單腿人生的精彩

by Kresten Ballantyne

翻譯：法比仔

單腿人生的精彩

by Kresten Ballantyne

翻譯：法比仔

It was a hot summer’s day and the air was filled with the1）scent of freshly cut grass. As the2）blue jays3）fluttered their wings through the light breeze， I could hear them4）chirping a melody. I was playing in my5）backyard with some kids. My mom came out with lunch for us， and one of my friends suddenly said， “Hey， your mom is6）handicapped， she only has one leg.”

I never thought my mother was handicapped， and I never really realized that she only had one leg. As my mom served us lunch， I asked， “Mom， are you handicapped and why do you only have one leg？”

My mom put down the food and looked at all of us with a big smile. She was not7）offended. She almost knew the question was coming. She sat down and rested her8）crutch against the picnic table. My friends and I surrounded her as she began to tell her story about the loss of her leg.

1） scent ［sent］ n. 氣味

2） blue jay 冠藍鴉

3） flutter ［'fl?t?］ v.（鳥）拍翅振翼

4） chirp ［t???p］ v.（鳥）吱吱叫

5） backyard ［b?k'jɑ?d］ n. 后院

6） handicapped ［'h?nd?k?pt］ adj. 殘疾的

7） offended ［?'fend?d］ adj. 生氣的

8） crutch ［kr?t?］ n. 拐杖

She said it all started with a fall. The fall showed that she had cancer. I was not really sure what that cancer was. My mother explained that when she was five， she was playing around with her9）stuffed animals. She was running when she10）tripped over them and hurt her leg. My grandmother took her to the doctors but nothing came back to show that there was a problem. The doctor told my grandmother that there was something11）definitely going on in her leg. However， the hospital in her home town did not have the12）equipment to make a13）diagnosis.

In Boston， the doctors14）ran a15）biopsy test. The doctor in her home town was right， it was bad—she had cancer. They said the cancer was in her16）femur just above her17）knee cap. They would have to do an18）emergency surgery to remove her leg before the cancer19）spread to any of her20）vital organs. The next day， they cut her leg off. My mom said she was only five then and did not really know what was going to happen next. When she woke up from the surgery， she had a long pole for a leg. My mom said she could feel her leg and the pain， but when she touched it， there was just a cold pole.

For over two years， she had to go back and forth to Boston.21）Every other week， she would get something called22）chemotherapy. She explained that this was a drug that killed the good and bad cells， and that made her very sick. The chemotherapy would make her lose all her hair on the top of her head.

As my mom told us the story with my friends all around， all I could think of was that my mom was the strongest person in the world. I tried to imagine her as a little kid and bald without any hair. It was scary， because when I looked at her， she was beautiful to me.

She told us that she got married then and had us six kids. She loved taking us23）hiking in the Yellowstone National Park注. I asked her if she was handicapped， and she said that she never felt that way because she was able to do whatever any other person could. After we ate our lunch， my mom played with us. I watched her lean on her crutch so she could kick the ball with her foot. My mom kicked it so hard that it went flying over the24）fence， and she kicked a25）home run that day.

I watched my mom and I said to myself，none of the other moms come out to play with us. The other boys may see that my mom only has one leg， but to me， she has just what she needs.

9） stuffed animal 填充動物玩具

10） trip over 被……絆倒

11） definitely ［'def?n?tl?］ adv. 無疑

12） equipment ［?'kw?pm?nt］ n. 設備

13） diagnosis ［,da??g'n?Js?s］ n. 診斷

14） run ［r?n］ v. 進行

15） biopsy ［'ba??ps?］ n. 活組織切片檢查

16） femur ［'fi?m?］ n. 大腿骨，腿節

17） knee cap 膝蓋骨

18） emergency surgery 緊急手術

19） spread ［spred］ v. 蔓延，擴散

20） vital organ 生命器官，重要器官

21） every other 每隔一個的

22） chemotherapy ［,ki?m?J'θer?p?］ n. 化療

23） hike ［ha?k］ v. 長途徒步旅行

24） fence ［fens］ n. 柵欄，籬笆

25） home run 全壘打

那是個炎熱的夏日，空氣中彌漫著剛剛修剪過的青草的香味。冠藍鴉在微風中揮動著翅膀，我能聽到它們鳴唱的旋律。我正在后院和一些小孩子玩耍，媽媽為我們端來了午餐。我的一個朋友忽然說道：“嘿，你媽媽是殘疾的啊，她只有一條腿哦?！?/p>

我從不認為我的媽媽是殘疾的，我也從來沒有真正意識到她只有一條腿。正當我媽媽為我們端上午餐的時候，我問道：“媽媽，你是殘疾的嗎？為什么你只有一條腿呢？”

媽媽放下手中的食物，笑容滿面地看著我們。她并沒有生氣，仿佛知道遲早會面對這個問題。她坐下來，把拐杖靠在了野餐桌邊上。我和我的小伙伴們圍著她，她便開始講述那個關于她失去一條腿的故事。

她說這一切全都始于一次摔倒，那次摔倒表明她患了癌癥。我實際上并不清楚什么是癌癥。媽媽解釋說，在她五歲那年，有天她正玩著毛絨動物玩具，她在亂跑的時候被它們絆倒摔傷了腿。我的外婆帶她去看醫生，卻沒有檢查出任何問題。醫生告訴外婆，媽媽的腿里一定存在著某種毛病。然而，家鄉的醫院還沒有設備能夠診斷出結果。

在波士頓，醫生給她做了一個活組織切片檢查。媽媽家鄉的醫生說得沒錯，情況真的不容樂觀—她患了癌癥。他們說癌細胞在她略高于膝蓋骨的股骨位置，他們必須做個緊急手術，切除掉她的腿，以防癌細胞擴散到其他重要器官上。第二天，他們切除了她的腿。我媽媽說她當時只有五歲，完全不知道接下來會發生些什么。當媽媽術后初醒，她的一條腿已經變成了一根長桿。媽媽說，她能感覺到她腿上的疼痛，但是，當她往下觸摸的時候，所剩的只是一根冰冷的長桿。

自那以后兩年多的時間里，她必須在波士頓和家鄉之間來回奔走。每隔一周，她便要接受化療。她說這是一種可以同時殺死好細胞與壞細胞的藥物，那讓她十分難受?；煏屗^頂上的頭發都掉光。

當我媽媽告訴我們這個故事的時候，我所能想到的，便是我媽媽是這個世界上最堅強的人。我努力地想象著她變成禿頂小孩的樣子。那真是可怕，因為當我看著她時，她是如此美麗。

她告訴我們，后來她結了婚，還有了我們這六個孩子。她喜歡帶著我們在黃石國家公園里遠足。我問媽媽她是不是殘疾了，她說她從來沒有那樣想過，因為她能夠做到任何其他人所能做的事情。午餐過后，媽媽和我們一塊兒玩了起來。我看著媽媽在靠著她的拐杖踢球，她還用了很大的力氣，把球踢出了柵欄。那天，她踢出了個全壘打。

看著媽媽，我心想，其他小孩的媽媽都不會出來和我們一起玩的?；蛟S其他小伙伴所看到的是我媽媽只有一條腿，但在我看來，她已經擁有了她所需要的一切。

注： 美國黃石國家公園（Yellowstone National Park），簡稱黃石公園，被分為五個區，主要位于美國懷俄明州，部分位于蒙大拿州和愛達荷州。1872年3月1日，它被正式列為保護野生動物和自然資源的國家公園，于1978年被列入世界自然遺產名錄。這是世界上第一個最大的國家公園。

She Only Has One Leg