亡羊補牢,猶未為晚

Papa's jaw dropped when mama told him that sister had cheated on her final exams -- not to succeed but to fail. \"It's unbelievable!\" he said. \"Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!\"

\"Yes， she has，\" said Mama. \"But it's not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team.\"

\"Wanted off the swimming team?\" said Papa. \"She never said anything about that to me.\"

\"Of course she didn't，\" said Mama. \"She was afraid you'd blow your top1. You already had her getting a swimming scholarship2 to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her， being on the team couldn't have been much fun.\"

\"Oh， my Gosh!\" Papa said， clapping a hand to his forehead. \"I've been so stupid! I just thought she'd want to be a champion3 swimmer because she's so good at it.\"

\"It's like anything else， dear，\" said Mama. \"No matter how good at it you are， if it stops being fun， you won't want to do it anymore.\"

Papa put his head in his hands.

\"She must be really mad at me，\" he mumbled. \"Maybe I should say sorry to her.\"

Sister's footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents.

\"Honey，\" said Mama with a smile， \"Your papa and I have decided that there's no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don't want to.\"

Sister's face lit up4 like a Christmas tree. \"Yippee!\" she cried.

\"And，\" added Papa， \"there's no need for any more drills5. I'm sure you'll bring your grades back up all by yourself.\"

Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. \"I'm going to go play cards with Lizzy!\" she said. \"See you later!\"

From the kitchen window， Mama and papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy's house.

\"It's good to see her happy again，\" said Mama.

\"It sure is，\" Papa agreed. \"As for the swimming team， there's always next year.\"

\"If?\" Mama prompted6 him.

\"Oh， right， \" said Papa.\" If she wants to.\"Mama smiled. \"At least you're learning， dear. \"she said. She kissed him.

\"Well， you know what they say，\" Papa said. \"Better late than never.\"

當媽媽告訴爸爸妹妹在最后的測試中作弊的目的——不是為了成功而是失敗的時候，爸爸的下巴差點兒掉了下來。“真是難以置信!”他說。“她總是為她的好成績感到驕傲啊!”

“是的，她是為自己驕傲，”媽媽說。“但這并不是難以置信的。看得出她是多么想要退出游泳隊。”

“要退出游泳隊?”爸爸說。“她從沒對我提過這件事。”

“她當然沒有，”媽媽說。“她怕你會生氣。你已經讓她拿到游泳獎學金好進人大學，還要在奧運會上獲得金牌。你能想象她究竟有多大的壓力嗎?對她來說，在游泳隊里沒有多少樂趣可言。”

“哦，我的天哪!”爸爸說，用手拍了拍自己的腦門兒。“我真是笨啊!我以為她那么擅長游泳，她也一定想成為冠軍的。”

“親愛的，它和別的事情一樣，”媽媽說。“無論你對此多么擅長，如果它不再是一件有樂趣的事，你就不會想要再繼續做下去。”爸爸用手掌捂住了臉。

“她一定很生我的氣，”他嘟噥著。“也許我應該對她說抱歉。”樓梯上傳來了妹妹上樓的聲音。她走進廚房，充滿希望地注視著她的父母。

“親愛的，”媽媽微笑著說，“你爸爸和我認為如果你不想繼續待在游泳隊，我們沒有理由讓你繼續下去。”妹妹的臉像圣誕樹一樣綻放了笑容。“啊呀!”她哭了。

“還有，”爸爸又說道，“不需要再訓練了。我相信你會用自己的成績證明的。”

妹妹奔向爸爸，撲進了他的懷里。她緊緊地擁抱爸爸。“我和黎姿打牌去了!”她說。“再見啊!”

透過廚房的窗子，媽媽和爸爸看到他們的女兒沿著灑滿陽光的路上跑向黎姿的家。

“又看到她這么高興真好，”媽媽說。

“的確是這樣，”爸爸表示同意。“至于游泳隊的事，明年再說吧。”

“如果?”媽媽提示他。

“哦，對了，”爸爸說。“如果她愿意的話。”媽媽笑了。“親愛的，至少你學會了，”她一邊說，一邊吻了爸爸。

“嗯，那句話怎么說的，”爸爸說。“亡羊補牢，猶未為晚。”

注釋

①blow one's top 發脾氣

②scholarship n.獎學金

③champion n.冠軍，奪得錦標者，獲勝者

④light up 點燃

⑤drill n.操練;訓練

⑥prompt vt.激勵，鼓勵，提示