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I play with his cowlick. When he was born, I could see a whorl of hair onthe crown of his head like a small, stagnant hurricane. Ike also had what thenurse called stork bites on the back of his neck and eyelids.
我玩着他翘起来的头发。他出生的时候我就看见他脑袋上有一撮小卷毛像停滞的小台风。用护士的话说，他脖子和眼皮上还有毛细血管扩张斑。
The things my body has done to him, I think. Cancer genes, hay fever, high blood pressure, perhaps a fear of math-these are my gifts.
我想这些都是我的身体给他造成的。癌症基因、花粉过敏、高血压，甚至数学不好，这些都是他在我身体里的时候我给他的礼物。一美
I have to pee, he says.
我要尿尿，他说。
I release him, let him skip into the fluorescent, germ-infested cave, roomslick with mistakes and full of the type of men I hope he'll never become.
我让他进去了。那个又黑又充满细菌，满地都是尿的地方。我希望他将来永远不要变成厕所里的那些人。
The first time I met my mother's parrot, he clung to a wrought iron perch on the front porch as we ate breakfast outside. Claiming the house was too quiet, Mom adopted Carnie from a neighbor one month after Dad's funeral, and constructed an extensive cage for him both indoors and out.
第一次看见妈妈的鹦鹉的时候我在屋外吃早餐。他紧紧钩着门廊前的铁杆。在爸爸葬礼一个月之后，妈妈抱怨房子太安静，就从邻居那收养了卡尼，还在屋里屋外都给他做了大笼子。
Carnie could already imitate the sound of oncoming traffic, an ambulance siren, leaves rustling. He could replicate my mother's voice completely.
卡尼早就已经可以模仿过往车辆的声音、救护车的声音、叶子沙沙的声音。很快，他可以完美地复刻我妈妈的声音了。
The bird moved from his perch to my shoulder without permission.
这只鸟忽然飞到了我的肩膀上。
Mom, I said. Get this damn bird off of me.
妈，赶紧把这只死鸟赶走，我说。
Language! She warned. He's sponge.
别乱说！他会学的，妈妈警告道。
I was still grieving Dad, and it was strange to watch Mom find so much joy in this ebony-beaked wiseass.
我还没有从失去爸爸的悲伤中走出来，看见妈妈从这个自作聪明的黑漆漆的东西上得到这么大的快乐，我心里总是很不爽。
What are you selling? He said. I already have car insurance. Carnie spoke with perfect inflection, but he addressed his words to the air-a song, not conversation.
你又要推销什么，我已经买汽车保险了。卡尼对着天空又开始模仿了，不过他不是想跟谁对话，而是在自己唱歌。
You can't take anything personally, Mom warned.
什么都不能太较真，妈妈警告道。
The man of the house is not here, Carnie said. He's dead, dead, dead.
你老公已经不在了，他死了，死了，死了，卡尼说。
That night he shredded the newspapers in his enclosure, which smelled like a stable. Lights out, Mom said, and tossed a threadbare beach towel over his cage. Carnie belted out the first verse of Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight," then fell silent for the evening. His tricks seemed cheap, and I hated the easy way he'd endeared himself to Mom.
那天晚上他把笼子里的报纸都撕碎了，闻着像个马厩一样。熄灯了妈妈说。然后在他笼子上盖了个沙滩巾。卡尼最后大声唱了佩茜·克莱恩的《午夜漫步》的第一段后就再也没出声了。我讨厌他用这么低级的方式讨好妈妈。
Later that week, Carnie became violently protective of her. Wings clipped, he chased me on foot through the halls. As I tried to shoo him from the kitchen counter, he savagely bit my wrist and fingers.
那周快结束的时候，卡尼开始极具攻击性地保护我妈妈。他呼扇着翅膀用脚在走廊追着我跑。我试着把他从厨房的台面上撵走，他就开始使劲啄我的手腕和手指。
I'll take him to specialist, Mom said mildly apologetic. I knew she wanted a bird she could be proud of. But I think part of her was flattered by Carnie's aggressive loyalty.
我会把他带去给专家看看，妈妈抱歉地说。我知道她想养一只让她骄傲的鹦鹉，但是我想她对鹦鹉的这种过激的忠诚还是挺享受的。
Show me how you pet the bird, the behaviorist had said.
让我看看你是怎么摸鹦鹉的，动物行为专家说。
Carnie, inching left and right on Mom's wrist, cocked his head to one side and shot us the eye. Like a whale, he gave us one side of his face at time.
卡尼在妈妈手臂上来回飞，他把脑袋转向一边瞪着我们。像个鲨鱼一样，每次都只能看见半张脸。
