半旗国度

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1-2 The House on Mango Street

But the house on Mango Street is not the way they told it at all. It's small and red with tight steps in front and windows so small you'd think they were holding their breath. Bricks are crumbling in places, and the front door is so swollen you have to push hard to get in. There is no front yard, only four little elms the city planted by the curb. Our back is a small garage for the car we don't own yet and a smaller between the two buildings on either side. There are stairs in our house, but they're ordinary hallway stairs, and the house has only one bathroom. Everybody has to share a bedroom——Mama and Papa,Carlos and Kiki, me and Nenny.

Once when we were living on Loomis, a nun from my school passed by and saw me playing out front. The laundromat downstairs had been boarded up because it had been robbed two days before and the owner had painted on the wood YES WE'RE OPEN so as not to lose business.

Where do you live?She asked.

There, I said pointing uo to the third floor.

You live there? 

There.I had to look to where she pointed—the third floor, the paint peeling, wooden bars Papa had nailed on the windows so we wouldn't fall out. You live there? The way she said it made me feel like nothing. There. I lived there. I nodded. 

I know then I had to have a house. Areal house. One I could point to. But this isn't. For the time being,Mama says.Temporary, says Papa. But I konw how these things go.

brick:砖，砖块。crumble:粉碎，弄碎。swollen:肿胀的，膨胀的。elm:榆树。nun:修女，尼姑。laundromat:自助洗衣店。peeling：脱皮，剥皮。

但是，芒果街上的小屋完全不像他们讲的那样。它是一座小小的红色房子，门前有狭窄的台阶，窗户小得让你觉得它们在屏住呼吸。某些地方铺着碎砖，前门很紧，要用力推才能进得去。小屋前没有院子，只有四棵榆树，种在街道边沿。我们的屋后是一个小车库，用来停放我们还没有的汽车。还有一个小院子，夹在两座房子中间，显得更小。我们的小屋里有楼梯，但它们照旧是门厅台阶，并且小屋里只有一个洗澡间。所有人都得挤在一间卧室里——妈妈和爸爸，卡洛斯和七七，我和蕾妮。

当我们还住在洛米斯的时候，我们学校的一位修女经过这里，看见我在屋外玩耍。楼下的自助洗衣店围着木板，因为它两天前刚刚被抢，店主在木板上写着“开始营业”，生怕影响生意。

你住在哪儿？她问。

那儿，我一边说，一边指向三楼。

你住在那儿？

那儿。我不得不看向她所指的地方——三楼，窗户上钉着油漆脱落的木栅栏，那是爸爸为了防止我们掉下去而钉的。你住在那儿？她说话的方式令我觉得自己什么也不是。那儿。我住在那儿。我点点头。

我知道我必须得有一所房子。一所真正的房子。一个我可以有所指向的房子。但这不是它。芒果街上的小屋不是它。暂时，妈妈说。暂时的，爸爸说。但我知道，事情不是这样的。