张恒选译

Heres Scarlett， in the garden of a friends house in London on a sunny summer morning. It is the kind of mornings that are unusual in England. Scarlett is twelve years old （“Thirteen in November，” she tells me）， and is trying to understand the world around her. She asks questions about everything， all the time.

這位是斯嘉丽，在阳光明媚的夏日清晨，在伦敦一个朋友家的花园里，那是一个英格兰不寻常的早晨。斯嘉丽今年十二岁（她告诉我：“十一月十三号就满了。”），并试图了解她周围的世界，对每件事她都要打破砂锅问到底。

I tell her that I want to ask her a question， and I ask her why shes called Scarlett， and what the name means， and if it comes from anywhere in particular1. She says， “No， its just a stupid2 name my parents chose3 because they liked it. It doesnt mean anything.”

我告诉她，我想问她一个问题，她为什么叫斯嘉丽，这个名字有什么意思，是不是来自某个特定的地方。她说：“不是，这只是我父母选的一个蠢名字，因为他们喜欢它，没什么意思。”

I wonder if her parents named her after the heroine4 of a favourite film， but then again， I know her dad and this sounds impossible5. I think they maybe chose it just because they liked the sound of it.

我想知道，她的父母是不是用最喜欢的电影女主角的名字给她起名，但话又说回来，我认识她的父亲，这听起来不太可能。我认为他们选“斯嘉丽”的原因可能只是因为喜欢它的发音。

Scarlett is worried about changing school after the summer. She worries that shes too short for her age. The other children at the school will make fun of her. She shows me some pictures of the school she is at now and her classmates. I look at the pictures and it shows all kinds of children. Some are tall， some are short， some are fat and some are thin. Some are black and some are white， and most of them are somewhere in between. Some have red hair and some have blond hair， some have long hair and some have short hair.

斯嘉丽担心夏天过后转校的事。她担心就她的年龄来看个子太矮了，学校其他的孩子会取笑她。她给我看了一些她现在所在的学校和她同学的照片。我看着这些照片里面出现的各种各样的孩子，有些很高，有些矮，有些胖，有些瘦，有些肤色黑，有些肤色白，其中大多数介于两者之间。有的是红头发，有的是金发，有的是长发，有的是短发。

I tell her not to worry about the new school， tell her that shell be OK， and ask her about the new subjects shell be studying. She tells me that shes worried about learning French， and I tell her not to worry， that it isnt a very difficult language. She tells me that she already knows five languages.

我告诉她不要担心新学校的事，告诉她一切都会好的，并问她要学哪些新科目。她告诉我她担心法语的学习，我告诉她不用担心，这不是一门非常难的语言，她说她已经会五种语言了。

“Five languages！” I shout. “Thats impossible！How do you already know five languages？”

“五种语言！”我喊道，“这不可能！你怎么会五种语言的呢？”

“Because Ive got five languages in my body，” she says.

她说：“因为我生来就懂五种语言。”

I ask her what she means， and she starts to tell me the story of her family. Some of the story I already know. Ive already heard stories about her grandfather. He was from Scotland. He was a sailor， but not a very good sailor， so he only got as far as Portsmouth， a big navy6 town on the south coast of England， not very far from Scotland at all. When he got to Portsmouth， he stopped there， left the navy and became a boxer. He lost fights and drank a lot. However， he still managed7 to see the world by meeting a woman who came from Laos8. Nobody really knows how this woman had ended up in Portsmouth， but she still lives there. I tell Scarlett that she should try and find out her grandmothers story.

我问她是什么意思，她開始告诉我她家人的故事。我已经知道了故事的一部分内容，听说过有关她祖父的故事。……