友情故事：孤独是因为太在意自己 忽视了他人

(By Marie P. McDougal)

(玛丽·麦克道戈尔)

His nose was flat , like maybe his mom had dropped him when he was a baby. His ears were two - maybe even two and a half - sizes too big for his head. And his eyes! His eyes bulged like they were ready to pop right out of their sockets . His clothes were nice, Tim had to admit. But he was still the homeliest kid he had ever seen.

他的鼻子扁平扁平的，就好像在他还是个小婴儿的时候，曾被他妈妈失手摔过似的。对于他的脑袋来说，他的耳朵实在是太大了，估计是正常人的两倍甚至两倍半那么大。还有他的眼睛！他的眼睛向外凸出，仿佛随时都可以从眼眶里弹出来一样。不过，蒂姆不得不承认，他的衣着不错，可他仍然是蒂姆见过的最丑的孩子。

So why was he leaning on Jennifer Lawrence's locker like they were best friends or something? She was a cheerleader and one of the coolest girls in school. And why was she smiling at him instead of twisting her nose all funny like she did when she looked at Tim? Strange, he thought. Really strange.

那么，这会儿他为什么要倚靠着珍妮弗·劳伦斯的储物柜，让人感觉他们是密友或者什么似的呢？珍妮弗可是啦啦队队长，是因为远足吧，蒂姆想。孩子们与他交谈，在走廊上对他点头致意，甚至问他有关家庭作业和其他方面的问题。蒂姆也和他们交谈。他不再是一个不合群的人了。

When Jeff sat by Tim one day at lunch, Tim had to ask him, "Why did you sit with me that first day? Didn't Jennifer ask you to sit with her?"

一天吃午饭时，等杰夫在蒂姆旁边坐下后，蒂姆忍不住问：“你来的第一天为什么和我坐一起？珍妮弗难道没请你和她坐一起吗？”

Sure, she asked. But she didn't need me.

“当然，她邀请了。不过，她不需要我。”

Need you?

“需要你？”

You did.

“而你需要。”

I did?

“我需要？”

Tim hoped that nobody was listening. This is really a dumb conversation, he thought.

蒂姆希望没有人在听他们的交谈。这真是一次愚蠢的交谈，他想。

You were sitting all alone, explained Jeff. "You looked lonely and scared."

“你当时自己一个人坐着，”杰夫解释道，“看上去又孤独又害怕。”

Scared?

“害怕？”

Uh huh, scared. I knew that look. I used to have one too, just like it.

“呃，害怕。我知道那种表情。我以前也有同感，和你那时一模一样。”

You?Tim couldn't believe it.

“你？”蒂姆简直不相信自己听到的话。

#p#分页标题#e#

Maybe you didn't notice, but I'm not exactly the best looking guy in school. At my old school, I always sat alone, with my eyes on my lunch. I was afraid that if I looked up I would see everyone laughing at me.

“也许你没注意到，但我确实不是学校里长得最好看的人。在我以前的学校，我总是独自一个人坐着，眼睛只盯着午饭。我怕一抬头，就会看到每个人都在嘲笑我。”

You? Tim knew he sounded stupid, but he couldn't picture Jeff sitting all by himself. He's so friendly.

“你？”蒂姆知道他的声音听起来傻乎乎的，但他无法想象杰夫独自一人坐着的情景。他是那么友好。

Me. It took a friend to help me see that I wasn't alone because of my nose or my ears. I was alone because I never smiled or took an interest in people, other people. I was so concerned about myself, that I never paid attention to anyone else. That's why I sat with you. To let you know that someone cared. Jennifer already knew.

“是我。是我的一个朋友使我明白，我孤独并不是因为我的鼻子或者耳朵。我孤独是因为我从不微笑，从不关心他人。我太在意自己了，以至于从来没有注意过别人。那就是我要和你坐在一起的原因。为了让你知道有人在意你。珍妮弗已经知道了。”

Oh, she knows, all right, Tim said, as he watched two guys fighting to sit near her. Tim and Jeff both laughed. It felt good to laugh, and I've been doing a lot of it lately, realized Tim.

“噢，她知道，真好，”蒂姆一边说，一边注视着两个家伙争着坐在她身旁。蒂姆和杰夫都笑了。笑的感觉真好，最近，我笑得比以前多多了，蒂姆意识到。

Then Tim looked at Jeff. Really looked. He isn't so bad looking, Tim thought. Oh, not handsome or anything like that. But he isn't homely. Jeff is my friend. That's when Tim realized that he was seeing Jeff for the first time. Months earlier all that Tim had seen were a funny-looking nose and "dumbo ears". Now he was seeing Jeff, really seeing Jeff.

然后，蒂姆看着杰夫，认真地打量。他长得也不是那么难看，蒂姆想。噢，虽然不帅也不英俊。但是，他也不是不好看。杰夫是我的朋友。正是在那个时候，蒂姆才意识到这是他第一次真正地在看杰 夫。之前的几个月，蒂姆看到的只是一个长着滑稽鼻子和“傻瓜耳朵”的人。而现在，他正在看着杰夫，真正地看着杰夫。