Scarlett 斯嘉丽

张恒选译

Heres Scarlett， in the garden of a friends house in London on a sunny summer morning. It is the kind of mornings that are unusual in England. Scarlett is twelve years old （“Thirteen in November，” she tells me）， and is trying to understand the world around her. She asks questions about everything， all the time.

這位是斯嘉丽，在阳光明媚的夏日清晨，在伦敦一个朋友家的花园里，那是一个英格兰不寻常的早晨。斯嘉丽今年十二岁（她告诉我：“十一月十三号就满了。”），并试图了解她周围的世界，对每件事她都要打破砂锅问到底。

I tell her that I want to ask her a question， and I ask her why shes called Scarlett， and what the name means， and if it comes from anywhere in particular1. She says， “No， its just a stupid2 name my parents chose3 because they liked it. It doesnt mean anything.”

我告诉她，我想问她一个问题，她为什么叫斯嘉丽，这个名字有什么意思，是不是来自某个特定的地方。她说：“不是，这只是我父母选的一个蠢名字，因为他们喜欢它，没什么意思。”

I wonder if her parents named her after the heroine4 of a favourite film， but then again， I know her dad and this sounds impossible5. I think they maybe chose it just because they liked the sound of it.

我想知道，她的父母是不是用最喜欢的电影女主角的名字给她起名，但话又说回来，我认识她的父亲，这听起来不太可能。我认为他们选“斯嘉丽”的原因可能只是因为喜欢它的发音。

Scarlett is worried about changing school after the summer. She worries that shes too short for her age. The other children at the school will make fun of her. She shows me some pictures of the school she is at now and her classmates. I look at the pictures and it shows all kinds of children. Some are tall， some are short， some are fat and some are thin. Some are black and some are white， and most of them are somewhere in between. Some have red hair and some have blond hair， some have long hair and some have short hair.

斯嘉丽担心夏天过后转校的事。她担心就她的年龄来看个子太矮了，学校其他的孩子会取笑她。她给我看了一些她现在所在的学校和她同学的照片。我看着这些照片里面出现的各种各样的孩子，有些很高，有些矮，有些胖，有些瘦，有些肤色黑，有些肤色白，其中大多数介于两者之间。有的是红头发，有的是金发，有的是长发，有的是短发。

I tell her not to worry about the new school， tell her that shell be OK， and ask her about the new subjects shell be studying. She tells me that shes worried about learning French， and I tell her not to worry， that it isnt a very difficult language. She tells me that she already knows five languages.

我告诉她不要担心新学校的事，告诉她一切都会好的，并问她要学哪些新科目。她告诉我她担心法语的学习，我告诉她不用担心，这不是一门非常难的语言，她说她已经会五种语言了。

“Five languages！” I shout. “Thats impossible！How do you already know five languages？”

“五种语言！”我喊道，“这不可能！你怎么会五种语言的呢？”

“Because Ive got five languages in my body，” she says.

她说：“因为我生来就懂五种语言。”

I ask her what she means， and she starts to tell me the story of her family. Some of the story I already know. Ive already heard stories about her grandfather. He was from Scotland. He was a sailor， but not a very good sailor， so he only got as far as Portsmouth， a big navy6 town on the south coast of England， not very far from Scotland at all. When he got to Portsmouth， he stopped there， left the navy and became a boxer. He lost fights and drank a lot. However， he still managed7 to see the world by meeting a woman who came from Laos8. Nobody really knows how this woman had ended up in Portsmouth， but she still lives there. I tell Scarlett that she should try and find out her grandmothers story.

我问她是什么意思，她開始告诉我她家人的故事。我已经知道了故事的一部分内容，听说过有关她祖父的故事。他来自苏格兰，是一个水手，但不是一个很优秀的水手，所以他最远只到达了朴茨茅斯，这是英格兰南海岸的一个大海军镇，离苏格兰也不远。当他到达朴次茅斯时，就停留在那里，离开了海军，成了一名拳击手。他输了比赛，就会喝很多酒。但是，他仍然想办法通过认识一位来自老挝的女人来了解世界。没人真正知道这个女人是如何来到朴次茅斯的，但她还住在那儿。我告诉斯嘉丽她应该设法查出祖母的故事。

“No， shes too old now，” says Scarlett， “and anyway， shes lived in Portsmouth nearly all her life.”

斯嘉丽说：“不，她现在太老了，而且她几乎一生都住在朴次茅斯。”

Scarletts grandparents had a son. They called him Bill， which is usually short for “William”， but his name was just “Bill”. Bill had his fathers personality9 and his mothers looks， so the only thing he thought he could do was becoming a rock star. He never really became a rock star， though. So now he works as a designer10.

斯嘉丽的祖父母生了一个儿子，他们叫他“Bill”，那通常是“William”的缩写，但他的名字就是“Bill”。比尔继承了父亲的个性和母亲的容貌，所以他认为自己唯一可以做的就是成为摇滚明星。不过，他从未真正成为摇滚明星，所以现在他是一名设计师。

I dont know Scarletts mum， so I ask her to tell me about her mum.

我不认识斯嘉丽的妈妈，所以我请她告诉我她妈妈的事。

“My mums Polish11，” she says. “Well， not really， because she was born in Brighton， but her mum and dad are from Poland. But theyve lived there， like， for always. I know that her mum was from somewhere that was Germany and then became Poland， so shes really German， I suppose12. So thats another language that Ive got in my body.”

“我妈妈是波兰人，”她说，“嗯，也不算，因为她出生在布莱顿，但是她妈妈和爸爸来自波兰。但他们大概一直都住在那儿。我知道她妈妈来自德国某地，后来去了波兰，所以我想她真的是德国人。所以德语是我与生俱来就懂的另一种语言。

I ask Scarlett if she can actually speak all the languages， and she looks at me like Im stupid.

我问斯嘉丽，她是不是真的能说这几种语言，她像看傻子一样看着我。

“Of course not！” she says. “But Ive still got them in me！”

“当然不行！”她说，“但是我与生俱来就会！”

We count13 up her “languages”： Scottish， Laotian， German， Polish.

我们算了下她“会”的语言：苏格兰语、老挝语、德语、波兰语。

“Thats only four！” I tell her.

“只有四个！”我告诉她。

“No， theres English， too！”

“不对，还有英语！”

“Of course there is，” I say. And then I ask her， “And you， Scarlett， where are you from？”

“没错，还有英语，”我说，然后问她：“那你，斯嘉丽，你来自哪里？”

She thinks for a long time—such a long time that I think she hasnt heard my question. But then， before I can repeat14 it， she looks up and at me.

她思考了很长时间——时间长到让我以为她没有听到我的问题。然而，在我重复那个问题之前，她抬起了头看着我。

“Im from here，” she says. “Im from London.”

“我来自这里，”她说，“我来自伦敦。”

【Notes】

1. in particular尤其，特别

2. stupid  adj. 愚蠢的

3. choose  vt. 选择，决定

4. heroine  n. 女主角;女英雄;女主人公

5. impossible  adj. 不可能的;不可能存在的

6. navy  n. 海军

7. manage  vt. 设法

8. Laos  n. 老挝

9. personality  n. 个性;品格

10. designer  n. 设计师

11. Polish  n. 波兰人;波兰语

12. suppose  vt. 推想

13. count  v. 数数;计算总数

14. repeat  v. 重复说（或写）;照着说;再说一次