The Good Turn 好事

Manisha Deveshvar 張寧譯

Every time Gina walked down the lane1 where she lived， some neighbour or the other would say that“the brat2”was off to some place.

每次吉娜沿著她住的小巷走的時候，都會有鄰居說“這個頑劣的孩子”要去某個地方。

The six-year-old was the only child of her parents and they spoilt3 her totally. Even when she was a small child， her parents had never refused her anything. And she， in turn， always made sure that she got what she wanted.

這個六歲的孩子是她父母唯一的孩子，而他們把她寵壞了。即使在她很小的時候，她的父母也從未拒絕過她任何事情。反過來，她總是一定要得到她想要的。

One day， Ginas mother， Nitya Mehta， suddenly noticed that her daughter was not ready to share anything with her friends—be it a book， a toy or something toeat.

一天，吉娜的母親尼提亞·梅塔突然注意到，她的女兒并不準備與她的好朋友分享任何東西——無論是書、玩具或是吃的東西。

She discovered something else as well. Most children did not like to play withher daughter. They said she bossed4 them around and made them cry.

她還發現了另一件事。大多數孩子不喜歡和她的女兒一起玩。他們說她對他們指手畫腳并且惹哭了他們。

Ginas mother realized that it was their fault5 that Gina was behaving likethis. For， hadnt they spoilt her by giving her anything and everything she askedfor？ Would Gina be able to make good friends and learn to share things withthem？ She would soon know， for Gina was now admitted6 to a class in a properschool.

吉娜的母親意識到吉娜這樣的表現是他們的錯。因為，他們對她有求必應難道沒有寵壞她嗎？吉娜能交到好朋友并學會與他們分享嗎？她很快就會知道，因為吉娜現在進了一個正規學校的班級。

Everyone in her class admitted that Gina was very intelligent. But she hadno friends until Rita joined her class. New to the city and too shy to make anyfriends， Rita did not mind being taken under Gina爺s wing7. Though knowingGina， it was more of bossing around. But at least she had someone to play with.

班上的每個人都承認吉娜很聰明。但在麗塔加入她的班級之前，她沒有朋友。麗塔剛到這座城市，又羞于結交朋友，因此她不介意接受吉娜的照顧。雖然在認識吉娜后，更多的情況是指手畫腳，但至少她有人陪她玩。

One day， the teacher scolded8 ?Rita for doing the math problems withoutthinking. The little girl cried because the whole class had laughed at her. For theteacher had patiently explained how to do the sums， but Rita was just not able tounderstand.

一天，老師責罵麗塔在做算術題時沒有動腦子。這個小女孩哭了，而全班同學都嘲笑她。因為老師耐心地解釋了如何做算術，但麗塔就是不明白。

Gina told her mother about Rita crying in class.“Why dont you try to explain to her simply？”asked her mother.“She likes you very much and if you teach her， she will understand.”

吉娜告訴了她母親麗塔在課堂上哭的事。“你為什么不試著簡單地給她解釋一下？”她母親問，“她非常喜歡你，如果你教她，她會弄懂的。”

“媽媽，我沒時間去浪費。如果她很蠢，我該怎么辦？”吉娜說。“但是麗塔是你的朋友，如果你不幫助她，誰會幫她呢？……