‘Why did it happen to him?’I asked my mother.‘Why do the best people die?Jake Rosso.My father.’
“为什么这事让他碰上了呢?”我问妈妈,“为什么总是最好的人死呢?杰克·罗索。我爸爸。”
‘I… I don't know, Carol,'my mother said.She was unhappy,too.
“我……我不知道,卡罗尔。”我妈妈说。她也不愉快。
At the time of the plane crash, I was a student at college.I enjoyed the college work and life very much, but after my father's death I stopped doing my work at the college.I began to go out with some new friends.They were different from my other friends,and my mother didn't like them.
飞机失事的时候,我正是个大学学生。我当时很喜欢大学的学习和生活,但我父亲去世后我在大学不学习了。我开始和一些新结识的朋友出去玩。他们和我的其他朋友不一样,而且我妈妈不喜欢他们。
‘ They're bad people,Carol,'she told me.‘They do dangerous things.’
“他们不是正经人,卡罗尔。”她告诉我,“他们在干一些危险的事情。”
‘They're exciting,’I said.‘And I like them.’
“他们令人感到兴奋。”我说,“而且我喜欢他们。”
I knew she was angry but I didn't care. But then I learned my new friends took drugs,and I began to take drugs,too.It was wrong and stupid,I know that now, but I was unhappy and angry.
我知道她生气了,可我不在乎。后来我得知我新结识的朋友们在吸毒,我也开始吸毒了。我现在知道那样做既错又蠢,可那时候我心情郁闷。
The police came to the college to arrest some of the students.They didn't arrest me, but I had to leave the college.It was a bad time.
警察来到大学抓了一些学生。他们没抓我,可我不得不离开那个大学。那段日子可真糟糕。
My mother was very unhappy with me.‘What am I going to do with you,Carol? she said.
我妈妈对我很不高兴。“我拿你可怎么办呢,卡罗尔?”她说。
‘I'm sorry,’I told her.
“对不起,”我告诉她说。
‘We'll go back to England,'she said.‘You can find a college there.Perhaps you can be happier in England.’
“我们回英格兰吧。”她说,“在那儿你可以找所大学上。在英格兰也许你会高兴些。”
‘All right,’I said.‘I want to forget what's happened.I want to forget what I've done and begin a new life, be a new person.’
“好吧。”我说,“我想把过去发生的事忘掉。我想把我所干的事忘掉,开始新生活,成为一个新人。”
A month later, we came back to England.We lived in London,in a hotel.It was strange,at first, with all the red buses and everybody speaking English.It was the beginning of the summer,three months before college began in the autumn.London was full of tourists.
一个月后,我们回到了英格兰。我们住在伦敦,呆在一家饭店里。起初,一切都很新奇:公共汽车是红色的,人人都说英语。时值初夏,离秋季开学还有三个月。伦敦到处都是观光客。
We looked at all the famous buildings—Buckingham Palace,the Tower of London.And we went to restaurants and theatres in the evenings.It was interesting and exciting and I began to forget the bad times in Hong Kong.
我们参观了所有著名的建筑物——白金汉宫、伦敦塔。而且晚上我们去餐馆和剧院。这令人感兴趣、令人激动,我开始忘掉在香港的那些令人难受的时光。
‘I'm pleased we came to London,’I told my mother.
“我真为我们来到了伦敦而高兴,”我对妈妈说。
But after a few weeks,she said,‘You need to find a college,Carol.You must go on studying. And I need a job.’
但是过了几周之后,她说:“你得找所大学上,卡罗尔。你必须继续你的学业。我也需要个工作。”
That evening, we looked in the newspapers.
那天傍晚,我们翻看了一下报纸。
‘What about this?’I said.I showed my mother a job in the newspaper.
“这工作怎么样?”我说。我给妈妈看了看报上登的一条招工的消息。