On Saturday， February 12 two thousand， two things happened that changed everything in my life. The first was that on this day my baby sister was married. She was twenty-six this day， and yet to me she was still my baby sister. I suppose that I pictured her as a little girl， and treated her like one in order to hold onto and 1)preserve my own youth. Until I saw her in her wedding dress I still had a vision of her with 2)chubby little cheeks and long， dark-brown 3)pigtails blowing in the wind， perhaps even a 4)permanent 5)smudge of chocolate around her pink lips. I guess it's true that you see only what you want to see. Where did this beautiful woman with the glowing 6)complexion and gentle curves come from?
2000年2月12日，星期六，那天發(fā)生的兩件事改變了我的此后的生活。第一件是小妹妹那天結(jié)婚了。當(dāng)時(shí)她已經(jīng)26歲了，但對(duì)我來說，她還是我的小妹妹。我總是把她看作小女孩，也把她當(dāng)一個(gè)小女孩來對(duì)待。我想這是因?yàn)槲蚁Ｍ�通過這種方式來永葆青春。直到看到她身著婚紗的那一刻，浮現(xiàn)在我腦海的還是那個(gè)小圓臉蛋，長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的褐色馬尾巴在風(fēng)中擺動(dòng)的小女孩;也許還有一塊巧克力總是粘在她那粉紅色的嘴唇上。我想人總是看見自己想看的東西。眼前這位容光煥發(fā)、線條優(yōu)美的女人是誰呢?
I was happy that day， and also sad. Gone were the days of me bossing her around and telling her what she should do with her life. My bossy behavior had earned me the nickname Lucy. If you are a Peanuts fan then you can clearly imagine my behavior as an older sister. To me it wasn't an 7)insult; I rather like the nickname Lucy. I happen to think that Lucy is strong and has incredible self-confidence， although she is a little 8)overbearing at times. I did my best to 9)live up to the standards 10)set forth by this dynamic cartoon character.
那天我既高興又傷心。過去我對(duì)她呼來喚去，告訴她生活應(yīng)該怎樣過的日子已經(jīng)一去不回了。因?yàn)楠?dú)斷蠻橫我得到了露西這個(gè)外號(hào)。如果你也喜歡看《花生》這部動(dòng)畫片，那你一定可以想象我作為一個(gè)大姐姐的樣子。我不覺得這個(gè)外號(hào)是一種侮辱，反倒很喜歡它。我有時(shí)還想，強(qiáng)大的露西自信得令人難以置信，雖然她有時(shí)也讓人難以忍受。我努力向這個(gè)生氣勃勃的卡通形象看齊。
I left the reception to get some air because suddenly I was overcome with grief at the realization that I was no longer a child. I went outside and walked to a nearby playground where there were children playing on the slide， the swings and digging in the dirt. There was a little girl 11)twirling around on a bar， one knee wrapped tightly around the bar and fashioned behind her knee. It was all I could do to sit there and just watch， for I too wanted to get on that bar with her and see if I could still hold the all-time twirling record (ninety-nine times in fifth grade)。 Somewhere inside I knew that I would break my neck， and I was wearing a 12)bridesmaid dress. Not exactly play ground material. And so I sat watching the children play. I'm not sure how long I sat there before my sister came and joined me. We talked about how we are grown up now and shed a few tears for our childhood days gone by. As she wiped a tear from my eye she lovingly said， "you'll always be Lucy to me." We hugged.
我離開了婚禮現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，到外面去呼吸些新鮮空氣。我突然傷感不已，因?yàn)樽约阂呀?jīng)不再是個(gè)孩子了。我走到外面，來到附近的一個(gè)運(yùn)動(dòng)場(chǎng)邊，小孩子正在那里玩滑梯、蕩秋千、玩泥沙。有個(gè)小女孩正在一個(gè)杠上快速地轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng)，一條腿緊緊地勾在杠上。而我所能做的只是坐在那里看看，我也想跟她一起玩，看看能否再重現(xiàn)當(dāng)年自己轉(zhuǎn)圈的最高記錄(五年級(jí)時(shí)一次達(dá)到99次)。但我很清楚，這樣我可能會(huì)扭斷脖子。再說我正穿著伴娘服，不適合運(yùn)動(dòng)。于是我只好坐在那里看孩子們玩耍。不知過了多久，妹妹來到我身邊。我們談起自己已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)大了，并為逝去的孩童時(shí)光流下了淚。她替我擦干眼淚，充滿愛意地說："你永遠(yuǎn)都是我的露西。" 我們擁抱在了一起。
My cousin Mike walked over and told my sister that it was time to cut the cake. And then he dropped bomb number two on me. "Hey， did you guys hear that Charles Schultz died today?" He said it like it was no big deal. He took my sister's arm and turned to head back for the reception hall. "Coming?" They asked. "In a minute." I replied， and sat back down on the bench， 13)dizzy from what he had just told me.
表弟邁克走過來告訴妹妹該切蛋糕了。接著他給我扔下了第二顆炸彈。"嘿，你們知道查爾斯。舒爾茲今天去世了嗎?"他說得很輕松，然后挽著妹妹的手臂向婚禮現(xiàn)場(chǎng)走去。"來嗎?"他們問道。"等會(huì)兒，"我回答說，又在椅子上坐了下來，他剛剛告訴我的消息讓我眩暈。
Dead? How could Charles Schultz be dead? He was my creator! And though I have never met the man personally， he has always been like an invisible father to me. He did， after all， fashion a famous character after me. I lost so many things on this day. Innocence slipped away from me like a thief in the night： come and gone before I could do anything about it， taking with it all the treasures that I held most valuable in my heart. I felt myself grow up， all in one moment. Reality rushed in around me like a hurricane tide. There was nowhere to run to. All I could do was sit there and watch it destroy and reshape what had existed only a moment before. I was no longer a child. I was no longer Lucy who knew what was best for everyone else. I saw， for the first time， what I really was-a thirty-year old woman with a husband of my own， and soon， a child of my own.
去世了?查爾斯。舒爾茲怎么可能會(huì)去世呢?是他創(chuàng)造了我!雖然我從來沒和他見過面，但對(duì)于我來說，他一直都像是一位看不見的父親一樣。他畢竟為我創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)有名的角色。就在那一天，我失去了那么多東西，童真就像一個(gè)在夜里行竊的小偷一樣，無聲無息地溜走了：在我還來不及做點(diǎn)什么的時(shí)候就已經(jīng)走了，帶走了我心底深處最寶貴的財(cái)富。就在那一刻，我意識(shí)到自己已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)大了。現(xiàn)實(shí)像暴風(fēng)浪一樣向我襲來。我無處可逃。我只能坐在那里，看著它把剛剛還存在的東西毀掉，接著又重塑。我不再是個(gè)孩子。我不再是知道那個(gè)神通廣大的露西了。我第一次意識(shí)到真正的我——一個(gè)有自己的丈夫，很快會(huì)有我們的孩子的三十歲的女人。
I allowed the tide to carry my sadness out with it. Take it out to sea， for it serves no purpose in my life. I stood up from the bench; a little taller than I was when I sat down. I turned and headed back to the hall， hoping I didn't miss the cutting of the cake. It was the day my sister grew wings of her own and left the nest. It was the day that Lucy died， and I was born.
我任由巨浪帶走我的悲傷，送到大海中去。因?yàn)樗鼘?duì)于我的生命來說再?zèng)]什么意義了。我從椅子上站了起來，比我坐著時(shí)高了一些。我轉(zhuǎn)身向婚禮現(xiàn)場(chǎng)走去，希望沒錯(cuò)過切蛋糕的場(chǎng)面。今天是妹妹展翅出巢一天，也是露西死去，我得到新生的一天。