I was always a little in awe of Great-aunt Stephina Roos. Indeed, as children we were all frankly terrified of her. The fact that she did not live with the family, preferring her tiny cottage and solitude to the comfortable but rather noisy household where we were brought up-added to the respectful fear in which she was held.
我对斯蒂菲娜老姑总是怀着敬畏之情。

"We loved one another from the first moment we met, though we did not speak of our love until the evening of my eighteenth birthday. All our friends and relatives had come to my party, and in the evening we danced on the big old carpet which we had laid down in the barn. Richard had come with the Van Rensburgs, and we danced together as often as we

After that I would often slip away to the little cottage by the mealie lands. Once she was somewhat disappointed on hearing that we had decided to wait for two years before getting married, but when she learned that my father and mother were both pleased with the match she seemed reassured.
从那以后，我常常到那所位于玉米地边的小屋。有一次，当斯蒂菲娜老姑听说我们决定再过两年结婚时，露出了失望的神

Tante Sanna would bring in dishes of sweet, sweet, sticky candy, or a great bowl of grapes or peaches, and Great-aunt Stephina would converse gravely about happenings on the farm ,and, more rarely, of the outer world.
桑娜阿姨每次都要端出几碟粘乎乎的南非糖果和一钵葡萄或桃子给我们吃。斯蒂菲娜老姑总是一本正经他说些农场里的事，偶尔也谈些外边世界发生的事。
When we had finished our sweetmeats or fruit she

The Love letter
迟到的情书
I was always a little in awe of Great-aunt Stephina Roos. Indeed, as children we were all frankly terrified of her. The fact that she did not live with the family, preferring her tiny cottage and solitude to the comfortable but rather noisy household where we were brought up-added to t

　　Ludwig von Beethoven - July 6, 1806
　　Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), one of history"s most famous and mysterious composers died at the age of 57 with one great secret. Upon his death, a love letter was found among his possessions. It was written to an unknown woman who Beethoven simply called his Immortal
　　Beloved.

　　The smile
　　I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous. I fumbled [1]in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had escaped [2]their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches, they had taken those.I looked through the bars at my jailer. H

　　I have a dream
　　……I say to you, my friends, so even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American d
ream.
　　I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evide

Love's Witness　
Slight unpremeditated Words are borne
By every common Wind into the Air;
Carelessly utter'd, die as soon as born，
And in one instant give both Hope and Fear：
Breathing all Contraries with the same Wind
According to the Caprice of the Mind.
But Billetdoux are constant Witnesses，
Substantial Records t

If  如果
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about,don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild fllower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
从一粒沙子看到一个世界，
从一朵野花看到一个天堂，
把握在你手心里的就是无限，
永恒也就消融于一个时辰。

[11] Sleep wouldn't come. I lay staring into the dark, listening to the sounds of trucks and cars rushing along the nearby interstate. I tried to summon up reassuring images of home, now so many hundreds of miles away. I thought of Betsy and Tabitha, the two lovable cats that belonged to my husband and me; of Ben, the playful mutt who loved to c

Paradox of Our Times
[1]We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less common sense; more knowledge, but less judgement; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
[2] We spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too

[11] Every day I sat on the landing and watched the river rise. Mother cooked simple meals in a spare bedroom she had turned into a makeshift kitchen. She was worried, I could tell, about what would happen to us. Father came and went in a small fishing boat. He was concerned about his patients and possible outbreaks of dysentery, pneumonia or ty

My Irreplaceable Treasure
[1]Recently I gave a dinner party for some close friends. To add a touch of elegance to the evening, I brought out the good stuff--my white Royal Crown Derby china with the fine blue-and-gold border. When we were seated, one of the guests noticed the beat-up gravy boat I'd placed among the ne