【现代大学英语精读】（第一册）第七课 曼德拉的花园(2/5)

英语自学网

上世界著名的黑人解放主义者曼德拉在牢狱度过的生活是如何寻找快乐的呢？在此，曼德拉自传的节选告诉你伟人在困境中与常人截然不同的积极态度
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        Robben Island
       
Almost from the beginning of my sentence on Robben Island, I asked the authorities for permission to start a garden in the courtyard. For years, they refused without offering a reason. But eventually they gave in, and we were able to cut out a small garden on a narrow patch of earth against the far wall.
The soil in the courtyard was dry and rocky. The courtyard had been constructed over a garbage dump, and in order to start my garden, I had to remove a great many rocks to allow the plants room to grow. At the time, some of my comrades joked that I was a miner at heart, for I spent my days in a wasteland and my free time digging in the courtyard.