Care Your Dream 呵护梦想

　　I always have the dream to dance like a beautiful ballerina twirling around and around and hearing people applaud for me. When I was young, I would twirling around and around in the fields of wildflowers that grew in my backyard. For hours I would dance as if people were watching me. I would dance so fast that I would forget where I was, until I would hear sounds that reminded me of where I really was. I thought that if I twirled faster everything would disappear and I would wake up in a new place. Reality woke me up when I heard a voice saying, "I don't know why you bother trying to dance. Ballerinas are pretty, slender little girls. Besides, you don't have the talent to even be a ballerina." I remember how those words paralyzed every feeling in my body. I feel to the ground and wept for hours.

　　我一直都梦想能够像一个芭曹舞演员一样跳舞，在人们的喝彩声中不停轻快地旋转着，旋转着。小时候，我喜欢在后院的野花丛中不停地旋转，一连跳上好几个小时，就像有人在观看一样。直到听见有人对我说:“真不明白你干吗要这么白费功夫学跳舞;芭蕾舞演员都是又美丽又苗条的小姑娘。而你，根本就没有当芭蕾舞演员的天赋。”我这才从梦想中醒来。我仍然记得那些话是如何将我体内所有的知觉一点点地麻痹。

　　我瘫倒在地，哭了好几个小时。

　　We lived in the country by a nearby lake and I would sometimes go there to hide. My parents were never home anyway and I did not like to be at home where I could hear the walls talking of pain. When they were home, my mother just yelled and criticized because nothing was ever perfect in her life. She dreamed of a different life but ended up living in a country far away from the city where she believed her dreams would have come true.

　　我家住在一个湖边的乡村里，有时我会去湖边躲躲。父母从来没给过我家的感觉，并且我不喜欢呆在这个似乎四堵墙都在诉说痛苦的家里。只要他们在家，母亲就会喊叫，挑剔，因为在她的生活中凡事都不完美。她梦想着另一种完全不同的生活，她坚信她的梦想本都可以在城市实现，但最终她却生活在远离城市的乡村。

　　I enjoyed hanging out by the water. I would sit there for hours and stare at my reflection. There I was, looked nothing like a pretty ballerina dancer. Reflections don't lie. Once the waves would come, my reflection was gone. Washed away just like my dream to dance. I sat there staring at the water, hoping that my reflection would reappear and be different.

　　我经常去湖边，在那儿坐几个小时，盯着自己的倒影。我看起来一点也不像一个漂亮的芭蕾舞演员。倒影不会撒谎。一旦水波荡来，倒影便消失了，正如我跳舞的梦想。

　　As I grew older, I began to realize that the reason my dream was even born in the first place, was because it was something that was inside of me. The dream I had was never nurtured and cared for, so it slowly died. It's not that I wanted it to die, but I allowed it to die the day I started listening to the words, "You can't do it." When I finally woke up from many years of dreaming, I realized that you can't settle for dancing in the wildflowers, you have to move on to the platform. I still go to the lake sometimes and sit there. Looking at my reflection is different now too. When I was young, I looked at how others saw me, now that I am older and wiser; I look at how God sees me.

　　渐渐地我长大了，开始明白我的梦想为什么会位居第一;那是由于我内在某些东西的驱使。我从来没有培养和呵护过我的梦想，以致它慢慢地幻灭。我不期望它消失，但从我开始听到“你做不了“这些话的那天起，梦想便渐渐破灭了。当我最终从几年之久的梦中醒来的时候，我不能够勉强认可自己在野花丛中跳舞，我必须继续向舞台行进。我仍然时不时去湖边坐坐，也看着现在自己不同的倒影。小时候我在意别人如何看我，现在我长大了，也更聪明了，我更在意的是上帝如何看我。

　　词汇注释

　　ballerina n. 芭蕾舞女演员

　　slender adj. 细长的，苗条的

　　talent n. 才能，天资

　　platform n. 平台，讲坛

　　wise adj. 聪明的，贤明的