我妈和我

按海云要求,把我儿子的文字翻译成中文。感谢文轩给孩子一个机会,替儿子谢谢大家给他的鼓励!


二等奖作品: My Mother and Me (我妈和我)

作者:Lewis Wang

 

My mother informed me about this competition while I was watching a terrific documentary produced by National Geographic called Blackfish. As I paused to listen to my mom half-heartedly, I had a hard time deciding on whether I should write about my mother or my father because I believe they love me equally. Impulsively, I decided to procrastinate a little by continuing to watch the movie.

在我兴致勃勃地看美国国家地理拍的一个叫《黑鱼》的纪录片时,我妈告诉我有这么一个叫《“小红花”爱父母》的征文比赛。我按下暂停键,半心半意地听我妈说话,一时间,我很难决定是写我妈还是我爸,他们爱我的程度,不多不少,一样。既然难以定夺,我决定继续看我的电影,以后再说。

 

After finishing watching the documentary film, I decided to write about my mom.

看完这个纪录片后,我决定写我妈。

 

As it turns out, Blackfish was a powerful little film about the treatment of killer whales in parks such as SeaWorld. Through the testimonials of former employees, we learned that in nature a baby whale never leaves its mother’s side its entire life until the mother dies. However, the corporate leadership of SeaWorld often passes “decrees” demanding the mother and the baby to be separated. By doing this, they can profit from selling the baby whale for millions of dollars. What moved me to write about my mom was the clip of a mother whale producing the most gut- wrenching cry in a desperate attempt to get her precious baby back.

《黑鱼》是部记录虎鲸在像海洋世界这种公园里遭遇的小片子,但却非常震撼人心。影片通过以前在这些公园里工作过的职员的证言,我们得知在大自然里,在妈妈死去之前,年幼的鲸鱼从不离开母亲的左右。 然而,海洋世界的企业高层经常强行要求手下把鲸鱼母子分开,这样,他们可以从卖掉年幼的鲸鱼中谋取百万元以上的暴利。当我看到鲸鱼妈妈发出让人肝肠寸断的凄厉之声,绝望地想把她的宝贝要回来的镜头时,我决定写我妈。

 

            Mother’s love comes in details.

  妈妈的爱都是在琐碎的事情中感受到的。

 

Baby whales enjoy the time being close to their mother.  They play happily with each other despite a few rebellious moments when the baby refuses to perform the correct trick their mother tries to teach. Just like the whales, human mothers have to deal with their own child’s behaviors and have the same interactions. Ever since I was young, my mom has worked hard to find the happy medium between a completely lax parent and a strict tiger mom. She pushes me at every opportunity while still providing me the free time to enjoy the pleasures of life.

小鲸鱼很享受和妈妈在一起的点滴时光。他们快乐地一起嬉戏,偶尔,小鲸鱼会拒绝表演鲸鱼妈妈教它的技巧,表现出不听话、反抗的个性。像鲸鱼一样,人类的妈妈也要经常对付孩子们的逆反行为,和孩子有同样的交流互动。

 

  Our famous president, Abraham Lincoln, once said that, “all that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” I strongly feel that Lincoln’s statement is applicable to everyone from humans to animals like the killer whale. Everyone owes their existence and upbringing to their mother. Mothers often sacrifice a great deal in order to bring up their offspring. I, for one, am not exempt from this phenomenon of motherly love because my mom changed her career from medicinal profession to computer engineering to support me.

我们有名的林肯总统曾经说过:“我之所以成为现在的我,或是期望将来更有作为,这都要归功于我的天使一样的妈妈。” 我深切地感受到林肯的话适用于从人类到像虎鲸一样的所有动物。每一个人,每一个动物,都应该感恩于妈妈带他们到这个世界,把他们抚养成人。妈妈经常为了孩子的成长而做出很多自我牺牲。我当然也不例外,我妈为了支持我的成长放弃了和医学有关的职业而改行做了计算机的工作。

 

My mother tries to incorporate important life lessons in me on a daily basis. From the weekly email about safety in different areas to trying to milk a life lesson from cheesy movies and television shows, she snatches at every opportunity. However, it is often the more subtle efforts that carry the greatest weight. For example, she would require me to write down my weekly experience into a journal. I absolutely hated it because it was boring and time consuming. Nonetheless, she pushed me continually to persevere and taught me to be patient. Efforts paid off.  In fifth grade, one of my essays was given the top score of a five. It was sent to the rest of the state to be used as a standard of excellence.

每时每刻,我妈总想把她认为重要的生活经验教训灌输给我。从每周的各种各样的安全知识到她从她看的俗气电影里“挤出”的生活经验,我妈不放过任何机会。然而,往往是一些细微之处给了我重要的影响。比如,我妈要求我记周记,我对此深恶痛绝!对我来说,写周记非常无聊而且很花时间。我妈不理会我的抱怨,要求我坚持下去,让我要有耐心。努力是有回报的,在我5年级时,我的一篇作文得了满分,被用作我们州里满分标准的作文。

 

I believe that Mark Twain’s quote, “my mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she actually enjoyed it,” is extremely applicable to my own mother. As hard as it is to admit, I do have a few deficiencies. For example, I am notoriously clumsy to the point that if you tried to create a metaphor for me it would be a comparison to a drunken new born calf. I can’t even walk straight down the hallway.  My mom saw me bumped into the wall three times in a short walk from one room to another.  My family has completely lost track of how many dishes and cups I had knocked over. Lots of my mother’s favorite dining pieces have endured the terrible fate of shattering into a scatter of razor sharp shards. I can imagine how frustrated she gets from these fiascos. However, I can tell she enjoys watching my clumsiness to certain extent when I run into things. One time, after my mom dropped me at school, walking towards the school building, I got clothes-lined by a sign in front of my school. Through the closed car door, I can hear my mom laughed. Later, she admitted that she laughed so hard that she cried and her sides hurt. At the time, I would grimace in pain and endure the humiliation, but upon reflecting upon the events I would realize how ridiculous I looked. As my mom would constantly put it: “你的眼睛是不是长脑勺后边了?”

我对马克·吐温的话深有同感。他说:“我给我妈惹了很多麻烦,但我认为她其实乐在其中。” 我觉得这话特别像是在说我妈。承认我确实有一些缺点不是件容易事儿。我是家里有名的笨手笨脚、跌跌撞撞的人,比喻一下的话,我就像一个刚出生的小牛犊,还是喝醉了的那个!在我家的走廊里,我都走不成一条直线。我妈看见我从一个房间走到另一个房间,短短距离撞了三次墙。我在家里打碎的盘盘碗碗已经不计其数,好些我妈特别喜爱的瓷器在我手里成了一堆堆碎片。我绝对想像得到她对此有多痛心疾首同时又无计可施。然而,我也同样知道有时我妈对我东撞西撞乐不可支。有次,我妈开车送我到学校,看我往学校大门走时一头撞到学校的停车标志上。隔着关上的车门,我都能听到我妈哈哈大笑的声音。事后,她承认她笑到眼泪出来、肚子都笑疼了。而我,只好咧着嘴,忍着疼,独自承受周围同学异样的眼光。不过事后我也认识到我当时有多可笑。就像我妈常说的:“你的眼睛是不是长脑勺后边了?”

 

Going back to Abraham Lincoln’s quote, everything I am, will be, and aspire to be are all thanks to the hard work and efforts of my mother. She encourages me to achieve more while always reminding me to be humble with the Chinese proverb: “天外有天山外有山.” My mother is the Adriadne, the woman that helps Theseus through Daedalus’s labyrinth, in my life. She is the Roman roads that serve as the foundation to European cities for me.

回到林肯的话,现在的我,将来的我,我企望成为的我,都感谢我妈的辛苦和努力。我妈鼓励我努力进取,同时也总是用中国的成语“天外有天山外有山”来提醒我要谦虚。在我的生命里,我妈是希腊的Adriadne,那个帮助忒修斯走出代达罗斯迷宫的人。她是引领我的罗马之路,由此,我走向欧洲的各个城市。

 

During a wild Killer whale capture off the coast of Washington state, the whales did everything they could to protect their young from the humans. However, once they were separated by fishing nets, the mothers could easily leave. Instead they opted to stay and beg the captors to release the young. Once the babies were taken away, four mothers gave up on life and drowned themselves. Mothers not only giving life to us, in the extreme situations, they are willing to sacrifice their lives for us.

在一次沿华盛顿州的海岸线围捕野生虎鲸时,成年鲸鱼竭尽所能保护它们的幼鲸免遭人类的伤害。一旦它们被渔网分开,虎鲸妈妈其实可以轻易逃生,然而,它们却留在附近哀求人类放走它们的孩子。等到它们看到自己的宝贝被强行带走,4个鲸鱼妈妈不再留恋生命,自戕而亡。妈妈不仅仅给予我们生命,她们也愿意为我们而牺牲生命。

 

Finally, I would like to point out that I purposely wrote the essay on my mother’s birthday.

最后,我想指出的是我特意在我妈生日这天完成这篇稿子的。

 

Happy birthday mom!

 

妈妈,祝你生日快乐!






春阳 (2014-09-14 02:54:24)

原来是西山家的小少爷呀。哈哈。继承了妈妈的基因,好文。

木桐白云 (2014-09-14 05:44:46)

感情真挚而幽默,也很有理性。

西山 (2014-09-14 12:16:56)

老蜜,这连老妈都鼓励了,小少爷和老妈子一起致谢啦!

西山 (2014-09-14 12:19:35)

木桐,小孩子需要鼓励,希望他能有所进步。谢谢你花时间阅读。最近忙乱七八糟的事,没大有时间看文轩的文章。

飘尘永魂 (2014-09-14 14:09:24)

好美!儿子能用中文写就更美!

海云 (2014-09-14 16:12:34)

西山,评委们看不到小作者的名字,完全是看作品评分。得出名次后,我才看到这是你家公子写的。这么小的年龄就非常有幽默感了,有你的遗传。祝贺!

阿朵 (2014-09-14 22:08:22)

我也是才知道是西山的公子,孩子写的和你翻译的都很到位,祝贺!

海伦 (2014-09-15 01:07:46)

文笔幽默感人,翻译水平也高,应该获奖。祝贺!

心桥 (2014-09-15 06:14:50)

写得太好了。形象,生动,条理清晰,有深度还这么感人,名至所归!我们亚裔孩子在学校里写作能力普遍比不上数理等科目,尤其是男生。祝贺西山培养出写作表达能力这么强的儿子!

予微 (2014-09-15 06:35:38)

唉,一看这文章,就不得不承认这小土豆是这个西山妈妈生长出来的。

这碰碰撞撞的一路走来,碰出这么多的火花。

西山 (2014-09-15 20:26:51)

中文不行啊Cry 看故事书也就是小学二年级水平,何况是写!

西山 (2014-09-15 20:28:02)

谢谢文轩给孩子们这样一个机会!俺家孩子基本上也是没心没肺的。

西山 (2014-09-15 20:29:08)

谢阿朵!你儿子写来美国的那篇,多好啊!我给我儿子看了。很羡慕你四个孩子都教育的很优秀!

林玫phoenix (2014-09-15 20:29:57)

还引经据典,由淺入深,由表及里呢!洋洋洒洒一篇论文就出來了,将来肯定是PHD的料!

西山 (2014-09-15 20:30:01)

谢谢海伦!算是给他鼓励促进一下吧,希望他由此进步。

西山 (2014-09-15 23:25:47)

正在纠正他写作跑题的问题,文轩的这个机会让他能练练笔。我想孩子写作的事情可能是我们家长重视不够,其实不管做什么,写作都很重要。理科、工程的也要写报告,所以应该重视起来。儿子有个华裔同学,写得非常好,从中也让他看到了距离和努力方向。

西山 (2014-09-15 23:29:15)

予微,好久没有时间写大豆和玉米的故事了,所以大豆变土豆啦!Cool 其实,每家的孩子都有乐事,都有烦恼。希望予微也写给我们看。

西山 (2014-09-15 23:30:59)

他喜欢历史,基本看过就记住;其它,基本都忘得干干净净。老师都笑话他糊里糊涂的。PHD?还想不了那么远,先考个大学上吧。

林玫phoenix (2014-09-16 00:29:09)

要想得远一点,孩子從小给灌輸什么概念就能成为什么样的人。我们朋友有一批边边大的孩子,那从小就有目标的,長大后就实现那個目标,我们邻居一小孩,我看着長大的,他爹是英国的PHD,这孩子从小就嚷嚷長大当然要跟爹一样,结果大学就出色,毕业就硕博连读,学计算机的,优秀极了,动手能力特強,大学拿两个奖学金,老師还给找个工作,没用家里一分錢,总结下來,就是小时候大人灌輸的概念。

予微 (2014-09-16 04:10:44)

哈哈,这大豆长得快,还基因特变,“被”土豆了?严重抱歉!

我们的孩子,懒,静(不动),实在没有什么乐事。

温连军 (2014-09-16 15:19:19)

声情并茂,给孩子看看。

Amoy (2014-09-17 11:22:47)

写得真好,祝贺!在台北等飞机,看到美文,赞一个!

渺渺 (2014-09-17 14:32:34)

恭喜“土豆”先生,能写出这么好,这么生动有趣的文章!继承了母亲的优良传统,期待更多更好的作品发表!能有“玉米”的作品看看吗?佩服西山,教育出这么优秀的孩子,我是从微信上看见,然后追踪到文轩来看原文的。

问好西山啊!

西山 (2014-09-21 01:24:02)

谢谢!祝你们在台湾一切顺利!

西山 (2014-09-21 01:26:01)

谢谢渺渺!玉米最近也写了两篇很有意思的作文,我们最近几乎每个周末都在陪孩子踢球,没有什么时间。以后有空,翻译了也贴出来。

西山 (2014-09-21 01:26:44)

您过奖啦!

西山 (2014-09-21 01:27:24)

接受老林的建议,现在就灌输!