When we had finished our sweetmeats or fruit she would accompany us to the stoep, bidding us thank our mother for her gift and sending quaint, old-fashioned messages to her and the Father. Then she would turn and enter the house, closing the door behind, so that it became once more a place of mystery.
待我们吃完糖果或水果,她总要将我们

前的门廊,叮嘱我们要多谢母
给她
食品,要我们对父母


些稀奇古怪的老式祝愿,然后就
身回
里,随手关上门,使那里再次成为神秘世界。

一个人与这难以驾驭的
午五点,她在这糟乱不堪的厨房

,也许还有糖果和其他

自一人与难以消化的
在颠倒的厨房
,拧着沾满污垢的双手,放声大哭。


