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A few weeks later，Old Chong and my mother conspired to have me play in a talent show which would be held in the church hall. By then, my parents had saved up enough to buy me a secondhand piano, a black Wurlitzer spinet with a scarred bench. It was the showpiece of our living room.
幾星期后，老鐘和母親秘密謀劃讓我在即將于教堂大廳舉辦的才藝表演上演奏。那時父母已攢足了錢，給我買了一架二手鋼琴。那是架黑色的烏立茲牌的立式鋼琴，還有一個帶有劃痕的琴凳。鋼琴成了我家起居室的唯一擺設。
For the talent show, I was to play a piece called "Pleading Child" from Schumann's Scenes From Childhood. It was a simple, moody piece that sounded more difficult than it was. I was supposed to memorize the whole thing, playing the repeat parts twice to make the piece sound longer. But I dawdled over it, playing a few bars and then cheating, looking up to see what notes followed. I never really listed to what I was playing. I daydreamed about being somewhere else, about being someone else.
我將演奏從舒曼《童年情景》中選出的《祈求的孩子》。這是一首指法簡單，表達內心憂郁的曲子？聽起來還是像很有難度的。我得把它背下來，重復部分彈兩次，使曲子顯得更長些。磨磨蹭蹭彈了幾小節后我就開始偷懶，不停地抬頭看后邊的部分，而根本沒有真正聽自己彈出的音樂。我遐想自己身在他處，成了另外一個什么人。
The part I liked to practice best was the fancy curtsy: right foot out, touch the rose on the carpet with a pointed foot, sweep to the side, left leg bends , look up, and smile.
我最喜歡練習的部分是花哨的謝幕行禮動作：先出右腳，腳尖點在地毯的玫瑰圖案上，身子側擺，左腿彎曲，抬頭，微笑。
My parents invited all the couples from their the Joy Luck Club to witness my debut. Auntie Lindo and Uncle Tin were there. Waverly and her two older brothers had also come. The first two rows were filled with children both younger and older than I was. The littlest ones got to go first. They recited simple nursery rhymes, squawked out tunes on miniature violins, twirled Hula Hoops, pranced in pink ballet tutus, and when they bowed or curtsied, the audience would sigh in unison, "Awww," and then clap enthusiastically.
父母邀請喜福會的所有夫婦觀看我的首次演奏。琳朵阿姨和提恩叔叔來了，威芙麗和她的兩個哥哥也來了。坐在前兩排的孩子有的比我年齡大，有的比我年齡小。最小的孩子先開始表演。他們背誦簡單的兒歌，隨著微型小提琴曲大呼小叫，轉呼啦圈，身著粉色的芭蕾舞裙亂躍。結束時，他們鞠躬或行屈膝禮，觀眾齊聲贊嘆，“哇”，并致以熱烈的掌聲。
When my turn came, I was very confident. I remember my childish excitement. It was as if I knew, without a doubt, that the prodigy side of me really did exist. I had no fear whatsoever, no nervousness. I remember thinking to myself, This is it! This is it! I looked out over the audience, at my mother's blank face, my father's yawn, Auntie Lindo's stiff-lipped smile, Waverly's sulky expression. I had on a white dress layered with sheets of lace, and a pink bow in my Peter Pan haircut. As I sat down I envisioned people jumping to their feet and Ed Sullivan rushing up to introduce me to everyone on TV.
輪到我了，我很自信。我還記得我幼時的興奮。毫無疑問，我好像覺得自己真有天才的一面。沒有恐慌，也不緊張。我仍記得我對自己說：這就是天才！這就是天才！我抬頭看了看觀眾：母親表情麻木，父親打著哈欠，琳朵阿姨僵硬地微笑著，威芙麗臉色陰沉。我穿了一件有幾層花邊的白色連衣裙，彼得·潘的發型上戴著一個粉色的蝴蝶結。我坐下幻想著全場觀眾會起立，埃德·沙利文會跑上臺向電視觀眾做介紹。
