my grandfather died when i was a small boy, and my grandmother started staying with us for about six months every year. she lived in a room that doubled as my fathers office, which we referred to as the back room. she carried with her a powerful aroma. i dont know what kind of perfume she used, but it was the double-barreled, ninety-proof, knockdown, render-the-victim-unconscious, moose-killing variety. she kept it in a huge atomizer and applied it frequently and liberally. it was almost impossible to go into her room and remain breathing for any length of time. when she would leave the house to go spend six months with my aunt lillian, my mother and sisters would throw open all the windows, strip the bed, and take out the curtains and rugs. then they would spend several days washing and airing things out, trying frantically to make the pungent odor go away.
this, then, was my grandmother at the time of the infamous pea incident.it took place at the biltmore hotel, which, to my eight-year-old mind, was just about the fancies place to eat in all of providence. my grandmother, my mother, and i were having lunch after a morning spent shopping. i grandly ordered a salisbury steak, confident in the knowledge that beneath that fancy name was a good old hamburger with gravy. when brought to the table, it was accompanied by a plate of peas. i do not like peas now. i did not like peas then. i have always hated peas. it is a complete mystery to me why anyone would voluntarily eat peas. i did not eat them at home. i did not eat them at restaurants. and i certainly was not about to eat them now. eat your peas, my grandmother said.
mother, said my mother in her warning voice. he doesnt like peas. leave him alone.my grandmother did not reply, but there was a glint in her eye and a grim set to her jaw that signaled she was not going to be thwarted. she leaned in my direction, looked me in the eye, and uttered the fateful words that changed my life: ll pay you five dollars if you eat those peas.i had absolutely no idea of the impending doom. i only knew that five dollars was an enormous, nearly unimaginable amount of money, and as awful as peas were, only one plate of them stood between me and the possession of that five dollars. i began to force the wretched things down my throat.
my mother was livid. my grandmother had that self-satisfied look of someone who has thrown down an unbeatable trump card. i can do what i want, ellen, and you cant stop me. my mother glared at her mother. she glared at me. no one can glare like my mother. if there were a glaring olympics, she would undoubtedly win the gold medal.i, of course, kept shoving peas down my throat. the glares made me nervous, and every single pea made me want to throw up, but the magical image of that five dollars floated before me, and i finally gagged down every last one of them. my grandmother handed me the five dollars with a flourish. my mother continued to glare in silence. and the episode ended. or so i thought.my grandmother left for aunt lillians a few weeks later. that night, at dinner, my mother served two of my all-time favorite foods, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. along with them came a big, steaming bowl of peas. she offered me some peas, and i, in the very last moments of my innocent youth, declined. my mother fixed me with a cold eye as she heaped a huge pile of peas onto my plate. then came the words that were to haunt me for years.
you ate them for money, she said. you can eat them for love.oh, despair! oh, devastation! now, too late, came the dawning realization that i had unwittingly damned myself to a hell from which there was no escape.you ate them for money. you can eat them for love.
what possible argument could i muster against that? there was none. did i eat the peas? you bet i did. i ate them that day and every other time they were served thereafter. the five dollars were quickly spent. my grandmother passed away a few years later. but the legacy of the peas lived on, as it lives on to this day. if i so much as curl my lip when they are served , my mother repeats the dreaded words one more time: you ate them for money, she says. you can eat them for love.
会笑会学习有礼貌 家用机器人Jibo
朱莉新片开机 和皮特十年后再合作
女大学生现身说法三种危险情况如何自我防范
中国的大学应该如何扶植学生创业
职场潜规则 工作中你该如何道歉
剑桥大学禁养狗 院长指狗为猫
毕业生简历中应当展现出的10大素质
囧研究 前男友越多婚姻越不幸福
8条办公室环境里的健康贴士
英式英语被美语攻占 Awesome的胜利
毕业生找工作时毁约真的值得么
土拨鼠太胖卡在洞里 俄罗斯夫妇路过相救
小米充电宝因质量问题受央视批评
美国加州6级地震 系统提前10秒预警
世界首个蝙蝠侠主题4D过山车
美国9岁女童练枪误杀教练
世界最大雀巢 你不知道的群织雀
2017年艾美奖《绝命毒师》成最大赢家
麦当劳正失去对年轻人的吸引力
囧研究:脸宽的男人更富有?
MH370残骸位置锁定印度洋58处地点
17种讨人厌微博朋友圈 你中了几箭
外媒关注 房祖名柯震东涉毒被抓
科学家发现埃博拉疫情源头:蝙蝠叮咬2岁男孩
英国最小狗狗 和仓鼠一样大
宿醉如何解酒 专家说起床再喝一杯
美国最新研究 走神能提高学习效率
德艺术家沙滩埋30金条 英国民众掀起寻金热
囧研究 矮个男子婚姻更持久
招聘人员不会告诉你的十件事
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |