雙語 ● The Little Girl Who Dared to Wish　許愿的小女孩

The Little Girl Who Dared to Wish　許愿的小女孩

◎ Alan D. Shultz

As Amy Hagadorn rounded the corner across the hall from her classroom, she collided with a tall boy from the fifth grade running in the opposite direction.

在艾米繞過她教室對面的走廊的拐角時，她迎面撞到了一個五年級的高個男孩。

“Watch it, squirt.” The boy yelled as he dodged around the little third-grader. Then, with a smirk on his face, the boy took hold of his right leg and mimicked the way Amy limped when she walked.

“看路，小個子?！蹦悄泻⒃诒荛_這個三年級的學生時大叫道，然后，臉上帶著厭惡的笑容，把手按在右腿上，模仿著艾米走路一瘸一拐的樣子。

Amy closed her eyes. Ignore him, she told herself as she headed for her classroom.

艾米閉上了眼睛?！安焕頃！彼诜祷亟淌視r對自己說。

But at the end of the day, Amy was still thinking about the tall boy’s mean teasing. It wasn’t as if her were the only one. It seemed that ever since Amy started the third grade, someone teased her every single day. Kids teased her about her speech or her limping. Amy was tired of it. Sometimes, even in a classroom full of other students, the teasing made her feel all alone.

但是在那天結束時，艾米仍然想著那個高個子男孩的嘲笑。他并不是唯一一個做出這種事的人。好像自從艾米上三年級以后，每天都有人嘲笑她。孩子們嘲笑她的講話或是她的跛行。艾米受夠了這些。有時，即使在坐滿了學生的教室里，別人的嘲笑也會使她感到孤單無助。

Back home at the dinner table that evening, Amy was quiet. Her mother knew that things were not going well at school. That’s why Patti Hagadorn was happy to have some exciting news to share with her daughter.

那晚，回到家里，艾米坐在餐桌旁沉默不語。她的母親知道肯定是在學校里遇到不順心的事了。所以，派蒂決定告訴她女兒一些激動人心的消息。

“There’s a Christmas wish contest on the radio station,” Amy’s mom announced. “Write a letter to Santa, and you might win a prize. I think someone at this table with blonde curly hair should enter.”

“電臺里有一個圣誕節(jié)愿望競賽的節(jié)目，”艾米的母親告訴她。“給圣誕老人寫封信，或許你就能得到獎品。我想，坐在餐桌旁的某個金發(fā)卷毛的人應該參加?！?

Amy giggled. The contest sounded like fun. She started thinking about what she wanted most for Christmas.

艾米咯咯地笑了。這個競賽聽起來很有趣。她開始思考她最想要的圣誕節(jié)禮物。

A smile took hold of Amy when the idea first came to her. Out came pencil and paper, and Amy went to work on her letter. “Dear Santa Claus,” she began.

當艾米第一次想起這個主意時，她的臉上掛滿了微笑。她拿出鉛筆和紙，然后開始寫信?！坝H愛的圣誕老人，”她寫下開頭。

While Amy worked away at her best printing, the rest of the family tried to guess what she might ask from Santa. Amy’s sister, Jamie, and Amy’s mom both thought a three-foot Barbie doll would top Amy’s wish list. Amy’s dad guessed a picture book. But Amy wasn’t ready to reveal her secret Christmas wish just then. Here is Amy’s letter to Santa, just as she wrote it that night:

當艾米正起勁地寫作文時，家里的其他人試圖猜測她可能向圣誕老人要求什么。艾米的姐姐，杰米，和艾米的媽媽都認為3英尺大的芭比娃娃是艾米最想要的東西。艾米的爸爸認為是一本圖畫書。但是艾米當時還不想告訴他們她的秘密圣誕節(jié)愿望。以下就是艾米寫給圣誕老人的信，就是她在那晚寫的：

Dear Santa Claus,

親愛的圣誕老人：

My name is Amy. I am nine years old. I have a problem at school. Can you help me Santa? Kids laugh at me because of the way I walk and run and talk. I have cerebral palsy. I just want one day where no one laughs at me or makes fun of me.

我的名字叫艾米。我9歲了。我在學校有一個麻煩。你能幫我嗎，圣誕老人？孩子們嘲笑我走路、跑步和講話的方式。我患有腦癱。我只想擁有一天，一個沒人笑話我、取笑我的一天。

Love, Amy

愛你的，艾米

At radio station WJLT in Fort Wayne, Indiana, letter poured in for the Christmas wish contest. The workers had fun reading about all the different presents that boys and girls from across the city wanted for Christmas.

在印地安那州的韋恩堡WJLT廣播電臺，參加圣誕節(jié)愿望競賽的信件蜂擁而至。工作人員開心地讀著來自全市的男孩女孩寄來的各種各樣的圣誕節(jié)禮物信件。

When Amy’s letter arrived at the radio station, manager Lee Tobin read it carefully. He knew cerebral palsy was a muscle disorder that might confuse the schoolmates of Amy’s who didn’t understand her disability. He thought it would be good for the people in Fort Wayne to hear about this special third-grader and her unusual wish. Mr. Tobin called up the local newspaper.

當艾米的信到達電臺時，經(jīng)理李·托賓仔細地閱讀了內(nèi)容。他知道腦癱是一種肌肉紊亂的病癥，所以可能艾米的同學從外表看不出她有殘疾。他認為讓韋恩堡的市民聽到這位特別的三年級的故事以及她非一般的愿望是件好事。托賓先生給當?shù)貓蠹埓蛄穗娫挕?

The next day, a picture of Amy and her letter to Santa made the front page of the News Sentinel. The story spread quickly. All across the country, newspapers and radio and television stations reported the story of the little girl in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who asked for such a simple yet remarkable Christmas gift—just one day without teasing.

第二天，艾米的照片和她寫給圣誕老人的信登上了《新聞前哨》的首頁。故事迅速傳開了。全國的報紙、廣播和電視臺都報道了這個印地安那州韋恩堡的小女孩的故事，她要求的只是這樣一個簡單卻值得注意的圣誕節(jié)禮物——只是沒有取笑的一天。

Suddenly the postman was a regular at the Hagadorn house. Envelopes of all sizes addressed to Amy arrived daily from children and adults all across the nation. They came filled with holiday greetings and words of encouragement.

突然，郵差成了艾米家的常客。每天都有各種型號的信件寄給艾米，來自于全國的小孩和大人們。信里充滿了節(jié)日的問候和鼓勵的話語。

During that unforgettable Christmas season, over two thousand people from all over the world sent Amy letters of friendship and support.

在那個難以忘懷的圣誕節(jié)期間，世界范圍內(nèi)超過兩千人寄給艾米信件以表達友情和支持。

Amy and her family read every single one. Some of the writers had disabilities; some had been teased as children. Each writer had a special message for Amy. Through the cards and letters from strangers, Amy glimpsed a world full of people who truly cared about each other.

艾米和她的家人閱讀了每一封信。有一些來信者也身患殘疾，有一些人在小時候也被嘲笑過。每位來信者都向艾米表達了一種特別的信息。通過來自陌生人的卡片和信件，艾米瞥見了一個充滿了真正的互相關懷的人類社會。

She realized that no amount or form of teasing could ever make her feel lonely again.

她認識到，再多或者再惡毒的嘲笑都不能再使她感到孤單了。

Many people thanked Amy for being brave enough to speak up. Others encouraged her to ignore teasing and to carry her head high. Lynn, a sixth-grader from Texas, sent this message:

很多人都被艾米勇敢地說出心聲而感動。其他人則鼓勵她不去理睬嘲笑，勇敢面對。林恩，一位來自德克薩斯州的六年級生，寄給了她一封信：

“I would like to be your friend,” she wrote, “and if you want to visit me, we could have fun. No one would make fun of us, cause if they do, we will not even hear them.”

“我希望和你交個朋友，”她寫道，“如果你想來看望我，我們可以一起玩。沒人會取笑我們，因為，如果他們?nèi)⌒?，我們聽都不會聽到?！?

Amy did get her wish of a special day without teasing at South Wayne Elementary School. Additionally, everyone at school got another bonus. Teachers and students talked together about how bad teasing can make others feel.

艾米的確實現(xiàn)了她的愿望，在南韋恩堡小學度過了沒有取笑的一天。還有，學校的每個人都學到了額外的東西。教師和學生們一起討論取笑他人會給人帶來多么不好的感覺。

That year the Fort Wayne mayor officially proclaimed December 21 as Amy Jo Hagadorn Day throughout the city. The mayor explained that by daring to make such a simple wish, Amy taught a universal lesson.

那一年，韋恩堡市長正式宣布12月21號作為全市的艾米日。市長解釋說，因為艾米敢于做出這樣一個簡單的許愿，她讓大家都學到了特別的一課。

“Everyone,” said the mayor, “wants and deserves to be treated with respect, dignity and warmth.”

“所有人，”市長說道，“都希望得到并且應該得到尊重、尊嚴和友善?！?

超多雙語閱讀，盡在聽力課堂