by Mildred Hondorf

翻譯：范婕

琴聲悠揚(yáng),為媽媽彈奏

Learning the Piano

by Mildred Hondorf

翻譯：范婕

She was born deaf, so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.

Track 6

I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines, Iowa. Robby was 11 years old when his mother dropped him off for his first piano lesson. Robby said that it had always been his mother’s dream to hear him play the piano.

Over the months, he tried and tried while I listened and encouraged him. At the end of each weekly lesson, he’d always say, “My mom’s going to hear me play some day.” But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any1)inborn ability.

Then one day, Robby stopped coming to my lessons any more.

Several weeks later, I mailed a2)flyer to the students’ homes about the3)upcoming4)recital. To my surprise, Robby asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that he really did not5)qualify, but he said that his mom had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons. “Please...I’ve just got to play!” he insisted.

The night for the recital came and it

1) inborn [5InbC:n] adj. 天賦的，天生的

2) flyer [5flaIE] n. 宣傳單

3) upcoming [Qp5kQmIN] adj. 即將到來(lái)的

4) recital [rI5saItl] n. 音樂演奏會(huì)

5) qualify [5kw?lIfaI] v. 取得資格，合格

詞組加油站

elementary school 小學(xué)

drop off 讓……下車was going well at the beginning. The students had been practicing and it showed. Then, Robby came up on stage. He pulled out the piano6)bench and started to play. I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen Mozart’s7)concerto.

His fingers were light on the piano keys. I had never heard it played so well by someone his age! After six minutes, he ended and everyone was in wild applause.

Through the microphone, Robby said, “Well, Miss...remember I told you that my mom was sick? Actually, she had cancer and passed away this morning. She was born deaf, so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.”

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house that evening.

That night, I became a student...of Robby’s. He was the teacher. It is him that taught me the meaning of8)perseverance and love and believing in yourself.

詞組加油站

go well 進(jìn)展順利

pull out 拉出，抽出

pass away 逝世

6) bench [bentF] n. 長(zhǎng)凳

7) concerto [kEn5tFeEtEJ] n. 協(xié)奏曲

8) perseverance [7pE:sI5vIErEns] n. 毅力，堅(jiān)持不懈

我從前是艾奧瓦州得梅因市的一名小學(xué)音樂教師。羅比的媽媽第一次帶他來(lái)上鋼琴課的時(shí)候，他11歲。羅比說，他媽媽一直以來(lái)的夢(mèng)想就是聽他彈鋼琴。

幾個(gè)月來(lái)，羅比不斷地練習(xí)。而我一邊聽著，一邊也在鼓勵(lì)著他。每個(gè)星期上完課后，他總會(huì)說：“終有一天，媽媽一定會(huì)聽到我彈奏鋼琴的。”但這似乎不大可能，因?yàn)樗麤]有一點(diǎn)兒彈琴的天賦。

后來(lái)有一天，羅比再也沒有來(lái)上課了。

幾個(gè)星期后，我向?qū)W生們的家里各寄去了一張宣傳單，是關(guān)于即將舉行的音樂演奏會(huì)的。讓我吃驚的是，羅比問了我他能否在演奏會(huì)上彈奏。我告訴他，他現(xiàn)在技術(shù)欠佳，實(shí)在不夠資格。但羅比說，之前因?yàn)樗麐寢屔×?，所以無(wú)法帶他來(lái)上鋼琴課?！鞍萃心恕冶仨氁獜?！”羅比堅(jiān)持著。

演奏會(huì)之夜到來(lái)了，開始時(shí)都進(jìn)行得挺順利的。學(xué)生們?cè)缜耙恢痹跒榇饲诩泳毩?xí)，所以都表現(xiàn)得十分出色。后來(lái)，羅比走上了舞臺(tái)。他把琴凳拉了出來(lái)，坐下后便開始彈奏。當(dāng)他說出他所要演奏的是莫扎特的協(xié)奏曲時(shí)，我很是驚訝。

他的手指在琴鍵上很輕盈。我真的從未聽說過哪個(gè)像他這般年紀(jì)的孩子能把莫扎特的音樂演奏得如此之好。他總共彈了六分鐘，結(jié)束后，全場(chǎng)掌聲雷動(dòng)。

站在麥克風(fēng)前，羅比說：“嗯，老師……還記得我跟您說過我媽媽生病了嗎？其實(shí)，她得了癌癥，就在今天早上去世了。媽媽的耳朵天生就聽不見，所以今夜，天堂里的她第一次能夠聽到我的演奏。這首曲子是特別為媽媽彈的。”

那一晚，在場(chǎng)的所有人都感動(dòng)落淚了。

那一晚，我變成了……羅比的學(xué)生。他才是老師。是他讓我懂得了堅(jiān)持、愛與相信自己的含義。