雪 Snow（1/2）

朱莉安娜·C.纳什/Juliana ash

I k was snog before I opened y eyes.I uld hear the sounds of shovels scrapg agast the sidewalks, and there was that special quietthe air that es whey is heavily bed with snow.I ran to the dowsthe front roo to have a look at the block—y doa.It t have been very early.None of y friends had ade it to the street; only janitors were ovg aboutthe knee-deep snow.Relieved that I hadn’t issed anythg, I beca aware that y sisters and brothers were now awake.I had no ti to waste.If I hurried, I uld be out there before any of y friends.

I dressed yselfan assortnt of hand--down ter woolens, but there would be no ittens to keep y hands war.I had lost the earlierthe season.I wasa real dither as to what to put on y feet; y shoes no longer fit to y rubber galoshes.I uld wear shoes aloshes, but not both.I decided to go with o pairs of socks and the galoshes.

As I was bucklg the, I felt the presence of sooandg over .It was y big brother, Lenny.He askedif I wao go ice-skatg at the door rk MadisonSquareGarden.Iidiatelyscrappedyotherpns.My thirteen-year-old brother was actually askg , his ne-year-old sister, to go ice-skatg with hi.Go? Of urse I would go.But where would we get the oney? Lenny said it would st a dolr to getahe skates.Only o obstacles stood beeenand gog skatg with y brother—the blizzard of 1948 and one dolr.The blizzard I uld ha was the dolr that presehe proble.

The quest begaurned so ilk bottles, asked our other for a nickel, begged our father for a quarter apiece, llected a penny or o fro at pockets, disvered o s that had rolled uhe beds, and spotted a rare stray di leda rner of one of the six roosour ld-water railroad ft.

Eventually, fortified with a bowl of hot oatal and jag the hard-earned s to our pockets, we set out oy-block journey—a city ile.

The d-driven snow g to every surface.Lenny and I pretehat we werethe Alps as we clibed over the three-foot ounds of snow that had been shoveled to the curbs.It was our world now—a yriad of ty snowfkes had shut dowy ahe adults doors.The skyscrapers were visible behd a white veil of snow, and we uld alost iage that New York had been scaled down for .We uld walk right down the iddle of Third Aveh no fear of beg ru was hard to nta our joy, the credible sense of freedo we felt out therethe snow.

The elve blocks to Forty-nth Street weren’t difficult, but the long cross town streets proved to be chillg.The harsh west ds blog off the Hudson River ade it alost ipossible to ph forward.I uld no longer keep up with y brother.My pyful iaggs were repced by the gnag ld of y feet.My head was unvered, y ittenless hands were chedy pockets, and a few of the csps on y galoshes had worked loose.I began to p gently, not wantg to ake a nuisance of yself becae I was afraid that Lenny wouldn’t askto go anywhere with hi aga.

Sowhere near Fifth Avenue, we speda doorway to take refuge.I tiidly told Lenny that y csps were open.Lenny took his bare red hands out of his pockets a down to refasten the snow-crted, icy tal csps.Ashad that Lenny had to take care of , I stared straight ahead and saw the iage of a an walkg towardthrough the chiffon curta of snow.

I was uo tell how old he was—all adults seed the sa age to —but he was tall, th, and had a gentle, handso face.He wore no hat.There was a scarf around his neck, and his overat, like ours, was caked with snow.

I don’t reber if he spoke toor not.What I do recall is that he kneeled down before , his face level with e.I found yself gazg to soft brown eyes, feelg bewildered and ute.When he was gone, I felt his warththe soft, e-lored scarf that he ed tightly around y head.

I don’t reber ice-skatg that day, or how we got ho.All y ory holds is the snow, the kdness of a stranger, and y big brother, Lenny.

我还没有睁开眼睛，就知道下雪了。我可以听到铲雪的铁锹撞击人行道的声音。当大雪覆盖了整个城市，空气中便有了一种特殊的宁静。我跑到前屋的窗边，看了看这个街区——我的地盘。天一定还早，我的朋友们都还没上街，只有看门人在齐膝深的雪里走着。看来我没有错过什么，这让我放心了。我发现哥哥姐姐们这时也都醒了。不能再浪费时间了。如果我快一点，就能赶在其他朋友之前出去玩了。

我穿上半新的羊毛衣裤，但却没有保暖的手套。初冬时我把它们弄丢了。我也不知道该穿什么鞋子，因为我的鞋子已经无法套上橡胶套鞋了。我只能穿鞋子，或只穿橡胶套鞋，但不能同时穿两个。我决定穿两双袜子和雨靴出门。

我扣好鞋子时，感觉到有人站在我面前。是大哥莱尼。他问我想不想去麦迪逊广场公园的室内滑冰场滑冰。我马上放弃了其他的计划。我13岁的哥哥居然会邀请他九岁的妹妹去滑冰。去吗？当然要去。但是钱从哪儿来呢？莱尼说进场和租溜冰鞋要花一美元。我们面临着两个障碍：1948年的暴风雪和一美元。暴风雪是可以克服的，但这一美元才是目前的难题。

我们开始筹钱，还了一些牛奶瓶，向妈妈要了五分钱，又跟爸爸讨来二角五分，在上衣口袋里搜集到一两分，又在床底下找到两个硬币，并在六个房间当中一间的角落里找到了丢失在那的一角钱。

最后，为了增强体力，我们喝了热乎乎的燕麦粥，然后将来之不易的硬币装进口袋便出发了。我们要走20个街区——大约一英里。

冬风驱赶着雪花，粘在万物的表面。在爬过堆在路边3英尺高的雪堆时，我和莱尼就假设正在攀登阿尔卑斯山。现在，这里是我们的世界——覆盖着整个城市的漫天雪花让大人们都待在了家里。摩天大厦也隐形在白色的雪花纱帐后，我们完全可以想象纽约因我们而变小了。我们可以走在第三大道中央，而不怕被撞倒。我们无法抑制心中的喜悦，以及在雪中感受到的难以置信的自由感。

到49街的12个街区并不难走，但穿越城区的长街道时却很冷。凛冽的西风从哈得孙河上吹来，让人步履维艰。我跟不上哥哥了。顽皮的想象被双脚刺骨的寒冷所代替。我没戴帽子，没戴手套的手在口袋里紧紧握着，套鞋的扣子也松开了。我开始轻声抱怨，但不愿让人感到厌烦，因为我害怕莱尼下次去哪里都不带我了。

到第五大街附近时，我们在一家门口躲避风雪。我怯怯地告诉莱尼我的鞋扣开了。莱尼把他那冻得通红的手从口袋里伸出来，俯下身子扣上那粘满雪花的冰冷的金属扣。莱尼还得照顾我，为此我感到很羞愧。我盯着前方，看到一个男人的身影，正穿过薄纱般的雪帘朝我们走来。

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