当你把一根笤帚草苗伸进洞里，并喊道：“虫儿，虫儿，你家房子着火了，你家孩子烧着了，”她真相信虫子是由于这个才跑出洞的。所以我乐于招她家的虫子出来，而对我们自己家的没有兴趣。
My mother could never have told me her stories， and I think I knew why even then： my mother didnt believe them. But I could listen to this murmuring murmuring 抱怨(的) lady all day. She believed everything she heard， like the doodlebug. And so did I.
This was a day when ladies and childrens clothes were very often made at home. My mother cut out all the dresses and her little boysrompers， and a sewing woman would come and spend the day upstairs in the sewing room fitting and stitching them all.
This was Fannie. This old black sewing woman， along with her speed and dexterity dexterity n.灵巧， 机敏 ， brought along a great provision of uptotheminute news. She spent her life going from family to family in town and worked right in its bosom bosom n.胸部， 胸， 胸怀， 内心， 内部， 中间， 任何温暖、舒适而熟悉的地方 ， and nothing could stop her.
我妈妈从未给我讲过她的故事。我那时虽小，但已猜到了其中的缘由：她不会相信这些故事。而我可以整天听那位太太的喋喋不休，她相信自己所有听到的，例如蚁蛉虫。我也和她一样。
那时女人和孩子们的衣服经常在家里缝制。我妈妈裁剪出所有的裙衣和小男孩们的连身裤，然后会有一名缝衣妇找上门，在楼上的缝纫室里坐上一天，把所有的东西都拼合缝好。
她就是范妮。她是一个上了年纪的黑人缝衣妇，不但心灵手巧，而且满肚子的最新消息。她一生都在城里走门串户，深知他们的机秘要闻，而且什么也拦不住她说出来。
My mother would try， while I stood being pinned up. “Fannie， Id rather Eudora didnt hear that.”
“That” would be just what I was longing to hear， whatever it was. “I dont want her exposed to gossipgossip n.闲话， 闲谈 ”—as if gossip were measles and I could catch it.
I did catch some of it but not enough.
“Mrs. ONeils oldest daughter she had her wedding dress tried on， and all her fine underclothes underclothes n.内衣， 贴身衣 featherstitched featherstitch v.用羽状绣花针迹在(布)上绣花 and ribbonribbon n.缎带， 丝带， 带， 带状物， 带子 run in and then—”
“I think that will do， Fannie，” said my mother. It was tantalizing tantalizing adj.非常着急的 never to be exposed long enough to hear the end.
当我站在那儿试衣服时，我妈会试图阻止她，“范妮，我不想让由多拉听到那些。”
可“那些”正是我急切想知道的，不管它是些什么。“我不想让她接触那些流言，”就像流言是麻疹，我会被传染上一样。
我是多少得到了些流言蜚语的，不过这还不够。
“奥尼尔夫人的大女儿正在试穿她的结婚礼服，还有她镶有羽状绣花和缎带的美丽内衣，这时候——”
“够了，范妮，”我妈妈说。接触流言不能持久，每每听不到结尾，实在叫人心痒难耐。
Fannie was the worldliest old woman to be imagined. She could do whatever her hands were doing without having to stop talking， and she could speak in a wonderfully derogatory derogatory adj.贬损的 way with any number of pins stuck in her mouth.
Her hands steadied me like claws as she stumped stump v.掘去树桩， 砍成树桩， 绊倒， 难住， 截去 on her knees around me， tacking me together. The gist gist n.要点， 要旨， 依据， ［法律］诉讼主因 of her tale would be lost on me， but Fannie didnt bother about the ear she was telling it to； she just liked telling. She was like an author. In fact， for a good deal of what she said， I daresay daresay v.［只用于第一人称单数和现在时］猜想，料想 she was the author.
Long before I wrote stories， I listened for stories. Listening for them is something more acute than listening to them. I suppose its an early form of participation in what goes on.
范妮是能想像出来的最有世俗经验的老女人了。她可以边做任何事，边不停地说话；而且她能口里含着许多曲别针，同时吐出各种奇妙的诽谤词汇。
当她跪下来为我测量身体，围着我笨拙地挪来挪去时，她时不时用利爪一样的手扶住我，我抓不着她故事的主旨，不过范妮并不在意讲给谁听，她如同一位作家，只是喜欢讲述。我敢说，她讲的许多事情实际上是她自己编造出来的。
我先是倾听并寻找故事，之后才开始写故事。与单纯地听比较，发现谈话中的故事是更令人记忆犹新的事儿。我想这就是参与讲故事的一种初级方式。
Listening children know stories are there. When their elders sit and begin， children are just waiting and hoping for one to come out， like a mouse from its hole.
It was taken entirely for granted that there wasnt any lying in our family， and I was advanced in adolescence adolescence n.青春期(一般指成年以前由13至15的发育期) before I realized that in plenty of homes where I played with schoolmates and went to their parties， children lied to their parents and parents lied to their children and to each other.
It took me a long time to realize that these very same everyday lies， and the stratagems stratagem n.战略， 计谋 and jokes and trickstrick n.诡计， 骗局， 恶作剧， 窍门， 诀窍 and dares that went with them， were in fact the basis of the scenes I so well loved to hear about and hoped for and treasured in the conversation of adultsadult n.成人， 成年人 .
倾听的孩子知道故事就在那儿。当长辈们坐定并开始谈话，孩子们等待着，希望出来一个故事，就像耗子钻出洞穴一样。
我们家里不允许撒谎，这被看成是理所应当的事。直到我长成了一个少女才知道，去同学家玩耍、参加聚会时，有不少孩子骗家长，父母向子女说谎，并互相欺骗。
过了好久我才懂得，这些平常的谎言，以及与之相伴的谋略、笑话、诡计和刺激，就是我在大人言语交谈中如此喜欢，如此热盼，如此珍视的各种场景的基础。
My instinct—the dramatic instinct—was to lead me， eventually， on the right track for a storyteller storyteller n.说故事的人， 作家 ： the scene was full of hints， pointers， suggestions， and promises of things to find out and know about human beings. I had to grow up and learn to listen for the unspoken as well as the spoken—and to know a truth， I also had to recognize a lie.
我的直觉——戏剧直觉——最终引领我走上了作家的正道：场景充满了各种可以有所发现并增进了对人类了解的暗示、标记、提醒和许诺。我还必须成长，这样才能学会听懂说出的话，而且能听出弦外之音——并且为了认识真实，我还得学会分清谎言。
耳朵听到的只是一种知觉，倾听别人，会让我们更加懂得如何去把握自己的角色。美丽的谎言，是指说的话没有伤害到对方利益。生活中这样的谎言，有时不仅可以消除误解，而且正是出于保护对方。谎言的真假，随着我们的成长会慢慢知晓，那时我们是否还会为自己当时的懵懂而啼笑皆非。就像小时候，我们在外面玩，为了让我们能早点回家，妈妈会说：天黑了，就会有大老虎来。当然，生活需要一些调味料，需要多一些快乐，我们要学着听出弦外之音，识别谎言，真实的生活着。