“Whenever we heard the train coming,” my father once told me, “all the young boys in the village would run as fast as we could through the apple orchard to greet the passing Americans. They would smile and wave and throw us whatever gifts they happened to have – playing cards, chewing gum, lifesaver candies….For us they were like heroes from another world.”
美国的给养火车会定时经过我父辈们祖居的村庄阿拉克，当时那里到处是风景如画的绿洲和果园。父亲曾告诉我，“只要听到火车经过，村里所有的男孩都会快速跑过苹果园，向路过的美国人问候。而他们会面带微笑、招手致意，并把身上碰巧带着的小礼物扔给我们－纸牌啦、口香糖啦、救急的糖果啦…在我们眼里，他们简直就是来自另一个世界的英雄。”