吳銓高 英譯中[散文]項鍊

二觉陀

吳銓高 英譯中 [散文]

The Necklace
項鍊
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five.
頭頂搖幌著金色髮捲的, 快樂小女孩, 快要滿五歲了。

Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them,
a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.
她和母親一起, 在百貨公司的付款站等候，她看見
在一個粉紅色的箔箱子裡, 有一串耀目白色的珍珠。

"Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"
"噢! 媽媽! 可以買給我嗎? 求求妳! 媽媽!，求求妳! "

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then
looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.
母親迅速檢查小箱子的背面,
然後回顧那小女孩, 小女孩臉上藍色的眼睛流露著懇求的神情。

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them,
I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save
enough money to buy them for yourself.
Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp
dollar bill from Grandma."
"那串珍珠賣一元九角五分。那幾乎是兩美元。
如果你真的要買，你要做一些額外的家務賺錢。否則, 以你目前的儲蓄,
你沒有足夠的錢買。
僅有一周, 就是你的生日, 也許, 祖母會給你一張全新的鈔票做禮物。"

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies.
珍妮一回家，她就掏空她的小額儲蓄銀行, 並且點算了17便士。

After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. Mc James if she could pick dandelions for ten cents.
晚餐后，她做家務比平常多些, 之後, 她去找鄰居
並且問麥占士太太, 如果她摘除花園的蒲公英, 可否給她一角。

On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill
and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.
在她的生日，祖母真的送給她一張新鈔票做禮物。
最後, 她有足夠的錢買項鍊了。

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up.
珍妮很愛她的珍珠項鍊。項鍊使她有打扮及長大的感覺。

She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed.
她到甚麼地方, 都穿載著珍珠項鍊。主日學，幼稚園，即使上床睡覺。

The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath.
Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.
她脫下珍珠項鍊唯一的時間, 是她去游泳或者洗泡泡浴。
母親說, 如果弄濕了珍珠項鍊，她的頸會被染成綠色。

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed,
he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story.
珍妮有一個非常愛她的爸爸。每天晚上, 當她準備上床睡覺時，
爸爸馬上停止他做的事, 並且上樓, 為她講一個故事。

One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny,
"Do you love me?"
一天晚上,爸爸講完一個故事。他問珍妮，
" 你愛我嗎？ "

"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."
"我愛你 ! 爸爸。
你知道我是愛你的。 "

"Then give me your pearls!"
" 那麼, 將珍珠項鍊給我, 好嗎 ? "

"Oh, daddy, not my pearls.
But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail.
Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very favorite."
"噢，爸爸，你不要我的珍珠項鍊。好不好?
但是, 你可以拿去我的公主，或者是, 那隻有粉紅色尾巴的白馬。
爸爸 ! 你記得嗎？這些都是你送給我的。它們都是我的珍藏。 "

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night."
And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
"好的，寶貝兒，爸爸愛你。
晚安。 "
並且爸爸在她的面頰, 吻一下。

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again,
"Do you love me?"
大約一星期後，講過故事之后，珍妮的爸爸再次問，
"你愛我"嗎？

"Daddy, you know I love you."
"爸爸，你知道我是愛你的。"

"Then give me your pearls."
" 那麼, 將珍珠項鍊給我, 好嗎 ? "

"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll.
The brand new one I got for my birthday.
She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."
"噢，爸爸，你不要我的珍珠項鍊。好不好?
但是, 你可以拿去我的嬰兒玩偶。
我生日時, 得到全新的那個。
嬰兒玩偶很美麗, 你也可以拿去與她相配的黃色毯子。 "

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."
And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.
"好的。睡甜些。上帝保佑你，小寶貝兒。爸爸愛你。 "
並且一如既往，爸爸在她的面頰, 輕輕一吻。

A few nights later when her daddy came in,
Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian style.
過了幾個夜晚，當爸爸進來的時候，
發覺珍妮坐在床上, 像印度人般盤膝打坐。

As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling
and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
當爸爸走近時，他注意到她下巴發抖,
眼淚悄悄地在她的面頰直流。

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"
"珍妮，怎麼啦？ 發生了甚麼事？ "

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy.
珍妮沒有說話，祗是舉起她的小手, 向著她的爸爸。

And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace.
With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy, this is for you."
並且, 當她張開手時，竟是有她的小珍珠項鍊。
她的手有些發抖，她終於說，"爸爸，這是給你的。 "

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with
one hand to take the dime store necklace,
and with the other hand he reached into his pocket
and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls
and gave them to Jenny.
眼淚盈眶，珍妮的爸爸用一只手
拿著那玩具店買來的項鍊，
用另一只手, 伸進他自己的口袋,
並且, 拿出一個藍色天鵝絨的盒子, 裏面有一串真的珍珠項鍊,
送給珍妮。

He had them all the time.
He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff
so he could give her the genuine treasure.
爸爸早就買了這串真的珍珠項鍊。
他袛等待珍妮放棄那玩具店買來的項鍊，
才會給她這串真正的珠寶。

So it is, with our Heavenly Father.
He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives
so that he can give us beautiful treasures.
同樣, 與我們的天父一起。
他等待我們放棄, 在我們的生活中無價值的東西,
之後, 他才會給我們美麗的珠寶。

Isn't God good?
上帝好不好呢？

Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go of?
你是否依舊保留著, 上帝想要你放開的事情呢？

Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities  that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go?
你是否依舊保留著, 有害或不必要的合伙人，關係，習慣和活動,
你向來如此依戀，放棄好像不可能, 是嗎？

Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand
but do believe this one thing .
有時我們很難看見, 在天父另一只手裡的是甚麼，
但是, 只要相信一件事情。

God will never take away something
without giving you something better in its place.
上帝絕不會拿走你的東西,
而沒有給你更好的東西代替。

You can do two things with this story:
用這個故事, 你可以能做兩件事情︰

A. Pass it on and let others be touched by its message;
B. Throw it away and not let it touch your heart.
A.把這個故事傳開去，讓其它人分享感動的情節；
B.把它丟掉, 並且不讓它感動你的心。

The greatest gifts happen when you share love and touch others.
當你和別人分享愛, 一起感動, 這就是你最大的得著。


The Necklace項鍊 [完] [中譯 : 二覺陀]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------