1. Every Christmas should begin with the sound of bells, and when I was a child mine always did. But they were sleigh bells, not church bells, for we lived in a part of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where there were no churches. My bells were on my father’s team of horses as he drove up to our horse-headed hitching post with the bobsled that would take us to celebrate Christmas on the family farm ten miles out in the country. My father would bring the team down Fifth Avenue at a smart trot, (licking his whip over the horses’ rumps and making the bells double their light, thin jangling over the snow, whose radiance threw back a brilliance like the sound of bells.

2. There are no such departures any more: the whole family piling into the bobsled with a foot of golden oat straw to lie in and heavy buffalo robes to lie under, the horses stamping the soft snow, and at every motion of their hoofs the bells jingling, jingling. My father sat there with the reins firmly held, wearing a long coat made from the hide of a favorite family horse, the deep chestnut color still glowing, his mittens also from the same hide. It always troubled me as a boy of eight that the horses had so indifferent a view of their late friend appearing as a warm overcoat on the back of the man who put the iron bit in their mouths.

3. There are no streets like those any more: the snow sensibly left on the road for the sake of sleighs and easy travel. We could hop oil and ride the heavy runners as they made their hissing, tearing sound over the packed snow. And along the streets we met other horses, so that we moved from one set of bells to another, from the tiny tinkle of the individual bells on the shafts to the silvery, leaping sound of the long strands hung over the harness. There would be an occasional brass-mounted automobile laboring on its narrow tires and as often as not pulled up the slippery hills by a horse, and we would pass it with a triumphant shout for an awkward nuisance which was obviously not here to stay.

4. The country road ran through a landscape of little hills and shallow valleys and heavy groves of timber, including one of great towering black walnut trees which were all cut down a year later to be made into gunstocks for the First World War. The great moment was when we left the road and turned up the long lane on the farm. It ran through fields where watermelons were always planted in the summer because of the fine sandy soil, and I could go out and break one open to see its Christmas colors of green skin and red inside. My grandfather had been given some of that land as bounty land for service as a cavalryman in the Civil War.

5. Near the low house on the hill, with oaks on one side and apple trees on the other, my father would stand up, flourish his whip, and bring the bobsled right up to the door of the house with a burst of speed.

6. There are no such arrivals any more: the harness bells ringing and dashing like faraway steeples, the horses whinnying at the horses in the barn and receiving a great, trumpeting whinny in reply, the dogs leaping into the bobsled and burrowing under the buffalo robes, a squawking from the hen house, a yelling of “Whoa, whoa,” at the excited horses, boy and girl cousins howling around the bobsled, and the descent into the snow with the Christmas basket carried by my mother.

7. While my mother and sisters went into the house, the team was unhitched and taken to the barn, to be covered with blankets and given a little grain. That winter odor of a barn is a wonderfully complex one, rich and warm and utterly unlike the smell of the same barn in summer: the body heat of many animals weighing a thousand pounds and more; pigs in one corner making their dark, brown-sounding grunts; milk cattle still nuzzling the manger for wisps of hay; horses eyeing the newcomers and rolling their deep, oval eyes white; oats, hay, and straw tangy still with the live August sunlight; the manure steaming; the sharp odor of leather harness rubbed with neat’s foot oil to keep it supple; the molasses-sweet odor of ensilage in the silo where the fodder was almost fermenting. It is a smell from strong and living things, and my father always said it was the secret of health, that it scoured out a man’s lungs; and he would stand there, breathing deeply, one hand on a horse’s rump, watching the steam come out from under the blankets as the team cooled down from their rapid trot up the lane. It gave him a better appetite, he argued, than plain fresh air, which was thin and had no body to it.

8. A barn with cattle and horses is the place to begin Christmas; after all, that’s where the original event happened, and that same smell was the first air that the Christ Child breathed.

9. By the time we reached the house, my mother and sisters were wearing aprons and busying in the kitchen, as red-faced as the women who had been there all morning. The kitchen was the biggest room in the house and all family life save sleeping went on there. My uncle even had a couch along one wall where he napped and where the children lay when they were ill. The kitchen range was a tremendous black and gleaming one called a Smoke Eater, with pans bubbling over the holes above the fire box and a reservoir of hot water at the side, lined with dull copper, from which my uncle would dip a basin of water and shave above the sink, turning his lathered face now and then to drop a remark into the women’s talk, waving his straight-edged razor as if it were a threat to make them believe him. My job was to go to the woodpile out back and keep the fire burning, splitting the chunks of oak and hickory, watching how cleanly the ax went through the tough wood.

10. It was a handmade Christmas. The tree came from down in the grove, and on it were many paper ornaments made by my cousins, as well as beautiful ones brought from the Black Forest, where the family had originally lived. There were popcorn balls, from corn planted on the sunny slope by the watermelons, paper horns with homemade candy, and apples from the orchard. The gifts tended to be hand-knit socks, or wool ties, or fancy crocheted “yokes” for nightgowns, tatted collars for blouses, doilies with fancy flower patterns for tables, tidies for chairs, and once I received a brilliantly polished cow horn with a cavalryman crudely but bravely carved on it. And there would usually be a cornhusk doll, perhaps with a prune or walnut for a face, and a gay dress of an old corset-cover scrap with its ribbons still bright. And there were real candles burning with real flames, every guest sniffing the air for the smell of scorching pine needles. No electrically lit tree has the warm and primitive presence of a tree with a crown of living fires over it, suggesting whatever true flame Joseph may have kindled on that original cold night.

11. There are no dinners like that any more: every item from the farm itself, with no deep freezer, no car for driving into town for packaged food. The pies had been baked the day before, pumpkin, apple, and mince; as we ate them, we could look out the window and see the cornfield where the pumpkins grew, the trees from which the apples were picked. There was cottage cheese, with the dripping bags of curds still hanging from the cold cellar ceiling. The bread had been baked that morning, heating up the oven for the meat, and as my aunt hurried by I could smell in her apron that freshest of all odors with which the human nose is honored—bread straight from the oven. There would be a huge brown crock of beans with smoked pork from the hog butchered every November. We could see, beyond the crock, the broad black iron kettle in a corner of the barnyard, turned upside down, the innocent hogs stopping to scratch on it.

12. There would be every form of preserve: wild grape from the vines in the grove, crab apple jelly, wild blackberry and tame raspberry, strawberry from the bed in the garden, sweet and sour pickles with dill from the edge of the lane where it grew wild, pickles from the rind of the same watermelon we had cooled in the tank at the milk house and eaten on a hot September afternoon.

13. Cut into the slope of the hill behind the house, with a little door of its own, was the vegetable cellar, from which came carrots, turnips, cabbages, potatoes, squash. Sometimes my scared cousins were sent there for punishment, to sit in darkness and meditate on their sins; but never on Christmas Day. For days after such an ordeal they could not endure biting into a carrot.

14. And of course there was the traditional sauerkraut with flecks of caraway seed. I remember one Christmas Day, when a ten-gallon crock of it in the basement, with a stone weighting down the lid, had blown up, driving the stone against the floor of the parlor, and my uncle had exclaimed, “Good God, the piano’s fallen through the floor.”

15. All the meat was from the home place too. Most useful of all, the goose—the very one which had chased me the summer before, hissing and darting out its bill at the end of its curving neck like a feathered snake. Here was the universal bird of an older Christmas: its down was plucked, washed, and hung in bags in the barn to be put into pillows; its awkward body was roasted until the skin was crisp as a fine paper; and the grease from its carcass was melted down, a little camphor added, and rubbed on the chests of coughing children. We ate, slept on, and wore that goose.

16. I was blessed as a child with a remote uncle from the nearest railroad town, Uncle Ben, who was admiringly referred to as a “railroad man,” working the run into Omaha. Ben had been to Chicago; just often enough, as his wife Minnie said with a sniff in her voice, “to ruin the fool, not often enough to teach him anything useful.” Ben refused to eat fowl in any form, and as a Christmas token a little pork roast would be put in the oven just, for him, always referred to by the hurrying ladies in the kitchen as “Ben’s chunk.” Ben would make frequent trips to the milk house, returning each time a little redder in the face, usually with one of the men toward whom he had jerked his head. It was not many years before I came to associate Ben’s remarkably fruity breath not only with the mince pie, but with the jug I funnel sunk in the bottom of the cooling tank with a stone tied to its neck. He was a romantic person in my life for his constant travels and for that dignifying term “railroad man,” so much more impressive than farmer or lawyer. Yet now I see that he was a short man with a fine natural shyness, giving us knives and guns because he had no children of his own.

17. And of course the trimmings were from the farm too: the hickory nut cake made with nuts gathered in the grove after the first frost and hulled out by my cousins with yellowed hands; the black walnut cookies, sweeter than any taste; the fudge with butternuts crowding it. In the mornings we would be given a hammer, a flat iron, and a bowl of nuts to crack and pick out for the homemade ice cream.

18. And there was the orchard beyond the kitchen window, the Wealthy, the Russet, the Wolf with its giant-sized fruit, and an apple romantically called the Northern Spy as if it were a suspicious character out of the Civil War.

19. All families had their special Christmas food. Ours was called Dutch Bread, made from a dough halfway between bread and cake, stuffed with citron and every sort of nut from the farm—hazel, black walnut, hickory, butternut. A little round one was always baked for me in a Clabber Girl baking soda can, and my last act on Christmas Eve was to put it by the tree so that Santa Clans would find it and have a snack—after all, he’d come a long, cold way to our house. And every Christmas morning, he would have eaten it. My aunt made the same Dutch Bread and we smeared over it the same butter she had been churning from their own, Jersey (highest butterfat content) milk that same morning.

20. To eat in the same room where food is cooked—that is the way to thank the Lord for His abundance. The long table, with its different levels where additions had been made for the small fry, ran the length of the kitchen. The air was heavy with odors not only of food on plates but of the act of cooking itself, along with the metallic smell of heated iron from the hard-working Smoke Eater, and the whole stove offered us its yet uneaten prospects of more goose and untouched pies. To see the giblet gravy made and poured into a gravy boat, which had painted on its sides winter scenes of boys sliding and deer bounding over snow, is the surest way to overeat its swimming richness.

21. The warning for Christmas dinner was always an order to go to the milk house lor cream, where we skimmed From the cooling pans of fresh milk the cream which had the same golden color as the flanks of the Jersey cows which had given it. The last deed before eating was grinding the coffee beans in the little mill, adding that exotic odor to the more native ones of goose and spiced pumpkin pie. Then all would sit at the table and my uncle would ask the grace, sometimes in German, but later, for the benefit of us ignorant children, in English:

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.

Share this food that you have blessed.

22. There are no blessings like that any more: every scrap of food for which my uncle had asked the blessing was the result of his own hard work. What he took to the Lord for Him to make holy was the plain substance that an Iowa farm could produce in an average year with decent rainfall and proper plowing and manure.

23. The first act of dedication on such a Christmas was to the occasion which had begun it, thanks to the Child of a pastoral couple who no doubt knew a good deal about rainfall and grass and the fattening of animals. The second act of dedication was to the ceremony of eating. My aunt kept a turmoil of food circulating, and to refuse any of it was somehow to violate the elevated nature of the day. We were there not only to celebrate a fortunate event for mankind, but also to recognize that suffering is the natural lot of men—and to consume the length and breadth of that meal was to suffer! But we all faced the ordeal with courage. Uncle Ben would let out his belt—a fancy Western belt with steer heads and silver buckle—with a snap and a sigh. The women managed better by always getting up from the table and trotting to the kitchen sink or the Smoke Eater or outdoors for some item left in the cold. The men sat there grimly enduring the glory of their appetites.

24. After dinner, late in the afternoon, the women would make despairing gestures toward the dirty dishes and scoop up hot water from the reservoir at the side of the range. The men would go to the barn and look after the livestock. My older cousin would take his new .22 rifle and stalk out across the pasture with the remark, “I saw that fox just now looking for his Christmas goose.” Or sleds would be dragged out and we would slide in a long snake, feet hooked into the sled behind, down the hill and across the westward-sloping fields into the sunset. Bones would be thrown to dogs, suet tied in the oak trees for the juncos and winter-defying chickadees, a saucer of skimmed milk set out for the cats, daintily and disgustedly picking their padded feet through the snow, and crumbs scattered on a bird feeder where already the crimson cardinals would be dropping out of the sky like blood. Then back to the house for a final warming-up before leaving.

There was usually a song around the tree before we were all bundled up, many thanks all around for gifts, the basket as loaded as when it came, more so, for left-over food had been piled in it. My father and uncle would have brought up the team from the barn and hooked them into the double shafts of the bobsled, and we would all go out into the freezing air of early evening.

25. And now those bells again, as the horses, impatient from their long standing in the barn, stamped and shook their harness, my lather holding them hack with a soft clucking in his throat and a hard pull on the reins. The smell of wood smoke flavoring the air in our noses, the cousins shivering with cold, “Goodbye, good-bye,” called out from everyone, and the bobsled would move off, creaking over the frost-brittle snow. All of us, my mother included, would dig down in the straw and pull the buffalo robes up to our chins. As the horses settled into a steady trot, the bells gently chiming in their rhythmical beat, we would fall half asleep, the hiss of the runners comforting. As we looked up at the night sky through half-closed eyelids, the constant bounce and swerve of the runners would seem to shake the little stars as if they would fall into our laps. But that one great star in the East never wavered. Nothing could shake it from the sky as we drifted home on Christmas.

Words and Expressions from the Text

1. sleigh:雪橇

2. hitching post: a post to tie a horse to with a hook, knot, harness, etc.

3. bobsled:(美)长橇

4. rump: the hind part of the body of an animal, where the legs and back join

5. mitten: a glove-like covering for the hand, with a thumb but no separately divided fingers

6. runner:(American) either of the long, narrow pieces of metal or wood on which a sled or sleigh slides

7. gunstock:枪托

8. bounty: something given to encourage public service, here military

9. steeple:尖顶，尖阁，尖塔

10. to nuzzle: to root up with the nose or snout: said of a pig, etc.

11. tangy: having a strong and penetrating taste or odor, or pleasantly sharp flavor

12. neat’s foot oil: a light-yellow oil obtained by boiling the feet and shinbones of cattle, used mainly as a dressing for leather

13. molasses: a thick, usually dark-brown syrup produced during the refining of sugar, or from sorghum, etc.

14. ensilage:保藏于地窖中的新鲜秣草

15. silo: an airtight pit or tower in which green fodder is preserved 筒仓，地窖

16. range: a unit for cooking typically including an oven and surface heating units, now usually operated by gas or electricity灶具

17. lathered: covered with the foam or froth formed by soap or other detergent in water

18. hickory:山胡桃树(木)

19. to crochet:用钩针编织

20. yoke:上衣抵肩，裙腰

21. to tat:梭编，梭织

22. doily:小型装饰桌巾

23. prune: a plum dried for eating

24. corset:束腹，妇女的胸

25. deep freezer: any freezer for quick-freezing and storing food

26. crock: an earthenware pot or jar

27. raspberry:悬钩子属植物的浆果(常呈红色或紫色)

28. rind: a thick, hard or tough natural outer covering, as of a watermelon, grapefruit,or orange

29. caraway:葛缕子

30. carcass: the dead body of an animal, often specifically of a slaughtered animal dressed as meat

31. camphor:樟脑

32. fudge:奶油软糖

33. butternut: the edible, oily nut of the white walnut tree of eastern North America

34. Wealthy: a red, medium-sized fall apple

35. Russet: a winter apple with a rough, mottled skin

36. Wolf: Wolf River, a large cooking fall apple, discovered about 1875 near the Wolf River in Wisconsin

37. Northern Spy: a yellowish-red winter apple

38. small fry: children or a child

39. gravy boat: a boat-shaped dish for serving gravy (a sauce made by thickening and seasoning the juice given off by meat in cooking) 船形肉卤盘

40. flank: the fleshy side of a person or animal between the ribs and the hip

41. grace: a short prayer in which blessing is asked, or thanks are given, for a meal （饭后的）感恩祷告

42. suet:（牛羊腰部的）板油

43. Junco:北美雀科小鸟

44. chickadee:（美洲所产的）山雀

45. pad: the foot of certain animals, as the wolf or fox; any of the cushion-like parts on the underside of the foot of some animal

46. to cluck: to make a low, sharp, clicking sound, as of a hen calling her chickens or brooding

Notes on the Background

1. Paul Engle: Paul Engle (1908-1991) was born on October 12, 1908 in Cedar Rapids and had been a lifelong citizen of Iowa. He attended public schools in Cedar Rapids and later Coe College. He graduated in 1931 and later that year began attending the University of Iowa. Later Engle also attended Columbia University and Merton College. After publication of at least three of his works, Engle returned to the University of Iowa and helped to continue the publication of American Prefaces, a literary magazine. He also took part in the founding of the Poetry and Fiction Workshops at the University of Iowa. Engle retired from the university in 1977.

Paul Engle was a poet, educator and editor. His emergence as a national literary phenomenon could be dated from 1934, the year his first commercially published book of poetry, American Song, appeared. After that, Engle’s work appeared in print continuously and in an enormous variety of places, from professional and educational journals to widely distributed travel, popular history, and women’s magazines. His literary works are: One Slim Feather (1932), also published as Worn Earth; American Song (1934); Break the Heart’s Anger (1936); Corn (1939); Always the Land (1941); West of Midnight (1941); American Child; Sonnets for My Daughters (1945,1956); The Word of Love (1951); For the Iowa Dead (1956); Poems in Praise (1959); Midland (1960); Prairie Christmas (1960); Golden Child (1962); An Old Fashioned Christmas (1964); A Woman Unashamed (1965); Embrace (1969).

2. Iowa: One of the American states, centrally located in the heart of North America. With the Missouri River to the west and the Mississippi to the east, Iowa is the only state bordered by two navigable rivers. Its estimated population is around 3 million, with a land area of 55,869.3 square miles, ranking it as 30th in population and 23rd in land area among the 50 states. Agriculture is a leading industry in Iowa, a state with more than 97,000 farms. One Iowa farm family grows enough food and fiber to feed 279 people, one-fourth of whom live overseas.

3. Cedar Rapids: a city in eastern Iowa

4. Omaha: a city in eastern Nebraska, on the Missouri River.

5. Jersey: any of a breed of small dairy cattle, originally from the island Jersey (the largest of the Channel Islands of the United Kingdom ), often light red or fawn in color: its milk has a high butterfat content.

6. The great star in the East: The mother of Jesus Christ, Mary, received him inside her body through immaculate conception. She gave birth to Jesus Christ in a manger behind an inn in Bethlehem. At the same time, three wise men supposedly met with an angel from heaven, who told them to follow the star in the East. Underneath the star’s light, they would find the son of the Lord, the god of those who follow the Christian faith. The three wise men made the long journey to the inn by following the star. They brought the child gifts and thanked the Lord for this blessing.

Also see Matthew 2: 1-2

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterwards, some men who studied the stars came from the east to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him.”

Notes on the Text

Para. 1

1. What is the function of Para. 1?

Para. 1 connects the usual Christmas celebration with the author’s own experience. Bells which would arouse the fond memories of many Americans, are also essential to the Christmas celebration of the region where the author spent his childhood. Their way of transportation, bobsleds pulled by horses, was suggestive of the time as well as the place of the event—it took place in the mid-western countryside in the early 20th century.

2. My bells were on my father's team of horses as he drove up to our horse- Headed hitching post with the bobsled that would take us to celebrate Christmas on the family farm ten miles out in the country.

(1) team of horses: two or more horses harnessed to the same vehicle

(2) horse-headed: having the shape of a horse head

(3) hitching post: a post to which an animal, especially a horse, is hitched

(4) bobsled: bobsleigh

(5) Note the way the author narrows down the bell: the sound of bells－sleigh bells, not church bells－bells on my father’s team of horses. It goes from general to specific, from impersonal to personal.

3. My father would bring the team down Fifth Avenue at a smart trot, flicking his whip over the horses’ rumps and making the bells double their light, thin jangling over the snow, whose radiance threw back a brilliance like the sound of bells.

(1) My father caused the horses to move quickly down the road, hitting their hind part with a light, quick blow. The bells rang lightly and quickly, but not necessarily harmoniously, over the snow, which in turn threw back a brightness that was like the sound of bells.

(2) smart: energetic or quick in movement

(3) trot: a gait, as of a horse, in which the front leg and the opposite hind leg are lifted at the same tim

(4) flick, to touch or hit with a light, quick blow

(5) rump: the hind part of the body of an animal

(6) thin: of little volume or resonance; high-pitched and weak

(7) jangle: to make a harsh, metallic and discordant sound

(8) radiance: brightness

(9) brilliance: great brightness, radiance, splendor, etc.; (Brilliance also has the meaning of “sharpness and clarity of tone”, which may also make sense in the comparison.)

(10) whose radiance threw back a brilliance like the sound of bell: it’s quite usual to compare a color, in this ease the brightness of the snow, to a sound, in this case the light, clear and a bit sharp sound of bells

Para. 2

4. ... the whole family piling into the bobsled with a foot of golden oat straw to lie in and heavy buffalo robes to lie under, the horses stamping the soft snow, and at every motion of their hoofs the bells jingling, jingling

(1) to pile into: to move in a mess, crowd, etc.

(2) with a foot of golden oat straw to lie in and heavy buffalo robes to lie under: Balanced structure. The whole family squeezed into the limited space of a bobsled, sinking into a thick pile of oat and covered by warm buffalo robes. This is a scene typical of farmers in the rural West. Note how the author chooses typical little incidents to give the readers a feel of the rural environment.

(3) to stamp, to bring the foot down onto (an object or a surface) forcibly

5. My father sat there with the reins firmly held, wearing a long coat made from the hide of a favorite family horse, the deep chestnut color still glowing, his mittens also from the same hide.

(1) hide: an animal skin or pelt, either raw or tanned

(2) It gives the impression of the self-reliance of the family.

6. It always troubled me as a boy of eight that the horses had so indifferent a view of their late friend appearing as a warm overcoat on the back of the man who put the iron bit in their mouths.

(1) The author is recalling his puzzle and bewilderment as a little boy over the horses’ indifference towards their dead friend, whose hide had now turned into the man’s overcoat. It was hard for the boy to understand why the horses did not know or care that the overcoat came from the hide of their friend. And the same man had also put a metal bar in their mouths to control them. The author is being humorous here. The readers should not take the statement too literally, the word “trouble” is used in a humorous way since a boy of eight would not think so seriously about this.

(2) late: having recently died

(3) iron bit: the metal mouthpiece of a bridle, serving to control, curb, and direct an animal

Para. 3

7. There are no streets like those any more: the snow sensibly left on the road for the sake of sleighs and easy travel.

Why is the word “sensibly” used here? Nowadays snow will be quickly cleared away so as to make traffic easy, but at that time, snow would be kept on the road so that sleighs could move easily, which, according to the author, makes good sense.

8. We could hop off and ride the heavy runners as they made their hissing, tearing sound over the packed snow.

(1) to hop off: to get off sth. esp, a vehicle quickly and suddenly

(2) hissing: making a sound like that of a prolonged “s”

(3) tearing: moving violently or with speed; dashing; rushing

(4)packed: pressed together firmly

9. And along the streets we met other horses, so that we moved from one set of bells to another, from the tiny tinkle of the individual bells on the shafts to the silvery, leaping sound of the long strands hung over the harness.

(1) from ... harness:有的车辕上挂着单个铃铛，发出轻微的丁当声，有的马具上则挂着一长串铃铛，发出清跪悦耳、忽高忽低的响声。

(2) tinkle: a series of small, short, light, ringing sounds like those of a very small bell

(3) shaft: one of two parallel poles between which an animal is harnessed to a vehicle辕杆、车辕、车杠

(4) silvery: soft and clear, like the sound of a silver bell

(5) leaping: moving suddenly or swiftly, as if by jumping

(6)strand: a ropelike length of anything

10. There would be an occasional brass-mounted automobile laboring on its narrow tires and as often as not pulled up the slippery hills by a horse, and we would pass it with a triumphant shout for an awkward nuisance which was obviously not here to stay.

(1) On our way, from time to time, we would come across a car moving slowly and carefully over the packed snow. It had difficulty climbing up hills, which were slippery with the snow, so it was often pulled up by a horse. The automobile, to the boy, was out of place there. He considered it something clumsy and silly that disturbed the simple, quiet and rustic setting of the early twentieth-century Northwestern countryside. He didn’t think highly of the people sitting inside it either, who, according to him, wanted to show off.

(2) brass-mounted: brass: (slang) high-ranking military officers or other high officials; mounted: seated on horseback, a bicycle, etc., here it refers to the officials of the town sitting inside the automobile.

(3) to labor: to move slowly and with difficulty

(4)as often as not: more often than not, very frequently

(5)nuisance: a thing that causes trouble, annoyance, or inconvenience

Para.4

11. The country road ran through a landscape of little hills and shallow valleys and heavy groves timber, including one of great towering black walnut trees which were all cut down a year later to be made into gunstocks for the First World War.

(1) landscape: a section or portion of rural scenery, usually extensive, that may be seen from a single viewpoint

(2) timber: wood suitable for building houses, ships, etc., whether cut or still in the form

(3) towering: of imposing height

(4)The description tells the readers that the place they drove through was a hilly area covered with trees.

12. It ran through fields where watermelons were always planted in the summer because of the fine sandy soil, and I could go out and break one open to see its Christmas colors of green skin and red inside.

(1) fine: not coarse; in very small particles

(2)Christmas colors: mainly the colors of green and red-green Christmas trees, springs mistletoe, red lights, flowers, gifts, etc.

(3) green skin and red inside: the skin and inside of a watermelon 绿皮红瓤 Skin is a usually thin, closely adhering outer layer, e. g. the skin of a peach/banana, a sausage skin; “inside” is used as a noun here.

(4) skin, hide, pelt, rind, peel, bark

Skin is the general term for the outer covering of the animal body and for the covering especially if thin and tight, of certain fruits and vegetables, e. g. human skin, the skin of a peach.

Hide is used of the tough skins of certain large animals, as of a horse, cow, elephant, etc

Pelt refers to the skin, esp. the untanned skin, of a fur-bearing animal, as of a mink, fox, sheep, etc.

Rind applies to the thick, tough covering of certain fruits, as of a watermelon, or of cheeses, bacon, etc.

Peel is used of the skin or rind of fruit that has been removed, as by stripping, e.g. potato peel, lemon peel.

Bark applies to the hard covering of trees and woody plants.

13. My grandfather had been given some of that land as bounty land for service as a cavalryman in the Civil War.

(1) Some of the land was given to my grandfather as a free gift because he had fought in the Civil War as a cavalryman.

(2)service: employment, esp. public employment; specifically, in the armed forces

Para. 5-6

14. Near the low house on the hill, with oaks on one side and apple trees on the other, my father would stand up, flourish his whip, and bring the bobsled right up to the door of the house with a burst of speed.

(1) It’s surprising how people remember details. Several decades later, the author could still name two specific kinds of trees near the place. Oak trees are common in the states and are often associated with hometowns, thus evoking a sense of nostalgia.

(2) flourish: to make showy, wavy motions, as of the arms. In his excitement, the author’s father wanted to speed up the horses. This also shows his skills in horse driving, considering that he was the son of a cavalryman.

(3) a burst of speed: 风驰电掣

15. How did the author describe their arrival at the farm?

The author gave a detailed account of their arrival with a focus on the sounds, for instance, ringing bells, whinnying horses, squawking hens, laughing and shouting children.

16. There are no such arrivals any more...and the descent into the snow with the Christmas basket carried by my mother.

(1) bells.. dashing like faraway steeples: the shiny bells were as elegant and splendid as faraway steeples

(2) whinny: (said if a horse) to neigh in a low, gentle, contented way

(3) receive a great trumpeting whinny in reply:马厩里的马儿也以洪亮的嘶声作答 Here the horses are personified. They were happy to see each other after a year, and they greeted each other like old friends.

(4)burrow: to make a hole or passage; dig

(5)squawk: to utter a loud, harsh scream

(6)whoa: stop! used especially in directing a horse to stand still

(7) howl: to shout or laugh in happiness

(8) and the descent into the snow with the Christmas basket carried by my mother: 一家人走下雪橇，踏入雪中，妈妈提着的篮子里装满了圣诞节的东西。 The use of the preposition into creates a dramatic effect, indicating the thickness of the snow.

Para. 7-8

17. What details did the author give about the barn in Paragraph 7?

The author mainly appealed to the senses of smell and hearing in describing the barn: (1) odor: rich and warm; a smell from strong and living things; body heat weighing a thousand pounds and more; oats, hay, and straw tangy with the live August sunlight; the manure steaming; the sharp odor of leather harness rubbing with neat’s-foot oil to keep it supple; the molasses-sweet odor of ensilage in the silo where the fodder was almost fermenting

(2) noise: pigs making their dark brown sounding grunts

18. That winter odor of a barn is a wonderfully complex one, rich and warm and utterly unlike the smell of the same barn in summer... the molasses-sweet odor of ensilage in the silo where the fodder was almost fermenting.

(1) the body heat of many animals weighing a thousand pounds and more: Exaggeration. The smell of quite a number of big and strong animals was very strong. At the time, since the barn was filled with animals, it was also warm.

(2) pig making their dark, brown-sounding grunts: pigs uttering deep, gloomy, and sonorous sounds; dark; deep; brown: gloomy, somber; sounding: sonorous, resonant

(3)milk cattle: cattle raised for drawing milk, unlike draught cattle, which are used for pulling loads

(4) wisp: a small bundle, or bunch, as of straw

(5) horses eyeing the newcomers and rolling their deep, oval eyes white: Here “eye” is used as a verb, meaning “to look at ”. Again, the horses are personified－the horse in the barn looked at the ones which had just arrived and rolled their eyes white as if to show their surprise and welcome.

(6) oat, hay, straw

oat: a hardy, wildly grown cereal grass

hay: grass, alfalfa, clover, etc. cut and dried for use as fodder

straw: hollow stalks or stems of grain after threshing, collectively used for fodder, for bedding, for making hats, etc.

(7)tangy still with the live August sunlight: still having a strong and pleasantly sharp smell of the summer when they were first brought in, as if the sun was still there

(8) supple: easily bent or twisted; flexible; pliant

(9) the molasses-sweet odor of ensilage in the silo where the fodder was almost fermenting: the fodder was kept in the silo, an airtight container, and when it began to ferment, it smells almost as sweet as syrup. (Note: word formation silo→ensilo → ensilage)

19. It is a smell from strong and living things, and my father always said it was the secret of health, that it scoured out a man’s lungs; and he would stand there, breathing deeply, one hand on a horse’s rump, watching the steam come out from under the blankets as the team cooled down from their rapid trot up the lane.

(1) scout out: to clean or polish by vigorous rubbing, as with abrasives, soap and water, etc.; to make clean and bright

(2)Why were the team covered with blankets?

They trotted up the lane rapidly under the whips so they were hot and might be sweating. In order to prevent them from getting a cold, they were covered with blankets.

20. It gave him a better appetite, he argued, than plain fresh air, which was thin and had no body to it.

(1) With so much content and life in it, the rich odor of the barn appealed to my father much better than mild fresh air, which, according to him, was weak and lacked substance. The body heat was unpleasant to some people, but to the author’s father, it was stimulating.

(2)thin: mild, weak, opposite of rich

(3) no body: no substance, density, content, or life

21. A barn with cattle and horses is the place to begin Christmas; after all, that’s where the original event happened, and that same smell was the first air that the Christ Child breathed.

(1) The “original event” refers to the birth of Jesus Christ. It is believed that Jesus Christwas born in a barn in Bethlehem where his mother Mary and her husband Joseph stayed on the way of flight.

(2) Real life experience is related to religious legend.

Para.9

22. By the time we reached the house, my mother and sisters were wearing aprons and busying in the kitchen, as red-faced as the women who had been there all morning.

(1) busy: to make and keep busy (adj.→v.)

(2) red-faced: the women had been working all morning and it was warm in the kitchen

23. The kitchen was the biggest room in the house and all family life save sleeping went on there.

(1) the biggest room in the house: the center of the house where the most important activities were held. For such families, the kitchen is often a witness of the many gatherings held, the laughing and talking of family members and relatives, the growing up of kids, etc. Again this is typical of rural farm life. Nowadays for some families, the kitchen is no longer an indispensable part, for they are busy and often eat out or have takeaways.

(2) save: except

24. The kitchen range was a tremendous black and gleaming one called a Smoke Eater, with pans bubbling over the holes above the fire box and a reservoir of hot water at the side, lined with dull copper, from which my uncle would dip a basin of water and shave above the sink, turning his lathered face now and then to drop a remark into the women’s talk, waving his straight-edged razor as if it were a threat, to make them believe him.

(1) range: a unit for cooking typically including an oven and surface heating units, now usually operated by gas or electricity

(2) black and gleaming: black but not dirty, glowing, shining steadily

(3) Smoke Eater: Everything has a nickname, the kitchen range is personified.

(4) reservoir: a place where anything is collected and stored, generally in large quantity.

(5) from which my uncle would dip a basin of water and shave above the sink: This is a special occasion, and my uncle was making himself presentable.

(6) drop a remark into: say a few words

24. My job was to go to the woodpile out back and keep the fire burning, splitting the chunks of oak and hickory, watching how cleanly the ax went through the tough wood.

(1) What was the job of the author?

His job was to take care of the fire—to keep the fire burning; when firewood was not enough, he would have to split some taken from the pile.

(2) cleanly: in a regular, trim, well-formed, shapely manner

Para. 10

26. What is the topic sentence of Para. 10?

(1) It was a handmade Christmas.

(2) handmade: a clever way to describe the difference between Christmas today and that of the old days

26. The gifts tended to be hand-knit, or wool ties, or fancy crocheted “yokes” for nightgowns, tatted collars for blouses, doilies with fancy flower patterns for tables, tidies for chairs, and once I received a brilliantly polished cow horn with a cavalryman crudely but bravely carved on it.

(1) yoke: here used to mean a yoke-shaped piece of a garment （上衣、衬衫等的）抵肩，裙子的腰

(2) tidies for chair: decorative protective covering for the arms or headrest of a chair

(3) crude: not carefully made or done; rough

(4) brave: fine or splendid

(5) Note the detailed listing of gifts, homemade, practical, for everyday use, which reveals down-to-earth attitude of the farmers and their wonderful skill and design.

(6)礼物往往是手工编织的袜子、羊毛领带钩针编织的精美睡衣抵肩、梭织而成的衬衫衣领、布满花卉图案的小桌巾、搭在椅子扶手和靠背上的罩布，有一次我收到一个磨得光亮的牛角，上面刻着一名骑兵，虽然刻法简单，但也十分大胆好看。

28. And there would usually be a cornhusk doll, perhaps with a prune or walnut for a face, and a gay dress of an old corset-cover scrap with its ribbons still bright.

(1) a cornhusk doll: a doll made of cornhusk

(2) gay: bright; brilliant

(3) scrap: a small piece; bit; fragment; shred

29. And there were real candles burning with real flames, every guest sniffing the air for the smell of scorching pine needles.

(1) scorching: burning slightly

(2) Since the candles were put on top of the tree, the fire might scorch the pine needles, giving out such smell.

30. No electrically lit tree has the warm and primitive presence of a tree with a crown of living fires over it, suggesting whatever true flame Joseph may have kindled on that original cold night.

(1) warm and primitive presence: warm because of the candles; primitive in the sense that the tree and the candles were crude and simple

(2) a crown of living fires: metaphor, comparing the lit candles on top of the tree to a crown

(3) that original cold night: the night Jesus Christ was born

(4) Joseph: husband of Mary

(5) The author was yearning to go back to his childhood, when everything was closer to what must have happened on the original night.

Para. 11

31. There are no dinners like that any more: every item from the farm itself, with no deep freezer, no car for driving into town for packaged food.

(1) deep freezer:冷冻冰箱

(2) packaged food:袋装食品

(3)The author is sad that nowadays people do not have natural and fresh food from the farm. They just drive into town and get packaged food. The author obviously does not think it is the proper way to celebrate Christmas

32. The pies had been baked the day before, pumpkin, apple, and mince; as we ate them, we could look out the window and see the cornfield where the pumpkins grew, the trees from which the apples were picked.

(1) mince: mincemeat, a mixture of chopped apples, spices, raisins, etc., and sometimes meat, used as a pie filling

(2) Few have the privilege nowadays to eat food that comes directly from the field. This is another reminder of the self-reliance of farmers－fruit of their own labor.

33. There was cottage cheese, with the dripping bags of curds still hanging from the cold cellar ceiling.

(1) cottage cheese: a soft, white cheese made of strained and seasoned curds of skim milk

(2) curd: the coagulated part of milk, from which cheese is made; it is formed when milk sours

33. The bread had been baked that morning, heating up the oven for the meat, and as my aunt hurried I could smell in her apron that freshest of all odors with which the human nose is honored-bread straight from the oven.

My aunt was heating up the oven for the meat, and she used this opportunity to bake bread.

34. There would be a huge brown crock of beans with smoked pork from the hog butchered every November.

(1) crock: an earthenware pot or jar

(2) smoked pork: pork treated with smoke, as in flavoring 熏肉

35. We could see, beyond the crock, the broad black iron kettle in a corner of the barnyard, turned upside down, the innocent hogs stopping to scratch on it.

The hogs did not know their fate. We can infer that the broad black iron kettle, now Turned upside down, was used when the hog was butchered, but the other hogs had no knowledge of it. When they scratched on it, they didn't know that they were to go to this kettle soon.

Para.12-13

36. There would be every form of preserve...pickles from the rind of the same watermelon we had cooled in the tank at the milk house and eaten on a hot September afternoon.

(1) preserve: fruit preserved in whole or in large pieces by cooking with sugar

(2) jam, jelly, paste, sauce

jam: a food made by boiling fruit with sugar to a thick mixture

jelly: a soft, resilient, partially transparent, semisolid, gelatinous food resulting from the cooking of fruit juice boiled with sugar, or of meat juice cooked down

paste: a foodstuff, pounded or ground until fine and made creamy, soft, etc.(almond paste, liver paste, potato paste)

sauce: stewed or preserved fruit (Americanism)

(3) crab apple:山楂

(4) tame: cultivated, opposite of wild

(5) tank: any large container for liquid水箱

37. Cut into the slope of the hill behind the house, with a little door of its own, was the vegetable cellar, from which came carrots, turnips, cabbages, potatoes, squash.

(1) Inverted order for balance and emphasis.

(2) Where was vegetable kept? Why were different kinds of vegetables kept there? They were kept in the cave dug out in the fall. It would be cool there and therefore suitable for preserving vegetable.

(3) squash: the fleshy fruit of any of various plants of the gourd family, eaten as a vegetable南瓜、西葫芦等

38.Sometimes my scared cousins were sent there for punishment, to sit in darkness and meditate on their sins; but never on Christmas Day.

(1) The vegetable cellar has dual purposes.

(2) meditate: to think deeply and continuously: reflect: muse

(3) ponder, meditate, deliberate

These verbs mean to consider something carefully and at length.

To ponder is to weigh in the mind with painstaking thoroughness and care, e. g. He had been pondering on the significance of the events.

To meditate implies serious consideration, as of undertaking a course of action or of implementing a plan; the term can also denote engagement in deep reflection, e.g She sat there meditating on her misfortunes.

To deliberate is to think attentively and usually slowly, as about a choice or decision to be made, e. g. The jury deliberated for two days before giving a verdict.

(4) sin: a transgression of religious or moral law; more loosely it applies to something regarded as being utterly wrong

(5) Why were they never sent there on Christmas Day?

They were not sent there because it was holiday. Christmas means kindness, celebration, and it’s not meant for punishment.

40. For days after such an ordeal they could not endure biting into a carrot.

(1) During the confinement, since there was nothing for them to do or eat, they helped themselves freely to carrots, and now they were fed up with carrots.

(2) ordeal: a difficult or painful experience, especially one that severely tests character or endurance; here it refers to the confinement in the vegetable cellar as a way of punishment for the children

(3) endure biting into a carrot: put up with eating a carrot. Here “endure” is followed by a gerund, but it can also, although much less frequently, be followed by an infinitive.

(4) bear, abide, suffer, endure, tolerate, stand

These verbs are compared in the sense of withstanding or sustaining what is difficult or painful to undergo.

Bear implies a putting up with sth. that distresses, annoys, pains, etc., without suggesting the way in which one sustains the imposition. It pertains broadly to capacity to withstand, e. g. That’s how he finds that he can bear anything. Abide and the more emphatic suffer suggest passive acceptance of or resignation to That which is painful or unpleasant, e. g. She couldn’t abide fools. He suffered their insults in silence.

Endure implies a holding up against prolonged pain, distress, etc. and stresses stamina or patience. It specifies a continuing capacity to face pain or hardship, e.g. Human life is everywhere a state in which much is to be endured and little to be enjoyed.

Tolerate and the more informal stand both imply self-imposed restraint of one’s opposition to what is offensive or repugnant. Stand implies resoluteness of spirit, e.g. The pain was too intense to stand. Actors who can't stand criticism shouldn’t perform in public. Tolerate, in its principal application to something other than pain, connotes reluctant acceptance despite reservations, e. g. A decent examination of the acts of government should be not only tolerated, but encouraged.

Para.14-15

41. And of course there was the traditional sauerkraut with flecks of caraway seed.

(1) sauerkraut: chopped cabbage salted and fermented in its own juice

(2) fleck: a small bit or flake

42. I remember one Christmas Day, when a ten-gallon crock of it in the basement,with a stone weighting down the lid, had blown up, driving the stone against the floor of the parlor, and my uncle had exclaimed, “ Good God, the piano’s fallen through the floor.”

(1)There was too much fermentation in the crock, so the stone blew up.

(2) the piano’s fallen through the floor: A metaphor, comparing the hit of the stone against the floor to that of a piano falling through the floor: A metaphor. If a piano falls, there would be a thud, followed by sounds of all pitches made by the keys. In addition to recapturing the sounds, the metaphor also shows that the uncle has a sense of humor and paves the way for the later account of this interesting and colorful figure.

43. Most useful of all, the goose－the very one which had chased me the summer before, hissing and darting out its bill at the end of its curving neck like a feathered snake.

(1) The mention of the goose also brings a sense of nostalgia to people in the countryside; nowadays city dwellers would get a turkey instead of a goose. Besides nostalgia, the author also reveals the interesting way of thinking of a boy; he looks at the goose as a playmate who chased him and vividly recalls how the goose darted out its bill, comparing its curving neck to a feathered snake, an imagination out of naivety.

(2) the summer before: this summer, the summer before this Christmas

(3) dart: to move suddenly and fast

(4) bill: the horny jaws of a bird, usually projecting to a point; beak

44. Here was the universal bird of an older Christmas: its down was plucked, washed, and hung in bags in the barn to be put into pillows; its awkward body was roasted until the skin was crisp as a fine paper; and the grease from its carcass was melted down, a little camphor added, and rubbed on the chests of coughing children.

(1) universal: that can be used for a great many or all kinds, forms, sizes, etc. The reason why the goose was regarded as a universal bird is explained as the sentence goes on.

(2) down: (n). soft, fluffy feathers, as the outer covering on young birds or an inner layer of feathers on adult birds鹅绒

(3) awkward: not having grace or skill; clumsy, as in form or movement; ungainly. The boy was not used to a goose without feather and therefore considered it strange and ugly.

(4) fine: very thin or slender

(5) grease: soft or melted animal fat, especially after renderin

(6) carcass: the dead body of an animal, often specifically of a slaughtered animal dressed as meat

(7) rubbed on the chests of coughing children: the grease from the goose added with a little camphor was used as a home remedy for coughing children

(8) This part brings out the ingenuity of the farmers. It is the tradition of people taking part in the Westward movement. They made use of everything and they played the role of farmer, hunter, doctor, carpenter, etc.

45. We ate, slept on, and wore that goose.

(1) A summary of the goose as a multipurpose bird: we ate its meat, slept on pillows filled with its down, and were treated with its grease when ill.

(2) There are other animals similar to the goose in the sense that they are essential to the life of the people, for instance, the buffalo for American Indians and the yak for Tibetans.

Para. 16

45. I was blessed as a child with a remote uncle from the nearest railroad town, Uncle Ben, who was admiringly referred to as a “railroad man”, working the run into Omaha.

(1) to be blessed with: to be fortunate in having sth. /sb. The boy was happy to have such an uncle.

(2) remote: distantly related by blood or marriage

(3) remote uncle:远房叔叔

(4) who was admiringly referred to as a “railroad man”: Uncle Ben was regarded as a local celebrity, because of the national sentiment at the time. The railroad was fondly referred to as the “iron horse”, and it had great impact on the national economy.

(5) The cornerstone of the first railroad in the United States－Baltimore & Ohio Railroad－was laid in 1828: since then and for the rest of the 19th century, the mileage has been growing dramatically. In 1830, there were 23 miles of railroad in the United States. By 1840 this had grown to 2, 808, and by 1860 there were 30, 626 miles. The completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 started a boom in construction, and by 1900 rail mileage grew to more than 201, 000. Railroads had a great impact on American society－they changed people’s perception of time, space and distance; they were the first companies to conduct business on a national scale; offered employment to a large number of immigrants; they facilitated the settlement of much of the middle and Western part of the country; they helped to bring different classes of people together, etc. (Based on “Railroad History”, http://www.nationalrr museum. org)

(6) Omaha: A city of eastern Nebraska on the Missouri River and the Iowa border with a population of 335, 795. Founded in 1854 with the opening of the Nebraska Territory, it grew as a supply point for westward migration, especially after the coming of the railroad in 1869. It was territorial capital from 1855 to 1867. Omaha literally means “upstream people” in the Indian language.

(7) run: a trip, journey, esp. a single, customary, or regular trip, as of a train, ship, or plane

47. Ben had been to Chicago; just often enough, as his wife Minnie said with a sniff in her voice, “to ruin the fool, not often enough to teach him anything useful”.

(1) Ben had been to Chicago: Another reason why the boy felt blessed. Unlike most of the village people, Uncle Ben had traveled outside and seen the world.

(2) with a sniff in her voice: regarding something in a contemptuous or dismissive manner 语气中颇显不屑According to Uncle Ben’s wife, his trips into big cities didn’t do him any good. Perhaps she was not used to his changes, and thought he only picked up some bad habits from the city people instead of learning anything useful.

47. Ben refused to eat fowl in any form, and as a Christmas token a little pork roast would be put in the oven just for him, always referred to by the hurrying ladies in the kitchen as “Ben’s chunk”.

(1) fowl: any of various domestic birds used as food, specifically the chicken, duck, goose, key, etc.

(2) token: a sign, indication, or symbol. On Christmas day, everybody was supposed to eat a bit of the bird, and because Uncle Ben didn’t like it, he was given a piece of pork as a substitute. Token can also be used as an adjective, meaning “done as an indication or a pledge” (a token payment); “perfunctory; minimal” (a token gesture of reconciliation; token resistance); or “merely symbolic” (a token woman on the board of directors). Token also appears in such phrases as “by the same token” (in like manner; similarly) and “in token of ” (as an indication of).

(3) chunk: a short, thick piece, as of meat or wood

48. Ben would make frequent trips to the milk house, returning each time a little redder in the face, usually with one of the men toward whom he had jerked his head.

(1) Why did Ben often go to the milk house? Did he go there alone?

Ben went to the milk house to get some wine, and he would motion someone to go with him. The author realized this only a few years later.

(2) returning each time a little redder in the face: The effect of wine began to show.

The boy didn’t know the word “drunk”, or perhaps he never thought in that line; he innocently described Uncle Ben as getting “a bit redder in the face”, thus creating a humorous effect.

(3) jerk: to pull, twist, push, thrust, or throw with a sudden, sharp movement, Uncle Ben motioned one of the men out.

49.It was not many years before I came to associate Ben’s remarkably fruity breath not only with the mince pie, but with the jug I found sunk in the bottom of the cooling tank with a stone tied to its neck.

(1) fruity breath: breath smelling richly of fruit. Uncle Ben had drunk quite a lot of wine, and that’s why he had the freshness, succulence, and sweetness of ripe fruit in his breath.

(2) A bottle of wine was lowered to the bottom of the cooling tank by tying a stone around its neck.

(3)几年之后，我才知道本叔叔带有浓郁果香的口气不仅是因为吃了甜馅饼，还和瓶颈上系着石头、沉在冷却箱下面的葡萄酒罐子有关。

51. He was a romantic person in my life for his constant travels and for that dignifying term “railroad man”, so much more impressive than farmer or lawyer.

(1) romantic: passionate, adventurous, idealistic, etc.

(2) travels: (pl ) a series of trips, journeys, tours, etc. taken by a person or persons

(3) dignifying term:令人倍显尊贵的称呼

(4) Nearly everybody in the village was a farmer and there were quite a number of lawyers around. Or perhaps at that time people didn’t think highly of lawyers.

52. Yet now I see that he was a short man with a fine natural shyness, giving us knives and guns because he had no children of his own.

(1) In this sentence, “yet” indicates a change of tone; and “now” introduces the author’s recollection today, contrasted with the impression of Uncle Ben in the mind of an eight-year-old.

(2) fine: with no impurities, refined

(3) a short man with a fine natural shyness:天生腼腆的矮个男子

Para.17-18

53. And of course the trimmings were from the farm too: the hickory nut cake made with nuts gathered in the grove after the first frost and hulled out by my cousins with yellowed hands; the black walnut cookies, sweeter than any taste; the fudge with butternuts crowding it.

(1) trimmings: (pl.) side dishes of a meal

(2) yellowed hands: fingers stained by working on the hickory nuts

54. In the mornings we would be given a hammer, a flat iron, and a bowl of nuts to crack and pick out for the homemade ice cream.

(1) In those days ice cream didn’t come from shops; it was also homemade

(2) (extension)a hard (or tough) nut to crack: (inf.) a person, problem, or thing difficult to understand or deal with, e. g. Painting the closet was a tough nut to crack.

55. And there was the orchard beyond the kitchen window, the Wealthy, the Russet, the Wolf with its giant-sized fruit, and an apple called the Northern Spy, as if it were a suspicious character out of the Civil War.

(1) the Wealthy, the Russet, the Wolf, the Northern Spy, see Note Vocabulary 34-37.

(2) Some of the land was given by the government as a kind of recognition to the author’s grandfather for his service in the Civil War. The connection between the apple tree “the Northern Spy” and the Civil War reminds readers of the background of this article (It was only a few decades after the Civil War and people still thought of it from time to time); on the other hand, this also shows the interesting imagination of the boy.

Para. 19

56. Ours was called Dutch Bread, made from a dough halfway between bread and cake, stuffed with citron and every sort of nut from the farm－hazel, black walnut, hickory, butternut.

citron: a yellow, thick-skinned fruit resembling a lime or lemon but larger and less acid

56. A little round one was always baked for me in a Clabber Girl baking soda can, and my last act on Christmas Eve was to put it by the tree so that Santa Claus would find it and have a snack－after all, he’d come a long, cold way to our house. And every Christmas morning, he would have eaten it.

(1) Clabber Girl: a brand name

(2) baking soda: 碳酸氢钠，发酵粉

(3) Santa Claus: The personification of the spirit of Christmas, usually represented as a jolly, fat old man with a white beard and a red suit, who brings gifts to good children on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus derives from St. Nicholas, an austere-looking 4th century Christian [Catholic] bishop of Asia Minor, who was noted for his good works. The idea of gift giving associated with this saint spread from Asia Minor to Europe and was brought to the United States by early Dutch settlers in the 17th century. The American writer Washington Irving contributed to the concept of St. Nicholas as a laughing holiday figure, and in 1822, Clement Moore composed his “Visit from St. Nicholas” with its noted description. But the image of Santa in fur- trimmed dress that ultimately captured the imagination was drawn in the United States by the cartoonist Thomas Nast in 1863.(from Americana Encyclopedia)

58. My aunt made the same Dutch Bread and we smeared over it the same butter she had been churning from their own Jersey (highest butterfat content) milk that same morning.

(1) smear: to spread or daub with a sticky, greasy, or dirty substance. Smear also has the meaning of “to stain or attempt to destroy the reputation of; vilify”, e. g. political enemies who smeared his name.

(2) churn: to stir, beat, or shake (milk or cream) in a container (extension) to churn out: (a bit derog. )to produce regularly and copiously, esp. in a mechanical way, e. g. This factory churns out lots and lots of cars a day. That young writer churns out about three to four novels every year.

Para. 20

59. The long table, with its different levels where additions had been made for the small fry, ran the length of the kitchen.

(1) addition: a thing or part added; increase; specifically, a room or rooms added to a building

(2) small fry: small kids (originally small adult fish, esp. when in large groups)

(3)由于为孩子们不断加一些高低不等的桌面，这时长桌几乎和厨房一样长。

60. The air was heavy with odors not only of food on plates but of the act of cooking itself, along with the metallic smell of heated iron from the hardworking Smoke Eater, and the whole stove offered us its yet uneaten prospects of more goose and untouched pies.

(1) heavy with odors: 浓香四溢

(2) There were all kinds of odors in the kitchen: food, the cooking process, heated metal, etc.

(3) the hardworking Smoke Eater: Personification, as if it knew today was a special occasion and worked extra hard. The stove had probably been on from early morning, and the iron sent out a scorching smell.

(4) prospect: sth. hoped for or expected; a possibility

(5) yet uneaten prospects of more goose and untouched pies: 更多的等待上桌的烧鹅和馅饼

61. To see the giblet gravy made and poured into a gravy boat, which had painted on its sides winter scenes of boys sliding and deer bounding over snow, is the surest way to overeat its swimming richness.

(1) It’s amazing how people remember details－the author could still recall vividly how the gravy boat was painted.

(2) giblet gravy: a sauce made by thickening and seasoning the juice given off by the edible heart, liver, or gizzard of a fowl in cooking

(3) gravy boat: a boat-shaped dish for serving gravy

(4) its swimming richness: the thick, fluid, somewhat overflowing, gravy in the gravy boat

(5) 船形肉卤盘的周围描绘着一幅冬天的情景，雪地上孩子们滑着雪橇，小鹿欢快地跳跃；看着家禽的内脏制成浓香的卤汁，再倒入这样的盘中，人们一定忍不住会吃得过量。

Para.21-22

62. The warning for Christmas dinner was always an order to go to the milk house for cream where we skimmed from the cooling pans of fresh milk the cream which had the same golden color as the flanks of the Jersey cows which had given it.

(1) warning: Advance notification. When the children were order to get some cream, they knew the dinner was about to begin.

(2) skim the cream from (off) the milk: or “skim the milk of its cream”, to remove floating matter from a liquid, or to take away the best or finest parts from; (extension) cream of the crop: the best of a group

(3) the cream which had the same golden color as the flanks of the Jersey cows: the color of the cream was yellowish white, similar to that of the fleshy sides of the Jersey cows, which was grayish yellow brown to light grayish or moderate reddish Brown

63. The last deed before eating was grinding the coffee beans in the little mill, adding that exotic odor to the more native ones of goose and spiced pumpkin pie.

(1) deed: action

(2) mill: a machine for grinding or pulverizing any solid material

(3) exotic: foreign, not native. Because coffee was imported, it had an exotic odor, which was contrasted with the smells of roast goose and pumpkin pies which were homemade.

(4) The author describes every detail, but it is so picturesque, humorous, and dramatic that you don’t get bored.

64. Then all would sit at the table and my uncle would ask the grace, sometimes in German, but later, for the benefit of us ignorant children, in English:...

(1) grace: a short prayer in which blessing is asked, or thanks are given, for a meal, usually for god’s kindness

(2) sometimes in German: A hint that they were probably of German origin. According to the U. S. Bureau of the Census, more than 7 million German immigrants came to the United States between 1820 and 1990, accounting for 14. 1% of the total immigration. By 1850, Germany was the leading country of origin of immigrants to the United States. The Germans largely settled in farm communities, with the majority in southern Pennsylvania. Because of political, economic and religious reasons, the second half of the 19th century witnessed the largest number of German immigrants to the U.S., close to 4. 5 million in all. (http://www-lib. iupui.edu/kade/adams/chap2. html)

65. There are no blessings like that any more: every scrap of food for which my uncle had asked the blessing was the result of his own hard work.

My uncle thanked God for kindly giving them the food that he produced on his farm.

66. What he took to the Lord for Him to make holy was the plain substance that an Iowa farm could produce in an average year with decent rainfall and proper plowing and manure.

(1) plain: not elaborate or complicated; simple

(2) decent: reasonably good; adequate

(3)我叔叔敬献给上帝、请他赐福的所有食物都出自一个爱荷华州农场在一般年景中，雨水充足时，通过勤劳耕作、适当施肥所获得的普通收成。

Para. 23

67. The first act of dedication on such a Christmas was to the occasion which had begun it, thanks to the Child of a pastoral couple who no doubt knew a great deal about rainfall and grass and the fattening of animals.

(1) the occasion which had begun it: the birth of Jesus Christ

(2) the Child of a pastoral couple: Jesus Christ was born from humble beginnings. His mother Mary and her husband Joseph were a couple living in a town called Nazareth in Galillee.

(3) A lot of farmers believe that they are god’s chosen few, because, among other reasons, they are closer to nature and depend more on their honest labor; whereas Businessmen are just the opposite. Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers, very much wanted a republic of small farmers: “Those who labor in the earth,” he wrote, “are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts He has made His peculiar deposit for genuine and substantial virtue.” (George Brown Tindall and David E. Shi, America: A Narrative History, 3rd ed, Vol. I, p. 306)

68. My aunt kept a turmoil of food circulating, and to refuse any of it was somehow to violate the elevated nature of the day.

(1) turmoil: tumult; commotion: uproar: confusion. It was a state of confusion because various dishes were kept going.

(2) elevated: exalted, dignified, lofty; high-spirited, exhilarated

(3) It would be against the holy purpose and elated mood of Christmas to refuse any food passed to you. It is expressed in a humorous way.

69. We were there not only to celebrate a fortunate event for mankind, but also to recognize that suffering is the natural lot of men－and to consume the length and breadth of that meal was to suffer!

(1) a fortunate event of mankind: According to the Bible, Jesus Christ was the messiah of the Christian world, the god of those who followed the Christian faith.

(2) lot: one’s portion in life, fortune; fate

(3) to consume the length and breath of that meal was to suffer: The author humorously points out that it was difficult to eat up all the food on the table, but they had to, in a sense, cram down as much as possible as if fulfilling a religious duty.

(4) 此刻，我们不仅要庆祝人类的一件幸事，还要意识到受苦受难是人类的天命—享用整整一桌子的美食的确是件苦差事！

70. But we all faced the ordeal with courage.

(1) ordeal: any difficult, painful, or trying experience. In other words, we all began to attack the meal with courage.

(2) 但我们都勇敢地面对这一苦差事。

71. Uncle Ben would let out his belt－a fancy Western belt with steer heads and silver buckle－with a snap and a sigh.

(1) let out: release

(2) The telling details of Uncle Ben’s belt－fancy-looking, cowboy style, steer heads, silver buckle－all help bring out his romantic and adventurous disposition.

(3) steer: any castrated male cattle raised for beef

(4) with a snap and a sigh: Alliteration. Uncle Ben released his belt with a sudden, loud clicking sound and meanwhile he let out a long, deep, audible breath in satisfaction.

72. The women managed better by always getting up from the table and trotting to the kitchen sink or the Smoke Eater or outdoors for some item left in the cold.

What did the women do?

The women kept removing empty plates from the table, getting more dishes from the range, or bringing in something from outside. By walking around, they managed to shake down the food in their stomach and eat more

73. The men sat there grimly enduring the glory of their appetites.

(1) grimly: seriously, earnestly, relentlessly, resolutely

(2) glory: a height of achievement, enjoyment, or prosperity, used here in a humorous way

(3) enduring the glory of their appetites: suffering from eating to the full capacity of their stomachs

(4) The men overate themselves to such a degree that they could not move about and had to sit there.

Pare. 24

74. After dinner, late in the afternoon, the women would make despairing gestures toward the dirty dishes and scoop up hot water from the reservoir at the side of the range.

Why did the women make despairing gestures?

Because there were too many dirty dishes.

75. The men would go to the barn and look after the livestock. My older cousin would take his new 22 rifle and stalk out across the pasture with the remark, “I saw that fox just now looking for his Christmas goose.”

(1) stalk: to pursue or approach game, an enemy, etc., stealthily, as from cover

(2) Why did the older cousin make the remark? Did he really see a fox? No, it’s said in a humorous way.

76. Or sleds would be dragged out and we would slide in a long snake, feet hooked up into the sled behind, down the hill and across the westward-sloping fields into the sunset.

(1) slide in a long snake: move on their sleds over snow in a sinuous manner

(2) into the sunset: Christmas dinner used to be held at noon and it probably lasted a few hours. When the kids went out playing, it was approaching dusk.

77. Bones would be thrown to dogs, suet tied in the oak trees for the juncos and winter-defying chickadees, a saucer of skimmed milk set out for the cats, daintily and disgustedly picking their padded feet through the snow, and crumbs scattered on a bird feeder where already the crimson cardinals would be dropping out of the sky like blood.

(1) Dogs, cats, birds, etc. all had their share of Christmas dinner.

(2) daintily and disgustedly: alliteration. The cats moved cautiously over the snow, which made them appear delicate and graceful, but they didn’t seem to like the snow very much, therefore looking a bit irritated and impatient.

(3) padded feet: Cats have some cushion-like flesh on the underpart of their toes and feet.

(4) feeder: sth. with which you feed a bird

(5) cardinal: any of the various passerine birds, esp. a bright-red crested American species with a red bill

(6) dropping out of the sky like blood: The cardinals were deeply and vividly red, so when they swooped down on the feeder, they were like drops of blood out of the sky.

78. There was usually a song around the tree before we were bundled up, many thanks all around for gifts, the basket as loaded as when it came, more so, for left-over food had been piled in it.

bundle up: to put on plenty of warm clothing; in this case for the cold journey back home.

Para. 25

79. How does the author end the essay? In what way does the ending echo the beginning and how does it rise above the beginning?

The article begins and ends with the sound of bells. In the beginning, bells are used to evoke the memory of Christmas celebration for most Americans and to introduce the special Christmas of the author’s family. Their bells also reveal when and where the event took place. In the ending, after sharing with us all the activities on that day, the author again describes the sound of bells, this time on their way back home, and by then they had done whatever they could to honor this holy occasion and appreciated better the meaning of Christmas.

80. And now those bells again, as the horses, impatient from their long standing in the bar, stamped and shook their harness, my father holding them back with a soft clucking in his throat and a hard pull on the reins.

(1) The horses were eager to go home, even on such a special occasion; after all, there was no place like home.

(2) clucking: a low, sharp, clicking sound as of a hen, sometimes used in coaxing a horse

81. The smell of wood smoke flavoring the air in our noses, the cousins shivering with cold, “Good-bye, goodbye, ” called out from everyone, and the bobsled would move off, creaking over the frost-brittle snow.

frost-brittle: the surface of the snow being as crisp and crunchy as icy crystals

82. As the horses settled into a steady trot, the bells gently chiming in their rhythmical beat, we fall half asleep, the hiss of the runners comforting.

(1) chime: to sound in harmony, as bells.

(2) beat: repeated stroke or blow

(3)fall half asleep: They were deliciously tired after so much traveling, laughing, talking, working, eating and drinking that day.

83. As we looked up at the night sky through half-closed eyelids, the constant bounce and swerve of the runners would seem to shake the little stars as if they would fall into our laps.

(1) half-closed eyelids: Echoing the above sentence; they were half asleep.

(2) swerve: to turn aside or cause to turn aside sharply or suddenly from a straight line, course, etc.

(3) deviate, swerve, veer

Deviate suggests a turning aside, often to only a slight degree, from the correct or prescribed course, standard, doctrine, etc., e. g. to deviate from the truth.

Swerve implies a sudden or sharp turning from a path, course, etc., e. g. The car swerved to avoid hitting us.

Veer, originally used of ships and wind, suggests a turning or series of turnings so as to change direction.

(4) as if they would fall into our laps: The starry sky seemed so low and our sleds bumped over snow so much that it seemed the twinkling stars would fall from the sky into the place where we lay.

84. But that one great star in the East never wavered. Nothing could shake it from the sky as we drifted home on Christmas.

(1) waver: to swing and sway to and fro, flutter

(2) drift: to proceed or move unhurriedly and smoothly; in this case moving smoothly on their sleds over snow.

(3) the great star in the East: See Note 5. The very star, which the wise men and the shepherds followed in their long journey to the inn in Bethlehem to find their Lord, now guided us on our way back home. Today being Christmas, that star also seemed unusual: it not only lit up the road, but it kindled the light in our heart as well so that we would feel warm and wouldn’t be lost.

Translation of the Text

爱荷华的圣诞节

保罗·恩格

1. 每一个圣诞节都是由铃铛声拉开序幕的，我童年记忆中的圣诞节总是如此。但那不是教堂里的铃铛，而是雪橇上的铃铛，因为我们家居住在爱荷华州的细达河洛佩兹的一个地区，那个地区没有教堂。我的铃铛在我父亲拉雪橇的马队里。我家有一个马头形的拴马桩，父亲会把马儿们赶到拴马桩那儿把大雪橇套在马上，带着我们到10英里以外的乡下农场去庆祝圣诞节。当父亲驾着马车轻快地驶过第五大街，轻轻地舞动着马鞭时，清脆悦耳的铃声便跳跃在我的耳畔。地上辉映着的雪光使铃声更加清脆动听。

2. 如今再也没有那样的出发情景了：一家人挤上大雪橇，身下是金黄的燕麦草，身上盖着厚厚的水牛皮长袍。拉雪橇的马儿踩着柔软的雪，系在它们脖子上的铃铛随着马蹄的节奏丁当作响。父亲坐在那里牢牢地握着缰绳，他穿的长大衣是用家里人都非常喜爱的一匹马的皮毛做成的。那深红棕色的皮毛仍然闪着光泽，他戴的手套也出自同一张马皮。那时8岁的我总是很纳闷，不知道为什么那些马眼见着它们刚刚故去的朋友变成了把衔铁塞进它们嘴里的人身上温暖的大衣而熟视无睹，毫无反应。

3. 如今再也没有那样的街道了：为了让雪橇能够顺利驶过，路面上的积雪被有意地保留了下来。我们的雪橇跳跃着在铺满雪的路上狂奔，沉重的划板摩擦着地面发出嘶嘶的声音。在街上，我们会遇到其他的马匹，当我们驶过时可以听到一串串各不相同的铃铛声。有的马车车辕上挂着单个铃铛，发出轻微的丁当声。有的马具上则挂着一长串铃铛，发出清脆悦耳、忽高忽低的响声。在路上,偶尔我们会遇上坐着镇上官员的小汽车，窄窄的车轮在积雪的路上吃力地行驶着，而且经常不得不用一匹马拉着才能驶上溜滑的山坡。每当这时我们就会发出胜利者的欢呼快速驶过，嘲笑那个钢铁家伙的蠢笨和不合时宜。

4. 乡间公路穿过一片小山丘，那里有很多浅浅的山谷，到处长满了郁郁葱葱成片成片的树林。其中有一大片高耸入云的黑胡桃树一年后都被砍倒，制成了在第一次世界大战中使用的枪支的枪托。最令人兴奋的时刻是我们的雪橇离开乡村公路驶上通往农场的长长的小路的时候。雪橇驶过片片田地，那里是优良的沙质土壤，夏天种满了西瓜。在西瓜成熟的季节，我总会好奇地跑去地里打开一个，看看墨绿的瓜皮里红红的瓜瓢，那是圣诞的颜色。那片土地是我祖父因在南北战争中服过役当过骑兵而得到的奖赏。

5. 在快要接近小山上那座低矮的、一边种满橡树、一边种满苹果树的房子时，父亲总会从雪橇座位上站起来，用力挥舞着手中的马鞭，以风驰电掣般的速度把雪桃驶到房门口停下。

6. 如今再也没有那样的到达时的热闹景象了：车辕上的铃铛清脆响亮就像远处的尖塔一样优美绚丽；马儿们朝着马厩里的马嘶鸣，马厩里的马儿们也以热烈响亮的嘶鸣作答；狗儿们跳上大雪橇，在水牛皮毯子下钻来钻去；母鸡窝里传来咯咯的鸡叫声；为了让兴奋的马儿们安静下来的“喔！喔！”声；堂兄弟姐妹们在雪橇周围欢闹着追逐着；一家人走下雪橇，踏人雪中，妈妈提着的篮子里装满了圣诞节的东西。

7. 母亲和姐妹们走进房子。马儿们从雪橇上被解下来，带到了马厩里，披上了毯子，喂上了饲料。冬天马厩里的那种气味是一种令人陶醉的混合味道，浓郁而温暖，完全不像夏天里的味道：许多重达上千磅甚至更重的大牲畜身上散发出的体温；几头猪在角落里发出阴郁低沉的哼哼声；奶牛不停地用鼻子拱着食槽，咀嚼着里面的干草；马儿们滴溜溜地转动着它们那深邃的椭圆形的大眼睛，审视着那些新成员；燕麦、干草、还有稻草都散发着新鲜的八月阳光的味道；还有冒着热气的动物粪便的气味以及为了使皮革马具柔软而用牛脚油摩擦皮革散发出的浓烈的味道；还有贮藏在地窖里正在发酵的未干的秣草发出的米糖般甜甜的味道。那是一种从强壮而又有生命力的东西身上发出的气味，父亲总是会说这种气味是保持健康的秘，因为它可以洗涤人的脾肺。他总会站在那里，一只手搭在马屁股上，一边做着深呼吸，一边看着马匹由于刚刚在小径上疾驰而产生的热气从毯子下面冒出来。他还说这种气味比新鲜空气更能使他有好胃口，新鲜空气太过平淡而没有味道。

8. 牛马棚正是圣诞节的发源地，毕竟那是故事最开始发生的地方，圣婴呼吸到的第一口空气就是这种味道。

9. 我们进到屋子里的时候，母亲和姐姐们正扎着围裙在厨房里忙碌着。她们的脸颊跟其他在厨房里忙碌了一上午的妇女们一样，红扑扑的。厨房是整个房子里最大的房间，除睡觉之外的所有家庭活动都是在这里进行的。叔叔甚至靠墙放了一张睡椅，他经常会在上面打个盹，孩子们生病时也会躺在上面。叔叔家厨房的灶台很大，又黑又亮，被称作“食烟者”。灶台上大大小小的锅在火箱上的灶眼里咕嘟咕嘟沸腾着，旁边放着一个盛放热水的储水橧，其边沿上镶着青铜。叔叔会从储水槽里打出一盆水，然后在下水池上刮他的脸。他会不时地转过他那涂满肥皂泡的脸在妇女们的谈话中间插几句嘴。他挥舞着手中的直刃刮胡刀，好像以此作为威胁让别人相信他所说的话。我的工作是到房子后面的柴堆取来木柴使火炉里的火持续燃烧；柴火不够时还要挥舞利斧把坚硬的橡木和山胡桃木劈成可以烧火的木块。

10. 那真是自给自足的圣诞节：圣诞树是从小山下的丛林里砍来的，挂在上面的纸制装饰物有许多是堂兄弟姐妹们自己做的，也有一些非常漂亮的是从叔叔家原来居住的名叫“黑森林”的地方带来的。吃的东西有爆玉米花球，而玉米就产自西瓜地旁边那片向阳坡地，还有包着自制糖果的纸号角和从自家果园里摘下来的苹果。礼物往往是手工编织的袜子、羊毛领带、钩针编织的精美的睡衣抵肩、梭织而成的衬衫衣领、布满花卉图案的小桌布、搭在椅子扶手和靠背上的罩布。有一次我还曾经收到过一个磨得锃亮的牛角，上面刻着一名骑兵，虽然雕刻简单但也是威风凛凛。礼物中总是会有用玉米皮做成的玩具娃娃，用李子干或核桃做成的脸，用上面带有鲜亮丝带的旧紧身胸衣碎片做成的艳丽的裙子。圣诞树上点着真正的蜡烛，跳动着真正的烛光，所有的客人都呼吸着弥漫在整个房间里的浓烈的松针烧焦的味道。没有一棵点满小电灯泡的圣诞树会像一棵树顶上点满蜡烛的圣诞树一样能营造出那种温馨、质朴的氛围。给人的感觉是在那个故事开始的寒冷夜晚，约瑟夫点燃的是同样真切的烛火。

11. 如今再也没有那样的圣诞晚餐了：没有冷冻冰箱，没有汽车开进城里去购买袋装食品，所有的东西都产自自家的农场。馅饼都是头一天就烤好的，有南瓜馅儿的、苹果馅儿的还有肉馅儿的；我们可以一边吃馅饼，一边望到窗外生长南瓜的玉米地和从上面摘下苹果的苹果树。还有农家干酪，仍滴着油脂的装着凝乳的袋子还挂在冰冷的地窖天花板上。面包是当天早上为烤肉预热炉子而现烤出来的，当婶婶匆匆从我身边走过时，我能闻到那沁人心脾的面包刚刚出炉时的味道，那是最新鲜的香味。还有用个巨大棕色瓦罐盛着的豌豆烟熏猪肉，猪肉来自每年11月屠宰的猪。越过大瓦罐,我们能看到场院角落里倒扣着的一口大黑铁锅，无辜的猪儿们停在那里蹭痒儿。

12. 总会有各种各样的蜜钱水果和泡菜：有采自小树丛中葡萄树上的野葡萄，有山楂果子冻，有野黑刺莓和家种的覆盆子，还有从菜园地里采来的草莓，以及用小径旁野生的莳萝制成的酸甜泡菜，还有用我们放在牛奶房水槽里冷却，然后在炎热的9月下午吃的西瓜皮腌制的泡菜。 在房子后面的山坡上挖有一个菜窖，窖口有一个小门儿，里面储存着胡萝卜、萝卜、卷心菜、土豆、南瓜。有时我那几个被吓坏的堂兄们会被送到那里接受惩罚，坐在黑暗里思过。但他们从未在圣诞节受到过这样的惩罚。这样的苦难经历过后的几天里他们再也吃不进胡萝卜了，一口也吃不下去了。

13. 当然还有撒着一粒粒葛缕子籽的传统泡菜。我记得有一个圣诞节,当地下室里用一块石头压着盖子的装着10加仑这种泡菜的大罐子突然间爆裂，使得石头砸到客厅下面的地板时，叔叔大声叫道：“我的天，钢琴从地板上掉下去了！”

14. 所有的肉类也是家产的。其中最有用的莫过于鹅肉了，那只鹅正是那年夏天伸着它那弯弯曲曲晃动着的、像长着羽毛的蛇一样的脖子，张着大嘴发出嘶嘶的声音向我冲过来，在后面追赶过我的那只鹅。鹅是旧时圣诞节普遍食用的一种家禽：鹅毛拔下来洗净，放进袋子挂在马厩里风干，然后装进枕头里；它那笨拙的身体会被烤得直到外皮变成像纸一样薄脆；从它的躯体里熔化流出的油脂加进一点儿 樟脑可以涂搽在患咳嗷的孩子的前胸治病。总之，我们吃肉，睡鹅毛，穿鹅毛。

15. 作为一个小孩子，有一位来自离家最近的有铁路的镇子的远房叔叔是一件令人愉快的事。我的叔叔，本，被人很羡慕地称为“铁路人”，他在开往奥马哈的列车上工作。本叔叔曾经去过芝加哥，他去过好几次，他的妻子蜜妮每提起此事都会不屑地说:“他去的这几次没学到什么好东西，反而长了不少臭毛病。”本叔叔拒绝吃任何禽类做成的菜肴，作为圣诞节的象征会特地为他在炉子里烤一小块猪肉，这块肉被忙碌在厨房里的女士们称作是“本的肉块儿”。本叔叔会不停地往牛奶房里跑，每次回来脸上都会更红润一些，通常他都会先跟在座的其中一个男人迅速摆一下头然后一起走出去。几年之后我才弄明白本叔叔嘴里的浓郁的果味香气不只是因为吃了果肉馅饼，还跟我在牛奶房冷却水箱里发现的用一块石头系在颈部沉在水箱底部的酒罐子有关。因为本叔叔经常有机会到处游历，还有他那令人倍显尊贵的“铁路人”的称谓，他在当时是一位浪漫的传奇式人物，比农场主或者律师都更有吸引力。然而如今在我看来，他那时只是一个文雅而生性腼腆的矮个子男人，经常送给我们玩具刀和手枪，因为他自己没有孩子。

16. 当然配菜也同样来自于农场：山胡桃仁蛋糕用的是第一场霜降后从小树林里采集来的山胡桃制成的，我的堂兄弟姐妹们因剥山胡桃而两手发黄；用黑核桃仁制成的小甜饼比任何味道都甜美；还有撒满白胡桃的牛奶软糖。一般在早晨我们会得到一个铁锤、一个平铁板，还有一碗要砸开的坚果，为做自制冰激凌准备果仁。

17. 厨房的窗外便是果园，果园里长着各种苹果树：“富裕果”、“赤褐果”、“狼果”的果树上结满了大个头儿的果实；还有一种叫做“北方间谍”的苹果树，名字听起来像是出自内战的一位可疑人物。

18. 所有家庭都会准备他们自己独特的圣诞食物。我们家的是一种被叫做“荷兰面包”、用介于做面包和蛋糕之间的面团做成的面食，里面塞满了香橼和各式各样产自农场的果仁——榛子、黑核桃、山胡桃、白胡桃。通常会专门用“酸牛奶姑娘”烘烤苏打罐为我烤制一个又圆又小的“荷兰面包”。圣诞夜我所做的最后一件事就是把这个特制的点心放在圣诞树旁以便让圣诞老人发现它并把它作为宵夜。毕竟他是长途跋涉冒着严寒来到我们家的。每一个圣诞节的早晨就会发现他已经把它吃了。婶婶做了同样的“荷兰面包”，我们把同样的黄油（含有最高的乳脂含量）涂抹在上面吃，那是婶婶当天从他们自家养的泽西种乳牛身上挤出的鲜奶中一次提炼制成的。

19. 在食物烹调出来的同一个房间里品尝它们，这正是感谢主如此丰盛的恩赐的最好方式。厨房里的那张长桌子由于为小孩子们不断增加一些高低不等的桌面,已经几乎和厨房一样长了。空气中浓香四溢，不仅仅是装在盘子里的食物的香味，空气中还弥漫着食物在烹饪过程中发出的香味，以及“食烟者”灶台上一直不停烧烤着的金属发出的味道。整个炉子给我们提供着更多的等待上桌的烤鹅和馅饼， 船形肉鹵盘的周围描绘着冬天的情景，雪地上孩子们滑着雪橇，小鹿欢快地跳跃；看着家禽的内脏制成的浓香的卤汁，再倒入这样的盘中，人们忍不住会吃得过量。

20. 当孩子们被派往牛奶房去取奶油时，就知道晚餐要开始了。我们把出自泽西种乳牛、颜色跟它们侧腹一样金黄的奶油从盛放鲜奶的冷却盘中撤出。吃饭前的最后一件事是在小打磨机里磨咖啡豆，原本满是本土烤鹅和香料南瓜馅饼味道的空气中就又会增加了一种来自异国的香气。然后所有的人都围坐在桌子旁，吃饭前的祷告通常是由叔叔做的，他有时用德文，但之后为了让孩子们听懂他会改用英 文： 来吧，主專稣，来做我们的贵宾。 跟我们一起分享您赐予我们的食物。

21. 如今再也没有那样的折福了：叔叔敏献给上帝请他赐福的所有食物都出自一个爱荷华州农场在一般年景，雨水充足时，通过辛勤耕作、适当施肥所获得的普通收成。

22. 在这样的圣诞节第一个要感谢的是使这个节日产生的那个圣诞之夜，感谢那个圣婴，他的牧民父母一定通晓降雨、草场和养殖牲畜。第二个要感谢的便是那个盛大的宴席。婶婶不停地传着各种食物，从某种程度上说拒绝任何一种食物都是对一天中气氛最高涨时刻的亵渎。此刻，我们不仅要庆祝人类的一件幸事，还要认识到受苦受难是人类的天命——享用整整一桌子的美食的确是件苦差事！但我们都勇敢地面对这一苦差事。本叔叔会叹口气啪的一声松开他的皮带——那是一条漂亮的西部牌皮带，上面带有公牛头和银扣子。女人们能更好地应付这件苦差事，她们时而从桌子旁站起身来快步走到厨房的水槽、灶台，或是到房子外面取一些冰冻在外面的东西。男人们却坚定地坐在那里忍受着他们的好胃口。

23. 吃完了晚餐已是午后黄昏，望着成堆的脏盘子，女人们一边做着无可奈何的手势，一边从灶台旁的热水槽里舀出热水准备洗碗。男人们这时则要去马棚照料牲畜。我的表兄端着他那新22型来福枪，嘴里说着，“刚才我看见狐狸来窥视它的圣诞烤鹅了。”大步流星地穿过牧场去追踪。或者我们把雪橇拉出来排成队像长蛇一样滑行，我们把脚钩在雪橇尾部，向山下滑，越过向西的坡地朝着夕阳奔去。

24. 我们还会把骨头扔给狗儿们，把板油系在橡树上喂北美雀和不畏严冬的美洲山雀。猫儿们抬著它们那长着厚垫儿的爪子、优雅而又厌烦地走过雪地来吃为它们准备在碟子里的已经撤过油脂的牛奶。面包屑也已撒在喂鸟台上招引了好多红衣凤头鸟像鲜红的血一样从天空飞落。然后我们会在离开前进屋暖和暖和。在我们穿戴整齐准备回家前总会围着那棵大树唱首歌，然后四处响起收到礼物的致谢声。篮子里装满了晚宴剩下的食物，和来的时候一样满，甚至比来的时候更沉。父亲和叔叔把马匹从马棚里牵出来套在大雪橇的双辕上，然后我们就将驶进寒冷的暮色之中了。

25. 此时铃铛声又响起来了。马儿们由于长时间在马棚站着变得有些不耐烦，摇晃着马具在雪地上踩踏着，父亲嘴里轻声地咯咯地叫着，用力拉着缓绳把它们拉到一起。我们坐在雪橇上闻着空气中木头燃烧的烟味儿，在站在寒冷中瑟瑟发抖的堂兄弟姐妹们的再见声中，踏着结着一层冰霜的雪面吱吱嘎嘎地出发了。我们所有的人，包括母亲，都钻进稻草里，把水牛皮长袍拉到下巴。当马匹平稳地跑起来，铃铛轻柔而有节奏地在耳畔回响时，我们会迷迷糊糊地进入半睡眠状态。马匹奔跑时发出的嘶嘶声让人感觉很舒服。当我们睁开朦胧的双眼抬头仰望夜空时，雪橇的颠簸使得天上的小星星看起来像是要从天上掉进我们怀里一样。但是东方的那颗明亮的星星始终毫不动摇地挂在天空，在圣诞节我们回家的路上，没有什么可以动摇那颗夜空中的星星。