鯊魚與美人魚

by Jennifer Azantian

翻譯：Cass

鯊魚與美人魚

by Jennifer Azantian

翻譯：Cass

Jump， and you will find out how to unfold［張開 】your wings as you fall.

—Ray Douglas Bradbury

Track 7

I stood on the1）edge of the2）diving board and looked down into the deep， dark water. All of the other kids were in the pool，or behind me， waiting for their turn， but I didn’t want to jump. The shadows from the nearby fences and trees3）shaded the water below. I couldn’t see the bottom.

“Come on， jump！” a red-haired boy yelled at me， but I didn’t move. He was the same boy who had told me about the sharks in the swimming pool just a few minutes before. I tried not to believe him. But what if he was right？

My stomach started to hurt badly. Mrs. Johnston came over and put her hand on my back.

“It’s all right，” she said in a gentle voice. “You can do it.”

I wanted to ask her about the sharks， but what if everyone laughed at me？

“Jump already！” the girl behind me in line shouted. I hadn’t meant to jump， not exactly， but suddenly I was falling4）toward the pool.

5）Splash.

I closed my eyes， too scared to look， and just started kicking as hard and as fast as I could. I could almost feel the sharks chasing after me. My nose and my throat hurt from the water that rushed inside. And then， and my face filled with pain. But suddenly I felt the ground.

1） edge ［ed?】 n. 邊緣

2） diving board 跳水板

3） shade ［?eId】 v. 遮蔽

4） toward ［t?'w??d】 prep. 朝著，向著

5） splash ［spl??】 v. 濺

I opened my eyes and found that I was standing in the6）shallow end. I was safe. But then a few drops of red splashed into the water. I had hit my nose on the edge of the pool.

I never wanted to swim again.

Five years later， I still get stomachaches when I try to swim in the7）deep end， especially if there are shadows. Even though I know that there are no sharks， I’m still scared. Only now something has changed. I have a little sister. She is six years old—and she8）looks up to me.

That day was her birthday， and she was having a pool party. She was standing on the diving board. She wasn’t scared of sharks， but she was afraid of looking silly. All of her friends swim better than she does.

All the other kids were eating cakes and running around，but she was all by herself， shaking. And I remembered what that felt like.

Carefully， I swam over to the deep end. I saw shadows from the trees moving with the wind，and I wanted to run away. I wanted to forget about the deep water and sharks， but something more important than my fear made me keep going.

Finally， I made it. My heart was beating hard as I called out to my little sister， “Hey， Lauren， are you okay？”

She shook her head； her blue eyes showed her fear.

I thought about all the stories I used to tell her. And suddenly， I had an idea.

“Lauren， do you see those9）shimmers on the bottom of the pool？”

She looked10）skeptical. “Yeah.”

“They’re11）mermaids，” I said. “Really. You can’t see them because they’re magic， but those shimmers are their12）reflections. And when you jump into deep waters， they’ll help you come up to the top. You’ll feel them around you. It’s like a million little13）bubbles all over.”

“Are you sure？” she said.

“Jump and you’ll see. And besides， I’m here， too. I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.”“Okay. I’ll try…”

After a minute， she looked right at me and jumped.

I waited， nervously， and a few seconds later， she broke through the surface.

“Jenny！ Jenny！ I felt them！” my sister waved her arms happily. “You were right！”

I swam over to her， “You did it！ Good job！”

“I want to go， again，” she said.

“You should！” I answered.

“Will the mermaids always help me？”

I laughed， “Yes， always.”

I watched her jumped in again and again. And I forgot my own fears along with hers. The sharks are gone forever.

參考譯文

我站在跳水板的邊緣，往又深又幽暗的水里望去。其余的小孩，有些已經在泳池里，有些則站在我身后，等著他們的機會，但是我不想跳。泳池附近的柵欄和樹木倒映在水面上。我看不見水底。

“快跳！”一個紅頭發的男孩沖我喊道，但我沒有動彈。他就是幾分鐘前告訴我游泳池里有鯊魚的那個男孩。我盡量讓自己不去相信他。但萬一他說的是真的呢？

我的肚子開始疼得厲害。約翰斯頓女士走過來，把手搭在我的背上。

“沒事的，”她溫柔地說道。“你能做到的。”

我想問她關于鯊魚的事，但萬一所有人都取笑我怎么辦？

“已經跳了！”排在我身后的女孩喊道。我其實不想跳，根本不想跳，可突然間我的身體向著游泳池墜落下去。

“撲通”一聲。

我閉上了雙眼，害怕得不敢看周圍，只能以最快的速度使勁地蹬腿。我幾乎能夠感覺到鯊魚群在追趕我。我的鼻子和喉嚨因進水而十分疼痛。接著，我的整張臉也都感受到了疼痛，但突然卻感覺到腳著地了。

我睜開眼睛，發現自己站在泳池的淺水區。我安全了。但接著，有幾滴鮮紅的液體濺到了水里。原來我的鼻子在泳池的邊緣上磕傷了。

自那以后，我再也不想游泳了。

五年后，每當我試著在泳池深水區游泳時，肚子仍然會疼，尤其是在水面有陰影的時候。即便我知道水里并沒有鯊魚，我仍然很害怕。只是現在的情況和以往不同了。我有了一個年幼的妹妹。六歲的她很是崇拜我。

那天是她的生日，她舉辦了一個泳池派對。她站在跳水板上，并不害怕鯊魚，卻很擔心自己會出丑。因為她所有的朋友都比她游得好。

其他的孩子或在吃蛋糕，或在跑來跑去，但是她獨自一人，顫抖著。我還記得那是種怎樣的感覺。

我小心翼翼地游到深水區。水中可以看到樹木隨風搖擺的影子，我想逃離。我想忘掉深水和鯊魚，但此時有比恐懼更重要的東西驅使著我前進。

最后，我成功了。當我向妹妹大聲喊著“嘿，勞倫，你還好嗎？”的時候，我的心劇烈地跳動著。

她搖搖頭；湛藍的眼睛里顯現出恐懼。

我想起了所有以前給她講過的故事，突然間有了主意。

“勞倫，你看見泳池底那些閃爍的微光了嗎？”

她神情疑惑。“看見了。”

“那些是美人魚，”我說道。“真的。你看不見它們是因為它們會魔法，而這些閃爍的微光就是它們反射出來的。你跳進深水里時，它們會幫助你浮上水面。你會感覺到它們包圍著你，就像無數的小泡泡一樣。”“你確定嗎？”她問道。“你跳下來就知道了。還有，姐姐也在這里。我不會讓你有事的。”

“好吧，我試試……”

過了一分鐘，她看著我，然后跳進

了水里。

我不安地等著，幾秒鐘后，她浮出了水面。

“詹妮！詹妮！我感覺到它們了！”妹妹興高采烈地揮動著手臂。“你說得沒錯！”

我游到她身邊：“你做到了！太棒了！”

“我想再試一次，”她說道。

“去吧！”我回答。

“美人魚們會一直幫助我嗎？”

我大笑著回答：“是的，一直都會。”

我看著她跳了一次又一次。她忘掉了自己的畏懼，而我的恐懼也隨之煙消云散。那些鯊魚也永遠不會再出現。

6） shallow end 淺水區

7） deep end 深水區

8） look up to 崇拜，敬仰

9） shimmer ［'?Im?】 n. 閃光，微光

10） skeptical ［'skeptIk?l】 adj. 懷疑的

11） mermaid ［'m??meId】 n. 美人魚

12） reflection ［rI'flek??n】 n. 反射，倒影

13） bubble ［'b?b?l】 n. 泡沫，氣泡

Sharks and Mermaids