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Growing up with six sisters wasn’t easy. We had our share of differences of opinions over the years. My parents never had much money and food was sometimes scarce. We were lucky to get our stomachs full. If there was dessert at night it was surely a treat.
Going to school also wasn’t very easy. We never had any lunch money. My parents were too proud to sign us up for free lunch. If we were lucky we would be able to carry something a few days a week. We never had the proper school supplies or nice clothes to wear. This was probably the hardest thing my sisters and I had to go through. The other children were relentless1 in teasing us. Then, one summer our lawn mower2 broke and we had no money to fix it. Our lawn grew 15 inches tall. The other children on the school bus tortured us. I was so embarrassed. It was beyond my control, and there was nothing I could do about it.
One day my father came home and told us he knew where there were some wild blueberries growing. We had permission to go and pick them, so my father asked if we wanted to go. We were so excited. Not very often did we get to go anywhere, and to go pick blueberries was a real treat. I can remember being out there in the hot sun all day picking blueberries. I think we ate more than we brought home.
When we got home, my mother decided to make a blueberry pie. She made the pie from scratch and spent half the day working on it. We couldn’t wait. The smell of it baking in the oven was driving us crazy. We were all starting to hover3 around in the kitchen and my mother was getting annoyed. She put the pie on the top shelf to cool while we ate our dinner.
Dinner was hard to get down that night, knowing that the pie was in the kitchen waiting for us. We were having stuffed peppers that night and nobody wanted to eat them. But my mother wouldn’t let anyone leave the table until everyone was finished. When my mother told us we had eaten enough, it sounded like a stampede4 of cattle as we raced for the kitchen. I was the first in line at the counter top. Before my mother could get there, I had already jumped on the counter top and was up on the top shelf of the cabinet. I reached for the pie and started climbing down. Then it happened! I slipped on the wet counter top and let go of the pie. I can close my eyes today and still see the vivid image of that pie flipping though the air in slow motion and landing upside down on the floor, then looking up and seeing the look of disbelief on my sisters’ faces. All I could think of was all the hard work we had done that day and how fast it had been destroyed. My mother made me clean up the mess. This was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life.
Looking back I’ll never forget that night. My family always brings it up on the holidays. Life was tough back then and it taught us to appreciate what we have today even more.
和六个姐妹一起成长真是不容易。在过去的许多年里，我们的观点总是不一致。父母一向没有什么钱，有时候食物都很匮乏。我们能吃饱就算很幸运了。而如果晚上有甜点的话，那当然就是意外之喜了。
上学也不是一件很容易的事。我们从来没有午餐钱。我的父母自尊心又太强，不愿意为我们申请免费午餐。如果我们幸运的话，一星期就能有几天有食物可带。我们从来没有合适的学习用品，也没有漂亮的衣服。这也许是我和姐妹们所必须经受的最艰苦的事情。别的孩子经常取笑我们。一年夏天，我们的割草机坏了，而我们没有钱去修理。我们草坪上的草长到了15英寸（约38厘米）高，和我们一起乘坐校车的孩子故意盘问我们这事儿。我感到非常困窘。这不是我能控制的，对于这件事我无能为力。
一天，父亲回到家，告诉我们他知道一个长着一些野蓝莓的地方。我们已经得到去采摘它们的许可，所以父亲问我们是否愿意去。大家都很兴奋。因为我们并不经常有机会到什么地方去，而去采摘野蓝莓又是一件真正的乐事。我现在还能记得我们在那儿，在火辣辣的太阳底下，摘了一整天的野蓝莓。我想我们吃掉的比我们带回家的要多得多。
回家之后，母亲决定做一块蓝莓馅饼。她把家中的食物凑在一起，花了半天时间做馅饼。我们简直等不及了。它在烤箱里烘烤时发出的香味快把我们馋疯了。我们全都在厨房里绕来绕去，母亲被我们搅得心烦意乱。她把那块馅饼放在架子的最上面一层，让它在我们吃晚饭的时候凉一凉。
因为知道那块馅饼正在厨房里等着我们，所以，那天晚上，我们都不想吃晚餐。那天晚上的食物里有胡椒，没有人愿意吃。但是，在所有人都吃完晚饭之前，母亲不让任何一个人离开餐桌。当母亲宣布说差不多了的时候，大家立刻向厨房奔去，声音听起来就像一头受惊的牛。我第一个冲到操作台前。还没等母亲走进厨房，我就已经跳上操作台，爬到了橱柜最上面的一层搁板上。我伸手拿到了那块馅饼，开始往下爬。接着，最糟糕的事儿发生了！我在那湿漉漉的操作台上滑倒了，手一松丢掉了馅饼。今天，闭上眼睛，我仍然能清晰地看见那块馅饼在空中翻转掉落时的慢动作，以及它头朝下、底朝上落在地板上时的情景。然后，我抬起头，看见姐妹们那一张张惊讶的面孔。我当时能够想到的唯一事情就是我们那天所做的所有辛苦的工作，以及它那么快就被毁掉了。母亲让我清理残局。这是我一生中所做的最困难事情之一。
回顾过去，我永远也忘不了那个夜晚。我的家人总是在节日里提起这件事。过去的生活是那么艰苦，它教我们学会更加珍惜今天所拥有的一切。
飞鸢 摘译自 Parents & Children
Going to school also wasn’t very easy. We never had any lunch money. My parents were too proud to sign us up for free lunch. If we were lucky we would be able to carry something a few days a week. We never had the proper school supplies or nice clothes to wear. This was probably the hardest thing my sisters and I had to go through. The other children were relentless1 in teasing us. Then, one summer our lawn mower2 broke and we had no money to fix it. Our lawn grew 15 inches tall. The other children on the school bus tortured us. I was so embarrassed. It was beyond my control, and there was nothing I could do about it.
One day my father came home and told us he knew where there were some wild blueberries growing. We had permission to go and pick them, so my father asked if we wanted to go. We were so excited. Not very often did we get to go anywhere, and to go pick blueberries was a real treat. I can remember being out there in the hot sun all day picking blueberries. I think we ate more than we brought home.
When we got home, my mother decided to make a blueberry pie. She made the pie from scratch and spent half the day working on it. We couldn’t wait. The smell of it baking in the oven was driving us crazy. We were all starting to hover3 around in the kitchen and my mother was getting annoyed. She put the pie on the top shelf to cool while we ate our dinner.
Dinner was hard to get down that night, knowing that the pie was in the kitchen waiting for us. We were having stuffed peppers that night and nobody wanted to eat them. But my mother wouldn’t let anyone leave the table until everyone was finished. When my mother told us we had eaten enough, it sounded like a stampede4 of cattle as we raced for the kitchen. I was the first in line at the counter top. Before my mother could get there, I had already jumped on the counter top and was up on the top shelf of the cabinet. I reached for the pie and started climbing down. Then it happened! I slipped on the wet counter top and let go of the pie. I can close my eyes today and still see the vivid image of that pie flipping though the air in slow motion and landing upside down on the floor, then looking up and seeing the look of disbelief on my sisters’ faces. All I could think of was all the hard work we had done that day and how fast it had been destroyed. My mother made me clean up the mess. This was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life.
Looking back I’ll never forget that night. My family always brings it up on the holidays. Life was tough back then and it taught us to appreciate what we have today even more.
和六个姐妹一起成长真是不容易。在过去的许多年里，我们的观点总是不一致。父母一向没有什么钱，有时候食物都很匮乏。我们能吃饱就算很幸运了。而如果晚上有甜点的话，那当然就是意外之喜了。
上学也不是一件很容易的事。我们从来没有午餐钱。我的父母自尊心又太强，不愿意为我们申请免费午餐。如果我们幸运的话，一星期就能有几天有食物可带。我们从来没有合适的学习用品，也没有漂亮的衣服。这也许是我和姐妹们所必须经受的最艰苦的事情。别的孩子经常取笑我们。一年夏天，我们的割草机坏了，而我们没有钱去修理。我们草坪上的草长到了15英寸（约38厘米）高，和我们一起乘坐校车的孩子故意盘问我们这事儿。我感到非常困窘。这不是我能控制的，对于这件事我无能为力。
一天，父亲回到家，告诉我们他知道一个长着一些野蓝莓的地方。我们已经得到去采摘它们的许可，所以父亲问我们是否愿意去。大家都很兴奋。因为我们并不经常有机会到什么地方去，而去采摘野蓝莓又是一件真正的乐事。我现在还能记得我们在那儿，在火辣辣的太阳底下，摘了一整天的野蓝莓。我想我们吃掉的比我们带回家的要多得多。
回家之后，母亲决定做一块蓝莓馅饼。她把家中的食物凑在一起，花了半天时间做馅饼。我们简直等不及了。它在烤箱里烘烤时发出的香味快把我们馋疯了。我们全都在厨房里绕来绕去，母亲被我们搅得心烦意乱。她把那块馅饼放在架子的最上面一层，让它在我们吃晚饭的时候凉一凉。
因为知道那块馅饼正在厨房里等着我们，所以，那天晚上，我们都不想吃晚餐。那天晚上的食物里有胡椒，没有人愿意吃。但是，在所有人都吃完晚饭之前，母亲不让任何一个人离开餐桌。当母亲宣布说差不多了的时候，大家立刻向厨房奔去，声音听起来就像一头受惊的牛。我第一个冲到操作台前。还没等母亲走进厨房，我就已经跳上操作台，爬到了橱柜最上面的一层搁板上。我伸手拿到了那块馅饼，开始往下爬。接着，最糟糕的事儿发生了！我在那湿漉漉的操作台上滑倒了，手一松丢掉了馅饼。今天，闭上眼睛，我仍然能清晰地看见那块馅饼在空中翻转掉落时的慢动作，以及它头朝下、底朝上落在地板上时的情景。然后，我抬起头，看见姐妹们那一张张惊讶的面孔。我当时能够想到的唯一事情就是我们那天所做的所有辛苦的工作，以及它那么快就被毁掉了。母亲让我清理残局。这是我一生中所做的最困难事情之一。
回顾过去，我永远也忘不了那个夜晚。我的家人总是在节日里提起这件事。过去的生活是那么艰苦，它教我们学会更加珍惜今天所拥有的一切。
飞鸢 摘译自 Parents & Children