Drawer of Memories
回憶的抽屜
Angela, her mother began, "let's plan something really special for your 16th birthday. Why I remember my sweet sixteen party ..."
“安傑拉，”媽媽開口說道，“我們一起來為你的16歲生日做些別出心裁的安排吧。我可記得我那次美好的16歲生日宴會，因為……”
Stop it, Mom! Please just stop it! Angela wailed , clenching her fists as she fought back tears. "I've already told you, without Dad here, I don't want to celebrate my birthday!"
“別說了，媽媽！拜託你別再說了！”安傑拉傷心地喊道，她握緊拳頭，硬生生把欲奪眶而出的淚水逼了回去。“我已經說過了，爸爸不在這裡，我根本不想慶祝生日！”
Now look here, young lady. You do not speak to me in that tone of voice, Barbara said. She added softly, "I know how much you miss your dad. We all do, but he'd want you to celebrate this important day."
“聽著，小姑娘。不準用那種語氣和我說話，”芭芭拉說，接著語氣又轉溫柔，“我知道你有多想爸爸，我們都很想念他，但他一定也希望你能好好慶祝這個重要的日子。”
We don't know what he wants! He's dead! After running up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door, Angela threw herself across the bed and sobbed.
“我們哪裡會知道他是怎麼想的！他已經死了！”安傑拉跑上樓， 砰的一聲摔上她臥室的房門，一頭撲在床上抽泣起來。
It's so unfair! Why did it have to be my dad? Why couldn't it have been someone else's dad? Like that horrible Sarah Jennings ... No, no, I don't really mean that. But why Dad? Why did he have to go into work that day anyway? He knew the roads were bad, but he just had to go. Mom should've stopped him, but she said he'd be fine. She lied!
上天太不公平了！為什麼偏偏是我的爸爸？為什麼就不能是別人的爸爸？比如那個討厭的薩拉·詹寧斯……不，不，我並不是真那麼想的。但為什麼是爸爸？為什麼他那天非要去上班？他明明知道路況不好，但他不得不去。媽媽本該攔下他的，可她卻說不會有事。她騙我！
Angela rolled over, and tears slid down her freckled cheeks. The doorbell rang. Muffled voices drifted up, and then her mother called out, "Angela, Sandy's here to see you."
安傑拉翻過身來，眼淚順著她點點雀斑的雙頰滑落下來。這時門鈴響了，樓上傳來一陣壓低嗓門說話的聲音，隨後，就聽見媽媽大聲說道：“安傑拉，桑迪來看你了。”
Angela jumped up. She wiped angrily at her wet eyes before heading downstairs. I don't want Sandy to know I've been crying, she thought. She'll go and blab to everyone at school.
安傑拉從床上跳了起來。她氣憤地擦乾眼淚，走下樓去。我可不想讓桑迪知道我在哭，她暗自想，她會去學校胡說八道的。
Angela attempted a smile when she saw Sandy. "Hi Sandy. What's up?"
看見桑迪，安傑拉努力擠出一絲笑容。“嗨，桑迪。找我有事嗎？”
Hey Angela. I'm going to the mall to shop and maybe see a movie. You want to come? Sandy asked cheerfully.
“嗨，安傑拉。我想去商場買點東西，可能再去看場電影。想一起去嗎？”桑迪興高采烈地問道。
Angela looked down at the floor and answered, "Gee Sandy, that sounds like fun, but Mom wants me to clean up the garage."
安傑拉垂下頭，望著地板說：“噢，桑迪，聽上去可真不錯，不過我媽媽要我打掃一下車庫。”
Now Angela, the garage can wait, her mom interjected .
“沒關係，安傑拉，打掃車庫不著急。”她媽媽插話道。
No, Mom, I have to do it. It's my responsibility. Maybe some other time, Sandy. Have fun, okay?
“不，媽媽，我必須打掃車庫。這是我的職責。桑迪，咱們改天再約吧。祝你玩得開心，好嗎？”
Angela hurried back up to her room. She sat in her window seat watching her friend leave.
安傑拉快步跑上樓回到自己的房間。她坐在窗邊，看著朋友離開。
How could Sandy think I would be interested in shopping or a movie? Nobody understands! Everybody expects me to continue on, business as usual. It's only been two months since Dad died. Has everyone else forgotten him?
桑迪怎麼會認為我還有興趣去購物或看電影呢？沒人能理解我！ 每個人都希望我能一如既往地生活下去。可爸爸去世才兩個月啊，難道其他人都已經把他忘掉了嗎？
As Barbara was getting into her car she sadly looked up at Angela's window. Angela ducked out of sight until her mother was gone.
當芭芭拉準備鑽進車裡時，她抬頭憂傷地看了看安傑拉房間的窗戶。安傑拉急忙彎下身躲開媽媽的視線，直到她開車離去。
I don't know why she even bothers to go to the beauty shop now.Maybe she just wants to impress her friends at lunch.
真不明白為什麼她現在還能花心思去美容院，也許她只是想在午餐時給朋友們留下好印象。
Angela decided to go work in the garage. Her father's presence filled every shadowy corner. She could even catch a faint whiff of his cologne. A row of birdhouses lined the workbench. Some were not yet complete. Angela decided to finish one and place it in the tree next to her father's grave.
安傑拉決定去車庫裡乾點活兒。在那裡的每個陰涼角落，她都能感覺到父親的存在，甚至還能聞到父親身上淡淡的古龍香水味。工作臺上擺了一排鳥舍，其中有一些還沒做完。安傑拉決定做好一個，然後把它放到父親墓邊的那棵樹上。
Bending down to get some paints from under the bench, something unusual caught her eye. Angela pulled a soft cloth off of a beautiful walnut jewelry chest with glass doors. She carefully opened them to reveal four drawers lined in red velvet. In the bottom drawer lay an envelope addressed to her in her father's handwriting. Angela held it to her cheek, then opened it. Several small pieces of paper drifted to the floor, but Angela ignored them, anxious to read the letter inside.
她彎腰準備到臺下取些油漆，目光卻被一件特別的東西吸引住了。安傑拉掀開一塊軟布，軟佈下面是一隻漂亮的胡桃木首飾匣，鑲嵌著玻璃門。她小心翼翼地打開玻璃門，裡面露出了四個墊著紅色天鵝絨的抽屜。在最下面的那個抽屜裡放著一個信封，收信人署名是她，那是爸爸的筆跡。安傑拉捧起信封緊緊貼在臉頰上，然後才打開它。幾張小紙片飄落到地板上，但安傑拉沒有在意，她迫不及待地讀起裡面的那封信來。
Dear Angela,
親愛的安傑拉：
Happy 16th birthday. I wish for you success that will enable you to fill this chest with the rarest of gems .
16歲生日快樂。我衷心地祝你成功，可以在這個首飾匣裡裝滿世上最稀有的寶石。
But no matter how many or how precious the jewels are that you store in this chest, none will be as valuable as memories. So always keep a drawer of memories to help you through the low times. I have put some of my favorite memories in this drawer. Some of them I have shared with you, some of them I would like to share with you, and some memories cannot be shared.
但無論你在這個匣子中存放了多少寶石，無論這些寶石有多麼貴重，它們都沒有你的回憶珍貴。所以，請永遠留出一個抽屜來儲存回憶，它能幫助你走過人生的低谷。我已經在這裡放了我最心愛的一些回憶，這些回憶，有的我已與你分享，有的我希望能與你分享，還有的， 我願獨自品嚐。
I hope you will add to the memories in this drawer. As long as it is full you will always be wealthy.
我希望，你能不斷往這個抽屜裡添加新的回憶。抽屜裡裝滿回憶， 你將永遠富有。
Love, Dad
愛你的爸爸
With shaking fingers, Angela opened each small piece of paper. The neatly printed words overwhelmed her senses with memories. She could hear leaves crackling underfoot as she and her father walked through the mountains in autumn. The sound of rain drumming on their summer cabin's tin roof filled her ears. She could smell the cedar they had gathered for the mantle at Christmas and the flowers they had picked in the spring. She could taste ice-cold water from a mountain stream. She savoured the hotdogs from their favorite lunch spot. She saw frost glittering in the light of a golden harvest moon while her father drove her to a camp. She saw the wild beauty of the Shenandoah River as she and her father floated along.She felt the wind caressing her cheek as they looked down from a mountaintop. She recalled her father's story of walking to school, five miles, barefoot, at night, in the snow, carrying his little sister on his back. It was the story he always used when she complained too much.
安傑拉用顫抖的手指打開了每一張小紙片。讀著上面印刷整齊的話語，她的腦海裡頓時充斥了各種各樣的回憶。她聽到了，那時正是秋天，她和父親在山間穿行，落葉踩在腳下噼啪作響；她還聽到了，那是夏天的雨水在他們避暑小屋的錫頂上敲打出咚咚的鼓點。她聞到了雪松的氣味，那是他們在聖誕節砍來做壁爐架的；她還聞到了鮮花的芬芳，那是春天時和爸爸一起摘來的。她又喝到了山谷裡那清冽的溪水，吃到了他們午餐最愛去的那家店裡的熱狗。有一晚父親開車帶她去野外露營，金色滿月下，她看到了冷霜在流瀉的清輝中閃閃發光；有一次她和爸爸順謝南多厄河漂流，謝南多厄河那未經雕琢的野性之美仍歷歷在目。她可以感覺到山風撫過面頰，當時他們正站在高高的山頂往下眺望。她記起父親當年揹著他的小妹妹，赤著腳，頂著大雪，連夜步行五英里(編注：約八千米)地去上學的故事。每當她滿腹牢騷時，爸爸總會給她講這個故事。
Angela felt her father's presence emanating from the words she held. She now realized that even though he was gone, he would always be with her. Angela decided that the first memory she would add to the drawer would be about her upcoming birthday. She would have her friends over and celebrate, just the way her father would have wanted.
捧著這些紙片，安傑拉感到字裡行間都散落著爸爸的音容笑貌。現在她終於意識到，儘管爸爸已不在人世，他還是會一直陪伴在她身邊。安傑拉決定，她要往這個抽屜裡放入的第一份回憶就是她即將到來的生日。她要把朋友們都約過來，好好慶祝一番，正如她爸爸所希望的那樣。
Angela heard her mother's car pull up outside. She clutched the chest tightly and walked into the sunny day to meet her mother.
這時，安傑拉聽到媽媽在外面停車的聲音。她緊緊握住匣子，走出去迎接媽媽，屋外正是陽光燦爛。
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