英文版自傳01
THE CRANBERRIES
IT WAS NOT OFTEN THAT THE HEAD TEACHER AT BALLYBRICKEN PRIMARY SCHOOL STOPPED
CLASSES, SO WHEN HE TAPPED THE BLACKBOARD AND CALLED FOR QUIET THE WHOLE ROOM
LIFTED THEIR HEADS TO SEE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
THE TEACHER LED A SHY, PETITE GIRL TO THE FRONT OF CLASS WHERE SHE CLAMBERED
ON TO A GRAFFITI-COVERED DESK TOP, BRUSHED HERSELF DOWN AND STARTED TO SING.
FROM THAT TINY MOUTH CAME A VOICE OF ANGELIC AND HAUNTING POWER, HEAVY WITH
IRISH BROGUE AND RICH WITH EMOTIONS WAY BEYOND HER YEARS.
THOSE SUCH A PERSUASION SAID THIS EXTRAORDINARY GIFT WAS GOD GIVEN.
For five-year-old Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan such lofty statements were
irrelevant. She just loved to sing, and she did so whenever she could - at
church, at school and at home, where she was the youngest of seven children,
with one other sister and five brothers. She lived in the tiny village of
Ballybricken, eight miles outside Limerick, which was the third largest city
of the glorious Irish Republic, rife with unemployment but bolstered by its
provincial character. Hers was a traditional and strictly religious Catholic
household, and as such the family home was a modest affair, a simple two
bedroom farm cottage filled with the smells of cooking, of the chickens and
goats outside, and of the sounds of children running around. Soaring above
this cacophony was little Dolores' incredible voice, constantly singing.
Dolores' father had been forced out of work through a serious injury some
years before, so her caterer mother was the only bread winner, making it a
Spartan childhood, but nevertheless a happy one.
Dolores' first major trauma came at the age of seven, when her elder
sister accidentally burnt down the family home. Fortunately, such was the
close-knit and communal nature of the rural village that the local people
pooled their spare money and found the O'Riordan family a new and bigger
house within weeks. Once in the new house, Dolores began to develop her own
strong sense of individuality, strengthened by her family environment. Her
mother had a soft spot for the boys, and although she loved the two girls
intensely, as the young Dolores grew up she sometimes resented the apparent
freedom that was given to her male siblings. They would be allowed to go out
late and do all the thing that she wanted to do, a restraint which only served
to bottle up her increasingly wild nature and turn her into a little tearaway.
She wasn't into a little tearaway. She wasn't into dolls, pretty dresses or
the colourful ribbons that were tied into her hair - she was a tomboy,
roughened by the predominantly male environment around her, and especially
encouraged by her eldest brother whose exotic lifestyle of cars and girls
made him something of a tearaway as well - Dolores adored him. Despite her
rebellious streak, she went to church and enjoyed it, singing majestically
and amazing the assembled elders - she won many church awards at this early
age. However, as she grew up and her defiant nature developed, the admiration
turned to consternation, especially when she turned up one day in brightly
coloured odd socks, an act intended to win some respect for her strong
individuality, but one which simply earned her a mighty scolding once back at
home.
At school Dolores was never top of the class, but she enjoyed learning
about Ireland's rich history, and was comfortable with all the lessons being
tught in the native Gaelic tongue. Her academic grades were quite good, but
she preferred the Irish music and jig dancing to study, and even learnt to
play the tin whistle. In her early teens she was given classical piano lessons
and this fueled her growing musical passion, and more importantly gave her the
knowledge to start creating her own compositions - very soon she became known
at school as "the girl who wrote songs". She still hung out mostly with boys,
usually her brothers, principally because there were not that many girls to
befriend in such a small village. It wasn't long before she wrote her first
song, "Calling". about a crush she had developed on a local middle aged man.
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