Finishingthenumber, heturnedtodaddy.“Carl, '.” Thenhehandedtheviolintome.
Inoticedthetearsindaddy'! .“It'sbeautiful,” Isaid, barelybreathing.
WhenwearrivedbackatAuntAlice's, , 'sprayer, andmine, hadbeenanswered.
, feelingthewarmwoodfitundermychinlikeanextensionofmyself.
WhenIwasreadytojointheschoolorchestra, .
Myheartbeatwildlyatmyfirstpublicperformance, , , .
, Ifoundmyselfinthefirst-violinchair.
Twoyearslater, 'straining, marriage, workinginthehospital, rearingfourdaughtersfilledmyyears.
, andIunpacked-brieflyrememberinghowmuchIstillloveditandpromisingmyselftoplayitsoon.
, onebyone, theymarriedandlefthome...
, Imurmured, “Imustfindmyviolin.”
, , miraculouslystillintact, tightenedthebow, andputrosinonthedryhorsehairs.
', .
, walkedtothephoneanddialedthenumber.
Laterintheday, anoldcarstoppedinmydriveway.Amaninhis30sknockedonthedoor.“I',” hesaid, examiningmyinstrument.“Howmuchareyouasking?”
Anymusicstore, Iknew, , “Sevendollars.”
“Areyousure?” heasked, remindingmesomuchofdaddy.
“Sevendollars,” Irepeated, andthenadded, “IhopeyourlittlegirlwillenjoyitasmuchasIdid.”
, .
Shehuggeditagainsther, -afternoonsun, thenturnedandthrewherarmsaroundhersmilingfather.
求购：小提琴。支付有限。请拨打电话……
我怎么会注意到这个呢？我很少看分类广告。我把报纸放在腿上，闭上眼睛，大萧条时期的事历历在目。那时，我们一家人在农场生活。我很想有一把小提琴，但家里没钱买……
当我的双胞胎姐姐们开始对音乐产生兴趣，哈里特·安开始学习弹外婆的竖式钢琴时，苏珊娜也开始拉父亲的小提琴了，随着两姐妹的不断练习，简单的曲调很快变成了优美的旋律。伴着令人陶醉的乐曲，爸爸低哼着调子，妈妈吹着口哨，就连不到一岁的弟弟也跳起了舞。而我，只是默默地听着。
等我的胳膊足够长时，我试着拉苏珊娜的小提琴。我喜欢硬朗的琴弓拉过琴弦发出的圆润柔美的声音。噢，我多想要一把小提琴啊！但那是不可能的。
