大红色礼服

　　The first time we set eyes on “Big Red,” father, mother and I were trudging through the freshly fallen snow on our way to Hubble’s Hardware store on Main Street in Huntsville, Ontario. We planned to enter our name in the annual Christmas drawing for a chance to win a hamper filled with fancy tinned cookies, tea, fruit and candy. As we passed the Eaton’s Department store’s window, we stopped as usual to gaze, and do our bit of dreaming.

　　我们第一次看到那件大红礼服时，父亲、母亲和我正在刚刚落下的雪中步行，准备去安大略市汉斯维尔镇缅因街上的哈勃五金店。我们三人计划报名参加一年一度的圣诞节绘画比赛，期望能赢得满满一筐的高档罐装饼干、茶叶、水果和糖果。在经过伊顿百货公司的窗外时，我们像往常一样驻足观望，做着自己的白日梦。
　　
　　The gaily decorated window display held the best toys ever. I took an instant hankering for a huge green wagon. It was big enough to haul three armloads of firewood, two buckets of swill or a whole summer’s worth of pop bottles picked from along the highway. There were skates that would make Millar’s Pond well worth shoveling and dolls much too pretty to play with. And they were all nestled snugly beneath the breathtakingly flounced skirt of Big Red.
　　装饰华丽的展示橱窗厅摆放着前所未见的、最好的玩具。我立刻就喜欢上了一个大型的绿色四轮马车玩具，它非常大，可以拖动三堆木柴（一堆为双臂一抱的量），两桶泔水或整个夏天从公路上捡来的饮料瓶。橱窗里的旱冰鞋使我想把米勒池塘铲出块空地来溜冰。而玩具娃娃太可爱了，我都舍不得拿来玩。它们都安稳地陈列在那件令人惊艳的大红色荷叶边裙的下面。
　　
　　Mother’s eyes were glued to the massive flare of red shimmering satin, dotted with twinkling sequin-centered black velvet stars. “My goodness,” she managed to say in trancelike wonder. “Would you just look at that dress!” Then, totally out of character, mother twirled one spin of a waltz on the slippery sidewalk. Beneath the heavy, wooden-buttoned, grey wool coat she had worn every winter for as long as I could remember, mother lost her balance and tumbled. Father quickly caught her.
　　母亲的眼睛直勾勾地盯着那一大块闪烁着红色微光的缎子，缎子上点缀着闪亮的黑天鹅绒材质的星形装饰，星形的中心部分缝有亮片。“我的天，”她惊奇地用着迷的语调说。“看看这件礼服，真不得了！”然后，母亲完全一反常态地在打滑的人行道上跳着华尔兹舞步转了个圈。据我所记得的，每个冬季她都穿的都是一件厚重的、带有木制钮扣的灰色羊毛大衣，结果母亲失去了平衡，向地上跌去。父亲眼急手快，急忙扶住了她。
　　
　　Her cheeks redder than usual, mother swatted dad for laughing. “Oh, stop that!” she ordered, shooing his fluttering hands as he swept the snow from her coat. “What a silly dress to be perched up there in the window of Eaton’s!” she shook her head in disgust. “Who on earth would want such a splashy dress?”
　　母亲的脸颊比往常更红了，父亲笑话她，为母亲拍掉大衣上的雪，母亲嗔怪地打父亲，“嘿，别笑了！”她命令般地推开父亲的手臂。“这件摆在伊顿百货橱窗里的衣服真是太傻了！”她厌恶地摇摇头。“究竟谁会买件这么惹人注目的衣服？”
　　
　　As we continued down the street, mother turned back for one more look. “My goodness! You’d think they’d display something a person could use!”
　　我们继续沿着街上向前走，母亲又转过身来看了看。“我的天！还以为百货公司会将大家可以用得着的东西展示出来！”
　　
　　Christmas was nearing and the red dress was soon forgotten. Mother, of all people, was not one to wish for, or spend money on, items that were not practical. “There are things we need more than this,” she’d always say, or, “There are things we need more than that.”
　　圣诞节快到了，我们很快就忘记了那件红色礼服。母亲的个性是，她不想得到或不想花钱去买那些并不实用的东西。她总是说，“这个东西不实用，”或者说，“那个东西不实用。”
　　
　　Father, on the other hand, liked to indulge whenever the budget allowed. Of course, he’d get a scolding for his occasional splurging, but it was all done with the best intention.
　　但与母亲不同，父亲喜欢在预算允许的情况下奢侈一下。当然，他偶尔的挥霍也会惹来母亲的责骂，但是每次父亲的钱都是用在最善意的意图上的。
　　
　　Like the time he brought home the electric range. In our old Muskoka farmhouse on Oxtongue Lake, Mother was still cooking year-round on a wood stove. In the summer, the kitchen would be so hot even the houseflies wouldn’t come inside. Yet there would be Mother – roasting – right along with the pork and turnips.
　　就像那次父亲买回家的那个电灶。我们原来住在牛舌湖畔的马斯科卡农舍，母亲常年使用的是一个木材火炉。在夏天里，由于厨房太热，连家蝇都不愿飞进去。但母亲还是在里面烤猪肉和芜菁。
　　
　　One day, Dad surprised her with a fancy new electric range. She protested, of course, saying that the wood stove cooked just dandy, that the electric stove was too dear and that it would cost too much hydro to run it. All the while, however, she was polishing its already shiny chrome knobs. In spite of her objections, Dad and I knew that she cherished that new stove.
　　一天，父亲给母亲带来一个惊喜，一个高档的新电炉。母亲拒绝使用，这是肯定的事，她说木材火炉还不错，电炉太贵了，而且太耗电。但是，一直以来，她都在打磨炉子上已经被磨得闪闪发亮的铬制旋钮。尽管母亲说她不喜欢新炉子，父亲和我都知道她非常喜爱那个新炉子。
　　
　　There were many other modern things that old farm needed, like indoor plumbing and a clothes dryer, but Mom insisted that those things would have to wait until we could afford them. Mom was forever doing chores – washing laundry by hand, tending the pigs, or working in our huge garden – so she always wore mended, cotton-print housedresses and an apron to protect the front. She did have one or two “special” dresses saved for Church on Sundays. And amongst everything else she did, she still managed to make almost all of our clothes. They weren’t fancy, but they did wear well.
　　旧农场还需要很多现代化东西，像室内的抽水马桶和干衣机，但母亲坚持称要等到我们家能够买得起再说。我总是看到母亲在做家务——用手洗衣物，照料猪群或者打理我们庞大的花园——所以她总是穿着打补丁的、印花棉布居家便装，并且系上一条围裙保持前襟干净。她确实有一或两件“特别的”礼服留着星期天去教堂穿的。尽管有那么多事要做，她还是抽出时间制作自己的衣服。尽管衣服不怎么华丽，但穿起来还不错。
　　
　　That Christmas I bought Dad a handful of fishing lures from the Five to a Dollar store, wrapped them individually in matchboxes so he’d have plenty of gifts to open from me. Choosing something for Mother was much harder. When Dad and I asked, she thought carefully then hinted modestly for some tea towels, face clothes or a new dishpan.
　　那个圣诞节，我在一家“五角到一元店”为父亲买了一把鱼饵，分别装在好几个火柴盒里，让父亲可以多拆几个礼物。为母亲选礼物就更困难了。父亲和我问她想要什么礼物，母亲仔细想了想，然后以适当的方式含蓄地告诉我们说要一些擦拭杯盘用的抹布，洗脸毛巾或一个新的洗碟盆。
　　
　　On our last trip to town before Christmas, we were driving up Main Street when mother suddenly exclaimed in surprise: “Would you just look at that!” She pointed excitedly as Dad drove past Eaton’s.
　　那是新年以前的最后一次，我们去了一趟镇上，当车开到缅因街上时，母亲突然惊奇地叫道：“快看那个！”她兴奋地指向父亲刚刚开车经过的伊顿百货。
　　
　　”That big red dress is gone,” she said in disbelief. “It’s actually gone.”
　　“那件深红色礼服不在了，”她不相信地说道。“真的不在了。”
　　
　　”Well…I’ll be!” Dad chuckled. “By golly, it is!”
　　“噢…不是吧！”父亲轻声笑着。“我的天，还真是不在了！”
　　
　　”Who’d be fool enough to buy such a frivolous dress?” Mother questioned, shaking her head. I quickly stole a glance at Dad. His blue eyes were twinkling as he nudged me with his elbow. Mother craned her neck for another glimpse out the rear window as we rode on up the street. “It’s gone…” she whispered. I was almost certain that I detected a trace of yearning in her voice.
　　“谁会这么傻，买一件这么炫耀的礼服？”母亲摇头问道。我和父亲快速地交换了个眼神，他冲我眨了眨蓝色的眼睛，还用肘轻轻碰了我一下。车沿着街道继续向前开去，母亲够着脖子从车后窗再次向商店望了一眼。“不在了…”她低语道。我几乎可以肯定她的声音中带有一丝渴望的伤感。
　　
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　　I’ll never forget that Christmas morning. I watched as Mother peeled the tissue paper off a large box that read, “Eaton’s Finest Enamel Dishpan” on its lid.
　　我永远都不会忘记那个圣诞节的早晨，我看着母亲用手剥去一个大盒子上的薄纸，盒盖上写着“伊顿百货最好的搪瓷洗碟盆”。
　　
　　”Oh Frank,” she praised, “just what I wanted!” Dad was sitting in his rocker, a huge grin on his face.
　　“噢，弗兰克，”她称赞道，“这正是我想要的！”父亲坐在摇椅上，咧嘴大笑。
　　
　　”Only a fool wouldn’t give a priceless wife like mine exactly what she wants for Christmas,” he laughed. “Go ahead, open it up and make sure there are no chips.” Dad winked at me, confirming his secret, and my heart filled with more love for my father than I thought it could hold!
　　“我又不是傻子，我应该送给你这个世间少有的老婆真正想要的圣诞礼物，”他笑道。“继续，打开看看，看盆子有没有缺口。”父亲对我使了个眼色，真的有古怪，我心中对父亲的爱达到了前所未有的程度！

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　　Mother opened the box to find a big white enamel dishpan – overflowing with crimson satin that spilled out across her lap. With trembling hands she touched the elegant material of Big Red.
　　母亲打开盒子，里面是一个大的白色搪瓷洗碟盆——盆中容纳不下的深红色锻子拖坠到母亲的腿上。母亲用她颤抖的手触摸着那件用第一流面料制作的大红色礼服。
　　
　　”Oh my goodness!” she managed to utter, her eyes filled with tears. “Oh Frank…” Her face was as bright as the star that twinkled on our tree in the corner of the small room. “You shouldn’t have…” came her faint attempt at scolding.
　　“噢，我的天！”母亲叫出声来，眼中噙满了泪水。“噢，弗兰克…”她的脸像小房间角落里圣诞树上闪耀的星星一样明亮。“你不必…”她无力再责怪父亲。
　　
　　”Oh now, never mind that!” Dad said. “Let’s see if it fits,” he laughed, helping her slip the marvelous dress over her shoulders. As the shimmering red satin fell around her, it gracefully hid the patched and faded floral housedress underneath.
　　“噢，你就别操心了！”父亲说道。“让我们看看是否合身，”他笑道，帮母亲将这件品质一流的礼服套在她的肩上。闪闪发光的红缎子包裹着她，恰到好处地将里面那件打着补丁、褪色的印花便装遮住了。
　　
　　I watched, my mouth agape, captivated by a radiance in my parents I had never noticed before. As they waltzed around the room, Big Red swirled its magic deep into my heart.
　　我目瞪口呆地看着他们，我为父母身上闪耀的、以前没有发觉的光辉而着迷。他们在房间内跳起了华尔兹，那件大红色礼服在我的心底旋动，展示着它的魔法。
　　
　　”You look beautiful,” my dad whispered to my mom – and she surely did!
　　“你看起来真漂亮，”父亲轻声对母亲说——她确实看起来非常美！