A Life Lesson That toto Taught Me托托教給我的人生一課

李明娟

I first met Toto， a rabbit， when I was eight years old. One day， when I camehome from school， my parents surprised me with Toto. He was a tiny little pet and Iloved his long ears and button nose. His soft hair felt good when I ran my handsalong his back. Although Toto had great color combinations1 of white， brown andblack， he looked shy， like he was a little scared of people and other things thatsurrounded2 him. But he found his place in the house soon enough—that littlecorner in my bedroom with my dolls and toys.

我八歲時第一次見到了兔子托托。一天，當(dāng)我放學(xué)回家時，我的父母用托托給了我一個驚喜。它是一只小小的寵物，我太喜歡它的長耳朵和紐扣鼻子了。當(dāng)我的手沿著它的背部摸索時，它柔軟的毛摸著很舒服。雖然托托身上是白、棕、黑三色的完美組合，但它看起來很害羞，好像有點(diǎn)害怕周圍的人和其他東西。但它很快就在家里找到了自己的地盤———我臥室里一個放娃娃和玩具的小角落。

Toto had this habit of sitting in all dolls and toys， and he almost looked like atoy himself. I treated3 him like a toy most of the time： a toy to be played with. Thecorner was his favorite place， and looking back， Toto was my favorite toy.

托托有這樣一個習(xí)慣，它待在所有娃娃和玩具中，它自己看起來就像一個玩具。我大部分時間都把它當(dāng)作玩具：一個可以玩的玩具。那個角落是它最喜歡的地方，現(xiàn)在回想起來，托托是我最喜歡的玩具。

As a young and playful4 girl， I would feel joy in throwing Toto around andletting him jump around my room. It was fun to see how long he would hold out. I hithim sometimes when I got unhappy because he would not play with me. Once， Iburied5 Toto under the blanket just to see if he could find his way out. He was solittle and so defenseless6 and yet， he went on sleeping beside me no matter what.Trust was the only option7 left for Toto. He could not do anything about it.

作為一個年幼貪玩的女孩，我把托托扔來扔去，讓它在我的房間里跳來跳去，我感到很高興?？此軋猿侄嗑檬羌苡腥さ氖虑?。有時我生氣了就會打它，因為它不愿意和我一起玩。有一次，我把托托埋在毯子底下，看它能否找到出路。它那么小，那么無助，但不管發(fā)生什么，它都繼續(xù)睡在我身邊。信任是托托剩下的唯一選擇。它對自己的處境無能為力。

I woke up suddenly one night. Because it was dark， I knew that it was stillnight. I checked on Toto， he was sleeping peacefully. I tried to change my position8without waking him. I carefully turned on my side to face him. I could feel his heartbeating， and I thought that he was trying not to wake me up， too. I knew what myresponsibility9 was： I should start training him to sleep in his new cage. But he didnot like it.

某個夜晚，我突然醒了過來。因為天很黑，我知道還是晚上。我查看了一下托托，它睡得很安穩(wěn)。我試圖在不吵醒它的情況下?lián)Q個姿勢。我小心翼翼地轉(zhuǎn)過身來面對它。我能感覺到它的心跳，我想它也在試圖不吵醒我。我知道我的責(zé)任是什么：我應(yīng)該開始訓(xùn)練它在新籠子里睡覺。但它不喜歡籠子。

I did not understand it at the time， but now I do. I wished Toto would alwaysstay the same. So if I would come home tomorrow tired and unhappy， he would bethere to make me feel okay. These kinds of thoughts made me feel calmer10， until Ifell into a deep sleep.

當(dāng)時我不明白，但現(xiàn)在我明白了。我希望托托能一直保持原樣。這樣如果我明天回到家，感到很累很不開心，它會在我身邊給我安慰。這些想法讓我感到平靜，直到我陷入沉睡之中。

When I was ten， I brought Toto to school. My shoebox was colored green and ithad three holes in it. I was so proud that he did very well， never once causing meany problem while he was inside. I carried him to class and everyone wanted toknow what was inside the box. I opened it to“show and tell”for my classmates anda few seconds later everyone was all over him. I felt so proud.

十歲的時候，我把托托帶到了學(xué)校。我的鞋盒是綠色的，上面有三個洞。我很驕傲，它表現(xiàn)得很好，當(dāng)它待在里面的時候，從來沒有給我?guī)砣魏温闊Ｎ規(guī)еド险n，每個人都想知道盒子里是什么。我打開盒子給我的同學(xué)們“展示和講述”，幾秒鐘后，所有人都圍著它轉(zhuǎn)。我感到很驕傲。

At first， they just talked to Toto right there as he sat in the box. They wereexcited and said how cute he looked. And then， after much poking11， I took Totoout. I noticed that Toto was trembling12， and I felt sorry for him. Toto sat on somany arms that day. Some children were not used to him and they held himroughly13.

起初，當(dāng)托托蹲在盒子里時，他們只是對著它說話。他們很興奮，說它看起來很可愛。然后，經(jīng)過多次戳戳點(diǎn)點(diǎn)，我把托托帶了出來。我注意到托托在發(fā)抖，心中為它感到難過。托托那天被這么多手臂抱過，有些孩子不習(xí)慣抱它，動作有些粗暴。

I know how badly Toto must have wanted to run and jump to a place wherepeople could never catch him. I was not happy when Toto used to do that at home.But in that classroom， with all those strangers who could have dropped or injuredhim in some other way， Toto held his ground. He was my own brave rabbit. Hetrembled， I am sure. I felt it but ignored14 it. I was too caught up showing Toto offbecause it felt good.

我知道托托是多么渴望逃走，跳到一個人們永遠(yuǎn)抓不到它的地方。當(dāng)托托過去在家里這樣做時，我總是感到不開心。但在那間教室里，有那么多陌生人，他們可能摔了它或以其他方式傷害了它，然而托托堅持住了。它是我的那只勇敢的兔子。我確信它當(dāng)時顫抖了，我感覺到了，但我忽略了。我太想炫耀托托了，因為這感覺很好。

When I came home， I left him in his favorite place and went to watchtelevision. I wonder what Toto thought of me at that moment. I felt disappointed atmyself for I may have had treated Toto as a lifeless toy. And I knew now clearly thathe was not.

回家后，我把它留在它最喜歡的地方，然后去看電視。我不知道托托那一刻是怎么想我的。我對自己感到失望，因為我可能已經(jīng)把托托當(dāng)作一個沒有生命的玩具，而此刻我清楚地知道，它并不是。

Notes

1. combination 結(jié)合體；聯(lián)合體；結(jié)合；聯(lián)合

2. surround 圍繞；環(huán)繞

3. treat 對待；看待

4. playful 頑皮的

5. bury 埋進(jìn)……中

6. defenseless 無防備的

7. option 可選擇的事物；選擇

8. position 姿勢

9. responsibility 責(zé)任；負(fù)責(zé)

10. calm 平靜的

11. poke? 用手指或尖利物品戳、刺

12. tremble? 顫抖；哆嗦；害怕；緊張

13. roughly 粗暴地；粗魯?shù)?/p>

14. ignore 佯裝未見；不理睬；忽視