By+Patricia+McFadden+譯+/+李笑

The wind whipped1） stinging2） flakes into Lena's face as she went home from school in the December gloom. How she despised3） the snow—and everything else about Pinetree， Wyoming. How she missed Thailand and her best friend， Tor.

Tor would be happy here， Lena thought. She would be happy anywhere. Mama says Tor has a heart of light. My heart is as dark as ebony4）. I hate it here！ I want to go home！

Lena pushed open the door to her parents' restaurant. She took a small white envelope out of her pocket and frowned at it uncertainly. In it was an invitation to Jennifer Wendell's party. Lena didn't want to go. She cringed5） at the thought of being at a party with a bunch of kids she barely knew.

Tor would go and have a good time， Lena thought. I'm not Tor， but maybe I can pretend to be her for Mama and Papa's sake. They are so worried that I'm not making any friends.

Her mind made up， she went into the kitchen. "Hello， Mama，" she said. "I've been invited to a party Friday night."

Her mother smiled. "That is very good！ Now perhaps you will be happy in our new home."

Pinetree， Wyoming， is not my home， Lena thought， and I will never be happy until I am in Bangkok again. Out loud， she answered， "Perhaps."

Friday evening， Papa drove Lena to the party. Be like Tor， be like Tor， she chanted6） to herself.

Jennifer met her at the door. "Hi， Lena！ Come on in. We're just about to decorate gingerbread7） houses."

Lena followed Jennifer into the dining room. Six kids from her class were seated around the table. Lena gave them a friendly， Tor-style greeting and took a chair. So far so good， she thought.

She looked curiously at the small brown cookie houses sitting on the table. The other kids began selecting colorful candies and using white icing8） to glue them to the houses. Lena grinned. She loved to make things. For this part of the party， she could be herself.

She decided to decorate her cottage like one of the golden temples of Thailand. First， she completely covered the sides with every kind of yellow candy available. Then， she studded9） the roof and door with jewel-like shards10） of lollipop11）.

"Wow， Lena， that's beautiful！" Jennifer said.

The others chimed in12） with compliments. Lena felt a warm glow. Maybe I can fit in here—a little， she thought.

As the party moved into the living room， the talk turned to the coming holidays.

"What do you want for Christmas， Lena？" Jennifer asked.endprint

"My family is Buddhist，" Lena answered. "We don't celebrate Christmas." So much for fitting in， she thought.

"My family's Jewish，" Jason said. "We don't have Christmas either. We celebrated Hanukkah earlier this month. What holidays do Buddhists have？"

Lena looked around. The others were gazing at her with friendly interest.

"Well， this time of year， we have my favorite holiday， Loy Krathong，" she began. "It's a festival to thank the Mother of Water. On the full moon in the twelfth lunar month—usually in November—we each use banana leaves to make a little boat called a krathong， and we place a candle in it. Then we make a wish for the coming year， light the candle， and set our boats adrift on the river. Soon， there are so many floating candles that the river looks like it's made of diamonds."

"It sounds beautiful，" Jennifer said quietly.

"It is，" Lena replied.

"I've been dying to ask you about Thailand，" said Sally， "but at school， you always keep to yourself. I didn't want to bother you."

Lena thought back over the past few months. She realized that she had been so miserably homesick that she hadn't given anyone much of a chance to be friendly.

"I'm sorry I've been so quiet，" Lena said. "I would love to tell you about Thailand." Suddenly， she got an idea. "Perhaps，" she ventured13）， "you would like to make krathongs？ There's even a full moon tonight."

"Sounds like fun，" Jason said. "But what would we use to make them？ There aren't any banana trees in Wyoming."

Pointing to the Advent wreath14） on the coffee table， Lena said， "We could make something like that， only smaller. They could be Wyoming krathongs."

Jennifer jumped up. "Super！" she cheered. "I'll get some pine branches and ask Mom if we can take them to the lake when we're done. It's not frozen yet." Bubbling15） with excitement， she raced out of the room.

Watching Jennifer， Lena smiled and thought， She's just like Tor.

Later， standing beside the others watching the flickering lights float on the lake， Lena didn't even notice the cold. Her heart was glowing as brightly as a krathong candle. For the first time， Pinetree， Wyoming， felt like home.

天氣陰沉的12月，莉娜走在放學(xué)回家的路上，大風(fēng)裹著雪花抽打在她臉上，刺得她生疼。她多么討厭下雪，討厭懷俄明州青松地區(qū)的一切！她好懷念泰國和她最好的朋友托爾。

托爾在這里會很開心的，莉娜想，她不管在哪兒都能過得開心。媽媽說托爾有一顆充滿光芒的心。而我的心像烏木一樣黑暗。我討厭這里！我想回家！

莉娜推開父母經(jīng)營的餐廳的大門。她從口袋里拿出一個白色的小信封，皺著眉頭遲疑地看著它。里面是珍妮弗·溫德爾的聚會邀請信。莉娜不想去。一想到聚會時要和一幫不怎么認(rèn)識的孩子們待在一起，她就不由得畏怯。endprint

要是換了托爾，她一定會去的，而且還會玩得很開心，莉娜想，我不是托爾，但是為了爸爸媽媽，我或許可以假裝成她。他們非常擔(dān)心我一個朋友都沒去交。

打定主意后，她走進(jìn)廚房?！班?，媽媽，”她說，“有人邀請我去參加周五晚上的一個聚會?！?/p>

媽媽笑著說：“那真是太好啦！現(xiàn)在說不定你在我們的新家里會變得開心起來?！?/p>

懷俄明州青松地區(qū)不是我的家，莉娜想，除非我重新回到曼谷，否則我永遠(yuǎn)都不會開心的。但她大聲回答說：“或許吧?！?/p>

周五晚上，爸爸開車送莉娜去參加聚會。要像托爾那樣，要像托爾那樣，她不斷地對自己說。

珍妮弗在門口接她?！班?，莉娜！快進(jìn)來。我們正準(zhǔn)備裝飾姜餅屋呢?！?/p>

莉娜跟著珍妮弗走進(jìn)餐廳。她班上的六個同學(xué)圍坐在桌旁。莉娜像托爾那樣友好地向他們打了個招呼，然后找了個椅子坐下。到目前為止一切都還好，她想。

她好奇地看著桌上那一個個小小的棕色餅干房。其他孩子們開始挑選彩色的糖果，然后用白色的糖霜把糖果粘在餅干房上。莉娜咧嘴笑了。她喜歡手工制作。在聚會的這個環(huán)節(jié)，她可以做她自己。

她決定把自己的小屋裝飾成泰國某一座金色寺廟的樣子。首先，她用現(xiàn)有的各種黃色糖果粘滿小屋的四面墻，然后又用寶石般的棒棒糖碎粒來點綴屋頂和門。

“哇，莉娜，它好漂亮！”珍妮弗說。

其他人也七嘴八舌地稱贊。莉娜感到一縷溫暖的光芒。也許我能融入這里——一點點，她想。

隨著聚會挪到客廳進(jìn)行，他們的閑聊也轉(zhuǎn)到了即將到來的假期上。

“圣誕節(jié)你想要什么，莉娜？”珍妮弗問道。

“我們家信佛教，”莉娜回答說，“我們不過圣誕節(jié)。”看來只能融入這么多了，她想。

“我們家信猶太教，”賈森說，“我們也不過圣誕節(jié)。這個月初我們慶祝了光明節(jié)。佛教徒都過什么節(jié)呢？”

莉娜環(huán)顧四周，其他人正饒有興致地注視著她，頗為友好。

“嗯，每年的這個時節(jié)，我們會過一個我最喜歡的節(jié)日，水燈節(jié)，”她說了起來，“這個節(jié)日是用來感謝水神的。在陰歷12月（通常是在公歷11月）的滿月這一天，我們每個人都會用芭蕉葉做一只叫做水燈的小船，還會在里面放上一支蠟燭。然后我們?yōu)閬砟暝S下心愿，點燃蠟燭，把小船放入河中讓它順?biāo)鳌：芸欤用嫔暇蜁刑貏e多漂動的蠟燭，河水看起來就像鉆石做的一樣?！?/p>

“聽起來好美啊?！闭淠莞ポp聲地說。

“是很美。”莉娜回答。

“我一直特別想問問你關(guān)于泰國的事，”薩莉說，“但是在學(xué)校里，你總是自己一個人，我不想打擾你?！?/p>

莉娜回想起過去的幾個月。她意識到自己當(dāng)時一直沉浸在思鄉(xiāng)的痛苦中，沒有給任何人多少對她表示友好的機(jī)會。

“很抱歉我一直都那么沉默，”莉娜說，“我非常愿意告訴你關(guān)于泰國的事?！蓖蝗婚g，她想到了一個主意?！耙苍S，”她大膽提議道，“你們會想做做水燈？今晚正好是滿月呢?！?/p>

“聽起來很有趣，”賈森說，“但是我們用什么來做呢？懷俄明州一棵芭蕉樹也沒有呀?！?/p>

莉娜指著咖啡桌上的將臨圈說：“我們可以做成這樣的，只是要比它小一些。這些船可以叫做懷俄明州水燈。”

珍妮弗跳了起來?！疤袅?！”她歡呼道，“我去拿一些松枝，然后問問我媽等我們做好之后能不能拿到湖邊去。湖水現(xiàn)在還沒有結(jié)冰呢。”她非常興奮地沖出了房間。

看著珍妮弗，莉娜笑了笑，心想，她就像托爾一樣。

后來，莉娜站在其他人的身旁，望著跳動的燭光漂在湖面上，她甚至都沒有感覺到冷。她心中閃爍著像水燈蠟燭那樣明亮的光芒，懷俄明州青松地區(qū)第一次讓她有了家的感覺。

1. whip [w?p] vt. （風(fēng)等）猛擊

2. sting [st??] vi. 感到（或引起）刺痛

3. despise [d??spa?z] vt. 鄙視，看不起

4. ebony [?eb?ni] n. 烏木；烏木樹

5. cringe [kr?nd?] vi. 畏縮

6. chant [t?ɑ?nt] vi. 反復(fù)地說

7. gingerbread [?d??nd??bred] n. 姜餅

8. icing [?a?s??] n. （糕餅的）糖衣，糖霜

9. stud [st?d] vt. （星星點點地）裝飾，點綴

10. shard [?ɑ?d] n. （尤指陶瓷的）碎片，碎塊

11. lollipop [?l?lip?p] n. 棒棒糖

12. chime in： 插話表示贊成

13. venture [?vent??（r）] vt. 大膽表示

14. Advent wreath： 將臨圈，是用常青樹枝編織而成的圓圈或花冠，上面安放有四支蠟燭，可懸掛在墻壁上或擺放在桌子上，象征基督帶來光。

15. bubble [?b?bl] vi. 充滿；洋溢endprint