Thelightsgoout--anotherpowerfa-考网

Thelights go out--another power failure."Get the candles,"Mom says,and I do.My younger brother and I search every room to collect the tallcandles and holders(烛台)spaced around the house.I hurry from shelf to shelf gathering wax蜡)sticks in my arms and place them in the living room,a few candles in each comer except for a small red votive.That one I keep.Itis the one I will take to the coffee table to use to read.I slide my book,Things Fall Apart,beside the candle holder,

determinedto finish the last three chapters,but lacking determination.So the bookremains closed.A sigh escapes my brother's lips.

"Thisis boring,"he says.A drop of wax falls on my book."I know,"Isay,but really,I am enjoying the stillness.I like to watch the candle bumand feel that life is simple.I like to look out of the window into animmediate darkness unspoiled by unpleasant light.I love these silent moments

when Ifeel as if I can live the way they lived,the people of the past--theEgyptians,the Pilgrims(朝圣者),the Greeks--anyone who ever lived to see the black color I'mseeing,anyone who lived to see a yellow flame and depended on it.I feel atonce with a secret,ancient age.I'm convinced that night,in this disturbedstate,is the closest a person can get to experience the past.

So,whatwas night really like for them?Night,as we know it now,is a pleasant,lovingthing compared to the incomprehensible darkness that covered Earth's firstpeople.Even its beauty seemed unmatched.

What dida farmer's family do at night?Of course,the darkness must have brought them together,forced them into each other's company as it has done to us tonight--developed aclose relationship in a time of fear and uncertainty.A fire probably burntbrightly in a central room where the family gathered to talk and relax.Nightwas a time when men and women were liberated from work and socialized.They hadno computers or TVs,and had to make do with books,religion,and conversation.At their bedside,they prayed to God,and felt a sense of security that theywere out of the darkness and harm's reach.

Nevertheless,to run a risk of going outside was sometimes necessary,and the threat ofrobbers,wolves,even the ethereal(太空精灵),was present.What emotions did thesepeople feel?Did they witness a deep bright blue cloud across heaven?Whatwould it have been like to feel the night,heavy and damp against my back?Wouldit have taken me,choked me with its powerful hands,separated me from otherpeople?Or would those have been awful dreams,and dreams only?

Iimagine a young girl,stepping outside her home and into a desert for some air.A cool,earthy smell would greet her.There's a sky with millions of stars--farmore than a person could see today--and there's the moon.It's the largestobject in the sky,the midnight sun that shines in the world,the traveler'storch.It inspires stories of uncertainty,stories of power.I imagine thisgirl amazed at the moon and stars.If she wanders too far,she needn't worry,for the stars will lead her

backhome.

Bzzz!The lights return.Everyone cheers and abandons the room,happy that theirperiod of being lonely is over,everyone except me.I pull my candle closer,and stare into the night.The glory is gone;it has been made less bright bystreet lamps,electric signs,TVs,and all other manners of artificial light.But in those moments,when every light in every house was off,people may havehad a taste of the old world.They may finally have touched upon the slightfear,the admiration,and there spect that our ancestors felt for the night.

Thewriter makes up the story of a young girl in order to_______.查看材料