本文为编辑过的访谈录。课文内容由采访的对象——一对泰国夫妇的谈话内容组成,结构清晰。由于访谈的内容是老夫妇一番朴实的肺腑之言; 而且采访内容涉及大多数发展中国家在发展过程中与放松否认普遍而又严峻的问题,即农村经济受到现代文明的冲击, 许多优良的传统观念逐渐被淡忘,被遗弃,因此本篇采访录贴近生活。文章通俗易懂。文章通过一对祖祖辈辈居住在伊萨恩地区的农民夫妇的自述,揭示了他们居住地的生活和文化传统受到了现代社会经济发展的冲击,并表达了老一辈人对过去优良传统的珍视以及对家乡土地的眷恋之情。
Hints:
Esarn
eighteen
nineteen
Bangkok
plough
Yes, these are our rice fields. They belonged to my parents and forefathers. The land is more than three centuries old. I am the only daughter in our family and it was I who stayed with my parents till they died. My three brothers moved out to their wives' houses when they got married. My husband moved into our house as is the way with us in Esarn. I was then eighteen and he was nineteen. He gave me six children. Two died in infancy from sickness. The rest, two boys and two girls, went away as soon as we could afford to buy jeans for them. Our oldest son got a job as a gardener in a rich man's home in Bangkok, but later an employment agency sent him to a foreign land to work. My other son also went far away. One of our daughters is working in a textile factory in Bangkok, and the other has a job in a store. They come home to see us now and then, stay a few days, and then they are off again. Often they send some money to us and tell us that they are doing well. I know this is not always true. Sometimes, they get bullied and insulted, and it is like a knife piercing my heart. It's easier for my husband. He has ears which don't hear , a mouth which doesn't speak, and eyes that don't see. He has always been patient and silent, minding his own life. All of them remain my children in spite of their long absence. Maybe it's fate that sent them away from us. Our piece of land is small, and it is no longer fertile, bleeding year after year, and like us, getting old and exhausted. Still my husband and I work on this land. The soil is not difficult to till when there is a lot of rain, but in a bad year, it's not only the ploughs that break, but our hearts, too.
是的,这些都是我们的稻田。它们曾属于我的父母和祖辈。这片土地有三百年的历史了,我是家里唯一的女孩。所以,我一直陪在父母身边知道他们去世。我的三个兄弟结婚后都搬到他们女人家里了。按照我们伊萨恩的风俗,我男人进了我们家的门。那时我18岁,他19岁。我们生可6个孩子,有两个孩子在襁褓中就病死了,剩下的两个男孩和两个女孩在我们能为他们买得起牛仔裤的时候,就离开家了。我的大儿子在曼谷的一个有钱人家里做园丁,后来一家劳务介绍所送他到国外干活去了。我的小儿子离家也很远。 我们的一个女儿现在在曼谷的一家纺织厂上班,另一个女儿在一家商店里工作。她们偶尔回家来看看我们,呆上几天就又走了。他们经常寄钱给我们并告诉我们他们过得很好。我知道这并不是真的。有时候,(当我知道)他们受欺负受侮辱时,我就心如刀割。而这一切对于我的男人来说就好过些,他有一对听不见的耳朵、一张不说话的嘴和 一双看不见的眼睛。他总是不紧不慢,沉默寡言,过自个儿的日子。   虽然孩子们长时间不在家,但他们始终是我的孩子,也许是命运让他们离开了我们。渐渐精疲力竭了。而我和我的男人还是在这片土地上耕作。当雨水多的时候土地还不难耕种,可要是赶上干旱,干硬的土地不仅使我们的犁耙碎了,我们的心也碎了。