介绍:
It was a job, my first real job.
这是一份工作，是我第一份真正的工作。
Truth be told, I had always been puzzled and amazed by my classmates‘abilities to find children to babysit,
说实话，我那些同学竟能找到需要照料的小孩，
land ) positions at the local grocery for the summer, and take care of neighbors’ pets.
夏天的时候能在当地杂货店谋到职位，还能去照看邻居的宠物，这一直令我感到不解和惊奇。
My family lacks friends with young children,
我家没有家里有小孩的朋友，
and we do not live in a neighborhood with sidewalks ), lined houses, or leashed ) dogs.
我家房子附近也没有人行道、一排排房屋或者拴起来的狗。
No grocery market wants to employ a girl who does not have regular transportation
没有哪家食品杂货店会愿意雇用我这样的女生——既没有固定的出行工具，
and is bound to drop a case of water on an elderly woman’s foot while loading her car.
十有八九还会在帮老太太装货上车时把一箱水砸到她脚上。
(What kind of service would that be?)
(那该是多么糟糕的服务啊！)
With all the odds against me ), I had accepted my predestined ) fate of being broke
既然我几乎没可能成功，我便接受了自己命中注定身无分文的状况，
until I turn 16 and pass my road test; this dependence had come to be all right with me.
直到我16岁通过了路考，也已经习惯了这种依赖父母的生活。
July, however, brought something new.
然而，这年7月给我带来了新的转变。
For almost three weeks I was to water a recent high school graduate’s garden
将近三个星期我都要去一个刚毕业的高中生家里给他的花园浇水，
while he and his family were away in the Adirondacks,
他和家人在此期间去了阿迪朗达克山脉。
a task I would have willingly done for free if it wasn’t for his persistence.
要不是他执意给我报酬，我情愿免费做这份工作。
The pay was nothing compared to the joy received from climbing his hill every day to turn on the spigot ) and pick dead pieces away from tree branches.
我每天爬上他家的小山坡打开水龙头并从树枝上摘下干枯的树叶，与从这其中收获的快乐相比，
Each day I would linger around the fenced tomatoes as they were coated with pearls of water.
这笔钱真算不上什么。每当一颗颗西红柿缀满晶莹剔透的水珠时，
The sprinkler ) drenched ) a good many yards of grass beyond it also,
我都会围着栅栏里的它们打转。
allowing my feet to dive into and recede ) from a mush ) of fertility.
洒水器把它浇不到的一大片草地也浸湿了，让我的脚可以在这片湿软的沃土里自由进出。
In and out and side to side they went, covered in water and mud whether naked or shod ).
我的两只脚踩进去又迈出来，从一边走到另一边，不管穿没穿鞋，都沾满了水和泥。
In the center of this Garden of Eden was a bush that bore thicker fruit than the rest and extended its branches proudly to the sky.
在这个“伊甸园”的中心是一片灌木丛，这里能长出更大的果实，其枝干也傲然伸向天空。
She was my closest of all acquaintances in the garden.
整个花园中，这片灌木丛是与我关系最为亲密的伙伴。
After caring for the plants in the garden that the sprinkler didn’t reach,
打理好花园中洒水器无法浇到的那些植物之后，我就会坐在她旁边，
I sat beside her and lamented ) about the letters I was writing a fellow writer and questioned how one could be reinvented in a single summer.
哀叹一下自己写给一个同在写作的伙伴的那些信，并发出“人如何在一个夏天之内改头换面”这样的疑问。
Somehow this bush heard me between the cricket’s evening songs and a descending sun.
伴随着蟋蟀的夜曲和斜下的夕阳，她不知怎地就听到了我说的话。
It was the most lovely of almost-friendships (“almost” because one cannot really befriend a plant;I am certain that you, like I, have tried).
这是最为美好的“近似友谊”(说“近似”是因为一个人不可能真的和一株植物成为朋友，我确定你和我一样也已经进行了尝试)。
The garden left in a wisp ) without a goodbye, as it was taken back from me a few nights early without warning.
这个花园有如过眼云烟般与我不告而别了，它毫无征兆地被收回，比预计的早了几天。
The family returned home from their trip before expected, leaving me to cold
disappointment when I stepped out of my house to find theirs illuminated ).
这家人从旅游地提前回来了，当我踏出家门，看到他家亮起的灯光时，我的心凉了一截，失望万分。
A minivan ) with kayaks ) was pulled into the driveway, and laughter rippled ) from the house’s hazy ) windows.
一辆载着几艘单人皮筏的小型货车驶进车道，笑声从他家朦胧的窗户中荡漾开来。
Now three months later, nothing resonates the same tranquil ) chord ) of what I came to ) in that garden, the garden that fed ) me words, soft-falling tears, and lullabies.
如今，三个月已经过去了，没有任何事物能像我在那座花园中碰到的事物一样带给我心灵的静谧，那个花园赋予我语言，让我轻轻落泪，送我进入梦乡。
In no way will I remember it because of the money.
我会永远地记住这个花园，但绝不会因为那些钱。
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