那年那羊/提拉米苏(赵金基 译)

程思良

那年那羊
文/提拉米苏

　　父亲去集市上卖那只大母羊了。一家人过年的花费全指望这只羊呢。
　　父亲走后，我们都眼巴巴地盼望着，盼望父亲给我们买回来猪肉、鞭炮、新衣、糖果……
　　直到半夜，父亲才踏着积雪归来。
　　一进门，父亲就一脸沮丧地蹲在地上——他说卖羊的200块钱给小偷摸了。
　　在母亲的叹息中我们那个年过得凄苦而愁闷……
　　……
　　多年后我去外地读大学，和同村的小敏成了室友。在遥远的异乡，我们相互慰藉，很快成了最好的朋友。从小到大，虽然和小敏一直同窗，却很少交往。听说小敏的母亲和我父亲曾是一对恋人，因为家里的反对才没有走到一起。母亲来了以后，就因为这个原因，一直反对父亲和小敏家有来往，我们小孩子也就很疏离。
　　那天，我接完父亲的电话，小敏突然说：“徐叔叔真是个好人……”
　　“这还用说？——咦？你又如何得知？”
　　“我的命都是徐叔叔给的……”
　　啊？我差点惊掉下巴，难道……
　　“那年冬天我得了急性脑炎，要不是徐叔叔给交上了200块住院费，抢救及时……”
　　我一下子联想到父亲卖羊的那个春节。
　　见到父亲，我不禁问道：“爸，那年卖羊的钱你真的丢了吗？小敏……”
　　“嘘……”父亲连忙阻止我继续说下去。
　　“当时，我不能见死不救啊……可别给你妈知道了，她这人心眼小……”
　　我虽赞同父亲的做法，可总觉得不能让母亲这样蒙在鼓里。
　　这天，我忍不住和母亲说起这事，母亲淡淡地答道：“你是说卖羊的那200块钱吗？你卢婶十年前就还我了……”


　　Top Three Stories of 2014 Flash Fiction Competition

　　No 1.
　　That Year, That Sheep
　　by Ti La Mi Su

　　Father had gone to the fair with our only sheep. We badly needed the money to celebrate the new year’s coming.
　　We hoped Father would be coming home with pork, firecrackers, new clothes, sweets, and the like.
　　We waited and waited, until midnight, he returned with nothing but snow on his shoes.
　　“That sheep was sold for 200 yuan, but somehow,” Father appeared frustrated and helpless. “I lost the money.”
　　Mother sighed. And that year, we had a hard and dull time.
　　As years passed, I went to college and shared a room with Xiao Min, a girl from the same village. Far away from home, Xiao Min and I comforted eath other, and soon we became closest friends. While we were growing up together and studying in the same school, we actually didn’t talk much. It had been rumored that Xiao Min’s mother and my father used to be lovers, and they failed to get tied just because of the parental interference. For this reason, when my mother got married to my father, she denied him any connection with Xiao Min and her family. Thus we kids were kept from each other.
　　One day, I was just closing a conversation with my father on the phone when Xiao Min said, “Your dad is really a good man.”
　　“You bet. Then what?”
　　“He gave me life.”
　　“What?”I almost fainted. “How---?”
　　“That winter, I had an acute encephalitis. It was your dad who paid 200 yuan for the hospitalization. Otherwise, I’d have been dead.”
　　I was suddenly reminded of the day when Father had gone to the fair with our only sheep.
　　Later, I asked him, “Dad, why did you tell us you had lost the money? Since Xiao Min---”
　　“Shhhh---” Father stopped me.
　　“It was an emergency. I didn’t know what to say. Your mom, you know, she has a petty mind.”
　　I agreed Father had done a right thing. Still, I thought Mother should have the right to know the truth.
　　Finally, I talked to Mother about the sheep and the money. “It’s ten years since Xiao Min’s mother told me all about this.” She said, quietly.
　　(赵金基 译)

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