When my mother discovered that I had hidden her crimson copy of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs beneath my pillow, with hopes of absorbing its meaning, she sat me down and began the laborious process of teaching me to read.
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs 殉道者之书，是一本基督新教殉道者的传记，作者是英国历史学家与新教徒牧师John Foxe (1516-1587)，书中记录了从早期基督教到16世纪的欧洲基督教殉道者 （其中多数是被罗马天主教处决），以及玛丽一世 (Bloody Mary, 1516-1558) 复兴天主教时期，英国新教徒受迫害与传统罗马天主教的信仰弊病。
With great effort we moved through Mother Goose to Dr. Seuss. When I advanced past the need for instruction, I was permitted to join her on our overstuffed sofa, she reading The Shoes of the Fisherman and I The Red Shoes.
Mother Goose 鹅妈妈，是英语童谣中的虚拟作者形象，一般多以 “like a Mother Goose story” 来形容语言的通俗易懂。Dr. Seuss (1904-1991)，美国家喻户晓的儿童文学家与漫画家，作品以通俗易懂的儿童绘本为主，如经典作品 Cat in the Hat (戴帽子的猫)。
The Shoes of the Fisherman，澳洲作家Morris West (1916-1999) 在1963年出版的小说，讲述了一次乌克兰教皇选举过程，及其与国际政治的纠缠。
The Red Shoes 红舞鞋，是著名的安徒生 (1805-1875) 童话 (1845)，讲了一个小女孩被迫穿着红舞鞋不断跳舞的故事（暗黑童话）。
Perhaps I might go off to Africa and offer my services to Albert Schweitzer or, decked in my coonskin cap and powder horn, I might defend the people like Davy Crockett.
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)，法/德国医生和人道主义者，因在中非创立丛林医院，而获得1952年度诺贝尔和平奖。他提出的“Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben” (敬畏生命) 理念，将伦理学的范围由人扩展到所有生命，认为是对所有生命的崇敬构成了人的道德准则，应重每一个生命，尊重个人与世界的的精神关系。
Albert Schweitzer at his hospital in Lambarene, French Equatorial Africa, 1950 (Photo by Three Lions)
I would offer a benediction from the child soldier’s bible, A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson.
A Child’s Garden of Verses，是苏格兰小说家Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) 所著的十九世纪最有影响力的儿童读物之一。
I immersed myself in books and in the design of an encyclopedia that only got as far as the entry for Simón Bolívar. My father introduced me to science fiction and for a time I joined him in investigating UFO activity in the skies over the local square-dance hall, as he continually questioned the source of our existence.
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