本帖最后由 ヮ成熟、羙° 于 2014-2-10 05:00 编辑
爱如断臂
荷叶/译
“但我再摔断手臂怎么办？”我五岁的女儿问道，她的下嘴唇在发抖。我跪下来，扶住她的自行车，看着她的眼睛。我懂得她多想学骑自行车，有多少次当她朋友骑自行车经过我家时，她备感冷落。然而自从她从自行车上摔下来，摔断了手臂后，就一直心有余悸。
“噢，亲爱的，”我说：“我认为你不可能摔断另一条手臂了。”“有可能，难道不是吗？”
“是的，”我承认，努力寻找着合适的字眼。每到这时，我就希望自己有个伴儿可以求助，一个可以帮我找到合适的字眼来帮我小女儿克服困难的人。但经历了灾难性的婚姻和痛苦的分手后，我欣然接受单身母亲所要面对的种种艰难，固执地告诉任何想撮合我的人，我要终身单身。
“我不想骑了。”她说着，下了自行车。
我们走到一棵树旁，坐了下来。
“你不想和朋友们一起骑车了吗？”我问。
“我还以为你想明年骑自行车去上学呢？”我接着说。
“我想。”她说，声音有些颤抖。
“你知道，亲爱的，”我说：“几乎做任何事情都有危险。你可能在车祸中摔断手臂，那你就再不敢坐车了吗？跳绳时可能摔断手臂，做体操时可能摔断手臂，那你就不去健身了吗？”
“不会的，”她说，态度很坚决。随后，她站了起来，同意再试试。我扶着她的车尾，一直到她有足够的勇气说“放手。”
整个下午我都在公园里，看着一个勇敢的小女孩克服了恐惧，同时也祝贺自己成了一个自立的单身母亲。
我们推着自行车，沿人行道回家，一边走着，她问了我一个问题，昨天晚上她偷听了我和母亲的谈话。
“昨天晚上你和外婆吵什么了？”
有许多人一直想撮合我，妈妈是其中一个。我多次拒绝了她给我选定的完美先生。她知道斯蒂夫会和我谈得来的。
“没吵什么。”我告诉女儿。
她耸了耸肩。“外婆让你找个人来爱。”
“外婆是想找一个人再来伤我的心。”我反唇相讥，很生气母亲竟然和我女儿谈这些。
“但是妈妈。”
“你还太年轻，不懂这些。”我说。
她沉默了几分钟，然后抬起头，说了一句令我深思的话。
“那么我猜爱情和断臂不是一回事了。”
我无言以对，我们沉默地走完剩下的路。一到家，我就给母亲挂了一个电话，责备她不该和我女儿谈这些话。然后我做了那天下午所看到的我勇敢的小女儿所做的事，我松口了，答应和斯蒂夫见见面。
斯蒂夫和我很谈得来，处了不到一年，我们结婚了。结果证明我母亲和女儿是正确的。
附：原文 "But what if I break my arm again?" my five year-old daughter asked, her lower lip trembling. I knelt holding onto her bike and looked her right in the eyes.I knew how much she wanted to learn to ride. How often she felt left out when her friends pedaled by our house. Yet ever since she’d fallen off her bike and broken her arm, she’d been afraid. "Oh honey," I said. "I don’t think you’ll break another arm." "ButI could, couldn’t I?” "Yes,”I admitted, and found myself struggling for the right thing to say. At times like this, I wished I had a partner to turn to. Someone who might help find the right words to make my little girl’s problems disappear. But after a disastrous marriage and a painful divorce, I’d welcomed the hardships of being a single parent and had been adamant in telling anyone who tried to fix me up that I was terminally single. "I don’t think I want to ride,” she said and got off her bike. We walked away and sat down beside a tree. "Don’tyou want to ride with your friends?” I asked. "AndI thought you were hoping to start riding your bike to school next year,” Iadded. "I was,” she said, her voice almost a quiver. "You know, hon,” I said. "Most everything you do comes with risks. You could get a broken arm in a car wreck and then be afraid to ever ride in a car again.You could break your arm jumping rope. You could break your arm at gymnastics.Do you want to stop going to gymnastics?” "No,”she said. And with a determined spirit, she stood up and agreed to try again. I held on to the back of her bike until she found the courage to say, "Let’sgo!” I spent the rest of the afternoon at the park watching a very brave little girl overcome a fear, and congratulating myself for being a self-sufficient single parent. As we walked home, pushing the bike as we made our way along the sidewalk, she asked me about a conversation she’d overheard me having with my mother the night before. "Why were you and grandma arguing last night?” My mother was one of the many people who constantly tried to fix me up. How many times had I told her "no" to meeting the Mr. Perfect she picked out for me. She just knew Steve was the man for me. "It’s nothing,” I told her. She shrugged. "Grandma said she just wanted you to find someone to love.” "What grandma wants is for some guy to break my heart again,” I snapped, angry that my mother had said anything about this to my daughter. "But Mom.” "You’re too young to understand,” I told her. She was quiet for the next few minutes. Then she looked up and in a small voice gave me something to think about. "SoI guess love isn’t like a broken arm.” Unable to answer, we walked the rest of the way in silence. When I got home, I called my mother and scolded her for talking about this to my daughter. Then I did what I’d seen my brave little girl do that very afternoon. I let go and agreed to meet Steve. Steve was the man for me. We married less than a year later. It turned out mother and my daughter were right.
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发表于 2014-2-10 04:50:38
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