"But what if I break my arm again?" my five year-old daughter asked, her lower lip trembling. I knelt holding onto her bike and looked her right in the eyes. I knew how much she wanted to learn to ride. How often she felt left out when her friends pedaled by our house. Yet ever since she'd fallen off her bike and broken her arm, she'd been afraid.
“可我要再把胳膊給摔斷了怎么辦?”我五歲的女兒?jiǎn)柕溃南麓筋澏吨?。我跪著抓穩(wěn)了她的自行車(chē)，直視著她的眼睛。我很明白她非常想學(xué)會(huì)騎車(chē)。多少次了，她的朋友們踩車(chē)經(jīng)過(guò)我們家時(shí)，她感到給拋下?？勺詮纳洗嗡龔淖孕熊?chē)上摔下來(lái)，把胳膊給摔斷之后，她對(duì)車(chē)便敬而遠(yuǎn)之。
"Oh honey," I said. "I don't think you'll break another arm."
“噢，親愛(ài)的。”我說(shuō)，“我不認(rèn)為你會(huì)把另一只胳膊給摔斷的。”
"But I could, couldn't I?"
“但有可能，不是嗎?”
"Yes," I admitted, and found myself struggling for the right thing to say. At times like this, I wished I had a partner to turn to. Someone who might help find the right words to make my little girl's problems disappear. But after a disastrous marriage and a painful divorce, I'd welcomed the hardships of being a single parent and had been adamant in telling anyone who tried to fix me up that I was terminally single.
“是的，”我承認(rèn)道，使勁想找出些道理來(lái)說(shuō)。每逢此時(shí)，我便希望自己有人可依靠。一個(gè)可以說(shuō)出正確道理、幫我的小女兒解決難題的人?？山?jīng)過(guò)一場(chǎng)可悲的婚姻和痛苦的離婚后，我傾向于當(dāng)個(gè)單身母親，并且我還態(tài)度堅(jiān)決地告訴每個(gè)要給我介紹對(duì)象的人說(shuō)我要抱定終身不嫁。
"I don't think I want to ride," she said and got off her bike.
“我不想學(xué)了。”她說(shuō)著，下了自行車(chē)。
We walked away and sat down beside a tree.
我們走到一旁，坐在一顆樹(shù)旁。
"Don't you want to ride with your friends?" I asked.
“難道你不想和朋友們一起騎車(chē)嗎?”我問(wèn)。
"And I thought you were hoping to start riding your bike to school next year," I added.
“而且我還以為你希望明年踩著車(chē)回去上學(xué)呢。”我補(bǔ)充道。
"I was," she said, her voice almost a quiver.
“我是希望。”她說(shuō)，聲音有點(diǎn)顫。
"You know, hon," I said. "Most everything you do comes with risks. You could get a broken arm in a car wreck and then be afraid to ever ride in a car again. You could break your arm jumping rope. You could break your arm at gymnastics. Do you want to stop going to gymnastics?"
