作者：Paige
翻譯：潘澤彬
校對(duì)：Luz、Zuzana、Joanne
It was a hot, summer day in 2015, and I’d hardly been in China for more than a couple of months. I was walking up to my apartment building during a break between classes when a woman shouted at me from the stairway of my six-floor walkup. “美女!!!” She waved at me excitedly. By now, the shouting and waving didn’t faze me; living in Nantong, Jiangsu, I heard the word “外國(guó)人” several times a day while out and about. But the woman kept waving at me, and started to approach me.
那是 2015 年一個(gè)炎炎夏日，當(dāng)時(shí)我在中國(guó)已經(jīng)待了幾個(gè)月的時(shí)間。課間休息時(shí)，我走到公寓樓，一個(gè)女人在六樓的樓梯口向我喊道：“美女?。。 彼d奮地朝我揮手?，F(xiàn)在，這些叫嚷和揮手并不會(huì)令我尷尬。我住在南通，每天出門(mén)都會(huì)聽(tīng)到好幾次“外國(guó)人”這個(gè)詞。但是那個(gè)女人一直向我揮手，開(kāi)始接近我。
The woman said something to me and I stared blankly, shrugging my shoulders as politely as one can in these sorts of situations. She pulled up a translation app on her phone; “Are you an English teacher?” she was asking. I nodded my head, and she motioned to add my WeChat. After exchanging WeChat information, I said goodbye and headed up to my apartment, thinking little of the interaction.
那個(gè)女人對(duì)我說(shuō)了些什么，我茫然地看著她，在這種情況下我會(huì)禮貌性地聳聳肩。她打開(kāi)一個(gè)翻譯 APP：“你是英語(yǔ)老師嗎？”她問(wèn)道。我點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，她沖我比劃著，想要加我的微信?；ゼ游⑿藕?，我向她道別，然后回到公寓，并沒(méi)有太在意這次互動(dòng)。
at first in English, inviting me to her home for dinner, but soon the English became long sentences of Chinese characters that I had to translate before I could read them, and as soon as I translated one message, another line of text would come through: Are you in China alone? You’re so brave. Do you cook? You could come over for dinner sometime. We just bought this house and are renovating it, when we move in you should come over.
我一通過(guò)微信好友請(qǐng)求，她就開(kāi)始給我發(fā)問(wèn)題。一開(kāi)始她用英語(yǔ)邀請(qǐng)我去她家吃飯，但是很快就變成了冗長(zhǎng)的中文，我必須依靠翻譯才能看懂。還沒(méi)等我翻譯完，又一條信息就送達(dá)了：你一個(gè)人來(lái)中國(guó)嗎？真勇敢。你會(huì)做飯嗎？有空過(guò)來(lái)吃飯。這房子是我們剛買的，正在裝修，等我們搬進(jìn)去，歡迎來(lái)家里坐坐。
It wasn’t long before they moved in. I came to learn more about her and her husband, about their young daughter that lived with her parents in the countryside, and their son in the first grade. They started to invite me over for meals. She was outgoing, warm, and friendly, and I started to realize that she was taking me under her wing.
沒(méi)過(guò)多久，他們就搬了進(jìn)來(lái)。我對(duì)他們夫婦有了更多的了解：他們有個(gè)女兒，和外公外婆一起住在鄉(xiāng)下，還有一個(gè)兒子，在讀一年級(jí)。他們邀請(qǐng)我去家里吃飯。她性格外向、熱情友好，對(duì)我關(guān)愛(ài)有加。
But almost immediately after accepting the friend request on WeChat she started to send me questions; at first in English, inviting me to her home for dinner, but soon the English became long sentences of Chinese characters that I had to translate before I could read them, and as soon as I translated one message, another line of text would come through: Are you in China alone? You’re so brave. Do you cook? You could come over for dinner sometime. We just bought this house and are renovating it, when we move in you should come over.
我一通過(guò)微信好友請(qǐng)求，她就開(kāi)始給我發(fā)問(wèn)題。一開(kāi)始她用英語(yǔ)邀請(qǐng)我去她家吃飯，但是很快就變成了冗長(zhǎng)的中文，我必須依靠翻譯才能看懂。還沒(méi)等我翻譯完，又一條信息就送達(dá)了：你一個(gè)人來(lái)中國(guó)嗎？真勇敢。你會(huì)做飯嗎？有空過(guò)來(lái)吃飯。這房子是我們剛買的，正在裝修，等我們搬進(jìn)去，歡迎來(lái)家里坐坐。
It wasn’t long before they moved in. I came to learn more about her and her husband, about their young daughter that lived with her parents in the countryside, and their son in the first grade. They started to invite me over for meals. She was outgoing, warm, and friendly, and I started to realize that she was taking me under her wing.
沒(méi)過(guò)多久，他們就搬了進(jìn)來(lái)。我對(duì)他們夫婦有了更多的了解：他們有個(gè)女兒，和外公外婆一起住在鄉(xiāng)下，還有一個(gè)兒子，在讀一年級(jí)。他們邀請(qǐng)我去家里吃飯。她性格外向、熱情友好，對(duì)我關(guān)愛(ài)有加。
One day just weeks after we met, I started to feel unwell while teaching a class at the training center I worked at. When I got home, I vomited; I developed a fever and became really sick. I couldn’t make it five minutes without running to the bathroom. I was away from home, still very new to China, and was at a loss as to how to take care of myself. Everything was in a language I couldn’t understand and unrecognizable: The medicine was foreign, the hospital system was foreign, the foods were foreign. Having planned to stop by my neighbor’s that day, I sent her a message to let her know I wouldn’t be coming, telling her I was sick. She replied:
我們認(rèn)識(shí)幾個(gè)星期后的一天，我在培訓(xùn)中心上課時(shí)感到不舒服?；氐郊視r(shí)，嘔吐不止，然后開(kāi)始發(fā)燒，感覺(jué)我真的病了。每五分鐘就要上衛(wèi)生間一趟。我離家在外，對(duì)中國(guó)還不熟悉，頓感手足無(wú)措，不懂怎么照顧自己。所有物品上寫(xiě)的都是我不認(rèn)識(shí)的文字：陌生的藥品、陌生的醫(yī)院、陌生的食品。那天我原本打算去鄰居家，但我發(fā)信息跟她講我病了，不能去她家了。她回復(fù)道：
“I’ll be home in about an hour, but if it’s too late tonight, I’ll be by tomorrow to check on you.”“我大約一小時(shí)后到家，如果太晚，我明天再來(lái)探望你。”
“Don’t worry about me,” I said. “I’ll be okay tonight.”“別擔(dān)心我，”我說(shuō)，“今晚我沒(méi)事的?！?/mark>
The next day, she messaged me, “I bought you some medicine last night, but it was too late at night to bring it to you. Are you at home?”第二天，她給我發(fā)信息說(shuō)：“我昨晚給你買了些藥，但回來(lái)時(shí)已經(jīng)太晚了，沒(méi)給你送來(lái)。你在家嗎？”
Then came the knock on my door. She was carrying a bag filled with boxes and boxes of medicine. Using a translation app, she typed, “I have some medicine that is good for your stomach. It will stop the nausea.” Then she walked into the kitchen, helped herself to my kettle, and made me a drink of the dried pellets and hot water to calm my stomach. She disappeared down the stairs, and then returned not long after with a tray of food for lunch: rice, fruit, and green 青菜. My stomach churned at the thought of eating much of anything; grateful, though, I accepted and ate what I could.
過(guò)了一會(huì)響起了敲門(mén)聲。她拎著一個(gè)袋子，里面裝滿了一盒又一盒的藥。她用翻譯 APP 打字說(shuō)：“這些藥對(duì)胃部很好，可以止住惡心嘔吐?！比缓笏哌M(jìn)廚房，燒了一壺水，沖泡感冒顆粒給我喝，還給我倒了一杯熱水，以平息我翻滾的胃。接著她下樓端來(lái)午餐：米飯、水果和青菜。一想到要吃東西，我的胃就開(kāi)始翻江倒海，但我還是心存感激，多少吃了一點(diǎn)。
But her care for me didn’t end there. She treated me as family. I spent October Holiday together with her family on a trip to the Yangtze River, and when my family came to visit shortly after that, she and her husband personally picked them up from the airport two hours away, treated us to dinner, and took us to the best local tourism sites to show us the beauty of China. I still remember the day she drove me and my family to a nearby water town. My mom had heard that the area was well-known for its quilts. As we wandered the rows of shops, a quilt shop caught her eye and we stopped to look. The shopkeeper was persistent, but my neighbor tried to discretely tell me she could find a better buy for us. The shopkeeper caught on and was not happy to see her sale walking away, yelling after us as we tried to disappear into the ancient narrow walkways.
她對(duì)我的關(guān)懷并沒(méi)有就此結(jié)束，她像家人一般對(duì)待我。十月，我和他們一家一起游長(zhǎng)江。不久后家人來(lái)探訪我，她和丈夫驅(qū)車兩小時(shí)，親自到機(jī)場(chǎng)接他們，請(qǐng)我們吃飯，帶我們?nèi)ギ?dāng)?shù)刈畎舻木包c(diǎn)玩，向我們展示美麗中國(guó)。那天她開(kāi)車帶我和家人去附近的一個(gè)水鎮(zhèn)。我媽媽聽(tīng)說(shuō)這個(gè)地區(qū)生產(chǎn)的棉被聞名遐邇。我們?cè)谝慌排派痰昀镩e逛的時(shí)候，一家棉被店吸引了她的目光，我們就停下來(lái)看看。店主不遺余力地向我們推銷，但鄰居謹(jǐn)慎地告訴我，她可以找到品質(zhì)更好的店鋪。店主發(fā)現(xiàn)我們企圖離開(kāi)，看到煮熟的鴨子飛了，很不高興，她看著我們消失在狹窄的古道，不甘心地沖著我們吆喝
For the short time that we were neighbors, she was always there, keeping an eye on me to make sure I was taken care of. Towards the end of my year-long work contract in Nantong, I met my now-husband, so I moved away to another city in China to be with him. It was as though she saw that he was there to take care of me now; I was leaving her nest, and gradually we spoke a bit less.
在我們成為睦鄰的短暫時(shí)光里，她一直關(guān)心著我，照顧著我。在南通一年的工作合同即將結(jié)束時(shí)，我遇到了現(xiàn)在的丈夫，所以我搬到了中國(guó)的另一個(gè)城市與他一起生活。她知道了我有一個(gè)能照顧自己的丈夫，我便離開(kāi)了她的庇護(hù)，漸漸地，我們之間交流少了一些。
Several months after I moved away, I made plans to go home to visit my family in the U.S.A. for Christmas. My neighbor had found out about my travel plans just days before my departure and hurriedly overnighted me a package. Even while living in another city, my Nantong neighbor wouldn’t let me go without a gift of kindness; remembering our day at the water town, she shipped a brand new, beautiful quilt for me to carry back to my mom.
我搬走幾個(gè)月后，打算回美國(guó)看望家人，一起過(guò)圣誕節(jié)。我鄰居在出發(fā)前幾天得知了我的計(jì)劃，匆匆忙忙地給我寄來(lái)了一袋包裹。即使我生活在另一個(gè)城市，遠(yuǎn)在南通的鄰居也會(huì)給我寄來(lái)善意的禮物，不會(huì)讓我空手離開(kāi)。她依然記得我們?cè)谒?zhèn)的經(jīng)歷，所以寄來(lái)了一條美麗的新被子，讓我?guī)Щ厝ソo媽媽。
My hometown is a small city in Wisconsin, U.S.A. which is famous for beer and cheese. With a population of 10,000, our quaint, historic downtown is nestled near a river with a set of railroad tracks that crisscross the city. If you drive just a couple miles out of town you’ll find rolling fields of corn and hay bales. Winding roads cut through forests where deer and wild turkey live which can often be seen crossing the road at inopportune times.
我的家鄉(xiāng)是美國(guó)威斯康星州的一個(gè)小城市，以啤酒和奶酪聞名。那里有一萬(wàn)多人口，歷史悠久的城區(qū)坐落在一條河邊，古色古香，鐵軌縱橫交錯(cuò)。開(kāi)車出城幾英里，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)連綿的玉米田和干草垛。蜿蜒的道路穿過(guò)森林，森林里生活著鹿和野生火雞，時(shí)?？梢钥吹剿鼈儾缓蠒r(shí)宜地橫穿馬路
