早上好，东方君喊你晨读啦！
7月，暑假正式开始，
你是否已经为此列下了满满的计划？
朋友聚会，家庭出游还是学习充电？
还是任性地宅家睡到自然醒，吃到饱，玩到嗨？
不论你的计划如何，都别忘了为暑假过后的日子做点打算。
例如，为自己许下一个美丽的诺言，
然后在这个夏天，用尽全力去实现它。
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推荐
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今天的晨读内容选自文章“Pvivate Peaceful《柑橘与柠檬啊》——为自己许下勇敢的诺言”。原文和译文刊登于《只为遇见更好的自己——不容错过的35部青少年励志小说赏析》一书中。
《柑橘与柠檬啊》(Private Peaceful)写于2003年，其作者是英国最畅销小说家之一麦克·莫波格(Michael Morpurgo)，他仅用八小时就完成了这部震撼人心的小说。自出版后，该小说接连荣获大奖，包括2003年英国卡内基文学奖(Carnegie Medal)、2004年英国红屋书儿童文学奖(Red House Children's Book Award)、2005年英国蓝彼得年度图书奖(Blue Peter Book of the Year Award)、 2008年美国加利福尼亚青年读者奖(California Young Reader Medal)等。
下文选自小说倒数第二章。
点击此处可听音频哦！
Sixty-five minutes to go. How shall I live them? Shall I try to sleep? It would be useless to try. Should I eat a hearty (丰盛的) breakfast? I don’t want it. Shall I scream and shout? What would be the point?Shall I pray? Why? What for? Who to?
还剩下65分钟。我该怎样度过这段时间？我是不是该让自己睡一会儿？但那也不过是徒劳，我肯定睡不着。我该吃一顿丰盛的早餐吗？我不想吃。我该大喊大叫吗？那样又有什么意义呢？我该祈祷吗？为什么祈祷？祈祷什么？对谁祈祷？
行刑小组这会儿应该正在吃早餐，一边小口喝着茶，一边憎恨他们一会儿必须去执行的任务。没人告诉我执行枪决的准确地点。，那里光线阴暗，四周都是灰沉沉的围墙。我希望那是一个能看到蓝天、白云、绿树，还有鸟儿的地方。如果能有鸟儿陪伴，死就能变得容易些吧。让这一切快点结束。请千万让这一切快点结束。
It is a stable—and it still smells like it—with a table and two chairs, a bucket in the corner, and a bed along one wall. Charlie is lying on his back, hands under his head, legs crossed. He sits up as soon as he sees me, and smiles broadly. “I hoped you’d come, Tommo,” he says.“I didn’t think they’d let you. How is your head? All mended?”
这是一间马厩——现在闻起来还很有马厩的味道——里头放了一张桌子和两把椅子，墙角有一个水桶，靠墙摆了一张床。查理仰面躺在床上，双手枕在头下，两腿交叠着。一见到我，他马上坐了起来，咧嘴笑了。“小托，我本来是很希望你能来的，”他说，“不过我以为他们不会让你来。你的头怎么样了？好了吗？”
“Good as new,” I tell him, trying to respond in kind (用同样的方式) to his cheeriness. And then we’re standing there hugging one another, and I can’t help myself.
“没事了，跟原来一样。”我告诉他，尽量让自己的回答和他的一样“开心”。然后我们拥抱着站在那里，我禁不住掉下了眼泪。
“I want no tears, Tommo,” he whispers in my ear. “This is going to be difficult enough without tears.” He holds me at arm’s length (隔开一臂的距离). “Understand?”
“我不想看到眼泪，小托，”他在我耳旁轻声说，“即便没有眼泪，这一切也够糟了。”他伸直手臂扶着我的肩膀说：“你明白吗？”
I can dono more than nod.
我只能点点头。
He has had a letter from home, from Molly (茉莉，查理的妻子),which he must read out to me, he says, because it makes him laugh and he needs to laugh. It’s mostly about little Tommo (茉莉与查理的儿子). Molly writes that he’s already learning to blow raspberries (伸舌于唇外爆气发出表示轻蔑、嘲弄等的声音) and they’ve every bit as loud and rude as ours when we were young. And she says Big Joe (大个儿乔，查理与小托的哥哥，幼时因患脑膜炎导致智商低下，但家人都很爱他) sings him to sleep at night, Oranges and Lemons (《柑橘与柠檬啊》，英国一首著名的儿歌，是小托一家最喜欢唱的歌) of course. She ends by sending her love and hoping we’re both well.
他身上有一封家里寄来的信，是茉莉写给他的。他说他一定要读给我听，因为这封信会让他笑，而他正需要笑。信里大部分写的是小小托的事。茉莉说小小托已经学会吐舌头玩闹了，那声音跟我们小时候一样，又响又难听。她还说每天晚上大个儿乔都会唱歌哄小小托睡觉，唱的当然是《柑橘与柠檬啊》。在信的末尾，她说爱他，并祝福我们俩一切都好。
It’s the moment. I have to do it now. It’s my last chance. I tell him about how Father had died, about how it had happened, what I had done, how I should have told him years ago, but had never dared to. He smiles. “I always knew that, Tommo. So did Mother. You’d talk in you sleep. Always having nightmares, always keeping me awake about it, you were. All nonsense. Not your fault. It was the tree that killed Father, Tommo. Not you.”
是时候了。我现在必须告诉他了。这是我最后一次机会。我告诉他爸爸是怎么死的，事情是怎么发生的，还有我都做了些什么。我说我早在几年前就该告诉他，但始终不敢说出口。他微微一笑：“小托，我早就知道了，妈妈也知道。你睡觉时会说梦话，那时你总是做噩梦，我老是被你吵醒。这些都是胡说。那不是你的错，是那棵树杀死爸爸的，小托，不是你。”
“You sure?” I ask him.
“你确定？”我问他。
“I’m sure,” he says. “Quite sure.”
“我确定，”查理说，“很确定。
We grip hands across the table, put our foreheads together and close our eyes. I manage to say what I’ve been wanting to say.
我们隔着桌子紧紧握住对方的手，额头抵在一起，闭上了眼睛。我终于说出我心里一直想要说的话。
“You’re not worthless, Charlie. They’re the worthless bastards. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had, the best person I’ve ever known.”
“查理，你不是废物。他们那些混蛋才是。你是我这一生中最好的朋友，是我所认识的最好的人。”
By Michael Morpurgo 译 / 张玲
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