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　　For as long as I can remember,Easter Sunday has been my favorite day to go to church.
　　I was almost always able to smuggle a few pieces of Easter candy into the meeting,and the way I saw it,anything is tolerable if you' re munching on malted milk eggs and chocolatebunnies.Even church.
　　I also liked the fact that on Easter,there was usually more singing than preaching at church.The music of Easter is great-lots of" Hosannas"and"Alleluias"--and much more uplifting thanmost Easter sermons.
　　Heck,just watching our church choir was worth the price of admission-from that hangy-down thing that wobbled on the underside of lone Merrill' s arm while she led the choir to the way Stan Smith' s Whole head turned purple as he strained to reach the highest tenor notes.
　　But the best thing about Easter was the impromptu　fashion show that took place as members arrived wearing their Easter finery.For those few minutes,the girls and women in our congregation were super models,and the church aisle was theirrunway.
　　And the most super of the super models was Ginger McDonald,one of the eldest and most respected members of our congregation.Tall and stately,with bright red hair,this handsome womancommanded attention even in a plain black dress (tastefully accessorized,of course).But on Easter,she stole the show,with colorful outfits and huge hats that could have been spotted from Spumik.
　　Especially on the Easter of the lavender hat.
　　Actually,Ginger' s entire outfit was lavender,including lavender shoes and gloves,a sweeping lavender dress and a lavender purse the size of a small continent.But it was her lavender hat,complete with lavender veil,that got my attention.I couldn't help it-Ginger and her hat were sitting right in front of me.
　　 It was shaped like a satellite dish,with the bottom brim extending down the back of her pew,almost to my knees.I couldn' t even cross my legs without bumping the hat,and that prospect frightened me.If I bumped it,it might tumble off her head,and who knows how many people would be crushed if that thing started rolling? I couldn' t see and I couldn' t move,but I could eat,so I focused my attention on the goodies in my pockets.
　　 I unwrapped the first treat and popped it into my mouth,and without thinking I put the empty wrapper in Ginger' s hat.I wasn't trying to be malicious.It's just that this big lavender dish was right there in front of me,and it seemed like the thing to do.I continued eating candy and stashing the wrappers in the lavender trash receptacle until it was time for the choir to sing.By this time,there was a good -sized pile in there,and it startled me when it started to move.I tried to grab the wrappers,but it was too late.They were now part of an otherwise all-lavender Easter ensemble.
　　 Those who hadn't seen Ginger smiled and nodded as she grandly made her way to her place in the choir.Smiles turned to giggles,however,when she walked past and revealed the pile of garbage in the back of her hat.
　　 Ginger seemed unaware of the stir she was causing　until a well-meaning choir member scooped the wrappers out of her hat and handed them to her,whispering a word of explanation.To her credit,Ginger' s pleasant expression never changed,but I was sure I could see mayhem in her eyes as she sought me out and fixed me with her oh,so charming gaze.
　　 I prayed fervently,but God chose to ignore my pleas to make the choir's song last forever.When the song ended and choir members began returning to their seats,I braced myself for the reaction I knew was coming.
　　 Instead,Ginger looked at me,smiled and winked,then she picked up her big lavender purse and put the wrappers in it.And she never mentioned the incident again.I learned an important lessonabout forgiveness that day-a lesson in lavender.
　　And what better day than Easter for a lesson like that?
　　自我记事起，就一直最喜欢在复活节那天去教堂。
　　那时候，我总是能够把一些复活节糖果偷偷地带进集会中去。而且，依我来看，当你嚼着麦乳精鸡蛋或者巧克力小圆包的时候，任何事情都是可以容忍的，甚至是教堂。
　　还有，在复活节，教堂里唱赞美诗的时间通常要比讲道的时间长，这也让我十分喜欢。复活节唱的赞美诗非常美妙、非常伟大——有很多诸如“和散那”（赞美上帝之词）和“阿利路亚”之类的赞美诗，而且比大多数的复活节布道更能振奋人心。
　　看一看我们教堂唱诗班的演出就不虚此行了——瑷恩·麦瑞尔指挥整个合唱团时，手臂上垂下的东西不断地晃动着；还有斯坦·史密斯，为了唱上男高音的最高音阶，使出了浑身的劲儿，整个脸都胀得通红。
　　不过，复活节里最精彩应首推人们穿着复活节盛装来到教堂的时候，就像一场即兴的时装表演一样。在那几分钟内，我们教堂会众中的女孩子们和妇女们都成了超级时装模特，而教堂的走廊里则是她们的T型舞台。
　　金吉尔·麦克唐纳是这些超模中的超模，她是在我们的教堂会众中最年长、也最受尊敬的一位。她长着一头亮红头发，高高的个子，举止端庄，这样漂亮的女人即使是穿着最普通的黑衣服（当然配着有品味的装饰），也会立即吸引人们的视线。而在复活节，她总以她那色彩艳丽的全套服饰和一顶从人造地球卫星上都能发现的巨大的帽子在“时装表演”中抢尽风头。
　　特别值得一提的就是金吉尔戴淡紫色帽子的那年复活节。
　　事实上，金吉尔的全套服饰都是淡紫色的，包括淡紫色的鞋子和手套，还有淡紫色的拖地长裙，就连那个小型大陆似的大钱包也是淡紫色的。但是，惟独她那顶淡紫色的帽子，当然也包括淡紫色的面纱，引起了我的注意。事实上，我也无法不去注意它——因为金吉尔戴着帽子正好就坐在我的前面。
　　那顶帽子的形状就像是一个圆盘式卫星天线，底部边缘垂到了长椅靠背，几乎要碰到我的膝盖了。如果我跷起二郎腿，就一定会碰到帽子。一想到这我就很担心，因为如果我碰到帽子的话，它就可能从她的头上翻落，而如果它真的从她的头上翻落下去，天知道会压倒多少人呢？我的视线被她挡住了，也不能移动身体，但我却可以吃东西，于是，我就把我的注意力集中到了我口袋里的那些好吃的东西上。
　　我剥开第一颗糖果，塞进嘴里，不假思索地就把空包装纸放进了金吉尔的帽子里。我这样做并不是故意恶作剧。只是这个巨大的淡紫色盘子正好就在我的面前，好像就应该这么做似的。我继续吃着糖果，并把包装纸全都藏进了那个淡紫色的“废物箱”里。到唱诗班要开始唱赞美诗时，帽子里已经堆了好大一堆的包装纸。而当它忽然开始移动时，我大吃了一惊。我连忙想抓起糖纸，但是已经太迟了。现在，它们已经成了这套原来搭配协调的淡紫色的复活节服装中的一部分。
　　当金吉尔庄重地走向唱诗班里自己的位置时，那些此前没看到她的人向她微笑点头。然而，当她走过，帽子后边那一堆垃圾呈现在人们眼前时，人们的微笑都变成了咯咯的笑声。
　　金吉尔似乎一直没有觉察到由她而引起的轰动，直到一个好心的唱诗班成员把那些包装纸从她的帽子里挖出来递给她，并轻声地向她解释了几句。值得称道的是，金吉尔那和气的表情始终都没有改变，但是，当她的目光搜寻到我并且定格在我的脸上的时候，我确信我能够从她的目光中看到她所受到的伤害。哦，那是多么迷人的凝视啊！
　　我虔诚地祈祷着，祈求唱诗班的歌声永远持续下去，但是上帝对我的祈祷却不予理睬。当歌声结束的时候，唱诗班的成员们纷纷返回他们的座位。我也准备接受我认为即将到来的报应。
　　然而，金吉尔却微笑地看着我，还冲我眨了眨眼睛，然后，她拿出她的那个大大的淡紫色钱包，把那些糖纸放了进去。从那以后，她就再也没有说起过这件事。就在那天，关于宽恕，我学到了重要的一课——难忘的一课。
　　又有哪天比复活节更能学到这一课呢？
英语自学沪G381中学外语教与学20032003李威A Lesson In Lavender 作者：英语自学沪G381中学外语教与学20032003

网载 2013-09-10 20:54:18

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