山毛榉的最后时光A beech trees last stand

在那棵山毛榉倒下以前，我们以为自己会难舍它的树荫;而失去它之后，我们惊奇地发现，原来阳光是那么地美。

The first time I saw the tree was when my husband, Tim, dragged me to look at a run-down house he saw listed on a real estate agent’s website.[1] As this was one of his hobbies, I was used to it. It was an icy night and he had to cajole[2] me out of the car. The tree stood off to the side, but I was so distracted by the decrepit nature of the house and Tim’s can-do smile that I only glanced at the looming presence, registering Big Tree Off to Left.[3]

Tim’s can-do smile turned into a purchase and a 13-month renovation. Well, an overhaul[4]. Most of those 13 months we spent inside tackling tedious decisions like what shade of white we should paint the walls.[5] Neighbors strolled[6] by to check our progress but seemed less interested in the house and more in the fate of the tree. “What’s happening with the tree?” asked one. And another, “My kids grew up playing on that tree. I hope you’re going to keep it.” I sensed a slight nervousness, even hostility, in their questions. Did they think we might cut it down for a driveway[7], or maybe even a three-car garage?

I added these perceived reproaches[8] to the many reasons why I thought we had made a mistake buying this house. Stuffy town, nosy neighbors.[9] I hoped that if I accumulated enough complaints we might finally pack up and leave Massachusetts, returning to New York City. I had been perfectly content in our Upper West Side[10] building with 49 apartments and neighbors to chat with in the elevator. OK, not the crazy lady with all of the cats. But, with more than 10 children our children’s ages, we never wanted for play-dates or community.[11] And trick-or-treating[12] was so efficient.

After a few visits from our Cambridge neighbors, I decided to look closer at this tree. It was a beech, taller than our three-story house, and its canopy[13] shaded the whole south side of our yard. Limbs grazed one neighbor’s roof and aimed for another across the street.[14] One branch dipped to the ground and curved back up, forming an elongated U.[15] The trunk measured more than four feet in diameter and the root crown reminded me of elephant toes.[16] The silvery blue-gray bark resembled cracked leather.[17] The leaves were light and feathery, like ferns.[18]

I stood next to the trunk and looked up. Aside from my visit to see California redwoods in Muir Woods[19], I had never seen such majesty. This was one serious tree, or as someone later commented, “one, big, beautiful plant.” And—gulp—it was on our property.[20] Big responsibility. Shortly thereafter[21], we moved in. The tree became our mecca[22]. My kids were glued to the swings that we hung from its branches. Neighborhood kids clambered[23] over it. Everyone in our small community had a story about it—losing a ball in the fallen leaves, carving initials into the trunk. Or they had a nickname for it—the dragon tree, the elephant tree.

One afternoon, two years later, I found a piece of bark lying on the ground near the trunk. Over the next couple of months, a few more pieces fell. I called an arborist[24] to take a look. His diagnosis was cautionary. The tree was stressed and needed deep watering and fertilizing[25].

We did everything he suggested, but bark continued to shed[26]. For the next two years, we nursed the tree while other arborists paraded through and prescribed additional treatments.

Over time, whole sheets of bark began falling. And then, entire branches withered[27]. Eventually, half of the tree was dead. The other half, facing our house, was struggling in a last, desperate gasp. Every square inch was teeming with tuftlike greenery,[28] like a rain forest.

An arborist delivered the dreaded news. He told us the tree wasn’t safe; we needed to cut it down. That night, unable to sleep, I wandered into the hallway[29] and found my daughter awake. We tiptoed to the window to look at our beloved beech.

For the next couple of weeks, my family couldn’t shake its grief. Life without the beech seemed unimaginable. How could it have died on our watch? Had we loved it too much? Done something wrong?

A week before the fated Tuesday, Bill from next door interviewed me about the tree’s decline. He videoed the wormholes, beetle infestation, and rot and e-mailed it to our neighbors.[30] On Sunday, we hosted a goodbye party. Thirty neighbors gathered around the beech for the last time. There were people I had never met or even seen before. Our reclusive[31] neighbor across the street showed up. A family with a days’ old baby took its first outing. Bill shot another video for those who couldn’t come.

Tuesday morning arrived with a crane and a lot of saws.[32] A group of us stood there as the lumberjack[33] felled the tree limb by limb. At the end of the day, all that remained was its massive stump, stacks of firewood, and piles of sawdust.[34] That evening we sat on Bill’s porch facing where the beech used to be. We stayed until it was dark.

Somehow through the dying of our tree, I began to let go of[35] New York. I got to know my neighbors. There was a huge hole where the tree had been, but I didn’t want to live anywhere else anymore. Bill made one final video, of the tree coming down. It ended with a postscript, “Before the tree came down, we felt the loss. Now we’re surprised by how much we feel the light.”

Vocabulary

1. run-down: 破败失修的;real estate: 房地产。

2. cajole: 以甜言蜜语诱哄。

3. decrepit: 年久失修的，破旧的;can-do: 肯苦干的，乐观进取的;looming: 隐隐呈现的;register:〈口〉注意到，记住。

4. overhaul: 彻底翻修。

5. tackle: 处理;tedious: 单调乏味的;shade:(色彩的)浓淡深浅。

6. stroll: 闲逛。

7. driveway: 私人车道。

8. reproach: 责备。

9. stuffy: 沉闷乏味的;nosy: 好管闲事的。

10. Upper West Side: 上西区，是纽约市曼哈顿的一片街区，以时尚著称。

11. want for: 缺乏;play-date:(由家长安排的小孩之间的)玩耍约定;community: 社交活动。

12. trick-or-treating: 不请吃就捣蛋(指万圣节孩子们挨家逐户要糖果等礼物，如不遂愿便恶作剧一番的风俗)。

13. canopy: (顶篷似的)树荫。

14. limb: 大树枝;graze: 擦过，掠过。

15. curve: 弯曲;elongated: 拉长的。

16. diameter: 直径;root crown: 根颈。

17. 闪着银光的蓝灰色树皮犹如破裂的皮革。

18. feathery: 柔软如羽毛的;fern: 蕨类植物。

19. Muir Woods: 墨尔红木国家公园，位于旧金山的古老红木保护区。

20. gulp: 喘不过气来，此处用以形容作者紧张的心情;property: 花园住宅。

21. thereafter: 其后，此后。

22. mecca: 胜地，向往的地方。

23. clamber: 爬，攀登。

24. arborist: 树木栽培家，树艺学家。

25. fertilizing: 施肥。

26. shed: 脱皮，脱落。

27. wither: 枯萎，凋败。

28. teem with: 充满着;tuftlike: 小树林似的;greenery: 绿色植物。

29. hallway: 门厅。

30. infestation: (害虫等)群袭，出没;rot: 腐烂。

31. reclusive: 隐居的。

32. crane: 起重机;saw: 锯。

33. lumberjack: 伐木工人。

34. stump: 树桩;sawdust: 锯屑。

35. let go of: 放开，此处指“不再想起”。