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She was six years oldwhenI first mether on the beachnearwhereI live. Idrive tothis beach, a distance ofthree or four miles,wheneverthe world begins to close inon me. She was buildingasandcastleor something and lookedup, her eyesasblueasthe sea.
我第一次和她在那个海滩上相遇时，她整六岁。这个海滩离我的住处约有三、四英里。每当（whenever）我心情压抑，感到烦恼时，就驱车上那儿去。当时她正在用沙子堆积一个城堡似的东西。看到我来，她抬起头来望着我，那双眼睛像大海般深邃、湛蓝。
“Hello,” she said. I answeredwitha nod,not really in the moodtobother with a small child.
“您好！”她说。我点了点头作为回答，说实在的，我没有心思跟一个小女孩费神(bother with)。
“I'm building,” she said. “我在盖房子呢！”她又说。
“I seethat.What is it?” I asked, not caring.
“我看见了。这盖的是什么房子呢？”我心不在焉（notcaring）地问道。
“Oh, I don't know,I just likethe feel of sand.” “噢，我不知道，我就是喜欢摸沙子的感觉。”
That sounds good, I thought, andslippedoffmy shoes. A sandpiper glided by.
这倒有意思，我边想边脱掉鞋子。蓦地，一只矶鹞从一旁滑翔而过。
“That's a joy,” the child said. 孩子见了说：“那是快乐。”
“It's awhat?” “是什么？”
“It's a joy. My mama sayssandpiperscome to bring us joy.”“是快乐，矶鹞能给人们带来快乐，妈妈说的。”
The bird wentglissadingdownthe beach. “Good-byejoy,” I mutteredtomyself, “hello pain,” andturnedto walk on. I was depressed; my life seemed completelyout of balance.
那只矶鹞顺着海滨飞走了(glissade; v.下滑)。“再见了，快乐，”我自言自语道(I muttered to my self)，“痛苦来临了。”并转身走开(turned to walk on)。我很沮丧(depressed)，因为我现在的生活一团糟。
“What's your name?” Shewouldn't give up.
“您叫什么名字啊？”她还不罢休。
“Ruth,” I answered. “I'm Ruth Peterson.”
“鲁思，”我回答，“我叫鲁思·彼得森。”
“Mine'sWendy... I'm six.” “我叫温迪，我六岁了。”
“Hi, Wendy.” “你好，温迪。”我叫到。
She giggled. “You're funny,” she said.
“您真逗！”她咯咯地笑了。
In spite of mygloom I laughedtoo and walked on.
尽管心绪不佳，我也不由得笑了起来，一边往前走着。
Her musical giggle followed me.
她那清脆悦耳的笑声(her musical giggle)依然追随着我。
“Come again, Mrs. P,” she called. “We'll haveanotherhappy day.” “您下次再来，彼太太。咱们再快乐地玩一天！”她喊着。
The days and weeks that followed belong to others:a group ofunruly Boy Scouts, PTA meetings, and ailing mother.
那以后的好几个星期，我忙得不可开交，没有一点闲暇：负责一群调皮捣蛋的童子军，参加家长教师联谊会(PTA: Parent-Teacher Association)，还要照顾生病的(ailing)母亲。
The sun was shining one morningasI took my handsout of the dishwater. “I need asandpiper,” Isaid to myself,gatheringupmy coat.The ever-changingbalm of theseashore awaited me. The breeze was chilly, but Istrodealong,tryingtorecapture theserenity I needed.Ihadforgotten the child and wasstartled when she appeared.
一个阳光明媚的上午，我洗完碗碟，心想：“我需要一只矶鹞。”于是穿上外套向海滩走去。海岸不断变化的芳香依然在等着(await=wait for)我。微风有些刺骨(the breeze was chilly)，但是我依然大步走着(stride–strode-stridden)，我多么渴望重新处于安静宁谧(serenity)之中啊！我早已忘掉了那个孩子，所以当她出现在我面前时，不免吃了一惊(我被吓了一跳)。
“Hello, Mrs. P,” she said. “Do you want to play?”
“您好，彼太太！”她说，“你想玩吗？”
“What did youhavein mind?” I asked,withatwinge of annoyance.
“你想玩什么？”带着一丝厌烦(a twinge of annoyance)，我反问她。
“I don't know, you say.”“我不知道，您说吧。”
“How about charades?” I asked sarcastically.
“猜字谜怎么样？”我挖苦地（sarcastically）问。
The tinkling laughter burst forth again. “Idon't knowwhatthat is.”
“我不知道那是什么，”她说着，又发出一阵银铃般的(tinkling)笑声。
“Then let's just walk.”Lookingat her,I noticedthedelicate fairness of her face.
“那么，咱们一块儿走走吧。”我望着她，看到了娇嫩而白皙的脸。
“Where do you live?” I asked. “你住在哪儿？”我问她。
“Over there.” She pointed towarda row of summercottages. Strange, I thought, in winter.
“那边！”她用小手指着远处一排夏季避暑的小别墅。我感到纳闷，现在是冬天啊。
“Where do you go to school?” “你在哪儿上学呢？”
“I don't go to school. Mommy says we'reon vacation.”“我不上学，妈妈说我们在度假。”
She chattered little girl talk as we strolled up the beach, but my mind wason other things. When Ileftforhome, Wendy saidit had been a happy day.Feelingsurprisingly better, Ismiledather and agreed.
我们漫步走上海滩，她一路上叽叽喳喳地说着小姑娘们的话（littlegirl talk）。可是，我却心事重重。当我要回家时，温迪说这是快乐的一天(it had been a happy day)。奇怪的是(surprisingly)，我的心情也感到舒坦多了。于是，我同意地报以一笑。
Three weeks later, Irushedtomy beach in a state of near panic. I wasin no moodtoevengreet Wendy. I thought I saw her motheron the porchandfeltlikedemandingshe keepher childat home.
三个星期后，我在近乎慌乱的心境下(in a state of near panic)直奔(rush to)海滩。我甚至没心情跟温迪打招呼。看见她妈妈在走廊上，我有一种去命令她让她的小孩呆在家里的冲动。(feel like +doing sth v. 想要…; 有…的感觉; feel-felt-felt)
“Look,ifyou don't mind,” I saidcrosslywhen Wendycaught up with me, “I'd ratherbealone today.”
当温迪赶上我时，我气呼呼地（crossly）对她说：“要是你不介意，我今天想一个人待着。”(Look, if you don't mind, I'd rather be alonetoday.)
She seems unusually pale and out of breath.
她的脸看上去异常苍白，还有点喘不过气来(out of breath)。
“Why?” she asked. “为什么？”她问。
I turned to her and shouted, “Because my motherdied!” -and thought, my God,whywas I saying thistoa littlechild?
我转身对她吼道：“因为我妈妈死了！”然后我又想：天啊，我为什么跟一个小孩讲这些？
“Oh,”she saidquietly, “then this is a bad day.”“哦，”她轻轻地说，“这么说今天是个糟糕的日子。”
“Yes, and yesterday andthe day beforeand -oh, go away!”
“是，”我说，“昨天也是，前天也是--唉。你走开！”
“Did it hurt?” “很痛吗？”她问。
“Did what hurt?” I wasexasperated with her, withmyself.
“什么？”我对她，对我自己都很恼火(exasperatewith 对…生气)。
“When she died?” “她死的时候？”
“Of course it hurt!” I snapped, misunderstanding,wrappedup in myself.I strode off.
“当然痛了！”我怒气冲冲地说(snap)，完全沉浸在自己的思绪中(wrap up in myself)。我误会了她的意思。我大步走开了。
A month or so after that, when Inextwent to the beach, she wasn'tthere.Feelingguilty,ashamedandadmittingtomyself I missed her, Iwentup tothe cottageafter mywalkandknockedatthe door. A drawn lookingyoung womanwithhoney-colored hairopened the door.
大约一个月以后，我再次到海滩上去，她却不在那儿。我感到自责和羞愧（guilty, ashamed），同时也承认(admit to)我有点想她了，于是就在散步之后走到那所房子前，敲了敲门。一个有着蜜色头发（with honey-colored hair）、看上去很憔悴的女人(a drawn looking youngwoman)把门打开了。
“Hello,” I said. “I'm Ruth Peterson. I missed yourlittle girl today and wonderedwhereshe was.”
“你好。”我说，“我是鲁思·彼得森。我很想念你的女儿，她在哪儿呢？”
“Oh yes, Mrs. Peterson, please come in.Wendytalked of youso much.I'm afraidI allowed her to bother you.If she was a nuisance, please, accept my apologies.”
“哦，是，彼得森太太，请进。温迪经常说起你。恐怕她给你添麻烦了。如果她打扰到了你，我向你道歉。”
“Not at all-she's adelightfulchild,” Isaid, suddenlyrealizingthatI meant it. “Where is she?”
“哪儿的话！她很可爱的。”我说着，突然意识到自己也真的是这么想的。“她在哪儿呢？”
“Wendy died last week, Mrs. Peterson. She had leukemia. Maybe she didn't tell you.”
“温迪上周去世了，彼得森太太。她有白血病，可能她没告诉你。”
Struck dumb, Igropedfora chair. My breathcaught.
我目瞪口呆，摸索(grope for)着找了一把椅子，感觉自己透不过气来。
“She loved this beach; sowhenshe asked to come, wecouldn't say no. She seemedso muchbetterhere and had a lot ofwhatshe calledhappy days. Butthelast few weeks, she declined rapidly...” her voice faltered, “She left something for you...if only I can find it. Could youwait a momentwhileI look?”
“她喜欢这片海滩，所以当她请求我们到这儿来的时候，我们没法说不。在这儿，她的情形好像改善了许多，她还说她过得很开心(had a lot of happy days)。但是上几周(the last few weeks)，她的情况急剧恶化……”她的声音颤抖起来(falter)，“她给你留了一样东西。要是我能找到它就好了。你能稍等一下吗？我这就去找。”
I nodded stupidly,my mindracingfor something, anything,tosay to this lovely young woman.
我呆呆地点点头，心中急切地搜寻着(my mind racing for)此刻可以跟这位可爱的年轻女士讲的词句。
She handed measmeared envelope,withMRS. P printedin bold, childish letters.Inside was a drawing in brightcrayon hues-a yellow beach, a blue sea, and a brown bird.Underneathwascarefullyprinted:
她把一个字迹模糊的信封递给了我。信封上“彼太太”这几个字用得是孩子气的黑体字。信封里是一张用亮色蜡笔画的画--黄色的海滩，蓝色的海，还有一只棕色的鸟。下方认真地写着：
A SANDPIPER TO BRING YOU JOY 矶鹞带给你快乐。
Tears welled up in my eyes, and a heartthathadalmost forgotten to loveopened wide. ItookWendy's mother in my arms. “I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,” I muttered over and over, and we wept together.
泪水涌上了我的眼睛(well up v. 涌出,涌现)，一颗几乎已经忘记去爱的心扉开了。我拥抱了温迪的母亲(took Wendy's mother in my arms; I take sb in my arms.)，不停地小声说道(mutter)：“对不起，对不起，对不起！”我们都哭了（weep-wept-wept）。
The precious littlepictureisframed now and hangsin my study. Six words - one foreach year of her life - that speak to me of harmony, courage, undemanding love. A gift from a childwithsea-blue eyesandhairthe color sand-whotaught me the gift of love.
我把这张宝贵的画裱了框，挂在我的书房里。六个字，每一个字代表她生命里的一年。这六个字对我诉说着和谐、勇气、无私的爱(undemanding love)。这个礼物来自一个眼睛碧蓝似海、发色如沙的小女孩，是她教给了我爱的意义。
