That winter my crib overflowed with corn — fat, healthy three-to-a-stalk ears filled with kernels from heel to tip — while my neighbors' fields yielded only brown, empty husks.

那年冬天，我的粮仓里堆满了玉米——饱满结实的玉米每株秆上结三个，每个玉米从底到顶端长满了玉米粒——而我的邻居们地里长出来的只是暗沉干瘪的壳。