Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 Carmen stood there frozen, barely breathing. Tony called over to her through a yawn. "Hey, Carm. Are you pretending to be a statue or something?" All the kids were awake now. Four sets of big Grasso eyes were on her. "The Wicked Witch of the West cast a spell on her!" said Frankie.

卡门僵立在那里，几乎喘不过气来。 托尼打着呵欠朝她喊。 “嘿,Carm。你是在假装自己是一座雕像吗？”现在所有的孩子都醒了。 四对格拉斯式的大眼睛盯着她。 “西方的坏女巫对她施了咒！”弗兰基说。

The kids all giggled, and Carmen knew they expected her to join in. But she couldn't laugh right now. She pushed open the door to the kitchen—she had to get out of the apartment, before she burst into tears. She would go to the stable. Mr. Vita was in Connecticut, visiting his cousins. Carmen

孩子们都咯咯地笑，卡门知道他们希望她也加入进来。 但她现在笑不出来。 她推开通往厨房的门——她必须离开公寓，然后才哭了起来。 她会去马厩。 维塔当时在康涅狄格州拜访他的表亲。 卡门

could get Rosie and take her to the park. She wouldn't have to talk to anyone. She stumbled into the kitchen and headed straight for the coatrack. Mrs. Grasso stood up. "Carmen? Do you feel all right?" "Yes. But I'm… I'm going to school," Carmen lied, struggling to keep her voice steady. She threw on her coat. "Mr. Lawrence wanted some help—" "So early?" Mrs. Grasso said. "It's barely seven." But Carmen was already in the hallway, ignoring the voices calling after her. She flew down the stairs and out the door onto the street. Her mind was swirling. How could they send her back? This couldn't be Nonna's idea, could it? She and Carmen had been writing to each other nonstop, but Nonna hadn't written a word about that. The Grassos knew how much Carmen missed

我可以带罗西去公园。 她不需要和任何人说话。 她跌跌撞撞地走进厨房，径直朝衣架走去。 格拉索太太站了起来。“卡门? 你还好吗？”“是的。 但我……我要去上学，”卡门撒谎道，努力让自己的声音保持稳定。 她匆匆穿上外套。“先生。 劳伦斯需要帮助——”“这么早？”格拉索太太说。 “现在还不到七点。”但卡门已经在走廊里了，没有理会后面的喊叫声。 她飞快地跑下楼梯，出了门，来到街上。 她的心在打转。他们怎么能把她送回去呢？ 这不会是外婆的主意吧？ 她和卡门一直不停地给对方写信，但娜娜没有写过一个字。 格拉索家族知道卡门错过了多少

Nonna. Did they somehow think Carmen wanted to go back to Italy? Somehow, she made it to the stable. She waved hello to Mr. Pallo, the cheery older man who was watching the horses while Mr. Vita was gone. She hurried to Rosie's stall. She didn't bother with a saddle, just climbed on up and clicked her tongue. Rosie knew that meant "go." They headed toward the park by the harbor. Usually, the sound of Rosie's horseshoes on the cobblestones was soothing to Carmen. But today each footstep was a hammer pounding on her heart. Clop, clop. She imagined herself saying goodbye to Mr. Vita. Clop, clop. To Mrs. Grasso. Clop, clop. To Tony. She stroked Rosie's mane. Who would ride her after Carmen left? By the time they reached the park, Carmen's chest felt bruised.

Nonna。他们以为卡门想回意大利吗？ 不知怎么的，她去了马厩。 她向帕洛先生挥手问好，他是一个开朗的老人，在维塔先生不在的时候照看马匹。 她急忙走向罗茜的摊位。 她连马鞍都懒得装，只是爬上去咂咂嘴。 罗茜知道这意味着“走”。 他们朝港口边的公园走去。 通常，罗茜用马蹄铁踩在鹅卵石上的声音对卡门来说是一种安慰。 但今天，她的每一步都像一把锤子在敲打着她的心。 马蹄声,马蹄声。她想象着自己在和维塔先生道别。 马蹄声,马蹄声。致格拉索夫人。 马蹄声,马蹄声。托尼。她抚摸着罗西的鬃毛。 卡门走后谁会骑她？ 当他们到达公园时，卡门的胸部感到有瘀伤。

She looked out at the ships, remembering when she and Papa first sailed into Boston Harbor. Papa was so excited! "Anything is possible in America," Papa always said. "If you work hard, a person can be anything they want to be." You couldn't be anything you wanted to be in southern Italy, though. Not unless you were already very rich. Papa had barely earned money as a farmer. All the men were farmers or fishermen; there were no other jobs. And girls? They got married and had babies. Carmen wanted a family of her own one day. But she didn't want that to be her only job. Maybe she'd be a teacher, like Mr. Lawrence. Or a nurse, and help people who were sick. Or she could write a book, like The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. She'd never do any of those things if she went back. There wasn't even a school in her village.

她望着窗外的船只，回忆起她和爸爸第一次驶进波士顿港的情景。 爸爸太兴奋了！“在美国一切皆有可能，”爸爸总是说。 “如果你努力工作，一个人可以成为任何他想成为的人。” 不过，在意大利南部，你不可能成为任何你想成为的人。 除非你已经很有钱了。 爸爸当农民几乎没有挣到钱。 所有的男人都是农民或渔民；没有其他的工作。 和女孩吗?他们结婚并生了孩子。 卡门想有一天拥有自己的家庭。 但她不希望这是她唯一的工作。 也许她会成为一名老师，像劳伦斯先生一样。 或者是护士，帮助生病的人。 或者她可以写一本书，比如《绿野仙踪》。 如果她回去了，就不会做那些事了。 在她的村子里甚至没有一所学校。

Rosie came to a stop near the playground, as if she knew Carmen needed a break. Carmen slid down and buried herself in Rosie's mane, staring at her shiny new boots through the mare's soft white hair. Suddenly, anger boiled up inside her. She wasn't angry at the Grassos—not after everything they'd done for her. She was mad at herself. All this time she'd let herself feel a part of the Grasso family. But Mr. and Mrs. Grasso already had four kids. Mr. Grasso worked at construction sites, where he probably earned no more than thirty dollars a week. Carmen should have eaten less! She should have tried to find a job in the factory, or as a maid for one of the rich families outside the North End. And she shouldn't have accepted these boots for Christmas. Carmen kicked the dirt so hard that Rosie whinnied.

罗茜在操场附近停了下来，好像她知道卡门需要休息一下。 卡门滑下来，把自己埋在罗西的鬃毛里，透过母马柔软的白发凝视着她闪亮的新靴子。 突然，怒火在她心中燃烧起来。 她并不生格拉斯一家的气——他们为她做了那么多。 她生自己的气。一直以来，她都觉得自己是格拉索家的一员。 但格拉索夫妇已经有了四个孩子。 格拉索先生在建筑工地工作，每周的收入可能不超过30美元。 卡门应该少吃点！她本应该在工厂里找个工作，或者在北端以外的豪门里找个女仆。 她也不该接受这双靴子作为圣诞礼物。 卡门踢土踢得太用力了，罗茜发出了呜呜声。