Drawer of Memories
回忆的抽屉
Angela, her mother began, "let's plan something really special for your 16th birthday. Why I remember my sweet sixteen party ..."
“安杰拉，”妈妈开口说道，“我们一起来为你的16岁生日做些别出心裁的安排吧。我可记得我那次美好的16岁生日宴会，因为……”
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!"
“别说了，妈妈！拜托你别再说了！”安杰拉伤心地喊道，她握紧拳头，硬生生把欲夺眶而出的泪水逼了回去。“我已经说过了，爸爸不在这里，我根本不想庆祝生日！”
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."
“听着，小姑娘。不准用那种语气和我说话，”芭芭拉说，接着语气又转温柔，“我知道你有多想爸爸，我们都很想念他，但他一定也希望你能好好庆祝这个重要的日子。”
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.
“我们哪里会知道他是怎么想的！他已经死了！”安杰拉跑上楼， 砰的一声摔上她卧室的房门，一头扑在床上抽泣起来。
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！为什么偏偏是我的爸爸？为什么就不能是别人的爸爸？比如那个讨厌的萨拉·詹宁斯……不，不，我并不是真那么想的。但为什么是爸爸？为什么他那天非要去上班？他明明知道路况不好，但他不得不去。妈妈本该拦下他的，可她却说不会有事。她骗我！
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."
安杰拉翻过身来，眼泪顺着她点点雀斑的双颊滑落下来。这时门铃响了，楼上传来一阵压低嗓门说话的声音，随后，就听见妈妈大声说道：“安杰拉，桑迪来看你了。”
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.
安杰拉从床上跳了起来。她气愤地擦干眼泪，走下楼去。我可不想让桑迪知道我在哭，她暗自想，她会去学校胡说八道的。
Angela attempted a smile when she saw Sandy. "Hi Sandy. What's up?"
看见桑迪，安杰拉努力挤出一丝笑容。“嗨，桑迪。找我有事吗？”
Hey Angela. I'm going to the mall to shop and maybe see a movie. You want to come? Sandy asked cheerfully.
“嗨，安杰拉。我想去商场买点东西，可能再去看场电影。想一起去吗？”桑迪兴高采烈地问道。
Angela looked down at the floor and answered, "Gee Sandy, that sounds like fun, but Mom wants me to clean up the garage."
安杰拉垂下头，望着地板说：“噢，桑迪，听上去可真不错，不过我妈妈要我打扫一下车库。”
Now Angela, the garage can wait, her mom interjected .
“没关系，安杰拉，打扫车库不着急。”她妈妈插话道。
No, Mom, I have to do it. It's my responsibility. Maybe some other time, Sandy. Have fun, okay?
“不，妈妈，我必须打扫车库。这是我的职责。桑迪，咱们改天再约吧。祝你玩得开心，好吗？”
Angela hurried back up to her room. She sat in her window seat watching her friend leave.
安杰拉快步跑上楼回到自己的房间。她坐在窗边，看着朋友离开。
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?
桑迪怎么会认为我还有兴趣去购物或看电影呢？没人能理解我！ 每个人都希望我能一如既往地生活下去。可爸爸去世才两个月啊，难道其他人都已经把他忘掉了吗？
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.
当芭芭拉准备钻进车里时，她抬头忧伤地看了看安杰拉房间的窗户。安杰拉急忙弯下身躲开妈妈的视线，直到她开车离去。
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.
真不明白为什么她现在还能花心思去美容院，也许她只是想在午餐时给朋友们留下好印象。
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.
安杰拉决定去车库里干点活儿。在那里的每个阴凉角落，她都能感觉到父亲的存在，甚至还能闻到父亲身上淡淡的古龙香水味。工作台上摆了一排鸟舍，其中有一些还没做完。安杰拉决定做好一个，然后把它放到父亲墓边的那棵树上。
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.
她弯腰准备到台下取些油漆，目光却被一件特别的东西吸引住了。安杰拉掀开一块软布，软布下面是一只漂亮的胡桃木首饰匣，镶嵌着玻璃门。她小心翼翼地打开玻璃门，里面露出了四个垫着红色天鹅绒的抽屉。在最下面的那个抽屉里放着一个信封，收信人署名是她，那是爸爸的笔迹。安杰拉捧起信封紧紧贴在脸颊上，然后才打开它。几张小纸片飘落到地板上，但安杰拉没有在意，她迫不及待地读起里面的那封信来。
Dear Angela,
亲爱的安杰拉：
Happy 16th birthday. I wish for you success that will enable you to fill this chest with the rarest of gems .
16岁生日快乐。我衷心地祝你成功，可以在这个首饰匣里装满世上最稀有的宝石。
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.
但无论你在这个匣子中存放了多少宝石，无论这些宝石有多么贵重，它们都没有你的回忆珍贵。所以，请永远留出一个抽屉来储存回忆，它能帮助你走过人生的低谷。我已经在这里放了我最心爱的一些回忆，这些回忆，有的我已与你分享，有的我希望能与你分享，还有的， 我愿独自品尝。
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，你能不断往这个抽屉里添加新的回忆。抽屉里装满回忆， 你将永远富有。
Love, Dad
爱你的爸爸
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.
安杰拉用颤抖的手指打开了每一张小纸片。读着上面印刷整齐的话语，她的脑海里顿时充斥了各种各样的回忆。她听到了，那时正是秋天，她和父亲在山间穿行，落叶踩在脚下噼啪作响；她还听到了，那是夏天的雨水在他们避暑小屋的锡顶上敲打出咚咚的鼓点。她闻到了雪松的气味，那是他们在圣诞节砍来做壁炉架的；她还闻到了鲜花的芬芳，那是春天时和爸爸一起摘来的。她又喝到了山谷里那清冽的溪水，吃到了他们午餐最爱去的那家店里的热狗。有一晚父亲开车带她去野外露营，金色满月下，她看到了冷霜在流泻的清辉中闪闪发光；有一次她和爸爸顺谢南多厄河漂流，谢南多厄河那未经雕琢的野性之美仍历历在目。她可以感觉到山风抚过面颊，当时他们正站在高高的山顶往下眺望。她记起父亲当年背着他的小妹妹，赤着脚，顶着大雪，连夜步行五英里(编注：约八千米)地去上学的故事。每当她满腹牢骚时，爸爸总会给她讲这个故事。
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.
捧着这些纸片，安杰拉感到字里行间都散落着爸爸的音容笑貌。现在她终于意识到，尽管爸爸已不在人世，他还是会一直陪伴在她身边。安杰拉决定，她要往这个抽屉里放入的第一份回忆就是她即将到来的生日。她要把朋友们都约过来，好好庆祝一番，正如她爸爸所希望的那样。
Angela heard her mother's car pull up outside. She clutched the chest tightly and walked into the sunny day to meet her mother.
这时，安杰拉听到妈妈在外面停车的声音。她紧紧握住匣子，走出去迎接妈妈，屋外正是阳光灿烂。
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