February 6， 1939
My sweet girls，
I wish so that you were here with us. The next time we must surely bring you along， so remember to practice your manners and learn to eat all sorts of food. Paris is full of children. There are lots of parks， and every park is full of boys and girls on bicycles and roller skates， or playing football and other games all day long.
Also， I think everybody in Paris has a dog， but none of them are as pretty as Spangle. A beautiful river， the Seine， runs right through the middle of the city， and Mummy and I have already counted 22 bridges that cross it. Don’t you think that you could have fun here？The French children are very polite， as everyone is in France， and I am sure you would enjoy playing with them， so， Linell， you must pay great attention to your French teacher and learn very fast， in order to be able to understand well when you come here. You might teach Isabel some of what you learn， too.
There are many， many interesting things to see here. Paris is a very old city， and today Mummy and I saw a beautiful building， that was started by the Romans more than 1 600 years ago. It is called Cluny. We have also been to the Louvre， a museum now full of the most beautiful paintings and statues， but years ago the kings and queens of France used to live there， until the French people got angry with them and chopped① off their heads.
This afternoon we went to a beautiful cathedral② on an island in the middle of the river. It is called the Cathedral of Notre Dame， which means the cathedral of Our Lady the Virgin. It is more than 900 years old， and so high that you can hardly see the top. The windows are of gorgeous③ stained glass， red and blue and yellow and green and purple， so that they cast light like a rainbow on the walls. A very good king of France who lived 700 years ago and later became Saint Louis was buried there. Tell Delia that we offered a candle to the Virgin Mary for each of you there， and that we are bringing her back a rosary from there also. Mummy and I climbed the tower later. We were very tired when we got to the top， but it was interesting. Some hideous stone gargoyles④ were looking right into our faces， so we looked down at Paris lying at our feet， and it was beautiful. We could see miles of river， and the bridges and the lovely old buildings.
It is warmer here than at home， but sometimes the fog is so thick that even the taxi drivers get lost； last night three of them ran right off the street and into the fountains on the Rond Point on the Champs Elysees， which Boppy can tell you about. It must have been very damp⑤ and uncomfortable for the passengers.
I think you would like the French trains. We rode on one from Le Havre to Paris just like the one that Gaston et Josephine took when they were leaving for America. When the engine whistles it says tweet tweet instead of toot toot， and the porters are very polite.
Yon would like the boat， too. There is a little theatre where there are puppets⑥ shows for children every afternoon， and there is plenty of room to run and play on the decks. Sometimes， when the wind blows hard and the sea is rough， the boat joggles⑦ a little bit， but that is good fun， like being in a swing.
On our trip there was a little girl only 14 years old who is already famous because she plays the violin so beautifully； her name is Guila Bustabo， and she played for us one night， at the gala concert， where everybody gave money to help the old sailors. French sailors have very pink cheeks indeed， and speak very fast， and I don’t think they ever get old really， so I am not sure who got the money.
I must tell you that whenever you walk along the banks of the Seine you see dozens of old men fishing with long， 1ong poles. I don’t think they ever catch anything， but they have a lovely time thinking about what they might catch just supposing there were any fish there. We’ll try it when you come here with us， perhaps we’ll catch the first fish ever to be caught there.
I adore you both， my darlings，
and don’t forget me.
Daddy
① chopv. 砍，劈，斩
② cathedraln. 大教堂
③ gorgeousadj. 灿烂的，华丽的，豪华的
④ gargoylen. ［建］(多为怪兽像的)滴水嘴
⑤ dampadj. 有湿气的，潮湿的
⑥ puppetn. 木偶，玩偶
⑦ jogglev. 轻轻摇动
奥格登·纳什致女儿
我可爱的女儿们：
我真希望你们能同我们一起在这里，下次我们一定把你们也带来，所以你们要记住多学礼貌并学会吃各种类型的食物。巴黎有许多孩子，还有许多公园，而且每个公园整天都有许多男孩子和女孩子在骑自行车、滑旱冰，或者踢足球和玩其它的游戏。
而且我觉得，尽管巴黎的每个人都有一条狗，但没有一条狗像斯潘格那样漂亮。美丽的塞纳河正好从市中心穿过。我和你们的妈妈曾经数过，河上有22座桥。难道你们不觉得你们在这里会感到非常有趣吗？就像每个法国人一样，法国孩子非常有礼貌，我保证你们会非常喜欢与他们一起玩耍；所以，利内尔你必须多留心观察你的法语教师，这样就可以学得更快，以便你来这里后能更好地理解法文，你也可以教伊莎贝尔一些你所学到的东西。
这里有许许多多有趣的东西可看。巴黎是一个非常古老的城市，今天我和你们的妈妈看了一处非常美丽的建筑。它是1600多年前由罗马人开始建造的，它的名字叫克卢尼。我们也去了卢浮宫这个充满最美丽的绘画和雕塑的博物馆，但是许多年以前，法国历代国王和王后曾住在那里，直到法国人民愤怒起义，砍掉了他们的头。
今天下午，我们去了一座美丽的教堂，它坐落在塞纳河中央的一个岛上，教堂名为巴黎圣母院，意思是我们的圣母教堂。它已有900多年的历史，教堂很高，以至于几乎看不到它的顶部。窗户是用彩色玻璃做的，有红色、蓝色、黄色、绿色和紫色，所以玻璃把光投射到墙上就像彩虹一样。有一位非常好的法国皇帝，他生活在700年前，后来成为圣路易，他就埋在那儿。告诉迪莉娅，在那里，我们替你们每个人给圣母玛利亚献了一枝蜡烛，并且我们将从那里给她带回一串念珠。我和妈妈后来爬上了高塔。当我们爬到塔顶时，感到非常累，但却非常有趣。一些可怕的奇形怪状的石刻滴水嘴正对着我们，俯视脚下的巴黎，它十分美丽。我们能看到一段数英里长的河流、河上的桥以及可爱的古老建筑。
这儿比国内暖和一些，但有时浓雾弥漫，就连出租车司机都会迷路。昨晚，三辆出租车开出街道，开进了位于切普斯·艾利瑟斯街的街心喷泉池中，博普会给你们讲这件事。车上的乘客们身上一定是湿漉漉的，很不舒服。
我想你们一定喜欢法国的火车。我们乘火车从哈佛尔到巴黎。那列火车与加斯东和约瑟芬他们去美国时乘坐的火车很相似。引擎发出“吱吱”声而不是“嘟嘟”声，而且服务员们都彬彬有礼。
你们也一定喜欢船。船上有一个小剧院，每天下午给孩子们演木偶剧，而且甲板上有足够的空间让孩子们跑来跑去玩耍。有时候，风刮得很厉害，海浪汹涌，船就会有些摇晃，但这很有趣，就像坐在秋千上。
在我们的旅行中，有一个年仅14岁的小姑娘，她已非常有名气，因为她的小提琴拉得非常好，她的名字叫吉拉·布斯塔波。有一天晚上，在节日音乐会上，她为我们演奏，每个人都出了钱用以帮助那些老水手。法国水手们脸色红润，说话很快，我觉得他们不会变老，真的，所以我无法肯定谁得了那些钱。
我还要告诉你们，无论你们什么时候沿着塞纳河岸走，你都能看见许多老人拿着很长很长的鱼竿钓鱼。我想他们什么也没有钓到，但他们很愉快，因为他们觉得那儿有鱼，那么他们就有希望钓到鱼。等你们来到这儿和我们一起时，我们也去试试。也许我们将捕到在此被人们捕到的第一条鱼。
我爱你们俩，亲爱的，
不要忘记我。
爸爸
1939年2月6日
