布鲁克林,棵树父亲,作文弗兰,自己弗兰,生活,爱那卑贱生活馈赠美好
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贝蒂·史密斯(Betty Smith,1896~1972)，德国移民的女儿，成长于纽约布鲁克林。她早年靠自学成才，后大学学习新闻、戏剧、写作和文学。她一生共创作了超过70部戏剧和4部小说，《布鲁克林有棵树》(A Tree Grows in Brooklyn)《快乐的早晨》(Joy in the Morning)是她最为出色的两部作品，都带有自传性质。，《布鲁克林有棵树》是一本关于存活、梦想与尊严的小说，讲述了美国经济大萧条时期贫困女孩的生活、梦想和奋斗。这部还畅销的青少年成长励志经典作品是亚马逊书店的“20世纪最佳青少年读物”，更被纽约公共图书馆评为“世纪之书”。由该小说改编的电影《天堂树》曾获奥斯卡奖，同名音乐剧也已演出近300场。《纽约时报》评论称：错过了《布鲁克林有棵树》，你将失去一次的人生体验。
精彩片段
Since her father's death, Francie had stopped writing about birds and trees and My Impressions. Because she missed him so, she had taken to writing little stories about him. She tried to show that, in spite of his shortcomings, he had been a good father and a kindly man. She had written three such stories, which were marked "C" instead of the usual "A". The fourth came back with a line telling her to remain after school.
All the children had gone home. Miss Garnder and Francie were alone in the room with the big dictionary in it. Francie's last four compositions lay on Miss Garnder's desk. "What's happened to your writing, Francie?" asked Miss Garnder.
"I don't know."
"You were one of my best pupils. You wrote so prettily. I enjoyed your compositions. But these last ones ..." she flicked1) at them contemptuously2).
"I looked up the spelling and took pains3) with my penmanship4) and ..."
"I'm referring to your subject matter."
"You said we could choose our own subjects."
"But poverty, starvation and drunkenness are ugly subjects to choose. We all admit these things exist. But one doesn't write about them."
"What does one write about?" Unconsciously, Francie picked up the teacher's phraseology5).
"One delves6) into the imagination and finds beauty there. The writer, like the artist, must strive for beauty always."
"What is beauty?" asked the child.
"I can think of no better definition than Keats': 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty.'"
Francie took her courage into her two hands7) and said, "Those stories are the truth."
"Nonsense!" exploded Miss Garnder. Then, softening her tone, she continued: "By truth, we mean things like the stars always being there and the sun always rising and the true nobility of man and mother-love and love for one's country," she ended anti-climatically8).
"I see," said Francie.
As Miss Garnder continued talking, Francie answered her bitterly in her mind.
"Drunkenness is neither truth nor beauty. It's a vice9). Drunkards belong in jail, not in stories. And poverty. There is no excuse for that. There's work enough for all who want it. People are poor because they're too lazy to work. There's nothing beautiful about laziness. (Imagine mama lazy!)
"Hunger is not beautiful. It is also unnecessary. We he well-organized charities. No one need go hungry."
"Now I'm not a snob10)," stated Miss Garnder. "I do not come from a wealthy family. My father was a minister with a very all salary." (But it was a salary, Miss Garnder.)
"And the only help my mother had was a succession of untrained maids, mostly girls from the country." (I see. You were poor, Miss Garnder, poor with a maid.)
1[3][4]
"Many times we were without a maid and my mother had to do all the housework herself." (And my mother, Miss Garnder, has to do all her own housework, and yes, ten times more cleaning than that.)
"I wanted to go to the state university but we couldn't afford it. My father had to send me to a all denominational11) college." (But admit you had no trouble going to college.)
"And believe me, you're poor when you go to such a college. I know what hunger is, too. Time and time again my father's salary was held up12) and there was no money for food. Once we had to live on tea and toast for three days." (So you know what it is to be hungry, too.)
"But I'd be a dull person if I wrote about nothing but being poor and hungry, wouldn't I?" Francie didn't answer. "Wouldn't I?" repeated Miss Garnder emphatically.
"Yes ma'am."
She stood up. "I've taken all this time with you because I honestly believe that you he promise. Now that we've talked things out, I'm sure you'll stop writing those sordid13) little stories."
Sordid. Francie turned the word over. It was not in her vocabulary.
"What does that mean—sordid?"
"What did I tell you when you don't know a word," sing-songed Miss Garnder drolly14).
"Oh! I forgot." Francie went to the big dictionary and looked up the word. Sordid: Filthy. Filthy? She thought of her father wearing a fresh dicky15) and collar every day of his life and shining his worn shoes as often as twice a day. Dirty. Papa had his own mug at the barber shop. Base16). Francie passed that up not knowing exactly what it meant. Gross17). Never! Papa was a dancer. He was slender and quick. His body wasn't gross. Also mean and low. She remembered a hundred and one little tendernesses and acts of thoughtfulness on the part of her father. She remembered how everyone had loved him so. Her face got hot. She couldn't see the next words because the page turned red under her eyes. She turned on Miss Garnder, her face twisted with fury.
...
Walking home from school, Francie tried to figure the whole thing out. She knew Miss Garnder wasn't mean. She had spoken for Francie's good. Only it didn't seem good to Francie. She began to understand that her life might seem revolting18) to some educated people. She wondered, when she got educated, whether she'd be ashamed of her background. Would she be ashamed of her people; ashamed of handsome papa who had been so lighthearted, kind and understanding; ashamed of bre and truthful mama who was so proud of her own mother, even though Grandma couldn't read or write; ashamed of Neeley19) who was such a good honest boy? No! No! If being educated would make her ashamed of what she was, then she wanted none of it. "But I'll show that Miss Garnder," she vowed. "I'll show her I've got an imagination. I certainly will show her."
父亲去世后，弗兰西再写那些鸟啊、树啊，还有题为《我的印象》的作文了。太想念父亲，她开始写关于父亲的小故事。她尽力想要，父亲有这样那样的缺点，但他却是个好父亲，好人。她写了三篇这样的故事，结果却都只得了“C”，而像以前一样“A”。篇发下来的时候，上面写了一行字，叫她放学后留下来。
的孩子早已都回家了，教室里只剩下佳恩达小姐和弗兰西，还有那本厚厚的字典。弗兰西最近交的四篇作文在佳恩达小姐的桌子上放着。“你的作文最近是怎么了，弗兰西？”佳恩达小姐问。
2[3][4]
“我不知道。”
“你曾是我最好的学生。你以前写得非常好，我非常喜欢你的作文，但最近这几篇……”她有些不屑地拍了拍桌上的那几篇作文。
“我拼写都查过字典了，也尽力把字写好了，还有……”
“我说的是你作文的题材。”
“您说过自选题材的。”
“但贫穷、饥饿、酗酒这些题材都太丑陋了，最好别选。都承认这些丑陋的事情的确有着，但人会写这些。”
“那都写？”下意识地，弗兰西接着老师的话问道。
“发挥的想象力，在那里找到美的东西。作家和艺术家一样，都终身追求美。”
“是美？”孩子问。
“济慈说过：‘美真，真美。’我比这更到位的定义了。”
弗兰西鼓起勇气说：“我写的那些故事真啊。”
“一派胡言！”佳恩达小姐脱口而出。然后，她缓和了一下语气，接着说：“所说的‘真’是指天上总有星星、太阳每天升起、人身上的崇高品格、母爱爱国之情这样的东西。”她的回答有些虎头蛇尾。
“我懂了。”弗兰西说。
佳恩达小姐继续喋喋不休地说着，而弗兰西则暗自在心里针锋相对地反驳着她的话。
“酗酒话题既‘真’也‘美’，它是恶习。酒鬼待在牢里，而故事里。再来说贫穷。贫穷怪不了别人。工作机会，想工作的人都能如愿。贫穷是太懒了，不愿意工作。懒惰和‘美’完全沾不上边。”(想想我妈，她那样也能叫懒吗？)
“饥饿题材也不美，也必要写。有运作有序的慈善组织，人挨饿。”
“不过声明一下，我势利小人，” 佳恩达小姐说，“我也来自有钱人家。我爸爸是个牧师，工资。”(但好歹一份工资啊，佳恩达小姐。)
“能给我妈帮忙的是家里的小保姆，还总是不停地在换，大农村来的小姑娘，没受过训练。”(我明白了。你家穷，佳恩达小姐，穷到家里有保姆。)
“有时候，家里连保姆也，我妈妈就得人把的家务活都干了。”(而我妈妈呢，佳恩达小姐，她不光要人把家务活全干完，还要干比家务活多十倍的清洁工作。)
“我本来想上州立大学，但家交不起学费，我爸爸只好把我送到了小的教会学校上学。”(但你得承认，最起码你顺顺利利上了大学。)
“我，你上的是这样大学，你穷人。我也知道饥饿的滋味。有好多次，爸爸的工资迟迟发不下来，家里没钱买吃的。有一次，不得不接连三天吃茶水加烤面包。”(噢，你也知道挨饿的滋味啊！)
“，我整天就写些生活贫困、食不果腹之类的事情，那我枯燥的人，是吧？”弗兰西回答。“是？”佳恩达小姐加强语气又了一遍。
“是的，老师。”
她站起身来。“我花了这么多时间和你聊，是我真的你很有前途。现在既然已经把话都白了，我你不会再去写那些污秽的小故事了。”
污秽(sordid)。弗兰西反复琢磨词。她以前没见过。
“污秽，词是意思？”
“我以前告诉过你，当你遇到不认识的单词时怎么做来着？”佳恩达小姐像唱歌似的说道，声音很滑稽。
“噢！我给忘了。”弗兰西走到那本大字典前，翻开字典查“污秽”词。污秽：邋遢的(filthy)。邋遢？弗兰西想到父亲每天都会换上干净的假衬衫和衣领，他的旧鞋子每天擦两次，总是锃亮锃亮的。肮脏的(dirty)。爸爸在理发店里都有的杯子。卑贱的(base)。弗兰西不明白词的准确意思，就跳过这项接着往下看。粗俗的(gross)。绝能！爸爸是个舞蹈演员，他身形修长、动作敏捷。他的身体才不粗俗呢。还有“卑鄙的(mean)，的(low)”的意思。她还记得父亲的疼爱那些体贴的举动。她记得每个人那么爱她的父亲。她的脸开始发热。她看清后面的那些字，整张纸在她眼里都已变成了红色。她转向佳恩达小姐，面部愤怒而变得扭曲。
……
步行回家的路上，弗兰西想把整件事理清楚。她知道佳恩达小姐恶意。她说这些为了弗兰西好。这么做似乎对弗兰西并不好。她开始明白，她的生活可能令受过教育的人反感。她不知道当接受教育后，是也会为的背景感到耻辱。她会不会以她的同胞为耻？会不会以英俊、善良、无忧无虑、善解人意的爸爸为耻？会不会以勇敢、真诚的妈妈为耻(妈妈可是深深地以她的母亲为荣的，即使外婆既不会读书也不会写字)？会不会以尼雷——那个非常诚实善良的男孩为耻？不！不会的！接受教育会让她瞧不起的，那么那样的教育她宁愿不要。“但我会证明给佳恩达小姐看的，”她心里暗暗发誓，“我会让她我有想象力，我会让她。”
8.anti-climatically
[ˌæntiklaɪˈmæktɪkli] adv. (在重要量、品质、兴趣等)骤降的，由精彩出至平庸的；虎头蛇尾的
9.vice [vaɪs] n. 道德败坏()，堕落()；恶习
10.snob [snɒb] n. 势利的人；谄上欺下的人
1
1
14.drolly [drəʊli] adv. 滑稽地；古怪有趣地
1
19.Neeley: 尼雷，弗兰西的弟弟
赏析
布鲁克林有种树，称之为“天堂树”。不管它的种子落到地方，都会长出一棵树来，向着天空，努力生长，即使是水泥地也阻挡不了它向上的势头。树总是生长在布鲁克林的居民区里，郁郁葱葱。小说主人公弗兰西居住的院子里就有这样一棵树。
弗兰西仓促降生，而她过于年轻的父母显然都还准备好。父亲约翰尼英俊、浪漫却意志羸弱，承受家庭的重担，常常酗酒来逃避现实。年，弟弟尼雷降生，把母亲凯蒂的爱夺走了一大半。弗兰西以小得不面对生活的艰辛，体味成长无奈百味，孤独地开始了的奋斗生涯。童年，她与弟弟一起捡垃圾帮妈妈分担生计，被同龄的小女孩排斥在外，却独自执着而贪婪地嗅着图书馆每一本书的芬芳；8岁时，她与小一岁的弟弟一起入学，在当时以粗暴为指导方针的学校里饱受老师与同学的欺侮，但她想方设法转到了向往的学校，每天快乐地走过漫长的路途去上学；13岁时，欣赏并深爱她的父亲猝然离世，留下遗腹子劳瑞，把整个家庭抛入哀伤的沼泽；14岁时，妈妈把上高机会给了弟弟，热爱读书的弗兰西不得不冒充17岁的孩子外出打工，为妈妈分担生活压力；15岁时，少女的美好初恋变成一场骗局，痛哭过后，她把脆弱掩藏于心底；在16岁花季来临之时，弗兰西靠自学了密歇根大学的录取通知书。小说，院子里那棵被砍伐和焚烧的天堂树奇迹般地活了下来，长出新枝，而弗兰西这棵代表布鲁克林精神的小树也在苦难的磨炼下成长，向着另一片更广阔的天空生长。
3[4]
弗兰西之所以冲破命运的束缚，与其家族谱系的特点无不千丝万缕的联系。弗兰西家族的女人身上了社会底层的人民那“劳动创造财富”和“知识转变初中数学教学论文命运”的朴实信念。弗兰西的外婆玛丽不识字，却的人生智慧。正是玛丽在凯蒂分娩之际教会了她如何转变初中数学教学论文命运：每天给孩子们读一页《圣经》和莎士比亚的作品，讲那些凡间却进驻心灵的小仙女、小精灵们的故事，让拥有忠贞的信仰和美丽的幻想；与孩子们每天积攒5分钱，攒到50元的时候买一块地，以而命运的主人。秉持着这样的生活准则，凯蒂用的坚忍与勤劳独自撑起整个家庭。在凯蒂的教育下，弗兰西和尼雷深深不耻于嗟来之食，坚信生活要靠的双手来创造。在鱼龙混杂的布鲁克林，弗兰西因贫困而变得粗鄙，因饥饿而变得贪婪，也因别人的轻视而变得卑微。透过那个捡垃圾的快乐女孩她在楼梯上静静读书的恬淡身影，的是坚强而高贵的灵魂。
，人生中克勤克俭的奋斗，生活就会变成一段奴役心灵的无期徒刑。好在弗兰西的父亲约翰尼身上保留了浪漫的基因，为贫穷的物质生活注入了想象和欢乐。约翰尼常常酗酒、性格懦弱，但仍不乏温和、快乐随岁月与困窘而流失的俊俏和体面。他随时随地的歌唱与舞蹈是弗兰西姐弟最早的美的启蒙；他不惜编造谎话帮弗兰西转学，为她打开了一片新的天地；他对孩子们的丁点努力总是报以最热忱的赞美；他带孩子们去看大海，期待如同诗歌里所写，对大海充满热爱和向往；他去世前预先准备了弗兰西毕业典礼上的玫瑰花，让她在人生的时刻缺失父爱的陪伴……或许在的物质保障上，约翰尼称职的爸爸，但他与生俱来的浪漫和慷慨施与的却塑造了弗兰西自信、独立、乐观热爱幻想的天性。正是约翰尼对孩子体察细微的爱与柔情才使得弗兰西饱尝命运的不公平，却仍然坚守梦想，执着于生活美和善。
以节选的片段中，在贫穷、饥饿、父亲酗酒的环境下长大的弗兰西显著比家境优越、受过高等教育的佳恩达老师更懂得美的真谛。在那些所谓丑陋的环境中，弗兰西仍然保有善良、勇敢、坚强、勤奋对美的想象。弗兰西热爱生活，所以生活的苦楚磨不灭她活着的信念；弗兰西，所以命运的煎熬挡不住她奋斗的脚步；弗兰西懂得美的真谛，所以她在后来自身处境得以改善后仍能不忘的出身，善意地对待那些仍在苦苦挣扎寻找出路的。
或许是自传体小说，作者写尽了生活的琐碎，细腻地描写了弗兰西的成长感受，那些细细碎碎的悲欢中流淌着的温暖，足以捂热日渐冷漠的心。正是这样的精细，才能，原来困窘的生活也能过得精彩，原来生活中苦难常在，快乐与充实也常在。而要这样的快乐与充实，你有一颗热爱生活和努力奋斗的心。作者所说：“活着，奋斗着，爱着的生活，爱着生活馈赠的悲欢，那。生活的充实常在，人人皆可。”
[3]4
精彩片段
Since her father's death, Francie had stopped writing about birds and trees and My Impressions. Because she missed him so, she had taken to writing little stories about him. She tried to show that, in spite of his shortcomings, he had been a good father and a kindly man. She had written three such stories, which were marked "C" instead of the usual "A". The fourth came back with a line telling her to remain after school.
All the children had gone home. Miss Garnder and Francie were alone in the room with the big dictionary in it. Francie's last four compositions lay on Miss Garnder's desk. "What's happened to your writing, Francie?" asked Miss Garnder.
"I don't know."
"You were one of my best pupils. You wrote so prettily. I enjoyed your compositions. But these last ones ..." she flicked1) at them contemptuously2).
"I looked up the spelling and took pains3) with my penmanship4) and ..."
"I'm referring to your subject matter."
"You said we could choose our own subjects."
"But poverty, starvation and drunkenness are ugly subjects to choose. We all admit these things exist. But one doesn't write about them."
"What does one write about?" Unconsciously, Francie picked up the teacher's phraseology5).
"One delves6) into the imagination and finds beauty there. The writer, like the artist, must strive for beauty always."
"What is beauty?" asked the child.
"I can think of no better definition than Keats': 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty.'"
Francie took her courage into her two hands7) and said, "Those stories are the truth."
"Nonsense!" exploded Miss Garnder. Then, softening her tone, she continued: "By truth, we mean things like the stars always being there and the sun always rising and the true nobility of man and mother-love and love for one's country," she ended anti-climatically8).
"I see," said Francie.
As Miss Garnder continued talking, Francie answered her bitterly in her mind.
"Drunkenness is neither truth nor beauty. It's a vice9). Drunkards belong in jail, not in stories. And poverty. There is no excuse for that. There's work enough for all who want it. People are poor because they're too lazy to work. There's nothing beautiful about laziness. (Imagine mama lazy!)
"Hunger is not beautiful. It is also unnecessary. We he well-organized charities. No one need go hungry."
"Now I'm not a snob10)," stated Miss Garnder. "I do not come from a wealthy family. My father was a minister with a very all salary." (But it was a salary, Miss Garnder.)
"And the only help my mother had was a succession of untrained maids, mostly girls from the country." (I see. You were poor, Miss Garnder, poor with a maid.)
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"Many times we were without a maid and my mother had to do all the housework herself." (And my mother, Miss Garnder, has to do all her own housework, and yes, ten times more cleaning than that.)
"I wanted to go to the state university but we couldn't afford it. My father had to send me to a all denominational11) college." (But admit you had no trouble going to college.)
"And believe me, you're poor when you go to such a college. I know what hunger is, too. Time and time again my father's salary was held up12) and there was no money for food. Once we had to live on tea and toast for three days." (So you know what it is to be hungry, too.)
"But I'd be a dull person if I wrote about nothing but being poor and hungry, wouldn't I?" Francie didn't answer. "Wouldn't I?" repeated Miss Garnder emphatically.
"Yes ma'am."
She stood up. "I've taken all this time with you because I honestly believe that you he promise. Now that we've talked things out, I'm sure you'll stop writing those sordid13) little stories."
Sordid. Francie turned the word over. It was not in her vocabulary.
"What does that mean—sordid?"
"What did I tell you when you don't know a word," sing-songed Miss Garnder drolly14).
"Oh! I forgot." Francie went to the big dictionary and looked up the word. Sordid: Filthy. Filthy? She thought of her father wearing a fresh dicky15) and collar every day of his life and shining his worn shoes as often as twice a day. Dirty. Papa had his own mug at the barber shop. Base16). Francie passed that up not knowing exactly what it meant. Gross17). Never! Papa was a dancer. He was slender and quick. His body wasn't gross. Also mean and low. She remembered a hundred and one little tendernesses and acts of thoughtfulness on the part of her father. She remembered how everyone had loved him so. Her face got hot. She couldn't see the next words because the page turned red under her eyes. She turned on Miss Garnder, her face twisted with fury.
...
Walking home from school, Francie tried to figure the whole thing out. She knew Miss Garnder wasn't mean. She had spoken for Francie's good. Only it didn't seem good to Francie. She began to understand that her life might seem revolting18) to some educated people. She wondered, when she got educated, whether she'd be ashamed of her background. Would she be ashamed of her people; ashamed of handsome papa who had been so lighthearted, kind and understanding; ashamed of bre and truthful mama who was so proud of her own mother, even though Grandma couldn't read or write; ashamed of Neeley19) who was such a good honest boy? No! No! If being educated would make her ashamed of what she was, then she wanted none of it. "But I'll show that Miss Garnder," she vowed. "I'll show her I've got an imagination. I certainly will show her."
父亲去世后，弗兰西再写那些鸟啊、树啊，还有题为《我的印象》的作文了。太想念父亲，她开始写关于父亲的小故事。她尽力想要，父亲有这样那样的缺点，但他却是个好父亲，好人。她写了三篇这样的故事，结果却都只得了“C”，而像以前一样“A”。篇发下来的时候，上面写了一行字，叫她放学后留下来。
的孩子早已都回家了，教室里只剩下佳恩达小姐和弗兰西，还有那本厚厚的字典。弗兰西最近交的四篇作文在佳恩达小姐的桌子上放着。“你的作文最近是怎么了，弗兰西？”佳恩达小姐问。
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“我不知道。”
“你曾是我最好的学生。你以前写得非常好，我非常喜欢你的作文，但最近这几篇……”她有些不屑地拍了拍桌上的那几篇作文。
“我拼写都查过字典了，也尽力把字写好了，还有……”
“我说的是你作文的题材。”
“您说过自选题材的。”
“但贫穷、饥饿、酗酒这些题材都太丑陋了，最好别选。都承认这些丑陋的事情的确有着，但人会写这些。”
“那都写？”下意识地，弗兰西接着老师的话问道。
“发挥的想象力，在那里找到美的东西。作家和艺术家一样，都终身追求美。”
“是美？”孩子问。
“济慈说过：‘美真，真美。’我比这更到位的定义了。”
弗兰西鼓起勇气说：“我写的那些故事真啊。”
“一派胡言！”佳恩达小姐脱口而出。然后，她缓和了一下语气，接着说：“所说的‘真’是指天上总有星星、太阳每天升起、人身上的崇高品格、母爱爱国之情这样的东西。”她的回答有些虎头蛇尾。
“我懂了。”弗兰西说。
佳恩达小姐继续喋喋不休地说着，而弗兰西则暗自在心里针锋相对地反驳着她的话。
“酗酒话题既‘真’也‘美’，它是恶习。酒鬼待在牢里，而故事里。再来说贫穷。贫穷怪不了别人。工作机会，想工作的人都能如愿。贫穷是太懒了，不愿意工作。懒惰和‘美’完全沾不上边。”(想想我妈，她那样也能叫懒吗？)
“饥饿题材也不美，也必要写。有运作有序的慈善组织，人挨饿。”
“不过声明一下，我势利小人，” 佳恩达小姐说，“我也来自有钱人家。我爸爸是个牧师，工资。”(但好歹一份工资啊，佳恩达小姐。)
“能给我妈帮忙的是家里的小保姆，还总是不停地在换，大农村来的小姑娘，没受过训练。”(我明白了。你家穷，佳恩达小姐，穷到家里有保姆。)
“有时候，家里连保姆也，我妈妈就得人把的家务活都干了。”(而我妈妈呢，佳恩达小姐，她不光要人把家务活全干完，还要干比家务活多十倍的清洁工作。)
“我本来想上州立大学，但家交不起学费，我爸爸只好把我送到了小的教会学校上学。”(但你得承认，最起码你顺顺利利上了大学。)
“我，你上的是这样大学，你穷人。我也知道饥饿的滋味。有好多次，爸爸的工资迟迟发不下来，家里没钱买吃的。有一次，不得不接连三天吃茶水加烤面包。”(噢，你也知道挨饿的滋味啊！)
“，我整天就写些生活贫困、食不果腹之类的事情，那我枯燥的人，是吧？”弗兰西回答。“是？”佳恩达小姐加强语气又了一遍。
“是的，老师。”
她站起身来。“我花了这么多时间和你聊，是我真的你很有前途。现在既然已经把话都白了，我你不会再去写那些污秽的小故事了。”
污秽(sordid)。弗兰西反复琢磨词。她以前没见过。
“污秽，词是意思？”
“我以前告诉过你，当你遇到不认识的单词时怎么做来着？”佳恩达小姐像唱歌似的说道，声音很滑稽。
“噢！我给忘了。”弗兰西走到那本大字典前，翻开字典查“污秽”词。污秽：邋遢的(filthy)。邋遢？弗兰西想到父亲每天都会换上干净的假衬衫和衣领，他的旧鞋子每天擦两次，总是锃亮锃亮的。肮脏的(dirty)。爸爸在理发店里都有的杯子。卑贱的(base)。弗兰西不明白词的准确意思，就跳过这项接着往下看。粗俗的(gross)。绝能！爸爸是个舞蹈演员，他身形修长、动作敏捷。他的身体才不粗俗呢。还有“卑鄙的(mean)，的(low)”的意思。她还记得父亲的疼爱那些体贴的举动。她记得每个人那么爱她的父亲。她的脸开始发热。她看清后面的那些字，整张纸在她眼里都已变成了红色。她转向佳恩达小姐，面部愤怒而变得扭曲。
……
步行回家的路上，弗兰西想把整件事理清楚。她知道佳恩达小姐恶意。她说这些为了弗兰西好。这么做似乎对弗兰西并不好。她开始明白，她的生活可能令受过教育的人反感。她不知道当接受教育后，是也会为的背景感到耻辱。她会不会以她的同胞为耻？会不会以英俊、善良、无忧无虑、善解人意的爸爸为耻？会不会以勇敢、真诚的妈妈为耻(妈妈可是深深地以她的母亲为荣的，即使外婆既不会读书也不会写字)？会不会以尼雷——那个非常诚实善良的男孩为耻？不！不会的！接受教育会让她瞧不起的，那么那样的教育她宁愿不要。“但我会证明给佳恩达小姐看的，”她心里暗暗发誓，“我会让她我有想象力，我会让她。”
1.flick [flɪk] vi. 轻打，轻拍
2.contemptuously
[kənˈtemptʃuəsli] adv. 轻蔑地，鄙视地3.take pains: 努力，尽力，煞费苦心，下苦功
4.penmanship
[ˈpenmənʃɪp] n. 书写；书法5.phraseology
[ˌfreɪziˈɒlədʒi] n. 说法，措辞，用语6.delve [delv] vi. 探讨，钻研
7.take one's courage into both hands: 鼓起勇气；敢作敢为8.anti-climatically
[ˌæntiklaɪˈmæktɪkli] adv. (在重要量、品质、兴趣等)骤降的，由精彩出至平庸的；虎头蛇尾的
9.vice [vaɪs] n. 道德败坏()，堕落()；恶习
10.snob [snɒb] n. 势利的人；谄上欺下的人
1
1.denominational
[dɪˌnɒmɪˈneɪʃənl] adj. 教派的；宗派的1
2.hold up: 延迟，停止
13.sordid [ˈsɔːdɪd] adj. 肮脏的，污秽的14.drolly [drəʊli] adv. 滑稽地；古怪有趣地
1
5.dicky [ˈdɪki] n. (前胸的)假衬衫
16.base [beɪs] adj. 卑下的，卑贱的
17.gross [ɡrəʊs] adj.粗野的；臃肿的
18.revolting [rɪˈvəʊltɪŋ] adj. 作呕的，使人反感的19.Neeley: 尼雷，弗兰西的弟弟
赏析
布鲁克林有种树，称之为“天堂树”。不管它的种子落到地方，都会长出一棵树来，向着天空，努力生长，即使是水泥地也阻挡不了它向上的势头。树总是生长在布鲁克林的居民区里，郁郁葱葱。小说主人公弗兰西居住的院子里就有这样一棵树。
弗兰西仓促降生，而她过于年轻的父母显然都还准备好。父亲约翰尼英俊、浪漫却意志羸弱，承受家庭的重担，常常酗酒来逃避现实。年，弟弟尼雷降生，把母亲凯蒂的爱夺走了一大半。弗兰西以小得不面对生活的艰辛，体味成长无奈百味，孤独地开始了的奋斗生涯。童年，她与弟弟一起捡垃圾帮妈妈分担生计，被同龄的小女孩排斥在外，却独自执着而贪婪地嗅着图书馆每一本书的芬芳；8岁时，她与小一岁的弟弟一起入学，在当时以粗暴为指导方针的学校里饱受老师与同学的欺侮，但她想方设法转到了向往的学校，每天快乐地走过漫长的路途去上学；13岁时，欣赏并深爱她的父亲猝然离世，留下遗腹子劳瑞，把整个家庭抛入哀伤的沼泽；14岁时，妈妈把上高机会给了弟弟，热爱读书的弗兰西不得不冒充17岁的孩子外出打工，为妈妈分担生活压力；15岁时，少女的美好初恋变成一场骗局，痛哭过后，她把脆弱掩藏于心底；在16岁花季来临之时，弗兰西靠自学了密歇根大学的录取通知书。小说，院子里那棵被砍伐和焚烧的天堂树奇迹般地活了下来，长出新枝，而弗兰西这棵代表布鲁克林精神的小树也在苦难的磨炼下成长，向着另一片更广阔的天空生长。
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弗兰西之所以冲破命运的束缚，与其家族谱系的特点无不千丝万缕的联系。弗兰西家族的女人身上了社会底层的人民那“劳动创造财富”和“知识转变初中数学教学论文命运”的朴实信念。弗兰西的外婆玛丽不识字，却的人生智慧。正是玛丽在凯蒂分娩之际教会了她如何转变初中数学教学论文命运：每天给孩子们读一页《圣经》和莎士比亚的作品，讲那些凡间却进驻心灵的小仙女、小精灵们的故事，让拥有忠贞的信仰和美丽的幻想；与孩子们每天积攒5分钱，攒到50元的时候买一块地，以而命运的主人。秉持着这样的生活准则，凯蒂用的坚忍与勤劳独自撑起整个家庭。在凯蒂的教育下，弗兰西和尼雷深深不耻于嗟来之食，坚信生活要靠的双手来创造。在鱼龙混杂的布鲁克林，弗兰西因贫困而变得粗鄙，因饥饿而变得贪婪，也因别人的轻视而变得卑微。透过那个捡垃圾的快乐女孩她在楼梯上静静读书的恬淡身影，的是坚强而高贵的灵魂。
，人生中克勤克俭的奋斗，生活就会变成一段奴役心灵的无期徒刑。好在弗兰西的父亲约翰尼身上保留了浪漫的基因，为贫穷的物质生活注入了想象和欢乐。约翰尼常常酗酒、性格懦弱，但仍不乏温和、快乐随岁月与困窘而流失的俊俏和体面。他随时随地的歌唱与舞蹈是弗兰西姐弟最早的美的启蒙；他不惜编造谎话帮弗兰西转学，为她打开了一片新的天地；他对孩子们的丁点努力总是报以最热忱的赞美；他带孩子们去看大海，期待如同诗歌里所写，对大海充满热爱和向往；他去世前预先准备了弗兰西毕业典礼上的玫瑰花，让她在人生的时刻缺失父爱的陪伴……或许在的物质保障上，约翰尼称职的爸爸，但他与生俱来的浪漫和慷慨施与的却塑造了弗兰西自信、独立、乐观热爱幻想的天性。正是约翰尼对孩子体察细微的爱与柔情才使得弗兰西饱尝命运的不公平，却仍然坚守梦想，执着于生活美和善。
以节选的片段中，在贫穷、饥饿、父亲酗酒的环境下长大的弗兰西显著比家境优越、受过高等教育的佳恩达老师更懂得美的真谛。在那些所谓丑陋的环境中，弗兰西仍然保有善良、勇敢、坚强、勤奋对美的想象。弗兰西热爱生活，所以生活的苦楚磨不灭她活着的信念；弗兰西，所以命运的煎熬挡不住她奋斗的脚步；弗兰西懂得美的真谛，所以她在后来自身处境得以改善后仍能不忘的出身，善意地对待那些仍在苦苦挣扎寻找出路的。
或许是自传体小说，作者写尽了生活的琐碎，细腻地描写了弗兰西的成长感受，那些细细碎碎的悲欢中流淌着的温暖，足以捂热日渐冷漠的心。正是这样的精细，才能，原来困窘的生活也能过得精彩，原来生活中苦难常在，快乐与充实也常在。而要这样的快乐与充实，你有一颗热爱生活和努力奋斗的心。作者所说：“活着，奋斗着，爱着的生活，爱着生活馈赠的悲欢，那。生活的充实常在，人人皆可。”
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