Painted Turtle
Gretchen Marquette
Summer road the ring around the lake, we drove mostly in silence.
Why aren't I your wife?
You swerved1 around a turtle sunning itself.
I wanted to go back. To hold the hot disc of it and place it in the grass.
We were late for dinner.
One twentieth of a mile an hour, I said. Claws in tar2. You turned the car around.
Traffic from the direction of the turtle, and you saw before I did, the fifty bones of
the carapace,
crushed roman dome3, the surprise of red blood.
I couldn't help crying, couldn't keep anything from harm.
I'm sorry, you said, and let it hurt.
The relief, always, of you in the seat beside me, you'll never know.
Driving that road next winter, you remembered that place in the road. Your turtle. <A hRef=htTps://Www.EuZw.net/MiNifoRm.Html>苏州中小学生作文培训班</a>
During hibernation4, a turtle's heart beats once for every ten minutes.
It cannot voluntarily open its eyes.
1 swerved
v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
She swerved sharply to avoid a cyclist. 她猛地急转弯，以躲开一个骑自行车的人。 The driver has swerved on a sudden to avoid a file of geese. 为了躲避一队鹅，司机突然来个急转弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 tar
n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于
参考例句：
The roof was covered with tar.屋顶涂抹了一层沥青。 We use tar to make roads.我们用沥青铺路。 <a href=https://WWw.EuZw.nEt/miNiform.html>苏州初中作文阅读培训</a>
3 dome
n.圆屋顶，拱顶
参考例句：
The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。 They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。
4 hibernation
n.冬眠
参考例句：
Bears wake up in the spring after a winter of hibernation.熊经过一个冬天的冬眠后在春季苏醒。 The tortoise spends the winter months in hibernation.乌龟在冬眠中度过寒冬季节 。
《Painted Turtle》添加时间：2024-12-14；更新时间：2025-03-09
