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Francis stayed by his father’s side day and night.
弗朗西斯日夜守在父亲身边。
He couldn’t believe it. His mother had died in a car accident.
他简直不敢相信。他的母亲死于一场车祸。
Wasn’t that enough? Why did his father have to go at such a young age as well?
这还不够吗？为什么他的父亲也要在这么年轻的时候离去呢？
‘Francis,’ he said. ‘After I go, I want you to run the restaurant.
“弗朗西斯，”他说。“我走后，我要你来经营餐厅。
Become The Pancake Man. It’s what your mother would have wanted.’
成为摊煎饼的人。这是你母亲想要看到的。”
Francis felt sick. He didn’t want to run the restaurant.
弗朗西斯很厌倦。他不想经营餐厅。
And he didn’t think his mother would want him to. But this was what connected him to his father.
他觉得他妈妈并不希望他这么做。但这是他和他父亲之间的联系。
If he didn’t do it, he would feel terrible. ‘OK, Dad. I’ll do it.’
如果他不这么做，他会感觉很糟糕。“好的，爸爸。我来经营。”
His dad died in the night, and Francis went to work.
他爸爸那天晚上去世了，弗朗西斯去上班了。
If he worked hard, he would feel less alone. But he quickly saw that there was a problem.
如果他努力工作，就不会感到那么孤单。但他很快发现了一个问题。
He knew how to cook pancakes well, but the giant frying pans were too heavy for him.
他知道怎么做煎饼，但是巨大的煎锅对他来说太重了。
His father had grown strong from all the pancake flipping, but nobody else in the restaurant could do it.
他的父亲因为一直在翻煎饼而越来越强壮，但餐馆里没有其他人能做到这一点。
When Francis tried flipping the giant frying pan, the pancake didn’t even go in the air.
当弗朗西斯试着翻转大煎锅时，煎饼甚至都没有飞起来。
So Francis started lifting weights.
于是弗朗西斯开始举重。
He took the sadness from his father’s death and used it to grow strong.
他从父亲的死中吸取了悲伤，并化悲痛为力量。
He lifted weights for hours every day.
他每天举重好几个小时。
His arms grew until they looked like trees. And then he lifted more weights.
他的手臂长得像树一样。然后他又加大重量。
During this time, Francis couldn’t sleep.
在这段时间里，弗朗西斯无法入睡。
When he wasn’t lifting weights, he was studying for his astrophysics course.
不举重的时候，他就会学习天体物理学课程上的知识。
When he did sleep, he had strange dreams. He was flying through space, and he saw his mother.
睡着时，他会做一些奇怪的梦。梦到他在太空中飞行，看到了他的母亲。
Or was it a star? He flew towards the star, but he never got there, and when he woke up he was crying.
还是说那只是一颗星星？他飞向星星，却从未触及过它，他醒来时哭了。
A few months later, Francis went back to the restaurant. All of the staff came and watched.
几个月后，弗朗西斯又回到了餐馆。所有的工作人员都来观看。
He held the giant frying pan with both hands and waited for the right moment.
他双手捧着大煎锅，等待合适的时机。
Everyone held their breath. Then he flipped the pancake. Francis was too strong.
每个人都屏住了呼吸。然后把煎饼翻转了过来。弗朗西斯非常强大。
He was too sad, too tired. When he flipped the pancake, there was a KABLAM!
他太伤心了，太累了。在他翻煎饼的时候，发出了“砰”的一声！
The pancake flew up and hit the ceiling. But it didn’t stop there.
煎饼飞了起来，撞在天花板上。但它并没有停在天花板上。
It broke through the ceiling and kept going. It broke through the roof!
它冲破了天花板，继续往上飞。它冲破了屋顶！
Everyone ran outside to watch. Francis was still holding the frying pan.
人们都跑到外面去看。弗朗西斯手里还拿着煎锅。
The pancake had flown out of the building and into the air. And it still didn’t stop.
煎饼飞出了大楼，飞到了空中。它仍然没有停止。
It flew higher and higher, until it went through the clouds.
它飞得越来越高，直到穿过云层。
On the news that night, they talked about the pancake. It had flown into space.
那天晚上的新闻里，他们谈到了煎饼。它已经飞到了太空去。
An astronaut saw it, and quickly moved so that it didn’t hit her.
一名宇航员看到了它，并迅速避开，以免跟煎饼撞上。
The pancake kept flying through space, until it was too far away and nobody could see it.
煎饼继续在太空中飞行，直到它飞得很远，没有人能看到了。
Francis watched the news but said nothing. He was alone in his house.
弗朗西斯看了新闻，但什么也没说。他一个人在家里。
His mother’s house. His father’s house. He ate five carrots for dinner and went to bed.
在他妈妈的房子里。在他爸爸的房子里。他晚餐吃了五根胡萝卜就上床睡觉了。
The next morning, Francis knew what to do.
第二天早上，弗朗西斯知道该怎么做了。
He went to the restaurant, took the giant frying pan and went to his father’s grave.
他去了餐馆，拿了一个大煎锅，去了他父亲的坟墓。
He put the frying pan on the grave.
他把煎锅放在坟墓上。
‘Dad, I love you. Every time I eat a pancake, I’ll feel connected to you.
‘爸爸，我爱你。每次吃煎饼，我都觉得和你产生了联系。
But Mum is calling me. She needs me, too.’
可妈妈在召唤我。她也需要我。’
Because Francis knew. He had watched the pancake flying into space.
因为弗朗西斯知道。他看到煎饼飞向了太空。
That was where he had to go. He had to follow his mother’s star.
那是他必须去的地方。他必须追随母亲的梦想。
Francis put some flowers on the grave and then went home. He had some studying to do.
弗朗西斯在坟墓上放了一些花，然后回家了。他还需要做些研究。
THE END
完结
