Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 THE NEXT EVEING AROUND 6:00 P.M. THE GRASSOS' APARTMENT THE NORTH END Carmen sat in a chair watching Mrs. Grasso cook up a storm. The kids were bouncing off the walls. The apartment was filled with delicious smells—garlic and tomatoes and milky melted cheese.

第14章第二天晚上6点左右。 格拉索的公寓北端卡门坐在椅子上看着格拉索太太做一顿大餐。 孩子们在墙上蹦蹦跳跳。 公寓里充满了美味的气味——大蒜、西红柿和牛奶融化的奶酪。

Everyone was excited for the special dinner Mrs. Grasso was making in honor of Carmen leaving the hospital. Best of all, Mr. Vita was joining them, too; he was finally back from Connecticut. Mr. Grasso had gone to meet him at the train station. "When is Mr. Vita coming with Carmen's present?" Frankie asked. This was the third time today someone had mentioned a present for Carmen. "Shhhh!" Tony said, slugging Frankie's arm. "The present is a surprise." "You shhhhhh!" Frankie said, giving Tony a shove. "I want a present!" Teresa whined. "My present!" wailed Marie. Mrs. Grasso looked up from her pot. "Basta!"—enough! "Tony, please take everyone into the bedroom. Make sure the beds are made." "But, Mama…"

每个人都为格拉索太太为卡门出院准备的特别晚餐而兴奋不已。 最棒的是，维塔也加入了他们的行列；他终于从康涅狄格州回来了。 格拉索先生到火车站去接他了。 “维塔先生什么时候带着卡门的礼物来？”弗兰基问道。 这是今天第三次有人提到给卡门送礼物了。 “嘘!”托尼说着，猛击着弗兰基的胳膊。 “礼物是个惊喜。” “你shhhhhh !”弗兰基说着推了托尼一把。 “我要礼物！”特蕾莎修女嘟哝道。 “我的礼物！”玛丽哭着说。 格拉索太太从锅里抬起头来。 赶下台产生的!“托尼，请带大家到卧室去。 一定要把床铺好。” “但是,妈妈……”

"Go!" Mrs. Grasso said. Tony looked at Carmen, who could only shrug helplessly. She wanted to help him with the kids. But the doctor had warned that Carmen had to rest her leg. Mrs. Grasso had ordered her to stay put in her chair. Tony herded the kids into the bedroom. The door closed, and Mrs. Grasso looked up at Carmen with a relieved smile. "Some peace!" Carmen smiled back. Tell her now, Carmen thought. They were finally alone. Now was her chance to tell Mrs. Grasso that she wasn't going back to Italy. Carmen cleared her throat. She was afraid Mrs. Grasso would be mad, that she wouldn't understand. But Carmen still had to tell her. "Mrs. Grasso," she said, "I need to talk to you…" "Yes, dear," Mrs. Grasso said. Carmen took a breath and blurted it out.

“走吧!”格拉索太太说。托尼看着卡门，卡门只能无奈地耸耸肩。 她想帮他带孩子。 但是医生警告卡门要让她的腿休息一下。 格拉索太太命令她待在椅子上别动。 托尼把孩子们赶进卧室。 门关上了，格拉索太太抬起头来，带着如释重负的微笑看着卡门。 “一些和平!”卡门也笑了。 现在就告诉她，卡门想。 他们终于单独在一起了。现在是她告诉格拉索太太她不回意大利的机会了。 卡门清了清嗓子。 她担心格拉索太太会生气，她不会理解。 但卡门还是得告诉她。 “格拉索太太，”她说，“我需要和你谈谈……”“好的，亲爱的，”格拉索太太说。 卡门吸了口气，脱口而出。

"I know about the plan. For me to go back to Italy." Mrs. Grasso's eyes widened in surprise. Carmen swallowed hard but didn't lose her nerve. "I'm sorry but…" Carmen went on. "I overheard you and Mr. Grasso talking about the ship. I know you want me to go back to Italy, to be with Nonna." "Carmen…" "I'm sorry but I've decided," Carmen said. She sat up taller in her chair. "I want to stay here." There. Carmen had done it. Mrs. Grasso rushed over. She bent down so she was eye to eye with Carmen. "Carmen," she said. "We never said you were going back to Italy. You aren't getting on any ship." "But I heard you say—" Carmen's words were cut off by the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs and Mr. Grasso's

“我知道这个计划。让我回到意大利。” 格拉索太太惊讶地瞪大了眼睛。 卡门使劲咽了口气，但并没有失去勇气。 “我很抱歉，但是……”卡门接着说。 “我无意中听到你和格拉索先生在谈论那艘船。 我知道你想让我回意大利，和奶奶在一起。” “对不起，我已经决定了，”卡门说。 她在椅子上坐得更高了。 “我想留在这里。”在那里。 卡门做到了。格拉索太太冲了过来。 她弯下腰，这样她就能和卡门对视了。 “卡门，”她说。“我们从没说过你要回意大利。 你不能上任何船。” “可我听见你说——”卡门的话被上楼和格拉索先生的脚步声打断了

booming voice. "We're back!" The bedroom door burst open, and the kids spilled out. Carmen and Mrs. Grasso would have to finish their talk some other time. Tony rushed over to Carmen. He beamed at her. He looked like he was about to burst with excitement. "I hear them!" Frankie cried. The little girls were jumping up and down. What was going on? Carmen knew the kids liked Mr. Vita. But you'd think Babe Ruth and the Red Sox were coming for dinner. The apartment door swung open. Mr. Grasso strode in, followed by Mr. Vita. The room went strangely quiet. But the air seemed to crackle. Carmen noticed that nobody was looking at Mr. Vita. They were all looking at her. And then someone else appeared in the doorway. A smiling gray-haired woman whose

蓬勃发展的声音。“我们回来了!”卧室的门突然开了，孩子们都跑了出来。 卡门和格拉索太太只好改天再谈了。 托尼向卡门冲过去。 他对她微笑。他看上去兴奋得快要爆发了。 “我听见了！”弗兰基哭了。 小女孩们跳上跳下。 发生了什么事？卡门知道孩子们喜欢维塔先生。 但你会以为贝比·鲁斯和红袜队是来吃晚饭的。 公寓的门开了。 格拉索大步走了进来，后面跟着维塔。 房间出奇地安静。 但空气似乎在噼啪作响。 卡门注意到没有人在看维塔先生。 他们都看着她。 然后另一个人出现在门口。 一个面带微笑的白发女人

eyes blazed like candles. Carmen blinked, sure she was dreaming. But then before she even realized it, she'd leaped out of the chair. She was rushing forward, hurt leg and all. Two strong arms came around her in a crushing hug. It was Nonna. "I missed you too much," Nonna said a few minutes later, when she and Carmen were alone in the bedroom, when they'd finally stopped hugging and crying. "I wrote to Mrs. Grasso. Mr. Vita was kind enough to come to Italy, to help me make the journey." So there had been a secret plan. Just not the one Carmen imagined.

眼睛像蜡烛一样闪闪发光。卡门眨了眨眼睛，肯定是在做梦。 但在她意识到之前，她已经从椅子上跳了起来。 她奔向前方，腿也受伤了。 两只强壮的手臂紧紧地抱住了她。 是外婆打来的。“我太想你了，”几分钟后，当她和卡门单独呆在卧室里，当他们终于停止拥抱和哭泣时，外婆说。 “我写信给格拉索太太。维塔先生非常好心地来到意大利，帮助我完成这段旅程。” 所以这是一个秘密计划。 只是和卡门想象的不一样。