我的旅行車
Instead of an established home， my parents gave me something betterㄩa gypsy wagon， so that I could make my home wherever I might be. My father built with boards of art， music， adventure， and deviation from the norms of society. My mother used boards of unfaltering support， philanthropy1）， and appreciation of beauty. Between these supports were nailed planks from each generation of my ancestors2）， allowing all of my history to mold me and stay with me. My Norwegian ancestors provided boards of great sturdiness， simplicity， and education my ancestors from a mixture of European descent gave fanciful boards reflective of city society and grandeur.
The wagon is simplistic in style――no useless porticos， no shutters nailed to the outside. Its construction is expedient to all for which it is used I am never weighed down with anything unwanted. The inner walls are painted a Norwegian blue， the outer with a chameleon3） sheen adaptable to its surroundings. The few choice furnishings have been acquired in my wanderings and there is still room for more求――always room for quality.
The mobility of my gypsy wagon is responsible for my adaptability. Though I might often caravan4）， I am not afraid to go my way alone. I can sit around the fires of any group in society and because I am completely immersed in their environment， I am able to learn about them without preconceptions5） or prejudices. My understanding of them is then based on their environment and history I don't try to under stand them on my terms or make them fit to what I already know. I respect and admire that which is true unto itself， no matter how different it may appear. Because of this， I gravitate6） towards what is unique and unusual――be it a culture， an idea， a person， or a creation. I have often acted as a harbinger for my peers and even myself. I have laid tracks with something as simple as the clothes I wear， to my soy-rich diet， to the humanitarian， Taoist views I possess. Often what I discover on my own， about a year later， becomes an offbeat trend. I collect from different sources to construct my thoughts and actions I don't wait for someone else to do it for me.
Each summer my wagon returns to a square cottage in rural Minnesotaㄩthe spring of my youth. Without a television， or any modern conveniences added since the 1940's， the secluded wooded lot on a small lake has retained its purity. The solace7） and free reign of my time has led me to find my creativity. I have been awed8） by nature by spending my days out in the woods and on the islands. At times I attempt to capture nature's beauty on paper or old Ping-Pong paddles with paints and brushes. At other times I build dams in the stream or carve its course into the sandbar， but the stream always prevails and follows its natural course. On stormy days， I choose a musty book from the shelves and read it in my great-great aunt's rocking chair in front of the fireplace as I listen to a constant drip through the roof to the floor of the concrete stairwell. I reflect and contemplate at night as I lie in our hammock and watch the night sky turn， until familiar constellations are lost beneath the horizon. The repose of these days and nights fills my wagon with calmness.
My wagon often makes trips to the Black Hills of South Dakota to rest at the home of my father and stepmother. Together we hike the hills and partake in the events of the artist community. In my father's shop， I learn the trade of fused glass in the house， he often instructs me on the classical guitar. When the lessons are over， he plays for me his flamenco melodies and songs of Segovia. His music will fill the air of my gypsy wagon indeterminately.
Two summers ago I decided to come with my mother to Wisconsin， whereupon I set my wagon a top a wooded hill overlooking the city lights. In Eau Claire I have exposed myself to an array of9） new people and activities， and have begun to explore求in depth求the law， journalism， the Chinese language， and the interaction between community and youth. Faces contorted with pity always ask me how it was to“move”my junior year. For most， moving would be tearing up roots and trying to transplant them in new soil I simply carved out another set of tracks to a new land.
My wagon， simple yet expedient， is the confluence of all my experience， knowledge， and ideas， and is therefore my home. I wasn't just given a house that I could look back upon with fond memories， but a sturdy gypsy wagon that will house me wherever I choose to voyage.
by Andrea Johnson
父母并沒有給我一個固定的家， 但他們給了我更好的東西：一部吉卜賽式的旅行車， 我于是得以四海為家， 浪跡天涯。父親搭的木板富有藝術感和音樂感， 新奇獨特， 不落俗套。母親搭的木板堅實可靠， 象征仁慈和美感。支柱之間的釘板都是家傳之物， 于是歷史在我身上打下烙印， 并得以繼承。挪威先人傳下來的木板質地堅固， 線條簡潔， 富有啟迪意義；歐洲混合血統的先人傳下來的木板則式樣華麗， 折射出都市的繁華氣息。
旅行車式樣以簡單為原則， 沒有無用的門廊， 外邊沒有釘百葉窗。其構造一切以方便實用為上， 絕沒有多余的虛飾。車內四壁涂著挪威藍， 外面是一層變色光澤， 色彩隨周圍的景色而變動。僅有的幾件精美的裝飾品是我在流浪途中收集的， 車內仍然留有余地――永遠都為高品位留有空間。
車載著我奔走四方， 鑄就了我的適應性。雖然我可以常常結隊而行， 卻并不怕孤身上路。我可以圍著篝火坐在任何一群人當中， 由于我完全融入了他們的環境， 我可以不帶成見與偏見地了解他們。基于他們的環境和歷史， 我理解他們。我不企圖按照我的要求來理解他們或要他們符合我的認識。我敬仰忠實于自己的東西， 不論它顯得如何個色。正因如此， 我趨向于獨特不凡的東西――無論它是一種文化、一種觀念、一個人， 還是一件藝術品。我常常為我的同輩、甚至我自己充當先行者的角色。我通過簡單的途徑， 像我穿的衣服那樣簡單， 達到了大豆膳食， 達到了人道主義的道家觀點。常常是， 我有了一個新發現， 一年之后， 它就成為一種非正統的時尚。我集思廣益、博采眾長， 從而形成自己的思想和行為方式；我不會坐等別人為我做這些。
每年夏天我的車子都要返回明尼蘇達州的一家農舍， 那是我青春的源泉。小木屋倚湖而立， 林木掩映， 幽深寧靜。屋內的現代設施自20世紀40年代以來便沒有任何增添， 就連電視機也沒有， 因此保持了它的單純。無拘無束的自由時光激發了我的創造力。如夢如幻的湖光山色培育了我對大自然的敬意。我有時在紙上或舊乒乓球拍上涂畫， 試圖捕捉大自然的美麗。我有時在山溪中筑壩， 或在沙洲上劃出一條小道， 讓山溪流過， 但溪水總不就范， 還是重回原路。遇到狂風暴雨， 我便從書架上抽出一本發霉的舊書， 坐在壁爐前高祖姨母用過的搖椅上， 邊讀邊聽那屋頂上的雨點滴滴答答地打在樓梯井里。晚上， 我躺在吊床上靜觀夜空的變幻， 幽思默想， 直到熟悉的星座一一隱入天際。這種寧靜的日子給我的旅行車注入了一種從容坦蕩的氣度。
我的車子常常載著我來到南達科他州的布萊克丘陵， 到我父親和繼母家中稍作休息。我們一起走過山坡， 一起參加社區的藝術活動。在父親的商店里， 我學到了熔凝玻璃的手藝；在家里， 他常常教我彈古典吉他。課后， 他為我演奏弗拉曼柯舞曲和塞戈維亞樂曲。樂聲飄渺， 在我吉卜賽式的旅行車中繚繞。
兩年前我決定隨母親遷往威斯康星州。我把車停放在林木蔥郁的山坡上， 俯瞰著城市的燈火。在奧克勒耳城我置身于新人新事之中， 開始探索――深入地探索――法律、新聞、中文， 以及社區與青年之間的相互作用?？傆幸恍┤藥е鴳z憫的表情問我年少時“遷徙”的滋味如何。對于大多數人來說， 遷移就是把根拔掉， 然后重新植入新的土地；對我卻是辟出一條新路， 通往新的土地。
我那簡樸方便的旅行車凝聚了我所有的經歷、知識和理想， 因此是我的家。我得到的不但是一所令人回味無窮的房子， 而且是可以載我闖蕩天涯的堅固的吉卜賽式的旅行車。
philanthropy n. 慈善；善心；博愛
ancestor n. 祖先， 祖宗
chameleon n. 變色龍
caravan n. 結伴而行的商隊，旅行隊
preconception 預想， 偏見
gravitate towards 趨向于
solace n. 安慰
awe vt. 敬畏
an array of 一排，一群，一批
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