Encounter with an elder lady（原創(chuàng)）
[ 2007-05-28 14:44 ]
You never know something until you
really try. I don't remember that's a motto by a somewhat saint or an author
unknown. Yet that is by all means classic.
I went to MaChang Road last
Saturday for an English competition. During my stay there, I encountered with an
elder Chinese lady. More specifically, she came to me for talking in English
rather than Chinese. Excuse for my curiosity as I've seen thousands of college
students even shy of opening their mouths.
"Are you studying English
(major in English)?" She asked as soon as she saw me.
"Well, sort of. (At
that time I was reading an English magazine, but my major is Teaching Chinese as
a foreign language." I responded when I raised my head to notice her, almost
spontaneously.
"En... Can I talk to you ... in English?" She went
on.
"Sure. Take a seat please." I said as I drank up the last drop of
Fanta.
Then she smiled at me and unveiled herself by introducing herself
as an elderly university student. A "well-behaved, disciplined intellectual"
image soon took up my mind. So it is with the things she did in the following
hour.
In the talk, she shared funny stories with me and made me feel much
relieved in not so fluent English though I was ready to help her the moment she
smiled. I couldn't remember how many times I burst into laughter. As I felt
amazed for her knowing words like "perseverant" and "Zimbabwe", I've been
getting the best of my stressful life. Anyway, wherever she heared a new word
from my mouth, she immediately asked me to spell and explain.
You know,
people around us in the dining hall began to talk in secret or squeezed or even
laughed at us. I suppose they really need to make a confession in front of God
and make a laugh at themselves. These young men are always apt to think
themselves wise enough, as drunken men apt to think themselves sober
enough.
As far as I am concerned, there are two kinds of people in
general. The first kind are usually strong-minded and have self-control. They
usually have positive life philosophy and well-defined personal goals. On the
contrary, the second kind fall to be weak-minded. For most of them, easy
pleasure is their ultimate life goal. They never try to achieve anything the
hard way. Obviously, the elder lady belongs to the former kind and sets us
really good examples.
So, think twice next time you want to indulge
yourself.
作者：劉偉
天津外國語學院
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