Ｔhe First Day of Spring開(kāi)春的第一天

“Ah spring!I absolutely love spring!” Amy thought as she shooed1 her two little boys out of the back door and into the yard to play. It was the first day really warm enough to let them out without jackets and the need for hot chocolate waiting when they got tired of the frosty2 air of the long winter.

Amy watched the boys start to chase each other around the yard just starting to release all the pent up3 energy of a winter spent mostly indoors. With a smile she turned to open the dining room windows， inhaling4 the fresh breeze as it swept through the house taking with it the last vestiges of winter gloom. With the happy sounds of little boys laughing in her ears， Amy picked up her duster and dutifully started to dust around the dining room， lifting knick knacks5， plants， and various other items. Dusting the pictures on the walls and not forgetting to dust the trim around the doors， she started with that and would end with cleaning the tile floors.

There was a lot of spring cleaning to do and today was the first really pretty day of the year and Amy wanted to take full advantage. She， like her boys had some energy to work off. So she dusted， wiped and polished， feeling very proud of herself for doing such a thorough job and knowing she would be very happy with the results.

“Mommy!Eric got a dragonfly. Come and look at it!” Glancing around from the bookshelf she had been rearranging， Amy could see out of the back door that her older son did indeed hold something in his hands. As if the huge triumphant6 smile on his face wasn’t clue enough.

“OK， Mommy sees， be careful and don’t squish7 it!” Amy grinned at her littlest， Todd， and shooed him back outside. “Now go and catch one of your own， honey.”

Todd’s eyes got very big for a moment before he whirled and dashed back outside and began in earnest to hunt for a bug of his very own. As she turned back to the waiting bookshelf， Amy could hear Eric offering sound advice on exactly how to catch a dragonfly to his little brother.

For a brief moment， Amy wished she could be as carefree as her children， with nothing more on their minds than catching bugs and enjoying the bright sunshine of spring. Sitting on the floor， with the job of rearranging books still half finished， Amy couldn’t resist just watching her boys for a few moments.

Their hair messed up8 from the warm breeze， faces flushed9 from running and laughing in the sun. The grass was coming in green now and the first daffodils had popped their bright heads up in her flowerbeds already. She loved daffodils， tulips and crocus too. Always the first flowers to be seen in spring， their bright colors like so many banners announcing the end of winter and the renewal10 of life that spring signified to11 Amy.

Wandering over to the back door， Amy leaned against the door jamb and looked over the fences to all the trees in the neighborhood and had to smile at the bright green buds popping out12 on all the branches. Birds were singing and Mrs. Witters next door was out with a little spade and her gardening gloves puttering around her own flower beds. Her old face lit up with13 a smile when she saw Amy and she smiled. Amy gave a small wave back and turned again to watch her boys.

Eric heard it first. The first true sign of spring. That one sound that every kid knows. It is guaranteed to send even the smallest child running. The ice cream truck. Before Amy had even registered the sound， Eric had already started running towards her， his blue eyes wide and excited. “Mommy!Mommy!The

“春天，我太喜歡春天了!”艾米一邊對(duì)自己說(shuō)，一邊讓她的兩個(gè)小兒子去后門(mén)外的院子里玩耍。開(kāi)春第一天的天氣很溫暖，在房間外面，孩子們可以不用穿夾克衫；艾米也不用為他們準(zhǔn)備熱巧克力來(lái)抵抗冬天的嚴(yán)寒。

看著她的孩子在院子里面互相追逐，開(kāi)始釋放因?yàn)檎麄€(gè)冬天待在室內(nèi)而壓抑許久的能量，艾米笑了，她打開(kāi)餐廳的窗戶(hù)，感受著清爽的微風(fēng)將房間內(nèi)最后一絲冬天的陰霾吹散。聽(tīng)著孩子們歡快的笑聲，艾米拿起抹布開(kāi)始盡職地擦拭整個(gè)餐廳。房間里的小擺設(shè)，盆栽和其他的一些物品都要挪開(kāi)，墻上的畫(huà)也要擦干凈，門(mén)周?chē)难b飾品也要擦拭。她開(kāi)始清潔門(mén)上的裝飾品，并且打算最后打掃地板。

春季大掃除有許多事情要做，今天是一年中最好的開(kāi)端，艾米打算好好地利用這一天。和她的孩子們一樣，艾米精力充沛，所以她有許多的精力來(lái)打掃房間，擦拭家具，擦亮餐具。對(duì)于完成這么一項(xiàng)細(xì)致的工作，艾米感到自我滿(mǎn)足，她也會(huì)對(duì)自己的工作成果很滿(mǎn)意。

“媽媽?zhuān)鹂俗サ搅艘恢或唑眩靵?lái)看啊!”艾米從她剛剛重新整理的書(shū)架中抬起頭來(lái)環(huán)視了一下，從后門(mén)望去發(fā)現(xiàn)她的大兒子手中拿著什么東西。似乎他臉上那勝利的微笑都不足以說(shuō)明他的興奮。

“媽媽看見(jiàn)了，小心點(diǎn)，別把它捏死了。”艾米對(duì)她的小兒子托德咧嘴笑，然后讓他重新回到室外去：“親愛(ài)的，你自己也去抓一只。”

聽(tīng)到這個(gè)，托德的眼睛睜得大大的，然后就馬上沖到屋外開(kāi)始認(rèn)真地去捕捉屬于他自己的蟲(chóng)子。艾米重新回到書(shū)架邊時(shí)，聽(tīng)到了艾瑞克在教他弟弟怎樣去抓蜻蜓。

有那么一刻，艾米希望她可以和她的孩子一樣無(wú)憂(yōu)無(wú)慮，不用想任何事情，可以享受抓蟲(chóng)子的樂(lè)趣和享受春天燦爛的陽(yáng)光。艾米坐在地板上一邊整理才處理一半的書(shū)籍，一邊忍不住地看著她的孩子玩耍。

暖風(fēng)吹亂了孩子們的頭發(fā)，陽(yáng)光下的追逐和歡鬧使孩子們的臉蛋兒紅彤彤的。小草帶著綠綠的芽從土里鉆出來(lái)，花壇中的水仙花已經(jīng)明艷地開(kāi)放。艾米喜歡水仙，郁金香和藏紅花，因?yàn)檫@些都是春天里最先開(kāi)花的。正如春天向艾米預(yù)示著的一樣，這些鮮艷的花猶如眾多旗幟宣布著冬天的結(jié)束和生命的復(fù)蘇。

走到后門(mén)，艾米靠在門(mén)柱邊從籬笆望過(guò)去，欣喜地發(fā)現(xiàn)鄰居院子里的樹(shù)木都冒出了綠色的枝丫，也聽(tīng)到了鳥(niǎo)兒的歌聲。鄰居維特斯夫人手上戴著園藝手套，拿著一把小鐵鍬走在她的花壇中，當(dāng)她看到了艾米之后朝她微笑，艾米向她揮手示意之后再次將目光投向她的孩子們。

艾瑞克是第一個(gè)聽(tīng)到這個(gè)聲音的。這才是春天到來(lái)的真正標(biāo)志，每個(gè)孩子都知道這個(gè)聲音。只要聽(tīng)到這個(gè)聲音，保證最小的孩子也會(huì)開(kāi)始跑向它。這個(gè)聲音就是從冰淇淋車(chē)發(fā)出來(lái)的。還沒(méi)等艾米識(shí)別出這個(gè)聲音，艾瑞克就已經(jīng)朝她跑過(guò)來(lái)，充滿(mǎn)興奮的藍(lán)眼睛睜的大大的。“媽媽?zhuān)瑡寢專(zhuān)苛苘?chē)來(lái)了，我們能買(mǎi)冰淇淋吃嗎？”他的手迫不及待地拉著艾米的牛仔褲。所

ice cream truck is coming!Can we get an ice cream please?” His hand tugged on her jeans with a great deal of urgency. Everyone knows if you don’t act fast the ice cream man would be gone.

“Please Mommy!” piped up Todd also.

Amy was wise enough to know that on this day at least she couldn’t hope to win a battle against two pairs of bright blue pleading eyes and such sunny spring smiles.

“Yea， guys， let’s go and catch the ice cream truck. Hurry!” And Amy was off， holding little Todd’s hand as she grabbed her purse and burst out of the front door， she started waving at the truck as excited as any of the neighborhood kids that already lined the street.

The three hurried over to the truck and impatiently waited in line. Eric and Todd were both chattering excitedly about what exactly they were going to get， and each changing their minds at least five times before their turn came. Amy knew exactly what she would get—an ice cream sandwich. It’s what she got every time and she always enjoyed the first one of the season more than any other.

Spring cleaning was long forgotten as Amy， Eric and Todd sat right down in the soft spring grass and enjoyed their first ice cream in the warm sun. Any thoughts of winter were far gone already. The promise of spring had already started to deliver—warm breezes， bright flowers and green grass and the smell of new life in the air.

Grinning at two little ice cream-covered faces， Amy couldn’t suppress the thought， “I love spring.”

有人都知道如果你不立馬行動(dòng)的話(huà)，賣(mài)冰淇淋的人可能就離開(kāi)了。

“求你了，媽媽!”托德也跟著喊起來(lái)。

艾米知道在這一天，面對(duì)著兩雙明亮的帶著祈求的藍(lán)眼睛和如此陽(yáng)光般的笑容，她就別指望可以拒絕他們。

“好的，孩子們，我們?nèi)プ繁苛苘?chē)吧，快點(diǎn)!”艾米牽起小托德的手，抓起她的錢(qián)包就往前門(mén)沖。她向冰淇淋車(chē)揮手，和所有已經(jīng)站在街上排隊(duì)的孩子們一樣興奮。

三個(gè)人趕到冰淇淋車(chē)，焦躁地排在隊(duì)伍里。艾瑞克和托德開(kāi)始興奮地討論著要買(mǎi)什么樣的冰淇淋，輪到他們之前，兄弟倆至少交換了五次想法。艾米知道自己想買(mǎi)什么樣的，那就是冰淇淋三明治。她每次都買(mǎi)這種，她總是最享受這個(gè)季節(jié)的第一個(gè)冰淇淋。

艾米早已經(jīng)將她的春季大掃除忘到一邊去了，艾瑞克和托德坐在柔嫩的春草上，在溫暖的陽(yáng)光中享受他們?cè)诖禾斓牡谝粋€(gè)冰淇淋。此刻沒(méi)有人會(huì)想到冬天，春天的希望已經(jīng)開(kāi)始傳播開(kāi)來(lái)。溫暖的春風(fēng)，明艷的鮮花，翠綠的青草以及彌漫在空氣中新生命的氣息。

看著吃的滿(mǎn)臉都是冰淇淋的孩子，艾米咧開(kāi)嘴笑了，再次克制不住地在心里說(shuō)：“我愛(ài)春天。”

Notes：

1. shoo v. 發(fā)出噓聲趕走 2. frosty adj. 霜凍的，嚴(yán)寒的

3. pent up 被抑制的，被壓抑的 4. inhale v. 吸入，吞咽

5. knick knack 小擺設(shè)，小飾品 6. triumphant adj. 勝利的，得意洋洋的

7. squish v. 壓扁 8. mess up 混亂，弄糟

9. flush v. 發(fā)紅 10. renewal n. 復(fù)蘇

11. signify to 對(duì)……來(lái)說(shuō)，向……預(yù)示著12. pop out 突然出現(xiàn)，突出

13. lit up with 充滿(mǎn)