Angel in Disguise
天使也化裝
Back home in Brooklyn we did things differently. You went to the butcher's for meat, the pharmacy for aspirin and the grocery store for food. But when I spent the summer with my grandmother in Warwick, N.Y., she sent me down to the general store with a list. How could I hope to find anything on the packed shelves around me, everything all jumbled together?
在布魯克林的家，我們的做事方式完全不同。你去肉店買肉，去藥房買阿司匹林，去食品雜貨店買食品。但是當我在紐約的沃裡克和奶奶一起度過夏天時，她讓我拿著一張單子去雜貨店買東西。我怎麼可能指望在周圍這些塞得滿滿當當、所有東西都胡亂堆放在一起的貨架上找到任何東西呢？
I walked up to the counter. Behind it was a lady like no one I'd ever seen. Fake-jewel-encrusted glasses teetered on the tip of her nose as she read the paper spread out before her. Her gray hair was piled on her head with a crochet needle stuck in it.
我走到櫃檯前。櫃檯後有一位女士，她跟我以前見過的任何一個人都不一樣。當她看面前攤開的報紙時，掛在她鼻尖上的鑲著假珠寶的眼鏡搖搖欲墜。她灰白的頭髮盤在頭上，上面插了一根鉤針。
Excuse me, I said.
“打擾一下。”我說。
She looked up. "You're that Clements kid," she said. "Your daddy sent you to stay the summer. I'm Miss Bee."
她抬起頭來。“你就是克萊門茨家的那個孩子，”她說，“你爸爸送你來這裡過夏天的吧。我是蜜蜂小姐。”
Bee was a good name for this woman. She spoke so sharply that I felt like I was stung. "I had pneumonia ," I explained. "Daddy thought the country air might be good for me."
對這個女人來說，蜜蜂真是個好名字。她說話那麼刻薄，讓我覺得自己好像被蜇了一樣。“我得了肺炎，”我解釋道，“爸爸覺得鄉下的空氣可能會對我有好處。”
Come closer and let me get a look at you. She pushed her glasses up her nose and said, "I want to be able to describe you to the sheriff if something goes missing from the store.
“走近點兒，讓我仔細瞧瞧你，”她往上推了推鼻子上的眼鏡說，“要是店裡少了什麼東西，但願我能向治安官描述你的樣子。”
I'm not a thief! I was shocked. I was seven years—too young to be a thief!
“我不是小偷！”我很震驚。我才七歲，這麼小怎麼可能做小偷呢！
From what I can see you're not much of anything. But I can tell you've got potential. Then she went back to reading her newspaper.
“光看外表，你一點兒也不像小偷。但是我可以告訴你，你也是有這個潛在可能的。”然後，她就繼續看她的報紙了。
Never had anyone spoken to me like this! I couldn't wait to get out of this strange store and back to my grandma.
從來沒人像這樣對我說話！我真想立刻離開這家奇怪的店鋪，回到奶奶身邊去。
I need to get these, I said, holding up my list.
“我要買這些東西。”我舉起購物清單說。
So? Miss Bee did not look up from her paper. "Go get them."
“那麼？”蜜蜂小姐看著報紙，頭也沒抬地說，“就去找吧！”
But ... but, I said. Didn't this woman understand my problem? "There's so much stuff in here."
“可是……可是。”我說。這個女人難道不知道我的難處？“這兒東西這麼多。”
Miss Bee pointed to a sign on the door, "That's why they call it a general store, kid. It's the only one in five miles as the crow flies , so you'd best get used to things. There's no one here except you and me and I'm not your servant, so I suggest you get yourself a basket from that pile over there and start filling. If you're lucky you'll be home by sundown."
蜜蜂小姐指了指門上的一個牌子。“小屁孩，那正是他們管這兒叫雜貨店的原因。我這兒是方圓五英里內唯一的雜貨店，所以你最好習慣這一切。這兒除了你和我之外沒有別人，而我不是你的僕人，所以我建議你自己從那邊那堆東西上拿個籃子，開始裝你要買的東西。運氣好的話，太陽下山之前你能到家。”
Sundown was five hours away. I wasn't sure I would make it.
還有五個小時太陽才下山，但我不確定自己能搞定。
I started at the nearest shelf and scanned it for the first item on my fist:pork and beans . It took me three wall-to-wall searches before I found a can nestled between boxes of cereal and bread, on top of some soup cans. Next up was toilet paper. That was a real hunt. I found it under the daily newspaper. Band-Aids—where had I seen them? Oh, yes, next to the face cream. The store was a puzzle, but it held some surprises too. I found a new Superman comic tucked behind the peanut butter.
我從最近的貨架開始找起，搜尋我單子上的第一樣東西：黃豆豬肉罐頭。我地毯式搜尋了三遍，才在一堆湯罐頭上面的一些盒裝穀類食品和麵包之間找到一罐。下一個要找的是衛生紙。那可真讓我一頓好找，我是在一份日報下面找到的。創可貼——我在哪兒見過來著？噢，是的，在面霜旁邊。這家雜貨店就像個迷宮，但也藏著一些驚喜：我發現了塞在花生醬後面的一本新的《超人》連環漫畫。
An hour later I had found everything on the list, except for one thing—bicarbonate of soda . I understood soda, but what was the B word? I would have to ask Miss Bee. I screwed up my courage and approached the counter.
一小時後，我把購物清單上的所有東西都找全了，唯獨缺一樣——小蘇打。我知道蘇打，但那個B打頭的單詞是什麼呢？我只能去問蜜蜂小姐了。我鼓起勇氣，走到了櫃檯前。
I can't read this, I said, pointing to the strange word I had been struggling with.
“我看不懂這個。”我指著那個自己猜了好久的陌生單詞說。
Miss Bee wouldn't even look at it. "Well, Miss Potential," she said, "it seems you don't listen real good. If you did, you'd remember the items. I'm sure your grandma told you as she wrote them down. Just like you'd remember me telling you I'm not your servant. Next time you should listen better to both of us."
蜜蜂小姐甚至瞧都沒瞧那個詞。“噢，‘潛在可能’小姐，”她說，“看來你沒有認真聽。你要是認真聽了，就會記得這些東西。我確信你奶奶在寫單子的時候肯定告訴過你，正如你該記得我告訴過你我不是你的僕人一樣。下一次你應該更認真地聽我們倆說話。”
Miss Bee had stung me again! I stared in amazement and indignation as she tallied everything else up and put my purchases into a brown paper bag.
蜜蜂小姐又一次拿話蜇了我！我又驚又氣地瞪著她清點我買的其他每一樣東西，並將它們放進一個棕色紙袋裡。
That Miss Bee is without a doubt the meanest woman I've ever met. Probably the meanest I'll meet in my whole life! I announced when I got home.
“那個蜜蜂小姐毫無疑問是我見過的最可惡的女人，或許她將是我這一生遇到的最可惡的人！”當我回到家裡的時候，我這樣宣稱。
Grandma just laughed and shook her head. "She's a character," she agreed. "But she's not so bad."
奶奶只是笑著搖了搖頭。“她是個怪人，”她贊同道，“不過，她沒那麼壞。”
Not so bad? Grandma didn't know the half of it —I never wanted to return to the general store again. Unfortunately, Grandma had other ideas.
沒那麼壞？奶奶根本就不瞭解實情，我再也不願去雜貨店。不幸的是，奶奶另有想法。
I visited Miss Bee a couple of times a week that summer. Sometimes she shortchanged me. Other times she overcharged. Or sold me an old newspaper instead of one that was current.
那個夏天，我每週都要去蜜蜂小姐那裡跑上幾趟。有時候，她少找錢給我。有時候，她多收我錢。或者她賣給我舊報紙，冒充新報紙。
Going to the store was more like going into battle. I left my grandma's house armed with my list—memorized to the letter —and the prices in my head and marched into Miss Bee's like General Patton marching into North Africa. "That can of beans is only twenty-nine cents!" I corrected her one afternoon. I had watched the numbers change on the cash register closely, and Miss Bee had added 35 cents. She didn't seem embarrassed that I had caught her overcharging. She just looked at me over her glasses and fixed the price.
去雜貨店買東西更像是去打仗。我離開奶奶家時用購物清單武裝自己——一字不落地記住每樣東西和它的價格，然後就像巴頓將軍挺進北非一樣昂首闊步地走進蜜蜂小姐的雜貨店。“那罐豆子只要29美分！”一天下午，我糾正她道。我剛才緊盯著收銀機上的數字變化，發現蜜蜂小姐輸入的是35美分。她多收我錢被我抓了個正著，卻似乎毫無愧色。她只是從眼鏡上方瞟了我一眼，然後改正了價格。
Not that she ever let me declare victory. All summer long she found ways to trip me up . No sooner had I learned how to pronounce bicarbonate of soda and memorized its location on the shelf, than Miss Bee rearranged the shelves and made me hunt for it all over again.
她從不讓我佔上風。整個夏天，她都找各種辦法來刁難我。我剛一學會如何拼讀小蘇打，並且記住它在貨架上的位置，蜜蜂小姐就重新擺了貨架，讓我又一頓好找。
By summer's end the shopping trip that had once taken me an hour was done in 15 minutes. The morning I was to return to Brooklyn I stopped in to get a packet of chewing gum. Miss Bee rang up the gum, then poked me with one of her chubby fingers. "All right, Miss Potential," she said, "what did you learn this summer?"
夏天結束的時候，原本要花一小時的購物我只用15分鐘就完成了。在即將返回布魯克林的那個清晨，我順道去雜貨店買了包口香糖。蜜蜂小姐收完口香糖的錢後，就用她胖胖的手指戳我。“好了，‘潛在可能’小姐，”她說，“這個夏天，你學到了什麼？”
I pressed my lips together. That you're a meany ! The thought popped into my head, where it stayed. There was nothing I learned this summer that Miss Bee wanted to hear!
我雙唇緊閉。學到了你是個刻薄鬼！這個想法跳入我的腦海，印在了那兒。這個夏天，我沒有學到蜜蜂小姐想聽到的任何東西！
To my amazement, Miss Bee laughed. "I know what you think of me," she said. "Well, I don't care. Each of us is put on this earth for a reason. Some people will find cures for diseases; others will climb mountains. I believe my job is to teach every child I meet ten life lessons to help him or her. Think what you will, Miss Potential, but when you get older you'll be glad our paths crossed!"
令我驚訝的是，蜜蜂小姐笑了。“我知道你是怎麼看我的，”她說，“噢，我不介意。我們每個人來到世上都是有原因的。一些人會找到治病的良方，一些人會爬山。我相信我的工作是教我遇到的每個孩子對他/她有用的十條人生法則。想想你會做什麼，‘潛在可能’小 姐。不過等你長大些，你就會很高興我們曾經相遇！”
Glad I met Miss Bee? Ha! The idea was absurd. And I continued to think so for many years, until one day my daughter came to me with homework troubles.
我為遇到蜜蜂小姐而高興？哈！這個想法真荒謬。此後多年，我一直是這麼認為的，直到有一天，我的女兒在做家庭作業遇到困難時來找我。
It's too hard, she said. "Could you finish my math problems for me?"
“作業太難了，”她說，“你能幫我做數學題嗎？”
If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself? I said.
“如果我幫你做，你怎麼能學會自己做呢？”我說。
I saw myself back at that general store where I had learned the hard way to tally up my bill along with the cashier. Had I ever been overcharged since?
我彷彿又看見自己回到那個雜貨店，站在收銀機前辛苦地學會計算我的賬單。在那以後，我有被別人多收過錢嗎？
As my daughter went back to her homework, I wondered: "Had Miss Bee really taught me something all those years ago? Could anyone really learn from a mean old lady who made life so miserable?"
當女兒回去自己做作業的時候，我想：“多年以前，蜜蜂小姐真的教我東西了嗎？真的有人能從一個讓生活變得那麼痛苦的可惡老太婆那兒學到東西嗎？”
I teach each child I meet ten life lessons, Miss Bee had said. As my daughter went off grumbling , I took out a scrap of paper and wrote down 10 things I had indeed learned from my encounters with Miss Bee.
“我教我遇到的每個孩子十條人生法則。”蜜蜂小姐說過。當女兒嘟嘟囔囔地走開時，我拿出一張紙片，寫下我從我和蜜蜂小姐的相遇中確實學到的十樣東西。
Yes, I had to admit it. It looked like Miss Bee really had done a great job on me that summer. Sure enough, I had learned 10 life lessons from Miss Bee and they are:
是的，我必須承認。看起來，那年夏天蜜蜂小姐真的在我身上下了番工夫。我的的確確從蜜蜂小姐那兒學到了十條人生法則，它們是：
1.Listen well.
·1.認真聽。
2.Never assume-things aren't always the same as they were yesterday.
·2.絕不要假設——事情並不總是和昨天的一樣。
3.Life is full of surprises.
·3.生活充滿了驚喜。
4.Speak up and ask questions.
·4.有話就說出來，有問題就問。
5.Don't expect to be bailed out of a predicament .
·5.不要期望別人將你拉出困境。
6.Everyone isn't as honest as I try to be.
·6.並不是每個人都像我努力要做到的那樣誠實。
7.Don't be so quick to judge other people.
·7.別那麼快對別人下判斷。
8.Try my best, even when the task seems beyond me.
·8.儘量去做，即使任務似乎超出了自己的能力範圍。
9.Double-check everything.
·9.做每一件事都要複查。
10.The best teachers aren't only in school.
·10.最好的老師並不只在學校裡。
Make that 11: I also learned that sometimes the angels God send will be decidedly unangelic!
再加上第11條：我還學到，有時上帝派來的天使就是不像天使。
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