by Bill Bryson

I was puzzled！ Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old 1）copse which was of no use to anybody？ She had written letters to the local paper， even to a national， protesting about a projected by-pass to her village， and， looking at a map， the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasnt as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled， I was intrigued.

The enquiry into the route of the new bypass to the village was due to take place shortly， and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her. So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door， being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.

“Ive always loved this place，” she said， “it has a lot of memories for me， and for others. We all used it. They called it ‘Lovers lane. Its not much of a lane， and it doesnt go anywhere important， but thats why we all came here.

To be away from people， to be by ourselves，” she added.

It was indeed pleasant that summer day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels gazed from the branches， quite bold in their movements， obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear. I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built， so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community 2）over-riding the opinions of private individuals， I said nothing. The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children， their safety was more important to me than an old womans 3）whims.

“Take this tree，” she said pausing after a short while. “To you it is just that， a tree. Not unlike many others here.” She gently touched the bark.“Look here， under this branch， what can you see？”

“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife，” I said after a 4）cursory inspection.

“Yes， thats what it is！” she said softly. “There are letters and a lovers heart.”

I looked again， this time more carefully. The heart was still there and there was a suggestion of an arrow through it. The letters on one side were indistinct， but on the other an “R” was clearly visible with what looked like an “I” after it. “Some 5）budding romance？” I asked， “did you know who they were？”

“Oh yes， I knew them”， said Mary Smith， “it says ‘RH loves MS.”

I realised that I could be getting out of my depth， and longed to be in my office， away from here and this old lady， snug， and with a mug of tea in my hand.

She went on， “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horses 6）hoof， and I helped him to carve my initials. We were very much in love， but he was going away， and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together， because he went away the next day， back to his 7）Unit.”

Mary Smith was quiet for a while， then she sobbed. “His mother showed me the telegram.‘8）Sergeant R Holmes ... Killed in action in the invasion of France.”

“‘I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married，she said， ‘He was my only child， and I would have loved to be a Granny， they would have been such lovely babies—she was like that！

“Two years later she too was dead. ‘9）Pneumonia， following a chill on the chest was what the doctor said， but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us.”

There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently 10）caressed the wounded tree， just as she would have caressed him. “And now they want to take our tree away from me.” Another quiet sob， then she turned to me. “I was young and pretty then， I could have had anybody， I wasnt always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life， a lovely man， health and a future to look forwards to.”

She paused again and looked around. The summer breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. “There were others， of course， but not a patch on my Robin！” she said strongly.“And now I have nothing—except the memories this tree holds. If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now， I would tell him. Has he never loved， has he never lived， does he not know anything about memories？ We were not the only ones， you know， I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes， I would tell him！”

I turned away， sick at heart.

我十分困惑！為什么這位老婦人對那片毫無用處的老灌木林如此大驚小怪？她寫信給當(dāng)?shù)氐膱笊?，甚至是給國家報社也寫了信，抗議將在她們村子里修建小路的方案。但是，從地圖上看，這條小路離她家甚遠(yuǎn)，而那個地方的風(fēng)景也并不吸引。我不僅感到困惑，我還很好奇。

對村子里修建小路方案的咨詢調(diào)查即將要開始，而我想了解是什么原因讓她一直持反對的意見。于是，我敲響了小屋的門，瑪麗·史密斯女士開了門，然后她帶我去那片樹林散步。

“我一直深愛著這個地方，”她說，“對我來說，這珍藏了我和其他人許多的回憶。我們都曾在這個地方流連過。人們稱之為‘情人小徑。這并不算是什么路，也不會通往什么重要的地方，但是，那正是我們都會來這里的原因。

遠(yuǎn)離喧囂人群，只有二人世界，”她補充說道。

那的確是一個愉快宜人的夏日，隨處聽得到小鳥歌唱。松鼠探頭窺視，自由自在地穿梭在樹枝間，顯然，這里人跡罕至，小動物們絲毫不害怕。我可以想象得到，以后小路修建后，汽車行駛過這片靜謐的樹林，將打破這種寂靜。所以，我覺得這對于她，可能存在特殊的意義，不過，我仍覺得社區(qū)的需要比個人意見重要得多，所以我什么也沒說。這個村莊的交通相當(dāng)危險，尤其對老人和孩子來說，我認(rèn)為他們的安全遠(yuǎn)比一位老婦人的奇怪念頭重要。

“就拿這棵樹來說，”她停頓了一會兒說，“對你來說，這只是一棵普通的樹，和其他的樹沒什么區(qū)別。”她輕柔地?fù)崦鴺淦?，說道，“瞧這里，在這個樹枝的下面，你看見什么了嗎？”

“看起來像是有人用小刀在上面雕刻了什么似的，”我草草地看了一眼，說道。

“是的，正是如此！”她輕聲說道，“是一些字母和一顆愛心?！?/p>

我又看了一次，這回看得認(rèn)真了些。那顆愛心還在那兒，此外還依稀可以看到有支箭穿過那顆愛心。愛心一邊的字母已經(jīng)模糊不可辨認(rèn)，但是另一邊，可以清晰地看見字母“R”，后面似乎是個“I”字母。“是關(guān)于剛剛萌發(fā)的浪漫愛情嗎？”我問道，“你知道他們是誰嗎？”

“是的，我知道，”瑪麗·史密斯說，“上面刻的是‘RH愛MS?！?/p>

我開始意識到自己可能陷得太深，真希望自己身在辦公室，遠(yuǎn)離這里和這位老婦人，舒舒服服地坐著，手里端著杯茶。

她繼續(xù)講道：“他拿著一把袖珍折刀，上面嵌著可以為馬蹄剔除石塊的剔刀，我們一起刻下了我名字的首字母。我們深愛著彼此，但是他將要離開，而且不告訴我他在軍隊里是做什么的，當(dāng)然我曾猜想過。那是我們共度的最后一個夜晚，第二天他就起身回軍隊去了?！?/p>

瑪麗·史密斯沉默了一會兒，然后啜泣起來?！八赣H給我看了那封電報?！甊·荷爾姆斯中士……在攻打法國的戰(zhàn)役中犧牲了?！?/p>

“‘我原本希望你和羅賓有一天會結(jié)婚，她說，‘他是我唯一的兒子，我多么希望當(dāng)祖母，你們的孩子肯定都是可愛的小寶寶——她當(dāng)時是這么說的！

“兩年后，她也去世了?！窝祝尾扛腥撅L(fēng)寒造成，這是醫(yī)生的診斷，但是我認(rèn)為是典型的傷心過度。如果我和羅賓有個孩子，他母親和我都會好過得多?！?/p>

接著是更久的沉默?，旣悺な访芩馆p柔地?fù)崦强每踢^的樹，就像是撫摸她的戀人一樣?！艾F(xiàn)在他們要奪走我們的樹?！彼州p輕地啜泣了一下，然后她轉(zhuǎn)身對我說，“當(dāng)時我年輕貌美，我本可以選擇別人，當(dāng)時的我可不是現(xiàn)在你眼前的老婦人。我擁有生命中渴望得到的一切：一個值得愛的男人、健康的身體和值得期盼的未來。”

她又停頓了片刻，朝四周看了看。夏日的微風(fēng)輕輕地穿過樹葉，發(fā)出沙沙的嘆息聲?！爱?dāng)然，那時有許多其他人追求我，但是他們遠(yuǎn)比不上羅賓！”她肯定地說道?！叭欢?，現(xiàn)在我一無所有——除了存留在這棵樹上僅剩的記憶。要是我能找到那個可惡的家伙，他竟提出建議把小路修在我們現(xiàn)在所站的這個地方，我會質(zhì)問他：你從沒愛過嗎，你活過嗎，難道你自己沒有回憶嗎？不僅僅是我和羅賓，你要知道，我還遇到過許多像我們一樣到這兒來的人。是的，我一定會這么跟他說的！”

我轉(zhuǎn)過身去，心里很不是滋味。