4 Thinking About Being Generous

CHAPTER 4 Thinking About Being Generous "You look pensive," Dad told me the next morning. "Do you know what that word means?" I shook my head. Usually I like learning new words. But right then I was busy thinking. "It means you have a lot on your mind," he said. Well, that made perfect sense. "It's because I do," I told him. "Anything you want to talk about?"

第四章 思考慷慨这件事 第二天早上爸爸对我说：“你看上去心事重重的。” “你知道这个词是什么意思吗？” 我摇了摇头。 平时我可喜欢学新词了。 可那时候我正忙着想心事。 “它的意思就是你心里装了好多事呀，”他说。 嗯，他说的完全没错。 “没错，就是这样，”我对他说。 “有什么想和我聊聊的吗？”

I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't talk about the thing I wanted to talk about, because I'd pinky-sweared to Lia that I wouldn't. At dinner last night, while the grown-ups ate dessert and Penny slept on Dad's lap, Lia had told me her secret plan for us to skip the wedding. We would wake up and act normal. We'd get dressed in our flower-girl dresses

我耸了耸肩。 我没法说我想说的那件事，因为我和莉娅拉钩保证过不会说出去。 昨晚吃晚饭的时候，大人们吃甜点，佩妮靠在爸爸腿上睡觉，莉娅告诉我她的秘密计划：我们要一起逃掉婚礼。 我们早上醒来后先表现得一切正常。 我们会换上各自的花童礼服

just like we were supposed to. We would go down to Ballroom A with our parents. When we got there, we would meet up and sneak off somewhere else, just the two of us. "It won't be either of our hotel rooms," Lia had said. "Because that's the first place they'll look for us, and then they'll just drag us back downstairs and we'll have to go to the stupid wedding anyway." Lia had also said that she hadn't come up with our exact hiding place yet, but she was going to think about it overnight and let me know when she saw me. Maybe she'd just been kidding. I really, REALLY hoped so. But she hadn't sounded like she'd been kidding. She sounded like she really, REALLY didn't want her dad to get married again. "Dad?" I said now.

就像我们本该做的那样。 之后我们会跟着父母去A宴会厅。 到了那里我们就汇合，偷偷溜去别的地方，就我们两个。 “肯定不会躲去我们俩住的酒店房间，”莉娅说。 “因为那是他们第一个会找的地方，找到我们就会硬把我们拽回楼下，我们还是得去参加那个讨厌的婚礼。” 莉娅还说，她还没想好具体躲在哪里，不过她会想一晚上，见到我就告诉我。 说不定她只是开玩笑呢。 我真的，真的希望是这样。 可她说话的样子可不像是在开玩笑。 她听起来真的，真的一点都不想让爸爸再婚。 “爸爸？” 我开口问道。

"Yes, darling?" "Would you ever marry anyone else?" "I'm already married to your mother," Dad said. "I mean if you weren't married to Mom anymore. Like Lia's dad isn't married to her mom anymore." I hadn't pinky-sweared not to talk about that—and anyway, it wasn't a secret about Lia's parents. Everyone knew it. "You know, Stel, sometimes people don't get it right the first time around, and it's sad. I'm sure it was very sad for Lia when her parents divorced. But you don't have to worry about Mom and me." "You got it right the first time?" "We sure did." Phew. That was good. "Dad?" I said again.

“怎么了，亲爱的？” “你以后会再和别人结婚吗？” “我已经和你妈妈结婚啦，”爸爸说。 “我是说如果你没和妈妈结婚的话。 就像莉娅的爸爸没和莉娅的妈妈结婚那样。” 我拉钩保证不泄露的不是这件事——而且不管怎么说，莉娅父母的事也不是秘密。 所有人都知道。 “你知道吗，斯特尔，有时候人们第一次没选对人，这真的很遗憾。 我敢肯定，莉娅父母离婚的时候，莉娅肯定特别难过。 但你不用担心我和你妈妈，我们不会这样。” “你们第一次就找对人了对吗？” “我们当然找对了。” 呼。 这可太好了。 “爸爸？” 我又开口叫他。

"Yes, darling?" "Do you like Lia?" "I didn't get to talk to her much," Dad said. "But she seemed sweet, so yes, I like her. Most of all, I liked that the two of you seemed to be getting along so well at dinner last night. It must be nice to finally have a cousin, huh?" "Yeah," I said. "But maybe I shouldn't spend all my time with her today. I don't want to make Penny feel left out." "It's nice that you're thinking of your sister," Dad told me. "Penny was fine last night—she got to sit with you and Lia at dinner and I don't think she felt left out. She only came to our table when she was too tired to keep up with the big girls any longer. But she'll have more energy today, and you can spend time with Penny and Lia at the same time."

“怎么了，亲爱的？” “你喜欢莉娅吗？” “我没和她聊太多，”爸爸说。 “但她看起来甜甜的，所以没错，我喜欢她。 最重要的是，我很高兴昨晚吃饭的时候你俩相处得这么好。 终于有个堂妹了，肯定很棒对不对？” “对呀，”我说。 “不过我今天或许不该把所有时间都花在陪她身上。 我不想让佩妮觉得被冷落了。” “你能想着你的妹妹，真贴心，”爸爸对我说。 “佩妮昨晚好好的——她昨晚能和你还有莉娅坐一起吃饭，我觉得她没觉得被冷落。 她只是玩累了才来我们这桌，之前她一直跟着大姐姐玩得开心着呢。 不过她今天精力会更充沛，你可以同时陪佩妮和莉娅一起玩呀。”