一個指頭
One Finger
“Mom， you should put some of your things away. Baby proof this house，” stated our oldest son Mark as he lumbered up the stairs followed by his wife， Kim， and fifteen－month－old Hannah.
Visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday， he finished unloading the luggage and took it to the guestroom downstairs. After driving all day from Salt Lake to Ft. Collins， his temper showed. “That one finger rule may work with the twins， but it'll never work with Hannah， ” he insisted.
一個指頭
“媽媽，你應(yīng)該把你的一些東西拿走。這屋里要防小孩搗亂，”我的大兒子馬克一邊爬樓梯一邊說道，后面是他的妻子金和15個月大的漢娜。
馬克一家是來過感恩節(jié)的，他把行李從車上卸下來，放到了樓下的客房里。因為從鹽湖城到考林斯開了一整天的車，疲勞讓他有些不耐煩。“一個手指的規(guī)則對于雙胞胎可能管用，但對于漢娜是不會起作用的，”他堅持說道。
When my three granddaughters were born four months apart and the twins moved into our house at eight months， my close friend offered me her secret to entertaining grand－children with few mishaps. “Teach them the'one finger rule.'”All of her five grandchildren learned it at a young age. The success of the method surprised me.
I picked up my granddaughter and said， “Well， Mark， you just watch. ”I hugged her and walked all around the great room.
當(dāng)我的3個孫女相隔4個月出生而且雙胞胎姐妹在8個月大搬到我這里時，我的好友教給我如何哄孫子孫女玩又不讓他們搗亂惹禍的一個有效秘訣。“教給他們'一個指頭規(guī)則'”。她的5個孫子孫女很小就全都學(xué)會了這個規(guī)則。這一方法如此奏效，令我吃驚。
我接過孫女說：“好吧，馬克，你就等著瞧吧。”我抱著她在寬敞的屋子里到處溜達(dá)。
“Hannah， you may touch anything in this room you want. But， you can only use one finger.”I demonstrated the technique by touching my forefinger to the African sculpture on the mantle. Hannah followed my example. “Good girl. Now what else would you like to touch？”
She stretched her finger toward another object on the mantle. I allowed her to touch everything in sight， plants， glass objects， TV， VCR， lamps， speakers， candles and artificial flowers. If she started to grab， I gently reminded her to use one finger. She always obeyed. But， Hannah， an only child， possessed a more adventur ous personality. Her father predicted it would prevent her from accepting the“one finger”rule.
“漢娜，你可以碰這屋里你想碰的任何東西。但是，你只能用一個指頭。”我用大拇指碰了碰壁爐上的非洲雕塑，進行示范。漢娜學(xué)著我的樣子做了一遍。“好孩子。現(xiàn)在，你還想摸什么？”
她伸出手指又去摸了摸壁爐上的另一件東西。我允許她摸所能看到的任何東西，植物、玻璃物品、電視機、錄像機、燈、音箱、蠟燭以及人造花。如果她開始抓，我就輕聲提醒她只能用一個手指。她總是很聽話。但是，漢娜是一個獨生女，性格中更富有冒險精神。她父親預(yù)料這種冒險精神會使她不接受“一個手指”的規(guī)則。
During their four－day stay， we aided Hannah in remembering“one finger”rule. She learned quickly. I only put away the things that might prove to be a danger to a child. Otherwise， we watched her closely and nothing appeared to suffer any damage. Besides， “things”can be replaced.
A few fingerprints on glass doors， windows and tables remained after Hannah and her family returned home. I couldn't bring myself to clean them for days. Each one reminded me of some wonderful experience with Hannah.
他們在這兒住了4天，我們幫助漢娜記住“一個手指”的規(guī)則。她學(xué)得很快。我只是把可能對孩子造成危險的東西收了起來。我們非常小心不離她的身邊，結(jié)果什么東西都沒有損壞。再說，東西即便壞了，也是可以換新的嘛。
漢娜和爸爸媽媽回家后，在玻璃門、窗和桌子上留下了一些手指印。好幾天，我不愿擦掉。每個手指印都能讓我想起與漢娜一起度過的美好時光。
Months later， my husband and I drove to Salt Lake；I watched Mark and Kim continue to practice the one finger rule. But I refrained from saying， “I told you so. ” Yet， I smiled inwardly each time they prodded Hannah to touch with “one finger. ” Mark， a salesman， always gave a packet of gifts to his potential clients. The night before we returned home， Mark sat on the floor stuffing gifts into their packets. Hannah helped.
Then she picked up one gift， held it in her hand as if it were a fragile bird， and walked toward me. At my knee， her beautiful blue eyes looked into mine. She stretched her prize to me and said， “One finger， Nana！”
幾個月后，我和我丈夫開車去鹽湖城；我看到馬克和金仍然繼續(xù)使用一個手指的規(guī)則。可我沒有說，“是我告訴你們的。”但是，我每次看到他們鼓勵漢娜用“一個手指”摸東西的時候，會露出發(fā)自內(nèi)心的微笑。馬克是搞推銷的，總是給那些潛在客戶送禮品。我們回來前那天晚上，馬克坐在地板上包禮物。漢娜給他幫忙。
這時她拿起一件禮物，放在手中，就像捧了一只脆弱的小鳥，向我走來。來到我的膝邊她那雙美麗的藍(lán)眼睛盯著我。她把禮物伸向我，說，“只能用一個手指，奶奶！”
郝江鸝 譯
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