author was a child. We can see the author accepts change and loss as facts of life. He neither denies nor defies them. Imagination helps him strike a balance between them. So, after depicting his dead grandmother’s old house, he brings to life the joy and activity that once filled it. As a child Momaday took part in those events. By re-creating those scenes, he reminds himself of who he is.

110. Once there was a lot of sound in my grandmother’s house... talk.

(1) The word “once” is used as a transitional device to link up the present and the past.

(2) a lot of coming and going：人来人往

111. The Kiowas are a summer people… returns upon them.

(1) The Kiowas are a summer people: The Kiowas are active in summer, they feel at home in summer

(2) to abide: to put up with

(3) to keep to oneself: to avoid contact with others

(4) vital: full of life and vigor

112. The aged visitors who came… bore themselves upright.

(1) made of lean and leather：精瘦 The word “leather” means animal skin that has been treated to preserve or to be used for making shoes, bags, etc. The author uses the word here because their skin had become as rough and hard as leather due to the over exposure to the sun and wind. Also “lean” and “leather” are placed together for alliteration.

(2) bore themselves upright: carried themselves upright 腰板挺得很直

113. They rubbed fat upon their hair: They used fat as hair lotion.

114. Old and cherished enmities: battles that took place in the past and were remembered fondly by those old warriors

enmity: the bitter attitude or feelings of an enemy or of mutual enemies, hostility, antagonism

115. They were an old council of warlords… of who they were.

(1) council: a group of people called together for consultation, discussion, advice, etc.

(2) warlord: a military leader, especially an unofficial one fighting against a government or king

(3) They held these reunions to remind themselves and other people of who they were, to remember the past.

116. The women might indulge themselves… of their servitude.

(1) On such occasions, the women, who usually served the men at home, could do what they liked to do or what they normally couldn’t do, such as gossiping, making loud and elaborate talk among themselves, joking, etc.

(2) gossip was at once the mark and compensation of their servitude: Gossip revealed their position as servants of men and was also a reward for their servitude.

117. They made loud and elaborate talk among themselves… and false alarm.

(1) jest and gesture: Note the alliteration. jest: a mocking remark; a joke, witticism

(2) fright and false alarm: Alliteration again. The women might be telling ghost stories so that they were frightened, but there was no real danger.

118. They went abroad in fringed and flowered shawls… and German silver.

(1) went abroad: went outside

(2) fringed and flowered shawls: shawls with flower patterns and a timing of threads. Another example of alliteration.

(3) silver: Silver usually refers to spoons, forks and other kitchenware made of silver (e.g. As kitchen-maid, it was my job to polish the silver.). But here it means silver jewelry.

Paras. 13-15

119. nocturnal: of, done, or happening in the night

120. Now there is a funeral silence in the rooms, the endless wake of some final word.

(1) The word “funeral” cannot be replaced with the word “dead”. Dead silence means complete silence. But funeral silence means the kind of silence that characterizes a funeral. Here the author uses it together with the word “wake”, which means watch over or viewing of a corpse before burial（守夜，守灵）and the word “mourning” in the following sentence.

(2) some final word: so the wake is not for his grandmother, who died and was already buried, but for something abstract, maybe the dying culture of the Kiowas.

121. My line of vision was such that the creature filled the moon like a fossil.

(1) Explain the meaning of the sentence: I happened to glance in that direction, and there the cricket was perfectly framed by the full moon as if it were a fossil in it.

(2) Put this sentence into Chinese：我当时的视线正好使我看到那只蟋蟀像块化石镶在满月之中。

122. It had gone there, I thought, to live and die… its small definition made whole and eternal.

(1) The cricket is a small insect with nothing special about it. But if it could go to live and die on the moon, the small meaning of its existence would become larger and eternal.

(2) Put this sentence into Chinese：我猜想，那蟋蟀到那里去生活和死亡，因为只有在那里它的渺小价值才能变得完整和永恒。

(3) Here the author has created an impressive image of the cricket against the moon. With this image Momaday brings his essay to its climax. As readers we will surely ask, “What does the image mean? What does the cricket represent?” Different people may have different interpretations. One may see the cricket as symbolic of the Kiowa culture. The Kiowa culture may seem small in definition, but its significance depends on how you look at this culture, or on the angle from which you view it. Maybe the cricket has a deeper meaning than that. In his essay “Poems of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman” Momaday discusses the symbolic meaning of the cricket in Tuckerman’s poem The Cricket. He says, “The ubiquity of Tuckerman’s cricket is the ubiquity of death. Unlike man, who has severed his existence from primitive nature, the cricket is an integral part of nature. And, like death, it has absolute existence in a dimension incomprehensible to man. Therein lies the validity of the cricket as a symbol of death and of the inevitable frustration of man’s quest to know the meaning of death.” These words may throw light on our interpretation of the image.

123. A warm wind rose up and purled like the longing within me: Longing for what? Nobody knows for sure, except the author himself. The statement is deliberately ambiguous.

124. the dirt road: road made of dirt, earth, not a dirty road

125. There, where it ought to be, at the end of a long and legendary way, was my grandmother’s grave: This sentence echoes the words “I wanted to be at her grave” in Paragraph 2. The end of a long and legendary way means the destination of a journey.

126. Looking back once, I saw the mountain and came away: The last two actions of the narrator are significant. Looking back means remembering the past. Out of his exploration into the past grows an attitude of acceptance and a desire to hold on to cherished memories. Coming away indicates a determination to start afresh from Rainy Mountain with a rich heritage that will continue to have a powerful influence on the life of modern Kiowa people.

Translation of the Text

通往雨山的路

N·斯考特·莫米蒂

1. 一座孤零零的小山在俄克拉荷马的草原上拔地而起，它的西面和北面是维奇塔山脉。对于我们克尔瓦人来说，它是个古老的界标，我们给它取名叫雨山。这里有世界上最恶劣的天气。冬季有大暴风雪，春季就刮起了飓风，到了夏季，草原热得就像铁砧一样。草变得又脆又黄。沿着河流和小溪，是长长的绿带，有一排排的山核桃树、柳树和金缕梅。从远望去，七八月里的树叶热得冒烟，犹如在火中挣扎。高高的草地上到处都是大个儿的黄绿色的蚱蜢．像玉米花一样爆裂开，刺得人痛。乌龟在红土地上爬行，不知要去何处。寂寞荒凉是这里的一大特点。草原上的一切都是疏离开来的，所见之物不会混杂在一起让人看不清楚。要么只是一山，要么只是一树、一人。清晨，太阳在你的背后冉冉升起，此时观看大地，你会失去平时的比例感。你会张开想像的翅膀，并认定这就是上帝造设宇宙的起始点。

2. 我七月回到了雨山。我祖母于春季去世，我是想去她的墓地。她活得很老，最后因虚弱而死。她死的时候，是她现在惟一活着的女儿陪伴着她。听说她死时的脸像张孩子的脸。

3. 我喜欢把她看作孩子。她出生时，俄克拉荷马人正生活在其所史上鼎盛时期的最后阶段。一个多世纪以来，他们掌控着从斯莫克山河到红河那片空旷的山脉，掌控着从加拿大河流的源头到阿肯色河和西马隆河交汇处的地域。他们与科曼斯人一道，统治着整个南部平原。发动战争是他们神圣的职责．他们是世人所知的最优秀的骑手。然而，对于克尔瓦人来说，作战更多是因为这是他们的习惯，而非为了生存。他们从来都不理解美国骑兵残酷的进攻。当最后四分五裂、弹尽粮绝时，他们便冒着冰凉的秋雨来到斯代克特平原，陷入了恐慌。在帕罗多罗坎，他们的弹粮被抢劫一空，只剩下了性命。为了拯救自己，他们在福特西尔投降，被监禁在一个石头堆砌的牛马棚。现在，这里已经是个军事博物馆了。我的祖母得以豁免那高高的灰墙里的羞辱，因为她是在此事件8年或10年后出生的。但自出生起，她就已经懂得失败给人带来的苦难．这使那些老战士们百思不得其解。

4. 她的名字叫阿荷，属于北美最后的文化。差不多一个世纪前，她的祖先从蒙大拿两部来到这里。他们是一群山民，一个神秘的猎手部落．其语言从未分明地划归任何一个主要语种。17世纪晚期，他们开始了漫长的向南和向东移民。这个通向黎明的漫长的旅行，使他们达到其黄金时期。一路上，克尔瓦人被克罗人当作朋友，并给了他们平原上的文化和宗教。他们有了马，于是他们那古老的游牧精神使他们重新脱离了地面。他们拥有了太米，那神圣的太阳舞木偶，自那时起太米就成了他们的崇拜物和象征物。太米也是所有崇拜太阳的部落的崇拜物。同样重要的是，他们有着命运感，也有着勇气和荣誉感。当他们开始享受南部大平原时，他们已经被改变了。他们不再是为了简单的生活必需品的奴隶，而是一群傲慢危险的斗士和小偷、猎人和虔诚的太阳舞宗教徒。有关他们起源的神话告诉我们，他们是通过一根空心圆木来到了世上。从某种程度上说，他们的迁移是一个古老预言的结果，因为他们的确来自于一个没有太阳的世界。

5. 虽然我的祖母在漫长的生活中从未离开过雨山，但大平原那广袤的景色却留在她的记忆中，仿佛她本人曾经在那里生活过。她能谈一些关于克罗人的事情，尽管她从未见过他们；她还知道黑山，虽然她从未去过那里。我想见识她想像当中的完美世界，于是走了1500英里，开始了我的朝圣。

6. 对于我来说，黄石是世界上最好的地方。一个有许多深湖、黑木材、深峡谷和瀑布的地区。虽然黄石地区很美．但人们可能有受束缚、被禁锢的感觉。放眼望去，四周天际线近在咫尺，伸手可及。这天际线是一道树的高墙和一条条幽深的裂缝。山里有完全的自由，但这只属于老鹰、美洲赤鹿、獾和熊。克尔瓦人根据他们所能看清的距离来判断他们的位置；在荒野中他们时常弯着腰或者双眼迷茫。

7. 由于位居落基山脉的坡上，向东看上去高高的草地就像通往平原的台阶。七月，落基山脉面向平原的内坡上长满了亚麻、荞麦、景天和翠雀等各种植物。当大地在我们面前展开时，陆地的边缘渐渐退去。远处的树木和吃着草的动物开阔了我们的视野，使人张开想像的翅膀。白天日照时间很长，天空宽阔无比。宛如波浪的大片云彩在天空中游动，就像一片片船帆。在庄稼地里投下了影子。再往下，在科洛任何黑足印第安人的领地，平原是黄色的。苜蓿长满了山丘，她低垂的叶子盖到地上，密密地封住土壤。克罗人在这里停下了脚步，他们来到了必须改变他们生活的地方。在大平原，太阳感到很舒坦。毫无疑问．这里有上帝的灵性。克尔瓦人来到克罗人的土地上，他们在黎明时，隔着比格好恩河可以看到山的背阴处，明媚的阳光照在层层的庄稼地上。然而，他们并不情愿改变方向，向南到脚下这块大锅似的土地。因为他们必须给身体充分的时间适应大平原。他们也不愿这么快就看不见雨山。他们把太米也带到了东方。

8. 一层暗淡的雾霭笼罩着黑山，这里的土地贫瘠得像铁。在一座山脊顶上，我看到魔鬼塔高高插入灰蒙蒙的天空，似乎在时间诞生之时，地核开裂，地壳破裂，宇宙的运动从此开始。实际上有一些事情能使人们叹为观止。魔鬼塔就是其中之一。两个世纪以前，由于克尔瓦人无法用科学解释魔鬼塔的形式，冈此他们惟一能做的就是根据岩石，通过自己的想像编造故事。我祖母说，“八个孩子在玩耍，七个姐姐和一个弟弟。突然间男孩子变得哑巴了。他颤抖着，并用手脚爬行。他的手脚趾变成了爪子，身体也长上了毛。他一下子就变成了一只熊。姐姐们非常害怕，于是她们就跑，熊就跟着她们跑。她们来到了一棵大树桩下，树开始跟她们说话，命令她们爬上树。当她们爬上树时，树便开始上升。熊赶过来要吃她们．但够不着。于是熊站了起来，用它那尖锐的爪子胡乱抓着树皮。七个姐姐被运上了天，变成了大熊座内的北斗七星。”从那时起，只要这一传说还存在，克尔瓦人就跟夜空有一种亲缘关系。在山里，除了山民以外，他们不会再是别的什么了。无论他们的福分有多浅，无论他们的生活有多艰难，他们已经从荒原上找到了生存之路。

9. 我的祖母对太阳怀有崇敬之情。然而，现在人们的这种感情已经没有了。在她身上有一种细致和古老的敬畏。她晚年时开始信基督教，但在成为基督教徒之前她改变了许多，她从未忘记自己与生俱来的权利。孩提时，她跳过太阳舞，也参加过那些一年一度的仪式，从中她懂得了她的同胞在太米面前的复原。1887年，当最后一次克尔瓦太阳舞会召开时。她大约七岁。水牛都没有了。为了完成那古老的祭祀----把公水牛的头穿在驱魔架上----一个老人代表团旅行到了德克萨斯，去乞讨并从古德奈特牧民那里换取水牛。作为太阳舞文化，克尔瓦人最后一次聚会那年她十岁。他们没有找到水牛；于是他们就不得不挂上一张旧兽皮。在舞会开始以前，福特希尔有人命令一群战士前来驱散这群部落。毫无理由地，关于他们信仰的基本行为被禁止了。看到野蛮人杀戮他们的同胞，然后把他们的尸体扔在地上慢慢腐烂，克尔瓦人从此永远地远离了驱麾架。这事发生在1890年7月20日，维吉塔河拐弯处。我祖母在那。没有感到痛苦，因为只要她活着，她就能忍受目睹上帝惨遭杀害。

10. 虽然我只能把祖母留在我的记忆中．我却能够看到她一些特有的姿势：冬季的清晨站在木炉边翻烤着铁锅里的肉片；坐在南面窗前，手里捻着念珠，随后，当她看不见的时候，她就低下头，久久地注视着自己合在一起的双手；拄着拐杖出门，随着年事增高，走得越来越慢；她时常祈祷。我记忆最深刻的当数她的祈祷了。出于痛苦、希望，再加上经历了许多事情，她总是做长时间的祷告。我从来都不能肯定我有权利听她的祷告，她的祈祷并不遵循任何祷告形式的习俗。最后一次见到她时，是在夜间她站在床边祷告，身体裸到腰部，煤油灯光在她黑黑的皮肤上移动。她那白天里总是打成辫子的又长又黑的头发，散落在肩膀上，垂在胸前，宛如披肩。我不会说克尔瓦语，而且从来都听不懂她的祈祷，那声音里充满了悲伤，她起调很高，用尽全身力气，直到再也喊不出声音来；然后反复这样----总是用同样的气力，而有时像，有时又不像人类的声音。她对房屋里的影子间跳跃的光很着迷，这让人觉得她会永远活在世上。然而，这都是幻觉。那时我已经知道，不久我就不会再见到她了。

11. 平原上的房屋就像哨兵。它们是古老的天气守卫者。在那里，用不了多久，树木就会看起来很老。所有的颜色都会在风吹雨打中褪去，然后树木变灰，长出纹理，钉子生锈变红。窗户玻璃黑且透明，你可以想像里面什么都没有，然而确实有许多鬼魂和尸骨。他们站在不同的地方挡住天空，你会觉得走近他们所花费的时间比想像的还长。它们属于远方，那是它们的领地。

12. 在我祖母的房间里，曾经有过许多声音，许多人来来往往，举行盛会，谈笑风生。夏日里充满了兴奋与团聚。克尔瓦人夏季很活跃，他们忍受冬日的寒冷，不与外人接触；但当季节变幻，大地变暖，充满生机时，他们就会按捺不住；对活动的那种古老的热爱又回到了他们身边。我小的时候，来我祖母家的那些年长者都精瘦，但腰板硬朗。他们头戴大黑帽子，肥大的衬衫不断被风吹起。他们头抹头油，辫子上系着彩带。一些人把脸涂上色，身上带着旧时征战时落下的伤疤。他们是一群旧军阀，来这里是为了让自己和别人都记住他们是谁。他们的妻子和女儿把他们伺候得很好。而在这种场合，那些通常在家里伺候男人的女人们，则可以做她们想做的，或者做她们通常不能做的，比如，闲聊、大声喊叫、开玩笑、讲鬼故事等等。走出家门时，她们披着印花披肩，带着鲜亮的珍珠或者镍黄铜首饰。而在家里，她们却忙着下厨房，准备着丰盛的宴席。

13. 经常有祷告性的集会和大型晚餐。小时候，我经常和表兄妹们在户外玩耍，灯总是放在地上，老人们的歌声在我们的周围响起，并传到黑暗处。不但有许多好吃的东西，也有许多笑声和惊喜。后来，当寂静重新回到我们身边时，我和祖母一起躺下，听着远处河边的蛙鸣，感受着空气的流动。

14. 现在，房间里有一种葬礼般的寂静，那是对克尔瓦文化永远的守灵。祖母家的墙封了。当回去奔丧时，我一生中第一次感到这房子很小。那已是深夜，皎洁的月亮，几乎是满月。我在厨房门边的石阶上坐了很久。从那儿我能看到对面的大地；我能看到溪边那长长的树排，那起伏的草原上低低的光，还有那北斗七星。我曾望着月亮，看到一个怪物。一只蟋蟀歇在栏杆上，近在咫尺。我当时的视线正好能看到那只蟋蟀像块化石镶在满月之中。我猜想，那蟋蟀到那里去生活和死亡，是因为只有在那里它小小的价值才能变得完整和永恒。一阵暖风吹起，仿佛一种渴望在我的心中涌动。

15. 次日清晨，我在黎明时分醒来，踏上了那满是尘土的雨山之路。天气已经很热，蚱蜢已开始四处活动。依然是清晨，鸟儿在树荫下歌唱着。山上，那长长的黄草地在阳光中闪亮，一只叉尾霸翁鸫从田过。在那里，在那长长的充满传奇色彩的路上，有我祖母的坟墓。四周深颜色的石头上刻着祖先们的名字。在回首，望着雨山，（带着开始新生活的意念）我离开了。