The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl翻译

Unit2TheStruggletoBeanAll-AmericanGirlIt’sstillthere,theChineseschoolonYaleStreetwheremybrotherandIusedtogo.Despitethenewcoatofpaintandthehighwirefence,theschoolIknew10yearsagoremainsremarkably,stoicallythesame.我们之前上过的那所中文学校还在我和哥哥常去的耶鲁大街上。尽管外墙经过重新粉刷，并且周围有搞搞的铁丝栅栏，但是十年前我所知道的那个学校现在出奇地依然如故，一点没变。Everydayat5P.M.,insteadofplayingwithourfourth-andfifth-gradefriendsorsneakingouttotheemptylottohuntghostsandanimalbones,mybrotherandIhadtogotoChineseschool.Noamountofkicking,screaming,orpleadingcoulddissuademymother,whowassolidlydeterminedtohaveuslearnthelanguageofourheritage.每天下午5点,我和哥哥不得不去汉语学校，而不是和四、五年级的同学们一起玩或溜出去到空地上捉鬼寻骨。不管我们怎么不情愿，踢东西也好，乱叫也好，央求也罢，都说动不了妈妈，她铁了心地要我们去学祖宗传承给我们的语言。Forcibly,shewalkedusthesevenlong,hillyblocksfromourhometoschool,depositingourdefianttearfulfacesbeforethesternprincipal.Myonlymemoryofhimisthatheswayedonhisheelslikeapalmtree,andhealwaysclaspedhisimpatienttwitchinghandsbehindhisback.Irecognizedhimasarepressedmaniacalchildkiller,andknewthatifweeversawhishandswe’dbeinbigtrouble.从我们家到汉语学校相隔七个长长的街区，沿路有好多小山丘，妈妈赶着我们走过这段路程，最后把我们送到那位严厉的校长面前。这时我们泪流满面，满脸写着不情愿。我对校长的唯一印象是他站在我们面前踮着脚后跟摇摆时，就像一棵棕榈树,而且他总是将他那双不停抽搐的手紧紧扣在背后。在我眼里，他就是一个急不可耐的残杀孩子的凶手,还认为如果我们看到他的手,就会遇到大麻烦。Weallsatinlittlechairsinanemptyauditorium.TheroomsmelledlikeChinesemedicine,animportedfarawaymustiness.Likeancientmothballsordirtyclosets.Ihatedthatsmell.Ifavoredcrispnewscents.LikethesoftFrenchperfumethatmyAmericanteacherworeinpublicschool.我们都坐在一个小椅子上，礼堂空荡荡的。屋里散发出好似一股中药味，一种平时很难遇到的难闻的霉味。也好似放了很久的卫生球味或者是脏兮兮的衣柜壁橱味。我讨厌那种气味。我喜欢宜人的香味，它就像我在公立学校的美国老师身上散发的淡淡的法国香水味。Althoughtheemphasisattheschoolwasmainlylanguage-speaking,reading,writing-thelessonsalwaysbeganwithanexerciseinpoliteness.Withtheentranceoftheteacher,thebeststudentwouldtapabellandeveryonewouldgetup,kowtow,andchant,“Singsanho,”thephoneticfor“Howareyou,teacher?”尽管学校教学的重点主要是语言—口语、阅读、写作—每堂课总是从练习礼仪开始。随着老师走进课堂,班长总要轻摇一下铃,大家随即起身,磕头并齐道,“先生好,”这一串汉语音符就是给老师请安的意思。Beingtenyearsold,Ihadbetterthingstolearnthanideographscopiedpainstakinglyinlinesthatranrighttoleftfromthetipofamocbut,arealinkpenthathadtobeheldinanawkwardwayifblotchesweretobeavoided.Afterall,Icoulddothemultiplicationtables,namethesatellitesofMars,andwritereportsonLittleWomenandBlackBeauty.NancyDrew,myfavoriteheroine,neverspokeChinese.十岁的人了,我还有比象形文字更重要的东西要学，而不是用毛笔从右到左一行行吃力地抄写汉字，那可真叫墨水笔,如果你不想纸上留有墨墨点点的墨渍，你就要用一种笨拙的方式握笔。话说回来，除了练毛笔字，我还能背出乘法表,给火星上的卫星命个名,写篇有关《小妇人》和《黑美人》这两部小说的读书报告。南茜朱尔是我最喜欢的一本书中的女主人公,她从来不说汉语。Thelanguagewasasourceofembarrassment.Moretimesthannot,IhadtriedtodisassociatemyselffromthenaggingloudvoicethatfollowedmewhereverIwanderedinthenearbyAmericansupermarketoutsideChinatown.Thevoicebelongedtomygrandmother,afragilewomaninherseventieswhowouldoutshoutthebestofstreetvendors.Herhumorwasraunchy,herChineserhythmlessandpatternless.Itwasquick,itwasloud,itwasunbeautiful.Itwasnotlikethequiet,liltingromanceofFrenchorthegentlerefinementoftheAmericanSouth.Chinesesoundedpedestrian.Public.汉语给我带来了尴尬和难堪。出入唐人街不远处有个美国人经营的超市，我在超市的任何一个地方转悠，身后都会传来那个唠唠叨叨吵人的声音。此声音来自我的祖母,她年逾七旬，弱不禁风，但她的声音能盖过嗓门最大的沿街叫卖的小贩的声音。她的幽默极为粗俗，她说的汉语拖泥带水，缺少节奏感。她不会语法规则，但是却说得很快，而且声音很大,一点儿也不悦耳。她的汉语不像法语听起来轻柔舒缓，抑扬顿挫，富有浪漫气息；也不像美国南方人讲话声音柔和，用词高雅。而我的祖母，两者都不像，她的汉语听起来没有磁性，没有特色。InChinatown,thecomingsandgoingsofhundredsofChineseontheirdailytaskssoundedchaoticandfrenzied.Ididnotwanttobethoughtofasmad,astalkinggibberish.WhenIspokeEnglish,peoplenoddedatme,smiledsweetly,saidencouragingwords.EventhepeopleinmyculturewouldcluckandsaythatI’ddowellinlife.“My,doesn?tshemoveherlipsfast,”theywouldsay,meaningthatI’dbeabletokeepupwiththewordoutsideChinatown.在唐人街，每天有数以千计的华人来来往往，忙于自己的事务，给人一种忙碌躁动的感觉。我可不想像他们那样被人看成是个疯了傻了爱扯闲话之人。当我用英语说话的时候，人们向我点头并甜甜地微笑，说一些鼓励我的话。甚至华人也啧啧称赞，说我将来会有出息。“天哪，你看她嘴唇（动得好快）多灵巧，”他们总会这么说，这就意味着我将能够融入唐人街外面的世界。MybrotherwasevenmorefanaticalthanIaboutspeakingEnglish.Hewasespeciallyhardonmymother,criticizingher,oftencruelly,forherpidginspeech—smatteringsofChinesescatteredlikechopsueyinherconversation.“It’snot‘Whatitis,’Mom,”he’dsayinexasperation.“It’s‘Whatisit,whatisit,whatisit!SometimesMommightleaveoutanoccasional“the”or“a”,orperhapsaverbofbeing.Hewouldstopherinmid-sentence:“Sayitagain,Mom.Sayitright.”Whenhetrippedoverhisowntongue,he’dblameitonher:“See,Mom,it’sallyourfault.Yousetabadexample.”我的哥哥甚至比我更加热衷于说英语。我的妈妈英语很烂，话语中会零星夹杂着汉语或中文，如“杂碎”一词，哥哥因此对妈妈很苛刻，批评她起来常常不留面子。他总是恼怒地说道，Whatitis,’妈妈,是‘Whatisit,whatisit,whatisit!’”有时候妈妈可能遗漏“the”或“a”,或者一个be动词的进行态。这时哥哥总会打断她的话:“再说一遍,妈妈。说正确了。”当他自己英语说得稍有差错时，他就会责怪妈妈:“看哪,妈妈,都怪你没有你树立一个好榜样。”Whatinfuriatedmymothermostwaswhenmybrothercorneredheronherconsonants,especially“r”.MyfatherhadplayedacrueljokeonMombyassigningheranAmericannamethathertonguewouldn’tallowhertosay.Nomatterhowhardshetried,“Ruth”alwaysendedup“Luth”or“Roof”.最让母亲受不了的，就是哥哥对她发的辅音尤其是“r”这个音纠正起来不依不饶，让她脸面尽失。这个全怪爸爸开我妈妈的玩笑太狠了，他让妈妈读她舌头根本绕不过来的一个美国人的名字。不管妈妈怎么努力，“Ruth”这个名字最后总是读成“Luth”或者“Roof”。Aftertwoyearsofwritingwithamocbutandrecitingwordswithmultiplesofmeanings,Ifinallywasgrantedaculturaldivorce.IwaspermittedtostopChineseschool.学了两年的毛笔字，也背了两年的汉语多义字，最后我被允许不再接触中国文化，不再去上汉语学校。Ithoughtofmyselfasmulticultural.Ipreferredtacostoeggrolls;IenjoyedCincode