The Beauty1 of Difference 差異之美

“It is no longer safe here and you will have a new life in England，” Her parents said to Shirin before they sent her to aunts home. Little Shirin wanted to cry because she did not want to leave them and did not know her cousins at all. Also， she doesnt know what they were saying because they speak Farsi2.

“Im scared，” said Shirin. “How can you be scared？” asked her father. “Arent you the brave3 little girl who was never afraid when the bombs4 blow up in the city？” And Shirins mother said， “Soon your father and I will come to England， you can teach me some new words.” Shirin liked the idea of teaching her mother new words because Shirin thought that her mother was the smartest person in the whole world.

During the long flight to England， little Shirin tried to imagine5 what her new life would be like. “I can do this，” she told herself.

But when she arrived at the airport in London， it was not quite as she had imagined at all. The sky was a terrible grey colour and it was windy and raining. Shirin was very cold because of her sandals6. She felt everybody was looking at her as if she has a big head and three eyes.

The young girl was very disappointed7 in her new home. Shirin wanted to tell her aunt that she was very nervous8 about going to school and she was too tired to get up.

“There are lots of girls at school who like you， little one，” said her aunt. “I am sure you will make lots of friends today.”

In school， they did not want to make friends with the new girl. Because she was different from them and had dark skin and dark eyes. It was during lunch time， a young boy came to her and said， “My name is Stephen. Would you like to share9 some of my milkshake with me？”

Shirin thought that the milkshake looks good and eat some.

“Dont pay any attention10 to the others. Like me， we dont have much money and they always laugh at me because they say I am poor and have dirty clothes，” the boy said.

Shirin laughed because Stephen had a lovely smile.

Soon the two were lost in games. In the corner of the playground， they shared stories. Other children saw and they began to play round and join in with the games and the stories.

“It is okay to be different，” she told herself. Little Shirin was determined11 to make a new life for herself in England and make her parents very happy.

“這兒再也不安全了，你會(huì)在英格蘭開始一段新生活的。”她的父母在準(zhǔn)備送希琳去她舅媽家之前這樣對(duì)她說。小希琳想哭，因?yàn)樗幌腚x開爸爸媽媽，她也完全不認(rèn)識(shí)那些表哥表姐們。而且她也不能理解他們說的話，因?yàn)樗齻冋f的是波斯語。

“我害怕。”希琳說。爸爸安慰道：“你怎么會(huì)害怕呢？你難道不是一個(gè)勇敢的小女孩嗎？我們這座城市里炸彈爆炸時(shí)你都不怕。”媽媽又說：“不久之后，我和你爸爸就會(huì)來英格蘭，到時(shí)候你就能教我一些新詞語了。”希琳很喜歡這個(gè)想法，因?yàn)樗X得媽媽是這個(gè)世界上最聰明的人。

在去英格蘭的漫長(zhǎng)飛行中，小希琳想象著她的新生活會(huì)是什么樣子。她告訴自己：“我能做到的。”

但是當(dāng)她到達(dá)倫敦機(jī)場(chǎng)的時(shí)候，那里和她想象的完全不一樣。天空灰蒙蒙的，刮著風(fēng)還下著雨。希琳穿著涼拖鞋，所以覺得很冷。她感覺每個(gè)人都在看她，就好像她有一個(gè)大頭和三只眼睛一樣。

小女孩對(duì)自己的新家很失望。希琳想告訴舅媽她害怕去學(xué)校，而且她太累了起不來床。

舅媽對(duì)她說：“在學(xué)校里面，有很多像你一樣的女孩，小家伙。我肯定，你今天一定會(huì)交到很多新朋友的。”

在學(xué)校里，他們都不想和這個(gè)女孩交朋友，因?yàn)樗退麄儾灰粯樱つw是黑色的，眼睛也是黑色的。在吃午餐的時(shí)候，一個(gè)小男孩走向她，說道：“我叫史蒂芬，你想要嘗嘗我的奶昔嗎？”

希琳覺得這個(gè)奶昔看著還不錯(cuò)的樣子，就吃了一點(diǎn)。

“不要在意別人的看法。就像我，我們家沒有錢，所以他們就嘲笑我，說我很窮，穿的都是臟衣服。”男孩說。

希琳笑了，因?yàn)槭返俜衣冻隽艘粋€(gè)可愛的微笑。

不久，這兩個(gè)人就沉浸在了游戲之中。在操場(chǎng)的角落里，他們分享著自己的故事。一會(huì)兒，其他孩子也注意到了他們，于是開始聚集過來一起玩，加入了他們的游戲和故事中。

“與眾不同也沒關(guān)系的。”她告訴自己。小希琳決定，要在英格蘭開始一段新生活，她還要讓自己的父母開心。

（英語原文選自：worldstories.org）

【Notes】

1. beauty ?n. 美;美麗;美人;美好的東西

2. Farsi ?n. 波斯語

3. brave ?adj. 勇敢的，無畏的

4. bomb ?n. 炸彈

5. imagine ?v. 想象;猜想

6. sandal ?n. [服裝] 涼鞋;[服裝] 拖鞋

7. disappointed ?adj. 失望的，沮喪的;受挫折的

8. nervous ?adj. 緊張不安的

9. share ?v. 分享，共用;分配;有同樣的感情（或經(jīng)歷）

10. attention ?n. 注意力;關(guān)心

11. determined ?adj. 決定了的;堅(jiān)決的