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All Flowers Are Beautiful
所有的花兒都美麗
I grew up in a small town where the elementary school was a ten-minute walk from my house and in an age, not so long ago, when children could go home for lunch and find their mothers waiting.
我在一個小鎮(zhèn)上長大，在那兒，從我家步行到我就讀的小學(xué)只要10分鐘。在那個時代——其實就是不久以前，孩子們可以回家吃午飯，媽媽總在等著。
At the time, I did not consider this a luxury , although today it certainly would be. I took it for granted that mothers were the sandwich-makers, the finger-painting appreciators and the homework monitors. I never questioned that this ambitious, intelligent woman, who had had a career before I was born and would eventually return to a career, would spend almost every lunch hour throughout my elementary school years just with me.
但那時，我并沒意識到這有多奢侈；而今，這肯定是一種奢望。可我當時還以為媽媽就該做三明治，就該鑒賞手指畫，就該檢查家庭作業(yè)。不僅如此，我還從沒覺得有什么不對：這個志向遠大、聰明伶俐的女人，在我出生前曾有一份自己的事業(yè)，有朝一日又將重新投身于自己的事業(yè)，卻在我整個小學(xué)階段，幾乎每天的午餐時間都和我一起度過。
I only knew that when the noon bell rang, I would race breathlessly home. My mother would be standing at the top of the stairs, smiling down at me with a look that suggested I was the only important thing she had on her mind. For this, I am forever grateful.
那時候，我只知道中午放學(xué)的鈴一響，我就會氣喘吁吁朝家里跑去。媽媽總會站在樓梯的上端，笑容滿面地注視著我，分明在告訴我：在她心里，我是惟一重要的。對此，我永遠心存感激。
Some sounds bring it all back: the high-pitched squeal of my mother’s teakettle, the rumble of the washing machine in the basement, the jangle of my dog’s license tags as she bounded down the stairs to greet me. Our time together seemed devoid of the gerrymandered schedules that now pervade my life.
一些聲音總能勾起我對往事的回憶，比如說：媽媽的茶壺燒開水時發(fā)出的又長又尖的高聲鳴叫，地下室里洗衣機發(fā)出的隆隆轟鳴聲以及我的小狗歡跳著下樓迎接我時脖子上的小牌發(fā)出的叮當聲。那時可不像現(xiàn)在，如今我的生活完全被各種日程安排所操縱。
One lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had been picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had painstakingly rehearsed my lines with me. But no matter how easily I delivered them at home, as soon as I stepped onstage, every word disappeared from my head.
三年級時的一個午餐時間我將永志難忘。那時候，我在學(xué)校排演的一出話劇中被選中飾演公主。在那幾個星期里，媽媽費心地陪著我一遍又一遍地排練臺詞。但是，無論我在家里把臺詞背得多嫻熟，一上舞臺，那些詞兒就消失得無影無蹤了。
Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator’s part to the play, and asked me to switch roles. Her words, kindly delivered, still stung, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.
最后，老師把我叫到一旁，向我解釋說，她為這出戲?qū)懥艘粋€旁白的角色，要我換成旁白。盡管她說得很委婉，但仍刺痛了我，尤其是當我看到別的女孩取代自己演公主的時候，我心里難受極了。
I didn’t tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day.
那天中午回家吃飯時，我沒把這件事告訴媽媽。
