Dia for Maria

Día 4 María Written by Catherine Follett Illustrated by Carolina Farías Focus Question How do María and her family celebrate loved ones who have passed away?

第4天 玛丽亚 作者：凯瑟琳·福利特 绘者：卡罗莱纳·法里亚斯 核心问题 玛丽亚和家人是如何纪念逝去的至亲的？

Having a cat named Mouse sounds like a joke. Ratona was small and gray, and her meow was a tiny squeak. She liked to sit in a hole in the wall of our shed.

有只叫“老鼠”的猫听起来就像个笑话。 拉托娜个头小小的，浑身灰毛，叫起来声音细得像吱吱声。 她总喜欢蹲在我们家棚屋墙上的小洞里。

Ratona lived for a long time. Eight months ago, she died. I'm not sad anymore, but I think about her often. One day, mamá was setting up Tía Teresa's ofrenda, a special altar for Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Teresa passed away when I was a baby. Mamá, can we also celebrate pets? I asked.

拉托娜活了好长一段时间。 八个月前，她去世了。 我现在已经不难过了，但还是经常会想起她。 有天妈妈正在布置特蕾莎姨妈的亡灵祭坛， 那是亡灵节的专用祭坛。 我还是个小婴儿的时候特蕾莎姨妈就去世了。 “妈妈，我们也可以纪念逝去的宠物吗？” 我问道。

Día de los Muertos is mostly for family, Mama said. Though I suppose Ratona was part of ours. We can celebrate her the day before Día de los Muertos, I suggested. That's a nice idea, Maria, Mama said.

“亡灵节主要是用来纪念家人的哦。”妈妈说。 不过我觉得拉托娜也算是我们家的一份子呀。 “我们可以在亡灵节前一天纪念她呀。”我提议道。 “玛丽亚，这个主意太棒了。”妈妈说。

Later that day, Mama and I went to the market in Puebla. I held her hand so I wouldn't get lost. We got paper banners, marigolds, and three candy calaveras, or sugar skulls.

当天晚些时候，我和妈妈去了普埃布拉的集市。 我紧紧牵着妈妈的手，免得走丢。 我们买了纸挂旗、万寿菊，还有三个糖骷髅。

On October 31st, my friends Adriana and Gloria came over. Adriana brought her dog Sal, or Salt. She had a photo of Sal's sister, Pimienta, or Pepper, who died last summer. Gloria also had a picture of a pet she had lost, Raul the Rooster. We hung paper banners and scattered marigolds where Ratona used to sit. Then we set up our photos in the flowers.

10月31日那天，我的朋友阿德里安娜和格洛丽亚来我家玩。 阿德里安娜带了她的狗狗萨尔，小名“小盐”。 她还带了萨尔的姐妹皮米恩塔的照片，皮米恩塔小名“小辣椒”，去年夏天去世了。 格洛丽亚也带了她逝去的宠物的照片，是公鸡劳尔。 我们把纸挂旗挂起来，还在拉托娜以前常蹲的地方撒了万寿菊花瓣。 然后我们把带来的照片摆在了花丛里。