Our neighbour,the river
河流，我們的鄰居
The river which forms the eastern boundary of our farm has always played an important part in our lives. Without it we could not make a living. There is only enough spring water to supply the needs of the houses, so we have to pump from the river for farm use. We tell river all our secrets. We know instinctively, just as beekeepers with their bees, that misfortune might overtake us if the important events of our lives were not related to it.
We have special river birthday parties in the summer. Sometimes were go upstream to a favourite backwater, sometimes we have our party at the boathouse, which a predecessor of ours at the farm built in the meadow hard by the deepest pool for swimming and diving. In a heat wave we choose a midnight birthday party and that is the most exciting of all. We welcome the seasons by the riverside, crowning the youngest girl with flowers in the spring, holding a summer festival on Midsummer Eve, giving thanks for the harvest in the autumn, and throwing a holy wreath into the current in the winter.
After a long period of rain the river may overflow its banks. This is a rare occurrence as our climate seldom guest to extremes. We are lucky in that only the lower fields, which make up a very small proportion of our farm, are effected by flooding, but other farms are less favorably sited, and flooding can sometimes spell disaster for their owners.
One had winter we watched the river creep up the lower meadows. All the cattle had been moved into stalls and we stood to lose little. We were, however, worried about our nearest neighbors, whose farm was low lying and who were newcomers to the district. As the floods had put the telephone out of order, we could not find out how they were managing. From an attic window we could get a sweeping view of the river where their land joined ours, and at the most critical juncture we took turns in watching that point. The first sign of disaster was a dead sheep floating down. Next came a horse, swimming bravely, but we were afraid that the strength of the current would prevent its landing anywhere before it became exhausted. Suddenly a raft appeared, looking rather like Noah's ark, carrying the whole family, a few hens, the dogs, cat, and bird in a cage. We realized that they must have become unduly frightened by the rising flood, for their house, which had sound foundations, would have stood stoutly even if it had been almost submerged. The men of our family waded down through our flooded meadows with boathooks, in the hope of being able to grapple a corner of the raft and pull it out of the current towards our bank. We still think it a miracle that they we able to do so.
形成我們農(nóng)場(chǎng)東部邊界的一條河流一直在我們生活中發(fā)揮著重要作用。要是沒(méi)有這條河，我們就無(wú)法生存下去。泉水只能滿足家庭生活用水，因此我們必須從河里抽水以用于農(nóng)業(yè)生產(chǎn)。我們向那條河傾訴我們的秘密。我們本能地懂得，就像養(yǎng)蜂人和他的蜜蜂那樣，要是我們不把生活中的重大的事件告訴那條河，就可能大禍臨頭。
夏天，我們?yōu)檫@條河舉辦特殊的生日宴會(huì)。有時(shí)，我們溯流而上來(lái)到我們喜愛(ài)的回水河汊舉辦;有時(shí)在船塢舉辦。那船塢是農(nóng)場(chǎng)一位前輩在一塊草地上蓋的，草地緊挨著一個(gè)專供游泳、跳水的深水池。天氣炎熱時(shí)，我們便選擇在半夜舉辦生日聚會(huì)，這種聚會(huì)是最令人激動(dòng)的。我們?cè)诤舆呌右荒晁募�。春天在河邊為最年輕的姑娘戴上花冠，夏天在河邊歡慶“仲夏前夜”，秋天在河邊豐收而感恩，冬天往河中拋撒一個(gè)冬表花環(huán)。
久雨這后，河水會(huì)泛濫成災(zāi)，但是在我們這里，氣候很少發(fā)生異常，河水極少泛濫。值得慶幸的是，只有低洼的受到洪水影響，而低洼地在我們農(nóng)場(chǎng)比例很小。其他農(nóng)場(chǎng)地勢(shì)欠佳，洪水有時(shí)會(huì)給農(nóng)場(chǎng)主帶來(lái)災(zāi)難。
有一年冬天，天氣不好，我們眼看著河水浸沒(méi)了地勢(shì)較低的草場(chǎng)。所有的牲口已提前轉(zhuǎn)移到畜圈里，沒(méi)有造成什么損失。不過(guò)，我們很為我們的近鄰擔(dān)心。他們的農(nóng)場(chǎng)地勢(shì)低洼，而且他們又新來(lái)乍到。由于洪水造成了電話中斷，我們無(wú)法了解他們情況。從頂樓窗口看去，我們農(nóng)場(chǎng)與他們農(nóng)場(chǎng)接壤處的那段河流一覽無(wú)余。在最緊急的時(shí)刻，我們輪流監(jiān)視那段河流的險(xiǎn)情。災(zāi)難的第一跡象是一只死羊順流而下，接著一匹活馬勇敢地與水搏擊。但我們擔(dān)心，洪水力量將使它上岸之前就筋疲力盡了。突然，出現(xiàn)了一只筏子，看起來(lái)很像諾亞方舟，上面載著他們?nèi)依闲�，還有幾只母雞、幾只狗，一只貓與一只鳥(niǎo)籠，那里頭有一只小鳥(niǎo)。我們意識(shí)到他們一定是被不斷上漲的洪水嚇壞了。因?yàn)樗麄兊姆孔拥鼗喂�，即使洪水幾乎滅頂也不�?huì)倒塌。我家的男人們手拿船篙過(guò)被水淹沒(méi)草場(chǎng)，希望能夠鉤住筏子一角，將它拽出激流，拖回岸邊。他們終于成功了。至今我們?nèi)哉J(rèn)為這是個(gè)奇跡。
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