I was lucky to have a happy childhood, one that most people would want to have. My family lived in a tiny 【小题1】 in Scotland. Our neighbors next door had a son named Danny, and we grew up together.

We 【小题2】 long summer evenings in the forests, digging up worms for fishing, and collecting feathers left by the birds. It was here that I discovered that I was allergic (过敏) to the tiny flies which 【小题3】 me and made my face swell (肿). There were a few walnut trees above the village and we would frighten the squirrels away and wait for them to ripen (成熟). However, the village was too far north for a proper 【小题4】.

Danny was a 【小题5】 boy, and we made things out of branches, which we tried to sell in the village shop. We even 【小题6】 a tree house. Once I lost my footing, fell out and 【小题7】 my foot, so Danny washed my wounds in the river. He was a very 【小题8】 boy for someone so young. My mother 【小题9】 blamed me for tearing my clothes.   

It was the finest 【小题10】 anyone could have, and I’m proud of calling him my friend.

Dear Abby: My friend Mary has recently told me her husband constantly compares her to me. It came up because she asked how I was feeling in my first trimester of pregnancy (妊娠期的 头 三 个 月 ), and I told her that I had been having a tough time keeping up with my 【小题1】 duties.

Instead of sympathizing, she said, “Wow! I’ll have to tell my husband that, because he’s always talking about how clean your house is and how you cook dinner for your family every night.”

I was really hurt that she was taking pleasure in my failures. I also felt uncomfortable that her husband 【小题2】 compared her unfavorably to me. It wasn’t the first time she had mentioned how he talked about me.

I have distanced myself, hoping things would get better, but when I see her, she always complains bitterly that her husband doesn’t treat her well. I’m unsure how to handle this. We’re neighbors and have mutual (共同的) friends. I thought we were friends, but now I get the 【小题3】 that she bears some resentment (怨恨) toward me for something I didn’t cause. Help!

— No Contest in Maryland

Dear No Contest: Unless Mary’s husband stops using you to beat her down, you can forget being friends. A way to handle it would be to talk to her husband and say, “Please stop comparing your wife to me because it has created【小题4】 in our friendship!”

— Abby