My Mother【我的母亲】

My mother is sixty-three years old, and for the last forty year she has been the village doctor. She has a small clinic that she prepares medicine and treats small injuries,

and also sells canned powder milk.

Our house has people in and out at all hours of the day and night.

The villagers always like to come to her clinic to see the doctor and to meet their neighbors, too.

Almost all the villagers come to my mother when their baby is due. My mother is very good at predicting the day the baby will come.

Sometimes my mother will not get enough sleep if the babies come late at night or early in the morning.

There are special rooms for the mother and baby, and usually they stay at the doctor's house about twenty-four hours.

We always like to see the new babies get their first bath because they look so red and small.

All the village people know and trust my mother because she is such a quiet, kind,

and experienced friend of theirs.