單腿人生的精彩

by Kresten Ballantyne

翻譯：法比仔

單腿人生的精彩

by Kresten Ballantyne

翻譯：法比仔

It was a hot summer’s day and the air was filled with the1）scent of freshly cut grass. As the2）blue jays3）fluttered their wings through the light breeze， I could hear them4）chirping a melody. I was playing in my5）backyard with some kids. My mom came out with lunch for us， and one of my friends suddenly said， “Hey， your mom is6）handicapped， she only has one leg.”

I never thought my mother was handicapped， and I never really realized that she only had one leg. As my mom served us lunch， I asked， “Mom， are you handicapped and why do you only have one leg？”

My mom put down the food and looked at all of us with a big smile. She was not7）offended. She almost knew the question was coming. She sat down and rested her8）crutch against the picnic table. My friends and I surrounded her as she began to tell her story about the loss of her leg.

1） scent ［sent］ n. 氣味

2） blue jay 冠藍(lán)鴉

3） flutter ［'fl?t?］ v.（鳥(niǎo)）拍翅振翼

4） chirp ［t???p］ v.（鳥(niǎo)）吱吱叫

5） backyard ［b?k'jɑ?d］ n. 后院

6） handicapped ［'h?nd?k?pt］ adj. 殘疾的

7） offended ［?'fend?d］ adj. 生氣的

8） crutch ［kr?t?］ n. 拐杖

She said it all started with a fall. The fall showed that she had cancer. I was not really sure what that cancer was. My mother explained that when she was five， she was playing around with her9）stuffed animals. She was running when she10）tripped over them and hurt her leg. My grandmother took her to the doctors but nothing came back to show that there was a problem. The doctor told my grandmother that there was something11）definitely going on in her leg. However， the hospital in her home town did not have the12）equipment to make a13）diagnosis.

In Boston， the doctors14）ran a15）biopsy test. The doctor in her home town was right， it was bad—she had cancer. They said the cancer was in her16）femur just above her17）knee cap. They would have to do an18）emergency surgery to remove her leg before the cancer19）spread to any of her20）vital organs. The next day， they cut her leg off. My mom said she was only five then and did not really know what was going to happen next. When she woke up from the surgery， she had a long pole for a leg. My mom said she could feel her leg and the pain， but when she touched it， there was just a cold pole.

For over two years， she had to go back and forth to Boston.21）Every other week， she would get something called22）chemotherapy. She explained that this was a drug that killed the good and bad cells， and that made her very sick. The chemotherapy would make her lose all her hair on the top of her head.

As my mom told us the story with my friends all around， all I could think of was that my mom was the strongest person in the world. I tried to imagine her as a little kid and bald without any hair. It was scary， because when I looked at her， she was beautiful to me.

She told us that she got married then and had us six kids. She loved taking us23）hiking in the Yellowstone National Park注. I asked her if she was handicapped， and she said that she never felt that way because she was able to do whatever any other person could. After we ate our lunch， my mom played with us. I watched her lean on her crutch so she could kick the ball with her foot. My mom kicked it so hard that it went flying over the24）fence， and she kicked a25）home run that day.

I watched my mom and I said to myself，none of the other moms come out to play with us. The other boys may see that my mom only has one leg， but to me， she has just what she needs.

9） stuffed animal 填充動(dòng)物玩具

10） trip over 被……絆倒

11） definitely ［'def?n?tl?］ adv. 無(wú)疑

12） equipment ［?'kw?pm?nt］ n. 設(shè)備

13） diagnosis ［,da??g'n?Js?s］ n. 診斷

14） run ［r?n］ v. 進(jìn)行

15） biopsy ［'ba??ps?］ n. 活組織切片檢查

16） femur ［'fi?m?］ n. 大腿骨，腿節(jié)

17） knee cap 膝蓋骨

18） emergency surgery 緊急手術(shù)

19） spread ［spred］ v. 蔓延，擴(kuò)散

20） vital organ 生命器官，重要器官

21） every other 每隔一個(gè)的

22） chemotherapy ［,ki?m?J'θer?p?］ n. 化療

23） hike ［ha?k］ v. 長(zhǎng)途徒步旅行

24） fence ［fens］ n. 柵欄，籬笆

25） home run 全壘打

那是個(gè)炎熱的夏日，空氣中彌漫著剛剛修剪過(guò)的青草的香味。冠藍(lán)鴉在微風(fēng)中揮動(dòng)著翅膀，我能聽(tīng)到它們鳴唱的旋律。我正在后院和一些小孩子玩耍，媽媽為我們端來(lái)了午餐。我的一個(gè)朋友忽然說(shuō)道：“嘿，你媽媽是殘疾的啊，她只有一條腿哦。”

我從不認(rèn)為我的媽媽是殘疾的，我也從來(lái)沒(méi)有真正意識(shí)到她只有一條腿。正當(dāng)我媽媽為我們端上午餐的時(shí)候，我問(wèn)道：“媽媽?zhuān)闶菤埣驳膯幔繛槭裁茨阒挥幸粭l腿呢？”

媽媽放下手中的食物，笑容滿(mǎn)面地看著我們。她并沒(méi)有生氣，仿佛知道遲早會(huì)面對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題。她坐下來(lái)，把拐杖靠在了野餐桌邊上。我和我的小伙伴們圍著她，她便開(kāi)始講述那個(gè)關(guān)于她失去一條腿的故事。

她說(shuō)這一切全都始于一次摔倒，那次摔倒表明她患了癌癥。我實(shí)際上并不清楚什么是癌癥。媽媽解釋說(shuō)，在她五歲那年，有天她正玩著毛絨動(dòng)物玩具，她在亂跑的時(shí)候被它們絆倒摔傷了腿。我的外婆帶她去看醫(yī)生，卻沒(méi)有檢查出任何問(wèn)題。醫(yī)生告訴外婆，媽媽的腿里一定存在著某種毛病。然而，家鄉(xiāng)的醫(yī)院還沒(méi)有設(shè)備能夠診斷出結(jié)果。

在波士頓，醫(yī)生給她做了一個(gè)活組織切片檢查。