介绍:
In the six years I went to elementary school, I met just one other only child. So I rememberher (yes, it was a girl) very well. I got to know her well, and we talked about all sorts of things.
We understood each other. You could even say I loved her.
小学六年时间我只遇上一个独生子，所以对她（是的，是女孩儿）记得十分真切。我和她成了好朋友，两人无话不谈，说是息息相通也未尝不可。我甚至对她怀有了爱情。
Her last name was Shimamoto. Soon after she was born, she came down with polio, whichmade her drag her left leg. On top of that, she’d transferred to our school at the end of fifthgrade. Compared to me, then, she had a terrible load of psychological baggage to strugglewith. This baggage, though, only made her a tougher, more self-possessed only child than Icould ever have been. She never whined or complained, never gave any indication of the
annoyance she must have felt at times. No matter what happened, she’d manage a smile. Theworse things got, in fact, the broader her smile became. I loved her smile. It soothed me,encouraged me. It’ll be all right her smile told me. Just hang in there, and everything will turnout okay. Years later, whenever I thought of her, it was her smile that came to mind first.
她姓岛本，同是独生子。由于出生不久便得了小儿麻痹，左腿有一点点跛，并且是转校生（岛本来我们班是五年级快结束的时候）。这样，可以说她背负着很大的——大得与我无法相比的——精神压力。但是，也正因为背负着格外大的压力，她要比我坚强得多，自律得多，在任何人面前都不叫苦示弱。不仅口头上，脸上也是如此。即使事情令人不快，脸上也总是带着微笑。甚至可以说越是事情令人不快，她越是面带微笑。那微笑实在妙不可言，我从中得到了不少安慰和鼓励。“没关系的，”那微笑像是在说，“不怕的，忍一忍就过去了。”由于这个缘故，以后每想起岛本的面容，便想起那微笑。
Shimamoto always got good grades and was kind to everyone. People respected her. We wereboth only children, but in this sense she and I were different. This doesn’t mean, though, thatall our classmates liked her. No one teased her or made fun of her, but except for me, she hadno real friends.
岛本学习成绩好，对别人大体公平而亲切，所以在班上她常被人高看一眼。在这个意义上，虽说她也是独生子，却跟我大不一样。不过若说她无条件地得到所有同学喜欢，那也未必。大家固然不欺负她不取笑她，但除了我，能称为朋友的人在她是一个也没有。
She was probably too cool, too self-possessed. Some of our classmates must have thought hercold and haughty. But I detected something else- something warm and fragile just below thesurface. Something very much like a child playing hide-and-seek, hidden deep within her, yethoping to be found.
想必对他们来说，她是过于冷静而又自律了，可能有人还视之为冷淡和傲慢。但是我可以感觉出岛本在外表下潜伏的某种温情和脆弱——如同藏猫猫的小孩子，尽管躲在深处，却又希求迟早给人瞧见。有时我可以从她的话语和表情中一晃儿认出这样的影子。
Because her father was transferred a lot, Shimamoto had attended quite a few schools. I can’trecall what her father did. Once, she explained to me in detail what he did, but as with mostkids, it went in one ear and out the other. I seem to recall some professional job connectedwith a bank or tax office or something. She lived in company housing, but the house was largerthan normal, a Western-style house with a low solid stone wall surrounding it. Above the wallwas an evergreen hedge, and through gaps in the hedge you could catch a glimpse of agarden with a lawn.
由于父亲工作的关系，岛本不知转了多少次校。她父亲做什么工作，我记不准确了。她倒是向我详细说过一回，但正如对身边大多数小孩一样，我也对别人父亲的职业没什么兴趣。记得大约是银行、税务或公司破产法方面专业性质的工作。这次搬来住的房子虽说也是公司住宅，却是座蛮大的洋房，四周围着相当气派的齐腰高的石墙，石墙上连着常绿树篱，透过点点处处的间隙可以窥见院里的草坪。
Shimamoto was a large girl, about as tall as I was, with striking features. I was certain that ina few years she would be gorgeous. But when I first met her, she hadn’t developed an outerlook to match her inner qualities. Something about her was unbalanced, and not many peoplefelt she was much to look at. There was an adult part of her and a part that was still a child-andthey were out of sync. And this out-of-sync quality made people uneasy.
岛本是个眉目清秀的高个子女孩，个头同我不相上下，几年后必定出落成十分引人注目的绝对漂亮的姑娘。但我遇见她的当时，她还没获得同其自身资质相称的外观。当时的她总好像有些地方还不够谐调，因此多数人并不认为她的容貌有多大魅力。我猜想大概是因为在她身上大人应有的部分同仍然是孩子的部分未能协调发展的缘故，这种不均衡有时会使人陷入不安。
Probably because our houses were so close, literally a stone’s throw from each other, the first
month after she came to our school she was assigned to the seat next
to
mine. I brought herup to speed on what texts she’d need, what the weekly tests were like, how much we’d covered
in each book, how the cleaning and the dishing-out-lunch assignments were handled. Ourschool’s policy was for the child who lived nearest any transfer student to help him or her out;my teacher took me aside to let me know that he expected me to take special care ofShimamoto, with her lame leg.
由于两家离得近（她家距我家的的确确近在咫尺），最初一个月在教室里，她被安排坐在我旁边。我将学校生活所必需知道的细则一一讲给她听——教材、每星期的测验、各门课用的文具、课程进度、扫除和午间供饭值班等等。一来由住处最近的学生给转校生以最初的帮助是学校的基本方针，二来是因为她腿不好，老师从私人角度把我找去，叫我在一开始这段时间照顾一下岛本。
As with all kids of eleven or twelve talking with a member of the opposite sex for the first time,for a couple of days our conversations were strained. When we found out we were both onlychildren, though, we relaxed. It was the first time either of us had met a fellow only child. Wehad so much we’d held inside about being only children. Often we’d walk home together.Slowly, because of her leg, we’d walk the three quarters of a mile home, talking about all kindsof things. The more we talked, the more we realized we had in common: our love of books andmusic; not to mention cats. We both had a hard time explaining our feelings to others. We bothhad a long list of foods we didn’t want to eat. When it came to subjects at school, the ones weliked we had no trouble concentrating on; the ones we disliked we hated to death. But therewas one major difference between us – more than I did, Shimamoto consciously wrappedherself inside a protective shell. Unlike me, she made an effort to study the subjects she hated,and she got good grades. When the school lunch contained food she hated, she still ate it. Inother words, she constructed a much taller defensive wall around herself than I ever built.What remained behind that wall, though, was pretty much what lay behind mine.
就像一般初次见面的十一二岁异性孩子表现出的那样，最初几天我们的交谈总有些别扭发涩，但在得知对方也是独生子之后，两人的交谈迅速变得生动融洽起来。无论对她还是对我，遇到自己以外的独生子都是头一遭。这样，我们就独生子是怎么回事谈得相当投入，想说的话足有几大堆。一见面——虽然算不上每天—— 两人就一起从学校走路回家，而且这一公里路走得很慢（她腿不好只能慢走），边走边说这说那。说话之间，我们发现两人的共同点相当不少。我们都喜欢看书，喜欢听音乐，都最喜欢猫，都不擅长向别人表达自己的感受。不能吃的食物都能列出长长一串，中意的科目都全然不觉得难受，讨厌的科目学起来都深恶痛绝。如果说我和她之间有不同之处，那就是她远比我有意识地努力保护自己。讨厌的科目她也能用心学且取得很不错的成绩，而我则不是那样。不喜欢的食物端上来她也能忍着全部吃下，而我则做不到。换个说法，她在自己周围修筑的防体比我的高得多牢固得多，可是要保护的东西都惊人地相似。
Unlike times when I was with other girls, I could relax with Shimamoto. I loved walking homewith her. Her left leg limped slightly as she walked. We sometimes took a breather on a parkbench halfway home, but I didn’t mind. Rather the opposite-I was glad to have the extra time.
我很快习惯了同她单独在一起。那是全新的体验。同她在一起，我没有同别的女孩子在一起时那种心神不定的感觉。我喜欢同她搭伴走路回家。岛本轻轻拖着左腿行走，途中有时在公园长椅上休息一会儿，但我从未觉得这有什么妨碍，反倒为多花时间感到快乐。
Soon we began to spend a lot of time together, but I don’t recall anyone kidding us about itThis didn’t strike me at the time, though now it seems strange. After all, kids that agenaturally tease and make fun of any couple who seem close. It might have been because of thekind of person Shimamoto was. Something about her made other people a bit tense. She hadan air about her that made people think: Whoa-better not say anything too stupid in front ofthis girl. Even our teachers were somewhat on edge when dealing with her. Her lamenessmight have had something to do with it. At any rate, most people thought Shimamoto was notthe kind of person you teased, which was just fine by me.
我们就这样单独在一起打发时间。记忆中周围不曾有人为此奚落我们。当时倒没怎么放在心上，但如今想来，觉得颇有点不可思议。因为那个年龄的孩子很喜欢拿要好的男女开心起哄。大概是岛本的为人所使然吧，我想。她身上有一种能引起别人轻度紧张的什么，总之就是说她带有一种“不能对此人开无聊玩笑”的气氛。就连老师看上去有时都对她感到紧张。也可能同她腿有毛病不无关系。不管怎样，大家都好像认为拿岛本开玩笑是不太合适的，而这在结果上对我可谓求之不得。
During phys. ed. she sat on the sidelines, and when our class went hiking or mountain climbing,she stayed home. Same with summer swim camp. On our annual sports day, she did seem alittle out of sorts. But other than this, her school life was typical. Hardly ever did she mentionher leg. If memory serves, not even once. Whenever we walked home from school together,she never once apologized for holding me back or let this thought graze her expression. I knew,though, that it was precisely because her leg bothered her that she refrained from mentioningit. She didn’t like to go to other kids’ homes much, since she’d have to remove her shoes,Japanese style, at the entrance. The heels of her shoes were different heights, and the shoesthemselves were shaped differently – something she wanted at all costs to conceal. Must havebeen custom-made shoes. When she arrived at her own home, the first thing she did was tossher shoes in the closet as
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