Miss Isabel伊莎贝尔女士.docVIP

Miss Isabel伊莎贝尔女士 　　暑期打工的我碰上了一位奇怪的雇主。我为她除草、擦地板，报酬丰厚；她教我开车、做书评，甚至推荐我去图书馆工作，分文不收。我和她非亲非故，她对我毫无所求，但是她的恩惠却让我一生铭记。 　　“I don’t believe in power mowers1，” she said， “and on Saturdays you will work inside.” 　　Sitting in the library of a three story Victorian home with warm spring sunlight dancing among the books nestled2 in the floor to ceiling shelves， Miss Isabel began to explain my duties as her summer hired helper. 　　“I pay $1.25 per hour. Tuesdays we mow； Thursday is flower garden day， and Saturdays will be house cleaning.” 　　I really didn’t hear much past the $1.25. As in 1958， I was only 14 and that meant much money. I had come to this chance by way of an older neighborhood friend who had worked for Miss Isabel for the past 3 years and was leaving for Notre Dame in mid summer and so had referred3 me. 　　“Can you start next Saturday 8 a.m. exactly？” she asked. 　　“Sure！” I said， “I mean， yes， Ma’am.” There was something about Miss Isabel that made you say so. 　　Saturday arrived， and at 8 a.m. exactly I rang the doorbell. Miss Isabel opened the door. “Good morning，” she said， “follow me. I had some hot tea ready， but we won’t have time， now. We’re running behind.” 　　Running behind？ How could we be running behind？ She had said 8 and it was 8 exactly. As Miss Isabel led me down the hall to the kitchen， she imparted4 to me lesson one. “I have found，” she said， “that when you arrive at work 15 to 20 minutes early， it allows you to settle in.” It wasn’t a scold5， but I felt somehow I had cheated her out of something important， and I wasn’t sure what. 　　Miss Isabel had already laid out several pieces of white cotton cloth and a bottle of furniture polish6. I had observed that the old Victorian house had highly polished ebony7 hardwood floors. I was about to find out how they became so highly polished. 　　On hands and knees I began to attend to those boards， with which over three years of Saturdays I would form a love-hate relationship. After a while Miss Isabel s