A Letter to Mum and Her Mince Pies

胡楊

When I was a little girl， you and I loved decorating2 the living room and tree. We loved Christmas. After decorating， we would bake cakes. “Make enough mince pies， because Santa likes them，” you would tell me， so we would always make more.

當(dāng)我還是個(gè)小女孩的時(shí)候，你和我喜歡裝飾客廳和圣誕樹(shù)。我們喜歡圣誕節(jié)。裝飾好后，我們會(huì)烘焙蛋糕。你會(huì)告訴我：“我們要做足夠多的百果餡餅，因?yàn)槭フQ老人喜歡”，所以我們總是會(huì)做更多百果餡餅。

After all the baking was finished， wed sit and enjoy the celebrations around us until my bedtime.

在所有的烘焙工作完成后，我們會(huì)坐下來(lái)一起享受周圍的慶?；顒?dòng)，直到我該睡覺(jué)了。

Christmas Eve came and you would take me up to bed and tuck3 me in. I was totally excited at the thought of Santa coming. Id get into my neatly made bed and fall asleep until Christmas morning.

圣誕前夜到了，你會(huì)帶我上床睡覺(jué)，幫我蓋好被子。一想到圣誕老人要來(lái)，我就興奮不已。我會(huì)躺在整潔的床上，一直睡到圣誕節(jié)早上。

I feel so surprised when I wake up. At the bottom of my bed would be loads of presents that Santa had brought during the night. I am so delighted to open the presents. Running downstairs， I would discover that Santa hadnt just stopped in the bedroom： There were also lots of presents around the Christmas tree.

當(dāng)我醒來(lái)時(shí)，我感到很驚訝。在我的床底會(huì)放滿圣誕老人晚上送來(lái)的禮物，我很高興地拆開(kāi)這些禮物。下樓時(shí)，我發(fā)現(xiàn)圣誕老人不僅在臥室里送了禮物，圣誕樹(shù)周圍還有很多禮物。

Many years later， the tradition continued and wed bake the mince pies and cakes. The only thing that stopped was the presents at the end of the bed—I grew out of them.

許多年后，這個(gè)傳統(tǒng)延續(xù)了下來(lái)，我們會(huì)烘焙百果餡餅和蛋糕。唯一停下來(lái)的是床尾的禮物——我已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)大了。

One afternoon while baking， we were making extra mince pies as usual when I casually4 said that you really loved them. Then it suddenly hit me that the extra wasnt for Santa. I said， “Those extra mince pies were never for Santa， were they？ They were for you！” You never said a word—a cheeky5 smirk6 was your only reply.

一天下午，我們像往常一樣烘焙著百果餡餅，我漫不經(jīng)心地說(shuō)你真的很喜歡百果餡餅。然后我突然意識(shí)到，額外的百果餡餅不是給圣誕老人的。我說(shuō)：“那些多的百果餡餅從來(lái)就不是給圣誕老人吃的，是嗎？是為你準(zhǔn)備的！”你一句話也沒(méi)說(shuō)——唯一的回答就是厚著臉皮傻笑。

Christmas changed in 1986， when you suffered a serious brain haemorrhage7. It didnt take you straight away. After collapsing on 22 December and suffering8 throughout Christmas， you passed away on the 29 December—and it never seemed the same again.

1986年的圣誕節(jié)發(fā)生了變化，你得了嚴(yán)重的腦溢血，它并沒(méi)有馬上把你帶走。在經(jīng)歷了12月22日的崩潰和整個(gè)圣誕節(jié)的痛苦之后，你在12月29日去世了——一切似乎再也不一樣了。

I start to enjoy Christmas again， and while I dont do the baking any more， I do have mince pies in the house. I leave one out just for you， as if you were still a part of my Christmas. And I make sure I put up the trimmings9 in memory of you， and us.

我又開(kāi)始享受圣誕節(jié)了，雖然不再烘焙蛋糕了，但我家里有百果餡餅。我只留下一個(gè)給你，仿佛你仍然是我圣誕節(jié)的一部分。我一定要把這些裝飾品掛起來(lái)，以紀(jì)念你和我們。

As Christmas draws closer once again， the decorations are up， and the angel—who Ive named after you—sits in pride of10 place at the top of the tree， and I reflect once more on the past. Then I think： Thanks for the wonderful memories of Christmas， Mum.

隨著圣誕節(jié)的再次臨近，裝飾品都掛起來(lái)了，我以你的名字命名的天使坐在樹(shù)頂最顯眼的位置上。我再次回想起過(guò)去，然后想著：媽媽，謝謝你給我的圣誕節(jié)美好回憶。

Notes

1. mince pie（尤指英國(guó)傳統(tǒng)上于圣誕節(jié)食用的）百果餡餅

2. decorate [? ? ? ] v. 裝飾

3. tuck [? ? ??] vt. 卷起;擠進(jìn);用某物舒適地裹住;收攏

4. casually [? ? ??] adv. 漫不經(jīng)心地

5. cheeky [? ? ??] adj. 無(wú)恥的;厚臉皮的

6. smirk [? ? ??] v. 得意地笑，幸災(zāi)樂(lè)禍地笑，傻笑

7. haemorrhage [? ? ??] n. （大）出血

8. suffer [? ? ??] vt. 遭受;忍受;經(jīng)歷;vi. 遭受，忍受;受痛苦

9. trimming [? ? ??] n. 整理;裝飾品

10. in pride of在……最顯眼的位置;處于……的頂峰