现代大学英语精读(1)Unit3课文

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Lesson Three

TEXT A

Message of the Land Pira Sudham

Pre-class Work I

Read the text once for the main idea. Do not refer to the notes dictionaries or the

glossary

yet.

Yes, these are our rice fields. They belonged to my parents and forefathers. The land is morethan thre

e centuries old. I'm the only daughter in our family and it was I who stayed with myparents till they di

ed. My three brothers moved out to their wives' houses when they gotmarried. My husband moved int

o our house as is the way with us in Esarn. I was then eighteenand he was nineteen. He gave me six c

hildren. Two died in infancy from sickness. The rest, twoboys and two girls, went away as soon as we

could afford to buy jeans for them. Our oldestson got a job as a gardener in a rich man's home in Ban

gkok but later an employment agencysent him to a foreign land to work. My other son also went far a

way.

One of our daughters is working in a

textile

factory in Bangkok, and the other has a job in astore. Th

ey come home to see us now and then, stay a few days, and then they are off they send s

ome money to us and tell us that they are doing well. I know this is notalways true. Sometimes, they

get bullied and insulted, and it is like a knife piercing my heart. It'seasier for my husband. He has ears

which don't hear, a mouth which doesn't speak, and eyesthat don't see. He has always been patient a

nd silent, minding his own life.

All of them remain my children in

spite

of their long absence. Maybe it's fate that sent themaway fro

m us. Our piece of land is small, and it is no longer

fertile

,

bleeding

year after yearand, like us, getti

ng old and exhausted. Still my husband and I work on this land. The soil is notdifficult to till when ther

e is a lot of rain, but in a bad year, it's not only the ploughs that breakbut our hearts, too.

No, we two haven't changed much, but the village has. In what way? Only ten years ago, youcould

ba

rter

for things, but now it's all cash. Years ago, you could ask your neighbors to helpbuild your house,

reap

the rice or dig a well. Now they'll do it only if you have money to paythem. Plastic things

replac

e

village crafts. Men used to make things with fine bamboo pieces,but no longer. Plastic bags litter the

village. Shops have sprung up, filled with colorful

plastic

things and goods we have no use for. The y

oung go away to towns and cities leaving us oldpeople to work on the land. They think differently, I kn

ow, saying that the old are old- fashioned. All my life, I have never had to go to a hairdresser, or to pa

int my lips or nails. These

rough

fingers and toes are for working in the mud of our rice fields, not for l

ooking pretty. Nowyoung girls put on jeans, and look like boys and they think it is

fashionable

. Why,

they are

willing

to sell their pig or water buffalo just to be able to buy a pair of jeans. In my day, if Iw

ere to put on a pair of

trousers

like they do now,

lightning

would

strike

me.

I know, times have changed, but

certain

things should not change. We should offer food tothe monks

every day, go to the temple regularly. Young people

tend

to leave these things toold people now, an

d that's a shame.

Why, only the other day I heard a boy shout and

scream

at his mother. If that kind of thinghad happ

ened when I was young, the whole village would have

condemned

such an ungratefulson, and his fat

her would surely have given him a good beating.

As for me, I wouldn't change, couldn't change even if I wanted to. Am I happy or

unhappy

?This ques

tion has never occurred to me. Life simply goes on. Yes, this bag of bones dressed inrags can still plan

t and

reap

rice from morning till dusk. Disease, wounds,

hardship

and

scarcity

have always been par

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t of my life. I don't

complain

.

The farmer: My wife is wrong. My eyes do see

—

they see more than they should. My ears dohear

—

the

y hear more than is good for me. I don't talk about what I know because I know toomuch. I know for

example,

greed

, anger, and lust are the root of all evils.

I am at peace with the land and the conditions of my life. But I feel a great

pity

for my wife. Ihave be

en forcing

silence

upon her all these years, yet she has not once complained ofanything.

I wanted to have a lot of children and grandchildren around me but now cities and foreign landshave a

ttracted my children away and it seems that none of them will ever come back to live hereagain. To w

hom shall I give these rice fields when I die? For hundreds of years this

strip

of landhas belonged to o

ur family. I know every inch of it. My children grew up on it, catching frogsand mud crabs and gatheri

ng flowers. Still the land could not tie them down or call them each of them has a pair of j

eans, they are off like birds on the wing.

Fortunately, my wife is still with me, and both of us are still strong. Wounds heal over ss c

omes and goes, and we get back on our feet again. I never want to leave this 's nice to feel the

wet earth as my fingers dig into the soil, planting rice, to hear my wifesighing,

protect

you from the sun.

sce

nt

of ripening rice in November. The soft cool breeze moves the sheaves, which

ripple

and shimmer li

ke waves of gold. Yes, I love this land and I hope one of my childrencomes back one day to live, and g

ives me grandchildren so that I can pass on the land's secretmessages to them.

Read the text a second time. Learn the new words and expressions listed below.

Glossary

agency

n.

机构；代理处；这里指职业介绍所

bamboo

n.

竹

Bangkok

n.

曼谷（泰国首都）

barter

v. to

exchange

goods for other goods

以货易货

breeze

n. a light

gentle

wind

buffalo

n.

美洲野牛；

water

～

:

水牛

bully

v. to

threaten

to hurt sb. who is smaller or weaker

欺负（弱小）

condemn

v. to express strong

disapproval

谴责

crab

n.

蟹

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craft

n. handmade items

手工艺术（这里指手工产品）

dusk

n. the time before it gets dark

黄昏

Esarn

n. a village in Thailand

evil

n. bad or harmful influence or effect

邪恶

exhausted

adj. tired out

fashionable

adj.

popular

合时尚的；时髦的

fate

n.

命运

fertile

adj.

～

land is land able to

produce

good crops

肥沃的；富饶的

forefathers

n. people (especially men) who were part of your family a long time ago

祖先

frog

n.

蛙

gardener

n. a person who takes care of a garden

greed

n. a strong desire for more money, power etc. than you need

贪婪

hairdresser

n. a person who cuts and shapes your hair in a

particular

style

理发师

hardship

n. difficult condition of life, such as lack of money to become healthy again, to recover from awound,

especially to grow new skin

愈合

infancy

n. early childhood; babyhood

insult

v. to say or do sth. that is

rude

or act offensively to someone

侮辱

jeans

n.

（常用复数）牛仔裤

litter

v. to leave (

plastic

bags, bits of waste paper etc.) on the ground in a public place

扔得到处都是

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lust

n. very strong desire for sex, money or power

淫欲；金钱欲；权力欲

old-fashioned

adj. not

fashionable

老式的，过时的

monk

n.

和尚，僧人

nail

n.

指甲

pierce

v. to make a hole through something; to

～

one's heart: to make one feet very sad

reap

v. to cut and

gather

a crop such as rice or

wheat

收割

replace

v. to take the place of

替代

ripen

adj.

mature

成熟的

ripple

v. to move in very small waves

在微风中摆动

scarcity

n. a lack; not having enough, especially food

scent

n. a pleasant smell

sheaves

n. (sheaf

的复数

),

measure

of

quantity

in farming

捆，束

shimmer

v. to shine with a soft trembling light

发微光，闪烁

sickness

n. illness

sigh

v.

叹息

strip

n. a narrow piece of

细长片

temple

n. a place for the

worship

of a god or gods

寺庙，庙宇

tend

v. If sth.

～

s to happen, it means that it is likely to happen quite often, especially sth. bad or

unpleas

ant

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