母親知道

并非一切有孩子的女人都是母親。你可以從一個女人銳利的目光里辨別出她是不是一個真正的母親。一個母親總是知道她孩子的一切事情，而且絕對了如指掌。

我就有這樣一位母親。我從不能向她隱瞞任何事情。那時候我在鄰居家大嚼巧克力蛋糕，回家的時候母親總會瞥我一眼，然后說：“我得告訴你多少遍不要在飯間吃東西？小姐，今晚你沒有甜點吃了。”

我看著她，啞口無言。母親當時正在刷浴室的地板，她的目光怎么能越過大街，穿透我朋友家的墻壁呢？

“你是怎么知道的？”我問，一邊擦掉下巴的蛋糕屑。

“媽媽就是知道。”她答道。“我能讀懂你額頭上寫著的。”

我放學沖進家里，眼睛鼓鼓的就像條快要窒息的魚。這時候母親總會朝浴室門指一指。“你怎么知道我要去？”

母親只是聳聳肩，“你的額頭告訴我的。”

我離家越遠，母親這種令人驚嘆的千里眼能力也越發敏銳。我上大學的第一年，正因數小時前才被我斥為令人窒息的監獄的地方而倍覺迷茫孤單。正當我在床上躺下準備好好哭一場的時候，母親就走進門來。

“你忘記帶你的枕頭了。”她說著，遞給我前一天晚上我還在用的那個枕頭。

東西是我自己收拾的，離家的時候我把自己房間的門關上，然后開車去安阿伯市。母親的近視很嚴重，要戴上眼鏡才能看清超市貨架上的商品。她怎么可能看得見60英里之外的我的額頭上印著什么呢？顯然，母親還能聽見我腦海中揮之不去的想法，因為她接下來又回答了我沒有開口問她的問題。

“媽媽就是知道，”她說道。“我還給你帶來了一些果仁巧克力蛋糕，還有蘿絲瑪麗·克魯尼的最新專輯。”

在將近三十歲的時候，我遭遇了一場可怕的汽車事故。當時我已經大學畢業，也搬出了母親的房子。有一天晚上，總是在十點鐘準時拿著一本通俗小說和一杯熱牛奶回房休息的母親突然決定要看十一點鐘的新聞。她看到熒幕上掠過一副擔架，除了一對巨大的腳板從被單里突出來以外，上面躺著的那個人簡直就扁平得像一疊雜志。母親坐起來，把父親搖醒。

“快把衣服穿上，”她說道，“我們得去趟醫院。那個人是林恩·魯思。”

時間的流逝并未減弱我母親驚人的直覺。事實上，母親的直覺反而隨著我的成長變得更加敏銳。我開始找工作時，母親在我收到拒絕信之前就已經知道我面試的結果。在我搬到美國西岸之后，曾遭遇意外的暴力襲擊，并受了很重的傷。我從醫院回來，帶著縫合的傷口和滿身的瘀青。就在我蹣跚地走進臥室時，電話就響了起來。是母親。

“林恩·魯思，”她說，“告訴我怎么了。”她知道我出事了。

五年后，母親患上了癌癥。雖然我每晚都給她打電話，但是直到某天我被那種非去見她不可的感覺淹沒的時候，我才去看她。第二天我就坐飛機回家了。母親的身軀很小，埋沒在枕頭、被單和一堆維持她生命的儀器里，我幾乎找不到她。她伸出瘦弱的雙臂擁抱我。

“噢，小林恩，”她輕輕地說道，“你怎么知道我有多么想見到你？”

“我從你的額頭上讀出來的。”我答道，眼眶里溢滿了眼淚。

“在加利福尼亞也能知道？”母親問。

那時，我忽然明白，所有女性都有母親，但只有少數人有幸在有生之年成為女兒。我擁抱著母親，說：“女兒總是知道。”

Not all women who have children are mothers. You can tell a true mother by the penetrating1 look in her eye. A mother always knows everything about you. Absolutely everything.

I had such a mother. I could hide nothing from her. When I would walk into the house after pigging out on chocolate cake at the neighbors， she would glance at me and say， “How many times do I have to tell you not to eat between meals？ No dessert for you tonight， young lady.”

I looked at her， dumbfounded2： How could she see across the street and through the walls of my friends house， while she was cleaning the bathroom floor？

“How did you know that？”I asked， wiping crumbs3 from my chin.

“A mother always knows，？she said. “I can read your forehead.”

When I would race into the house from school， my eyes popping like a choked4 fish， my mother would simply point to the bathroom door. “How did you know I had to go？”I asked.

My mother would shrug5. “I read it on your forehead.”

Her amazing knowledge of things she could not see sharpened the farther away I was from home. I arrived at college my freshman year， disoriented6 and lonesome7 for the very place I had denounced8 as a suffocating9 prison a few hours before. As I settled down on the dormitory10 bed for a good cry， my mother walked in the door.

“You forgot your pillow，”she said and handed me the very one I had used the night before.

I had done my own packing and had shut the door to my room when we left the house to drive to Ann Arbor. My mother was so nearsighted11 she couldnt see products on the supermarket shelf without her glasses. How could she possibly make out the print on a forehead sixty miles away？ Apparently12， my mother could also hear the thoughts rattling13 around in my brain， for she then answered my unspoken question.

“A mother always knows，”she said. “I also brought you some brownies14 and Rosemary Clooneys latest record release.”

In my late twenties， I was in a terrible automobile accident. By that time， I had graduated from college and moved out of my mothers house. One night my mother， who always retired15 promptly16 at ten with a potboiler17 novel and a glass of warm milk， decided to watch the eleven oclock news. She saw a stretcher18 move across the screen， the body on it flat as a pile of magazines except for two tremendous19 feet protruding20 from the sheet. My mother sat up and shook my father awake.

“Get dressed，”she said. “We need to get to the hospital. Thats Lynn Ruth.”

Time did not diminish21 my mothers amazing intuition22. In fact， it became sharper as I grew older. When I began my job search， she knew the results of my interview before I received the rejection23 letters. After Id moved across the country， I sustained24 serious injuries from a random25 violent assault26. I returned from the hospital with stitches27 and bruises all28 over my body. As I staggered29 into my bedroom， the telephone rang. It was my mother.

“Lynn Ruth，”she said. “Tell me what happened.” She knew.

Five years later my mother succumbed30 to cancer. Although I called her every night， I did not go to her until my urge to see her suddenly overwhelmed31 me. I flew home the next day. She was so small I could barely locate her among the pillows， sheets， and instruments32 keeping her alive. She held out her wasted33 arms to embrace me.

“Oh， Lynnie，”she whispered. “How did you guess how much I wanted you here？”

“I read it on your forehead，”I said through my tears.

“In California？”asked my mother.

I realized then that all women have mothers， but only a few are lucky enough to become daughters in time. I hugged my mother and said， “A daughter always knows.”

單詞卡片··

1）penetrating a.敏銳的，明察秋毫的

2）dumbfound v.使人啞然失聲，使發愣

3）crumb n.碎屑，面包屑

4）choke v.窒息。哽住

5）shrug v.聳肩

6）disorient v.使失去方向感，使迷惑

7）lonesome a.寂寞的

8）denounce v.公開指責，譴責

9）suffocate v.使窒息

10）dormitory n.宿舍

11）nearsighted a.近視的

12）apparently ad.顯然地

13）rattle v.使慌亂，使緊張

14）brownie n.果仁巧克力蛋糕

15）retire v.（正式或幽默的說法）就寢

16）promptly ad.敏捷地，迅速地

17）potboiler n.為賺錢而粗制溢透的書

18）stretcher n.擔架

19）tremendous a.巨大的

20）protrude v.突出

21）diminish v.（使）減少

22）intuition n.直覺

23）rejection n.拒絕

24）sustain v.蒙受，遭受

25）random a.偶然的

26）assault n.攻擊，襲擊

27）stitch n.縫針

28）bruise n.瘀傷，擦傷

29）stagger v.搖晃，蹣跚

30）succumb v.屈服，不再反抗

31）overwhelm v.打敗，壓倒

32）instrument n.儀器，器械

33）waste v.（尤指疾病）使身體消瘦