Lesson 47

Our neighbour, the river

河流，我们的邻居

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1
  • Lesson 56
    • 2
  • Our neighbour, the river
    • 3
  • Why had the neighbours left their farm?
    • 4
  • The river which forms the eastern boundary of our farm has always played an important part in our lives.
    • 5
  • Without it we could not make a living.
    • 6
  • There is only enough spring water to supply the needs of the house so we have to pump from the river for farm use.
    • 7
  • We tell the river all our secrets.
    • 8
  • We know instinctively, just as beekeepers with their bees,
    • 9
  • that misfortune might overtake us if the important events of our lives were not related to it.
    • 10
  • We have special river birthday parties in the summer.
    • 11
  • Sometimes we go upstream to a favourite backwater,
    • 12
  • sometimes we have our party at the boathouse,
    • 13
  • which a predecessor of ours at the farm built in the meadow hard by the deepest pool for swimming and diving.
    • 14
  • In a heat wave we choose a midnight birthday party and that is the most exciting of all.
    • 15
  • We welcome the seasons by the riverside, crowning the youngest girl with flowers in the spring,
    • 16
  • holding a summer festival on Midsummer Eve,
    • 17
  • giving thanks for the harvest in the autumn,
    • 18
  • and throwing a holly wreath into the current in the winter.
    • 19
  • After a long period of rain the river may overflow its banks.
    • 20
  • This is a rare occurrence as our climate seldom goes to extremes.
    • 21
  • We are lucky in that only the lower fields,
    • 22
  • which make up a very small proportion of our farm, are affected by flooding,
    • 23
  • but other farms are less favourably sited, and flooding can sometimes spell disaster for their owners.
    • 24
  • One bad winter we watched the river creep up the lower meadows.
    • 25
  • All the cattle had been moved into stalls and we stood to lose little.
    • 26
  • We were, however, worried about our nearest neighbours, whose farm was low lying and who were newcomers to the district.
    • 27
  • As the floods had put the telephone out of order, we could not find out how they were managing.
    • 28
  • From an attic window we could get a sweeping view of the river where their land joined ours,
    • 29
  • and at the most critical juncture we took turns in watching that point.
    • 30
  • The first sign of disaster was a dead sheep floating down.
    • 31
  • Next came a horse, swimming bravely,
    • 32
  • but we were afraid that the strength of the current would prevent its landing anywhere before it became exhausted.
    • 33
  • Suddenly a raft appeared, looking rather like Noah's ark, carrying the whole family, a few hens, the dogs, a cat, and a bird in a cage.
    • 34
  • We realized that they must have become unduly frightened by the rising flood,
    • 35
  • for their house, which had sound foundations, would have stood stoutly even if it had been almost submerged.
    • 36
  • The men of our family waded down through our flooded meadows with boat hooks,
    • 37
  • in the hope of being able to grapple a corner of the raft and pull it out of the current towrds our bank.
    • 38
  • We still think it a miracle that they were able to do so.