雙語 ● Hello, 6-year-old Child 你好，6歲的朋友
Hello, 6-year-old Child 你好，6歲的朋友
◎ Amy Ozols
Seeing as how fate has brought us together here, in the crowded coach section of this expensive airplane, I thought I should introduce myself.
既然命運讓我們在這架豪華飛機上擁擠的二等艙里相遇，我想我有必要介紹一下自己。
My name is Amy, and I’m an adult. I suspect that you’re too young to understand what “adult” means, so let me explain. It means that I’m taller than you, and smarter, and that I get to do lots of awesome things, like smoke cigarettes and ovulate It also means that I like to take naps on airplanes and read my newspaper in silence. These things seem to be very different from the things that you like to do.
我叫艾米，是一個大人。我猜你還小，不明白什么是“大人”，那就讓我解釋一下吧！它的意思就是：我比你高，比你聰明，而且我做了很多可怕的事情，例如抽煙和排卵。當(dāng)然它也意味著我喜歡在飛機上小憩，或者靜靜地看報紙?？礃幼樱阆矚g做的事情和以上這些是大不相同的。
I’ve gleaned from its near-constant utterance by the woman sitting next to you—your mother, I suppose, or perhaps a social worker or a federal prisoner who’s being paid to spend time with you—that your name is Timmy. It’s probably Timothy, actually, but people call you Timmy because it’s cuter. Which is appropriate, Timmy, because you’re very cute, you really are.
我從坐在你身邊的那位婦女——我猜是你的母親，或者也許只是別人花錢雇來陪你玩的社工或聯(lián)邦囚犯——口中得知，你的名字叫蒂米。我不敢確定，也許你的真名叫蒂莫西，只是人們覺得蒂米這個名字更可愛，于是就這樣叫你了吧！這個名字的確很適合你，因為你真的很可愛。
I’m going to drink this cup of coffee—would you like some? I didn’t think so. You’re more of a juice-box man, from what I gather. The way I gather this is by looking at the stain on my ninety-eight-dollar pants, the one you made when you put your juice box there. If I touched your pants, Timmy, I would probably be sent to jail. There are lots of differences between you and me, but that’s one of the big ones: the quality and the seriousness of what happens when we touch other people’s pants.
我要喝咖啡了，你想來一杯嗎？我想你不會喜歡咖啡的。據(jù)我觀察，你最多只喝果汁。那么，我是怎樣得出這個結(jié)論呢？我注意到我那條價值98美金的褲子上有一個污點，那是你把果汁盒放在上面時留下的痕跡。蒂米，如果我碰到你的褲子，我很可能會被關(guān)進監(jiān)獄。你我之間有太多不同，其中一個最大的不同就是：當(dāng)我們碰到其他人的褲子時，我會受到責(zé)罵，而你不會。
You’re not much of a sleeper, are you, Timmy? We’ve just met, but it seems to me like maybe you don’t really enjoy sleeping all that much. In fact, it seems to me that one of your greatest joys in life is wakefulness—and not simply passive wakefulness but the kind of vigorous wakefulness that makes a person like me start to question the very possibility of silence as a condition that can exist in the universe. I can see that I’ve confused you, Timmy, and I apologize; I was only trying to point out that you really seem to enjoy being awake. Let me make it up to you by giving you this modest dose of Ambien. It’s a kind of candy for your soul. Your soul is a kind of mouth that’s inside your brain.
蒂米，你不大喜歡睡覺，是吧？雖然我們剛認(rèn)識，可在我看來，你并不把睡覺當(dāng)作一種享受。事實上，你人生中的最大樂趣之一就是醒著。你醒著，不是消極地，而是精力旺盛地。于是，像我這樣的人便開始質(zhì)疑——在宇宙中生存的條件真的是沉默嗎？蒂米，我知道我讓你困惑了，我向你道歉。我只是想說你真的很享受醒著的每分每秒。讓我為你適當(dāng)?shù)亻_一些安眠藥吧！它就像是為你的心靈準(zhǔn)備的糖果，而你的心靈就是大腦的嘴巴。
Here comes the nice stewardess lady with a bag for collecting people’s garbage. Would you like me to give her some of the garbage that’s strewn all over your seat—and, if we’re being perfectly honest here, Timmy, all over my seat as well? And, while we’re at it, maybe I could give her this talking doll—the one that sings songs, very loud songs, songs of terrifying and ungodly volume, from that animated movie about adventurous insects. It’s not that I don’t love the doll; it’s just that I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for children to carry such things on airplanes. Have you heard of terrorism, Timothy? That’s why it’s illegal for you to have this doll.
迎面走來一位拿著塑料袋的女服務(wù)員，她正在收拾垃圾。你要不要把自己座位上的那些垃圾交給她呢？蒂米，不如我們誠實一點，把我座位上的那些也交給她吧？也許我該把那個會說話的布娃娃——大聲唱著熱門電影昆蟲歷險記里的主題曲，聲音還大得驚人的娃娃——交給她。我這么做只是覺得兒童攜帶這樣的東西上飛機是不合規(guī)定的，并不是因為我不喜歡那個布娃娃。蒂莫西，你聽說過恐怖主義嗎？這就是為什么不允許你把這個布娃娃帶上飛機的原因。
Your whimpering and your dripping facial parts suggest that perhaps this conversation has run its course, so I’ll let you get back to your finger painting, your fidgeting, and your wanton, inexplicable shredding of the in-flight magazine. I’ll be here in my seat, fantasizing about hurtling my childless adult body out of the airplane and into the sky. Enjoy the rest of the flight, Timmy. I’ve really enjoyed sitting next to you. It’s fun to make new friends.
你臉上的淚滴表明，或許這次談話起作用了。所以，我讓你回去繼續(xù)你的手指畫，你的好動，你的任性，你無理取鬧地將飛機內(nèi)的雜志撕毀。我則安坐在我的座位上，幻想著那個幼稚的我能夠在飛機外的天空中奔跑。蒂米，好好享受接下來的旅程吧！很高興能夠坐在你旁邊。結(jié)交新朋友真是一件有趣的事情。
