My Father’s Music

陶敏玲

（武漢市新洲一中邾城校區(qū)）

海頓說，藝術(shù)的真正意義在于使人幸福，而音樂就是人類這樣的一個朋友。學(xué)習(xí)樂器之路是艱辛的，卻可以讓人受用終生。雖然經(jīng)濟(jì)上并不富足，父親堅持讓我認(rèn)真學(xué)習(xí)手風(fēng)琴，讓我有機(jī)會給家人帶來驕傲和快樂。我花了幾十年才發(fā)現(xiàn)父親充滿睿智的愛。

I remember the day Dad first lugged the heavy accordion（手風(fēng)琴）up our front stoop.If my thin smile didn’t match his fall-fledged grin（露齒笑）,it was because I had prayed for a guitar or a piano.Then one evening Dad announced that I would start lessons the following week.

Spending $300 for an accordion and $5 per hour was out of character for my father.He was practical always—something he learned on a Pennsylvania farm.Clothes,heat and sometimes even food were scarce.

One day,I found a violin case.“It’s your father’s.”Mom said.“His parents bought it for him.He got too busy on the farm to play it.”

Shortly after,my lessons began with Mr.Zelli.Confirmed I got fine for the first lesson,Dad glowed with hope.

Though ordered to practice half an hour every day,I tried to get out of it.My future seemed to be outside playing ball.But my parents hounded me to practice.Gradually,anyway,I was able to string notes together and coordinate my hands to play simple songs.

“Very nice,better than last week,”he’d say.Father enjoyed listening to me practice and he would drift off to sleep.I took it as a compliment that he could relax under the spell of my playing.

Throughout the summer,Mr.Zelli’s lessons grew more difficult.All the while I could hear my buddies outside playing heated games.I’d also hear occasional taunts（嘲笑）.

Such humiliation（恥辱）paled,though,beside the impending fall recital.I would have to play a solo on a local movie theater’s stage.I wanted to skip the whole thing.

“I don’t want to play a solo,”I shouted.“You didn’t get to play your violin when you were a kid.So why should I?”

Dad pointed at me.“Because you can bring people joy.You can touch their hearts.That’s a gift I won’t let you throw away.”He added softly,“Someday you’ll have the chance I never had: you will play the beautiful music for your family.And you’ll understand why you’ve worked so hard.”

I was speechless.I had rarely heard Dad speak with such feeling about anything,much less the accordion.From then on,I practiced without my parents’ making me.

The evening of the concert Mom wore glittery earrings and more makeup than I could remember.Dad got out of work early and put on a suit and tie,his hair shiny.They were ready an hour early.I got the unspoken message that playing this one song was a dream come true for them.

Finally,I finished performing without a mistake.The applause spilled out,with a few hands still clapping after others had stopped.I was lightheaded,glad my ordeal was over.

After the concert Mom and Dad came backstage.The way they walked—heads high,faces flushed—I knew they were pleased.My parents gave me a big hug tightly.

As the years went by,the accordion drifted to the background of my life.Having had my own family,I brought the accordion to my home and put it in the attic（閣樓）.

There it remained a dusty memory,until one afternoon many years later,my two children discovered it by accident.When I opened the case,they urged,“Play it,play it.”Surprised,I found my skills hadn’t rusted away.Soon the kids were dancing in circles and giggling.Even my wife Terri,was laughing and clapping to the beat.I was amazed at their unbridled glee.

I finally knew what it meant to work hard and sacrifice for others.Dad had been right: the most precious gift is to touch the hearts of those who you love.It took me almost 30 years to discover the legacy.

Dad never learned to coax（小心地擺弄）sweet sounds from his violin.Yet he was wrong to think that he would never play for his family.On that wonderful evening,as my wife and children laughed and danced,they heard my accordion.But it was my father’s music.

【作品背景簡介】20 世紀(jì)60 年代，歲月艱難，父親卻堅持督促我學(xué)習(xí)手風(fēng)琴。我年少的心被窗外同伴的戲耍聲撩撥著。我一度認(rèn)為，父親是因自己小時候未能學(xué)習(xí)小提琴而逼迫我學(xué)琴。成年后，當(dāng)看到家人們因?yàn)槲业难葑喽兆?，我才深刻地理解了父親的愛和良苦用心。

人教版重點(diǎn)單詞復(fù)現(xiàn)

announcev.宣布（必二U4）

confirmv.核實(shí)（必二U3）

skipv.跳過，不參加（選必三U2）

spillv.溢出，潑出（必三U2）

clapv.拍手，鼓掌，擊掌（必三U1）

urgev.敦促，催促，力勸，鞭策（選必二U5）

標(biāo)外詞匯積累

lugvt.用力拉或拖

stoopv.彎腰，附身，弓背

houndvt.煩擾;激勵

coordinatevt.調(diào)整;整合

renditionn.演奏

impendvi.迫近;逼迫

recitaln.獨(dú)唱會;獨(dú)奏會

solon.獨(dú)奏

ordealn.嚴(yán)酷的考驗(yàn)

gigglen.&v.咯咯笑

unbridled glee奔放的歡樂

scarceadj.稀少的，缺乏的，不足的

buddyn.伙伴，朋友

glitteryadj.閃閃發(fā)光的

flushedadj.臉紅的

sacrificen.&v.犧牲

legacyn.遺產(chǎn)

glown.光亮;燈光 v.發(fā)光

driftvt.使……漂流

rustvi.生銹

熟詞生義

spell作動詞時，表“拼寫”；作名詞時表“咒語；魔力，魔咒”，如本文中的用法。

string作名詞時表“琴弦；帶子”；作動詞時，表“串（到一起）”，如本文中的用法。

全篇譯文

記得那天爸爸第一次把那沉甸甸的手風(fēng)琴拖上我們家的門廊。我淡淡的笑稱不上他的笑逐顏開，那是因?yàn)槲乙恢逼砼沃幸话鸭蛞患茕撉?。然后有天晚上，爸爸宣布，下周起我就開始上手風(fēng)琴課。

花300 美元買一架手風(fēng)琴，每上一課還得交5 美元，這可不符合我父親的性格。他向來都很現(xiàn)實(shí)，這是他在賓夕法尼亞州的農(nóng)場上學(xué)到的。穿的、取暖的、有時甚至連吃的都很少。

有一天，我突然發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個小提琴盒子。媽媽說：“那是你爸爸的。他父母給他買的。但他在農(nóng)場里太忙了，所以他沒有時間學(xué)?！?/p>

不久，澤利先生的手風(fēng)琴課開始了。核實(shí)了我第一天學(xué)得不錯，爸爸眼中閃爍著希望的光芒。

雖然被勒令每天練半個小時，我想賴掉它。我的將來似乎應(yīng)該在戶外打球。然而，父母激勵我練習(xí)。不管怎么樣，漸漸地，我竟然能把幾個音符連起來，手指還能協(xié)調(diào)地拉出幾首簡單的曲子了。

他會說：“不錯，比上周好。”父親喜歡聽我練琴，聽著聽著就慢慢地睡著了。他能在我的演奏的魔力中放松，我把這看著是一種贊揚(yáng)。

整個夏天，澤利先生的課更難了。練琴時，我總是聽到小伙伴們在外面熱熱鬧鬧地玩球的嬉笑聲，偶爾還聽到他們的嘲弄。

不過這種羞辱與即將來臨的秋季演奏會相比算不得什么。我得在當(dāng)?shù)赜皠≡旱奈枧_上進(jìn)行獨(dú)奏表演。我想逃避這一切。

“我不想獨(dú)奏，”我大喊道?！澳愕购茫r候從來不用拉琴，那為什么我必須演奏?”爸爸用手指著我說：“因?yàn)槟隳芙o人們帶來快樂，你能撥動他們的心弦。這是個天分，我不會讓你丟掉它。”爸爸又溫和地說：“終有一天你會有我從未有過的機(jī)會——你能為你的家人彈奏美妙的音樂。那時你會明白你的努力到底是為了什么?！?/p>

我無言以對了。我很少聽到爸爸如此語重心長地跟我談?wù)撌裁词虑?，更別說是為了拉手風(fēng)琴。自此以后，我練琴再也不用父母逼我了。

音樂會的那個晚上，媽媽戴著亮閃閃的耳環(huán)，妝容之隆重是從未有過的。爸爸也早早下班回家，身著西裝領(lǐng)帶，頭發(fā)油亮油亮的。他們提前一個小時就準(zhǔn)備好了。他們不說我也感知到了，我上臺演奏這首曲子意味著他們的一個夢想成真了。

最終，我毫無差錯地完成了表演。頓時掌聲四起，還有幾個觀眾的掌聲經(jīng)久不息。我輕松了一大截，慶幸我的考驗(yàn)終于結(jié)束了。

音樂會后，爸媽來到后臺，昂著頭，容光煥發(fā)。從他們走路的樣子我知道他們開心。爸爸媽媽緊緊地抱住了我。

隨著歲月的流逝，那架手風(fēng)琴退出了我的生活。自己成家后，我把它帶回我的家里，放在閣樓上。

于是，手風(fēng)琴就躺在那里，成了一段塵封的記憶。直到若干年后的一個下午，我的兩個孩子偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了它。我打開盒子時，他們慫恿著說：“來一曲! 來一曲！”我感到驚訝，我的技藝竟然沒有荒廢掉。很快，孩子們咯咯地笑，圍成圈跳起舞來。甚至連我妻子特瑞也笑著，雙手打著拍子?？粗麄兯烈獗挤诺臍g樂勁兒，我驚嘆不已。

我終于明白了為別人努力和做出犧牲的意義是什么。爸爸是對的：最珍貴的禮物莫過于觸動你所愛的人的心靈。我?guī)缀趸?0 年才發(fā)現(xiàn)這份財富。

爸爸從未學(xué)著用他的小提琴為家人拉出美妙的音樂。他以為他不會為家人演奏，然而這個想法是錯誤的——就在那個神奇的夜晚，當(dāng)我的妻子和孩子們笑著翩然起舞之時，雖然他們聽到的是我的手風(fēng)琴，但那卻是我父親的音樂。

閱讀小練

Ⅰ.Choose the best answer.

1.What’s the author’s first reaction to the accordion?

A.He grinned and treasured it.

B.He was not ready to accept it.

C.He disbelieved it.

D.He was keen on it.

2.Which of the following can best decribe my Dad’s personality?

A.Wise and persistent.

B.Mean and stubborn.

C.Rich and wasteful.

D.Reluctant and odd.

3.When did the author understand his father’s message of playing the instrument?

A.Before the solo performance.

B.With his companions’ tease.

C.With his parents’ growing old.

D.With his children’s discovery of the instrument.

4.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A.The hard way to becoming a musician.

B.Losing and getting the sense of music.

C.Delighting loved ones is what music is about.

D.Music is the cure for pain.

Ⅱ.Filling the blanks with the proper form of the words or phrases given in the box below.

1.He was _____________ satisfaction when knowing his son’s academic performance.

2.No wonder the play was badly thought of by the audience.The leading actress was merely _______.

3.Tony is a(n) ______________ young man who always dreams of succeeding overnight.

4.On seeing the horrible drawing created by her daughter,the mother was ___________.

5.Has the iron rod ____________ after being exposed to the damp air for a long time?

6.Alice was so occupied with her work that she could only call on her grandparents _______________.

7.It’s said that magpies like __________ objects very much.

8._____________ had he sat down on his seat when the lecture began.

9.If you keep _________ class like this,you will find it hard to catch up with the other students.

10.I came across an old photo of my father’s___________ the other day.

答案和解析

Ⅰ、1.B。細(xì)節(jié)理解題。題目問作者第一次看到手風(fēng)琴時的反應(yīng)是什么。根據(jù)文章第一段可知，作者本來期望得到的是吉他或鋼琴。所以手風(fēng)琴并非他想要的。所以是他思想上沒準(zhǔn)備好要手風(fēng)琴。

2.A。推理判斷題。題目問下面哪一項(xiàng)能最好地描述父親的性格。A 項(xiàng)是明智而執(zhí)著的，B 項(xiàng)是吝嗇而固執(zhí)的，C 項(xiàng)是富有而浪費(fèi)的，D 項(xiàng)是不情愿又古怪的。根據(jù)整篇文章，我們知道，父親有音樂細(xì)胞。他發(fā)現(xiàn)兒子有音樂天賦，而且深知音樂能帶給人們歡樂。所以他在孩子想退卻時態(tài)度是堅決的。所以父親是明智而執(zhí)著的。

3.D。細(xì)節(jié)理解題。題目問作者是什么時候理解父親買琴并督促他練琴的。正是在孩子們找到手風(fēng)琴后，要求作者獻(xiàn)上一曲，才有他看到妻兒們的熱烈反響，這時他才深刻理解到父親的用心的。

4.C。主旨大意題。整個文章講的是父親送我手風(fēng)琴，督促我學(xué)琴和練琴，以及我成年后給家人表演后頓悟父親的用意的故事。整個故事告訴我們，學(xué)樂器的真諦就是帶給家人快樂。

Ⅱ、1.glowing with 2.out of character 3.impractical 4.speechless 5.rusted away6.occasionally 7.shiny 8.Scarcely 9.skipping 10.by accident