"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 and 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.
"但如果我又把胳膊摔斷了怎麼辦?"我5歲的女兒問我,雙唇顫抖著.我跪著抓緊她的自行車,直視著她的眼睛.我很清楚她有多想學會騎車.多少次她的朋友們騎著車經過我們家時,她都感到自己受到了冷落.可自從上次她從自行車上摔下來,摔斷了胳膊,她就害怕騎車了.
"Oh honey," I said. "I don't think you'll break another arm."
"噢,親愛的."我說,"我相信你不會把另一隻胳膊給摔斷的."
"But I could, couldn't I?"
"但是有可能會,不是嗎?"
"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.
"是的,"我承認道,此時我真的不知道自己怎麼說才好.每逢遇到這種情況,我都很希望有個人能來幫我,幫我找到合適的話語來幫小女兒解決難題.可是經過一場不幸的婚姻和痛苦的離婚之後,我寧願當個單身母親,再苦都無所謂,並且我還態度堅決地告訴每個要給我介紹對象的人,說我決定單身下去.
"I don't think I want to ride," she said and got off her bike.
"我覺得我不想再騎車了."她說著便下了自行車.
We walked away and sat down beside a tree.
我們走到一棵樹旁坐下來.
"Don't you want to ride with your friends?" I asked.
"難道你不想和你的朋友們一起騎車嗎?"我問道.
"And I thought you were hoping to start riding your bike to school next year." I added.
"而且我原以為你希望明年可以自己騎著車去上學呢."我補充到.
"I was," she said, her voice almost a quiver.
"我確實希望能這樣."她聲音有點顫.
"You know, honey," 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?"
"知道嗎,寶貝."我說,"很多要做的事情都是有風險的.汽車失事也會折斷胳膊,那你會為此而一坐車就害怕嗎?跳繩、做體操都有可能折斷胳膊,你就想不跳繩、不練體操了嗎?"
"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's go!"
"不!"她說.然後她毅然地站起,同意再試試.我扶著車尾,直到她鼓起勇氣說："出發吧!"
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.
這一個下午,我都在公園裡看著一個非常勇敢的小女孩克服恐懼,我祝賀自己成了可以依靠自己的單身家長.
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.
我們推著自行車順著人行道往家走時,她問起昨天晚上無意中聽到的我和我媽媽的談話.
"Why were you and grandma arguing last night?"
"昨天晚上您為什麼和姥姥爭吵?"
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.
總有很多人想安排我去相親,而我媽媽就是這眾多人中的一個.我多次拒絕她為我選的白馬王子.她總覺得史蒂文適合我.
"It's nothing," I told her.
"沒什麼事."我告訴她.
She shrugged. "Grandma said she just wanted you to find someone to love."
她聳聳肩,"姥姥說她只不過想讓你找個人來愛."
"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.
"姥姥想要的就是找個人再次傷我的心."我厲聲說道,因為媽媽跟我的女兒說這樣的事而生氣.
"But Mom."
"可媽媽."
"You're too young to understand." I told her.
"你太小了,不會懂的."我對她說.
She was quiet for the next few minutes. Then she looked up and in a small voice gave me something to think about.
接下來好幾分鐘她都很安靜.然後她抬起頭來,小聲地說了句令我深思的話.
"So I guess love isn't like a broken arm."
"那麼我猜愛情和斷胳膊就不是一回事了."
We walked the rest of the way in silence. I let go and agreed to meet Steve.
我默默地走完了剩下的路.我最終妥協了,同意去見史蒂文.
Steve was the man for me. We married less than a year later. It turned out mother and my daughter were right.
事實證明,史蒂文正是我的那位白馬王子,不到一年我們便結了婚.結果證明,媽媽和女兒的話是對的.
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