But the roses—they were loveliest of all. Never have I found in the greenhouses of the North such heart-satisfying roses as the climbing roses of my southern home. They used to hang in long festoons from our porch, filling the whole air with their fragrance, untainted by any earthy smell; and in the early morning, washed in the dew, they felt so soft, so pure, I could not help wondering if they did not resemble the asphodels of God's garden.
而玫瑰，则是花园中最傲人的花魁。我从来没有在北方的温室里见过长势如此繁茂的玫瑰，花朵沿着门廊形成了一道长长的花径，空气中弥漫着沁人的芳香，那种清醇的味道丝毫不沾染泥土的浊气。每天早晨，在露水的沐浴中，玫瑰娇柔淳美，这时我就会禁不住展开神思遐想，这些花儿是不是很像上帝花园中的常春花呢？
The
beginning
of
my
life
was
simple
and
much
like
every
other
little
life.
I
came,
I
saw,
I
conquered,
as
the
first
baby
in
the
family
always
does.
There
was
the
usual
amount
of
discussion
as
to
a
name
for
me.
The
first
baby
in
the
family
was
not
to
be
lightly
named,
every
one
was
emphatic
about
that.
My
father
suggested
the
name
of
Mildred
Campbell,
an
ancestor
whom
he
highly
esteemed,
and
he
declined
to
take
any
further
part
in
the
discussion.
My
mother
solved
the
problem
by
giving
it
as
her
wish
that
I
should
be
called
after
her
mother,
whose
maiden
name
was
Helen
Everett.
But
in
the
excitement
of
carrying
me
to
church
my
father
lost
the
name
on
the
way,
very
naturally,
since
it
was
one
in
which
he
had
declined
to
have
a
part.
When
the
minister
asked
him
for
it,
he
just
remembered
that
it
had
been
decided
to
call
me
after
my
grandmother,
and
he
gave
her
name
as
Helen
Adams.
就像诸多弱小的生命一样，我生命的伊始朴素而单纯；我来了，我观察，我奋争，如同很多百姓家中第一个孩子所做的一样。为了给我起名字，家人还煞费了一番周章。一个家庭里第一个孩子的名字当然马虎不得，家里的每一个人都参与其中。我的父亲建议给我取名米尔德莱德·坎贝尔，此人是父亲极为崇敬的一位祖先，对于这个名字，父亲拒绝做进一步的商榷。而我的母亲则按照她自己的意愿解决这个问题，她认为我应该随她母亲的姓氏。她母亲少女时代的名字是海伦·埃弗里特。没想到的是，就在一家人兴高采烈地带我去教堂洗礼的路上，父亲把起好的名字给弄丢了，这再自然不过了，因为这是一个父亲本不喜欢的名字。所以，当牧师问他的时候，他才记起来，我的名字还是应该随我外祖母的姓氏，这是早就定好了的，于是他给婴儿取名叫海伦·亚当斯。
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