首页
登录
职称英语
I am afraid to sleep. I have been afraid to sleep for the last few weeks. I
I am afraid to sleep. I have been afraid to sleep for the last few weeks. I
游客
2023-10-21
19
管理
问题
I am afraid to sleep. I have been afraid to sleep for the last few weeks. I am so tired that, finally, I do sleep, but only for a few minutes. It is not a bad dream that wakes me; it is the reality I took with me into sleep. I try to think of something else.
Immediately, the woman in the marketplace comes into my mind.
I was on my way to dinner last night when I saw her. She was selling skirts. She moved with the same ease and loveliness I often saw in the women of Laos. Her long black hair was as shiny as the black silk of the skirts she was selling. In her hair, she wore three silk ribbons, blue, green, and white. They reminded me of my childhood and how my girlfriends and I used to spend hours braiding ribbons into our hair.
I don’t know the word for "ribbons", so I put my hand to my own hair and, with three fingers against my head, I looked at her ribbons and said "Beautiful". She lowered her eyes and said nothing. I wasn’t sure if she understood me (I don’t speak Laotian very well).
I looked back down at the skirts. They had designs on them: squares and triangles and circles of pink and green silk. They were very pretty. I decided to buy one of those skirts, and I began to bargain with her over the price. It is the custom to bargain in Asia. In Laos bargaining is done in soft voices and easy moves with the sort of quiet peacefulness.
She smiled, more with her eyes than with her lips. She was pleased by the few words I was able to say in her language, although they were mostly numbers, and she saw that I understood something about the soft playfulness of bargaining. We shook our heads in disagreement over the price; then, immediately, we made another offer and then another shake of the head. She was so pleased that unexpectedly, she accepted the last offer I made. But it was too soon. The price was too low. She was being too generous and wouldn’t make enough money. I moved quickly and picked up two more skirts and paid for all three at the price set; that way I was able to pay her three times as much before she had a chance to lower the price for the larger purchase. She smiled openly then, and, for the first time in months, my spirit lifted. I almost felt happy.
The feeling stayed with me while she wrapped the skirts in a newspaper and handed them to me. When I left, though, the feeling left, too. It was as though it stayed behind in the marketplace. I felt tears in my throat. I wanted to cry. I didn’t, of course.
I have learned to defend myself against what is hard; without knowing it, I have also learned to defend myself against what is soft and what should be easy.
I get up, light a candle and want to look at the skirts. They are still in the newspaper that the woman wrapped them in. I remove the paper, and raise the skirts up to look at them again before I pack them. Something falls to the floor. I reach down and feel something cool in my hand. I move close to the candlelight to see what I have. There are five long silk ribbons in my hand, all different colours. The woman in the marketplace! She has given these ribbons to me!
There is no defense against a generous spirit, and this time I cry, and very hard, as if I could make up for all the months that I didn’t cry. [br] Why did the writer cry eventually when she looked at the skirts again?
选项
A、She suddenly felt very sad.
B、She liked the ribbons so much.
C、She was overcome by emotion.
D、She felt sorry for the woman.
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3117514.html
相关试题推荐
[originaltext]M:Ruth,whatissomethingyouareafraidof,likesnakes,spider
[originaltext]M:Ruth,whatissomethingyouareafraidof,likesnakes,spider
[originaltext]M:Ruth,whatissomethingyouareafraidof,likesnakes,spider
Iamafraidtosleep.Ihavebeenafraidtosleepforthelastfewweeks.I
Iamafraidtosleep.Ihavebeenafraidtosleepforthelastfewweeks.I
谢谢您的邀请,但是恐怕我无法应邀出席。(invite)Thankyouforyourinvitation,butI’mafraidIcan’t
I’mafraidtakingaparttimejobmight______mytimeforstudy.A、cutoffB、cuti
I’mafraidtakingaparttimejobmight______mytimeforstudy.A、cutoffB、cuti
I’mafraidtakingaparttimejobmight______mytimeforstudy.A、cutoffB、cuti
[originaltext]W:Excuseme.I’mafraidI’mabitlost.I’mlookingforthelibr
随机试题
[originaltext]W:DoyouwanttogoonatripwithustoFloridathisspring?It
Walkingistheexerciseofchoiceformostdieters.Nowonder.Youdon’tneed
使用质量特性要因分析法时,应注意的事项有()。A:若干个质量问题可在一张图中一
在X≥3N的距离上,当孔径相同时,若声程相差一倍,则球孔回波高度差()DBA.1
2个月健康男婴,由母亲抱来门诊保健。因记不清是否接种过卡介苗,要求医生给予补种。
发行价格高于面值称为溢价发行,溢价发行所得的溢价款列为( )。A.公司资本公积
下列绩效考评方法中,适用于管理人员、行政人员、流水线工人等单个个体难以量化衡量或
境内上市公司所属企业到境外上市,其董事会应当就()事项作出决议并提请股东大会批准
下列关于城镇土地使用税纳税人的表述,不正确的是()。A.城镇土地使用税由拥有土
在城市桥梁的桥头接坡工程中常用到的挡土墙形式有( )。A.衡重式挡土墙 B.重
最新回复
(
0
)