故事：售出的不是徽章 而是对生命的希望

徽章大作战

(By Heather Ray)

(希瑟·雷)

My name is Lydia, but please, call me Buttons, as in Button Up, the name of my new company. I started it last year when I was in fifth grade, and that summer, I made more than $250! And I helped save a life! But I'll tell you more about that later. First, you need to know how it all started....

我叫莉迪娅，但是请叫我“徽章”，就是我新公司的名字“徽章向上”的那个徽章。去年我还在读五年级时创办了这家公司，那个夏天我赚了250多美元，而且我还参与挽救了一条生命！不过那件事我过会儿再详细讲给你听。首先你得知道这一切是怎么开始的……

I was in Social Studies on another gloomy Monday morning. I was sick and tired of April showers and could practically taste summer vacation. That's when Mr. Larson announced a pop quiz . I'd briefly skimmed over the assigned chapters - something about economics - but I neglected to study with my usual flash cards.

又是一个黑色星期一的早晨，我正在上社会学课。我真是受够了4月的阵雨，正迫不及待地盼望暑假的到来。就在那时，拉森先生宣布要进行一次突击测验。我本来已经粗略地翻看过他划定的章节—— 是关于经济学的——但是当时我大意了，没有用我平时常用的卡片来学习。

After flunking my first quiz, I was so humiliated that I pulled out my Social Studies book and reread the material. The next day I begged Mr. Larson to let me retake the quiz, but he said that wouldn't be fair to the other students. Instead, he suggested I use what I had learned to start my own business. (I should have known he would say something like that. He was always trying to get students interested in extracurricular projects.)

第一次测验就这样挂了，我感到羞愧难当，于是我找出社会学课本，重新温习了那些材料。第二天，我找到拉森先生，恳求他让我重考一次。但是他说那样对其他同学不公平，反而建议我用自己所学去经营一份生意。(我早该知道他会说那样的话，他一直试图让学生对课外项目产生兴趣。)

Lydia, he said, "when you're not in school, what do you like to do?"

“莉迪娅，”他说，“你不在学校上课的时候，喜欢做什么呢？”

Hmm, I thought out loud . "Well, I like to swim in my neighbor's pool. Oh, and I recently learned how to make my own buttons, and I also like to... "

“嗯，”我自言自语道，“这个，我喜欢在邻居的泳池里游泳。哦，还有，我最近学会了自己做徽章，然后我还喜欢……”

Hold on, he interrupted me. "Did you say you can make buttons?"

“等等，”他打断我说，“你刚刚说你会做徽章？”

Yup. I took off my book bag to show Mr. Larson the collection of buttons pinned to the back. They said all sorts of things like "Go Green," "I'd Rather Be Swimming," a few had names, and my favorite: the one I had made for my sister, Lynn. She's in eighth grade now, but when she was younger, she had leukemia . Thankfully, she's in remission now (which means the signs of cancer are gone), and my dad says we're all very lucky that the treatments worked. Every year my family participates in a three- mile walk to raise money for cancer treatments. The button is a photo my dad took of Lynn and me at the finish line last year. It says S-U-R-V-I-V-O-R in the shape of a rainbow at the top.

“是啊。”我摘下书包，给拉森先生展示我那些别在书包背面的徽章。它们上面都写着类似于“崇尚绿色”“我宁愿游泳”的字样，有一些印有名字，而我最喜欢的那枚是我为姐姐林恩做的。林恩现在读八年级了，但她小时候患上了白血病。庆幸的是，现在她的病情有所缓解(也就是说，癌症的症状已经消失了)。我爸爸说，我们真的很幸运， 因为林恩接受的治疗见效了。每年，我们全家人都会参加一个三英里健步活动，为癌症治疗筹集善款。那枚徽章上印的就是去年爸爸为我和林恩在终点线上拍的照片。在徽章顶部写有拼成彩虹形状的“幸存者”字样。

I made a bunch of survivor buttons and gave one to everyone who helped donate to the race, I told him.

“我做了一堆‘幸存者’字样的徽章，送给那些为健步比赛捐款的人，每人一个。”我对拉森先生说。

He looked impressed. "How did you make them?"

他看上去挺受触动的：“你是怎么制作那些徽章的呢？”

I used Lynn's computer to print the photos and cut them out so they fit into these clear, plastic pin backs,I explained.

“我用林恩的电脑打印出照片，然后把它们剪裁一下，使它们的尺寸刚好适合徽章底部这些空白塑料片的大小。”我解释道。

Do you think there's a need, or a 'demand', for your buttons?

“你有没有想过，人们对你的徽章会有需要或者说‘需求’呢？”

A demand? I wondered. As in the law of supply and demand from our Social Studies textbook?

需求？我有些惊讶。就像我们社会学课本上的供应与需求法则里提到的那样吗？

Umm, I'll think about it. Then I hurried to art class.

“嗯，我会考虑一下这个问题的。”然后我便赶去上艺术课了。

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When I got home, I reviewed the chapter on economics. Maybe I could sell my buttons. I was going to need money to buy supplies and would have to ask someone for a loan. Naturally, I asked More if she would invest in my idea.

回到家后，生命：我把赚来的钱捐给了一个帮助癌症患者接受治疗的慈善组织。不过，这事做起来并不容易。我花了整个暑假的时间，每天下午去发传单、接受订单，然后做了很多很多的徽章，但那却是我迄今为止过得最棒的一个暑假！