連蟲子一塊兒煮

王莉莉/選注

Worms and All

祖父的果子凍是我童年的美好記憶。果子凍的配方是我們倆的秘密，想知道是什么嗎?

Istood in my grandparents' kitchen， watching the steam curl through the air above the big pot on the stove. It was an annual ritual as far back as memory would take me. Grandpa was making jelly.

Unable to stand for long periods of time due to arthritic knees， Grandpa would get his juices cooking， then drag over one of the kitchen chairs and sit next to the stove. With an elbow propped onthe counter top， he stirred the pot with a wooden spoon. I would tiptoe to see what it looked like， but I was too small to peek over the top. From what I could tell， though， Grandpa couldn't stretch high enough to see in， either.