the washun' no be done thot day uf he hod been Larry or Michael?
Would hot watter no be hot, an' would hot watter no burn uf he hod

hod ony other name but Samuel?"
I acknowledged the justice of her contention, and she went on.

"Do a wee but of a name change the plans o' God? Do the world run
by hut or muss, an' be God a weak, shully-shallyun' creature thot

ud alter the fate an' destiny o' thungs because the worm Margaret
Henan seen fut tull name her bairn Samuel? There be my son Jamie.

He wull no sign a Rooshan-Funn un hus crew because o' believun'
thot Rooshan-Funns do be monajun' the wunds an' hov the makun' o'

bod weather. Wull you be thunkun' so? Wull you be thunkun' thot
God thot makes the wunds tull blow wull bend Hus head from on high

tull lussen tull the word o' a greasy Rooshan-Funn un some dirty
shup's fo'c'sle?"

I said no, certainly not; but she was not to be set aside from
pressing home the point of her argument.

"Then wull you be thunkun' thot God thot directs the stars un their
courses, an' tull whose mighty foot the world uz but a footstool,

wull you be thunkun' thot He wull take a spite again' Margaret
Henan an' send a bug wave off the Cape tull wash her son un tull

eternity, all because she was for namun' hum Samuel?"
"But why Samuel?" I asked.

"An' thot I dinna know. I wantud ut so."
"But WHY did you want it so?"

"An' uz ut me thot would be answerun' a such-like question? Be
there ony mon luvun' or dead thot can answer? Who can tell the WHY

o' like? My Jamie was fair daft on buttermilk, he would drunk ut
tull, oz he said humself, hus back teeth was awash. But my Tumothy

could no abide buttermilk. I like tull lussen tull the thunder
growlun' an' roarun', an' rampajun'. My Katie could no abide the

noise of ut, but must scream an' flutter an' go runnun' for the
mudmost o' a feather-bed. Never yet hov I heard the answer tull

the WHY o' like, God alone hoz thot answer. You an' me be mortal
an' we canna know. Enough for us tull know what we like an' what

we duslike. I LIKE - thot uz the first word an' the last. An'
behind thot like no men can go an' find the WHY o' ut. I LIKE

Samuel, an' I like ut well. Ut uz a sweet name, an' there be a
rollun' wonder un the sound o' ut thot passes onderstandun'."

The twilight deepened, and in the silence I gazed upon that
splendid dome of a forehead which time could not mar, at the width

between the eyes, and at the eyes themselves - clear, out-looking,
and wide-seeing. She rose to her feet with an air of dismissing

me, saying -
"Ut wull be a dark walk home, an' there wull be more thon a

sprunkle o' wet un the sky."
"Have you any regrets, Margaret Henan?" I asked, suddenly and

without forethought.
She studied me a moment.

"Aye, thot I no ha' borne another son."
"And you would . . .?" I faltered.

"Aye, thot I would," she answered. "Ut would ha' been hus name."
I went down the dark road between the hawthorn hedges puzzling over

the why of like, repeating SAMUEL to myself and aloud and listening
to the rolling wonder in its sound that had charmed her soul and

led her life in tragic places. SAMUEL! There was a rolling wonder
in the sound. Aye, there was!

End

• scream [skri:m] v.&n.尖叫(声) (初中英语单词)
• flutter [´flʌtə] vi.飘扬；摆 n.拍动 (初中英语单词)
• twilight [´twailait] n.黎明；黄昏 (初中英语单词)
• forehead [´fɔrid] n.额，前部 (初中英语单词)
• destiny [´destini] n.命运 (高中英语单词)
• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• studied [´stʌdid] a.故意的；有计划的 (高中英语单词)
• tragic [´trædʒik] a.悲剧的；悲惨的 (高中英语单词)
• contention [kən´tenʃən] n.论点；竞争；争论 (英语四级单词)
• greasy [´gri:si] a.油腻的；润滑的 (英语六级单词)
• hawthorn [´hɔ:θɔ:n] n.山楂(属) (英语六级单词)