Exercise 7 -- Fiction Translation (will be done in class)

Where the Sun Spilled Gold
Written by Jaroldeen Edwards

It was a bleak, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn’s house. But she had insisted that I come see something at the mountain. So here I was, reluctantly making the two-hour journey through fog that hung like veils.

By the time I saw how thick it was near the summit I’d gone too far to turn back. Nothing could be worth this, I thought as I inched along the perilous highway.

“I’ll stay for lunch but I’m heading back down as soon as the fog lifts “ I announced when I arrived. (過去式中夾雜現在式)

“But I need you to drive me to the garage to pick up my car,” Carolyn said. “Could we at least do that?”

“How far is it?” I asked.
“About three minutes, “ she said. “I’ll drive – I’m used to it.”
After ten minutes on the mountain road I looked at her anxiously. “I thought you said three minutes.”
She grinned. “This is a detour.”

Turning down a narrow track we parked the car and got out. We walked along a path that was thick with old pine needles. Huge black-green evergreens towered over us. Gradually the peace and silence of the place began to fill my mind.

And I stopped and gasped in amazement. (然後)

From the top of the mountain, sloping for several acres across folds and valleys, were rivers of daffodils in radiant bloom. A profusion of color -- from the palest ivory to the deepest lemon to the most vivid salmon -- blazed like a carpet before us. It looked as though the sun had tipped over and spilled gold down the mountainside.

At the center cascaded a waterfall of purple hyacinths. Here and there were coral-colored tulips. And as if this bonanza were not enough, western bluebirds frolicked over the heads of the daffodils, their magenta breasts and sapphire wings like a flutter of jewels.

Riot of questions filled my mind. Who created such beauty? Why? How?

As we approached the home that stood in the center of the property, we saw a sign: ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS I KNOW YOU ARE ASKING.
.
The first answer was: ONE WOMAN – TWO HANDS, TWO FEET AND VERY LITTLE BRAIN. The second was: ONE AT A TIME. The third: STARTED IN 1958.

As we drove home I was so moved by what we had seen (that) I could scarcely speak. “She changed the world,“ I finally said,“ one bulb at a time. She started almost 40 years ago, probably just the beginning of an idea, but she kept at it.

The wonder of it would not let me go. “Imagine,” I said“ if l had had a vision and worked at it, just a little bit every day, what might I have accomplished?”

Carolyn looked at me sideways, smiling. “Start tomorrow,” she said.
“Better yet, start today.”