文◎ Gary Soto 譯 ◎劉宛妮 繪 ◎馬豆子

Today it's going to cost us twenty dollars to live.Five for a softball, four for a book, a handful of①ones for coffee and two sweet rolls, bus fare, rosin②for your mother’s violin.

We're completing our task. The tip I left for the waitress filters down like rain, wetting the new roots of a child, perhaps, a belligerent③cat that won't let go of a balled sock until there’s chicken to eat.

As far as I can tell④, daughter, it works like this:You buy bread from a grocery⑤, a bag of apples from a fruit stand⑥, and what coins are passed on helps others buy pencils, glue, tickets to a movie in which laughter is thrown into their faces. If we buy a goldfish, someone tries on a hat. If we buy crayons⑦, someone walks home with a broom⑧. A tip, a small purchase here and there,and things just keep going. I guess.

今天我們花二十塊錢就可以生活。五塊買一個(gè)壘球，四塊買一本書，一把一塊的硬幣換來咖啡和兩個(gè)甜面包卷、車票，還有給你媽媽的小提琴上的松香。

我們的任務(wù)還沒完成。我留給服務(wù)員的小費(fèi)像雨水一樣過濾下來，滋潤一個(gè)孩童，或是一只不到有雞肉吃的時(shí)候就不放開襪子球的好斗貓咪的幼嫩的根。

據(jù)我所知，女兒，生活就這樣運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)：你在百貨店買面包，在水果店買一袋蘋果，你花出去的硬幣就幫別人買了鉛筆、膠水、電影票，那部電影叫他們發(fā)笑。

如果我們買一條金魚，就有人可以試一頂帽子。我們買蠟筆，就有人可以在回家路上添一把掃帚。一筆小費(fèi)，這里那里買一點(diǎn)東西，大家的生活就這樣維持下去。我想是這樣吧。

①a handful of 一把；少量的；一小部分

②rosin 英 ['r?z?n] n. 松香；樹脂vt. 用松香或樹脂擦抹

③ belligerent 英 [b?'l?d?(?)r(?)nt] adj. 交戰(zhàn)的；好戰(zhàn)的；交戰(zhàn)國的n. 交戰(zhàn)國；參加斗毆的人或集團(tuán)

④as far as I can tell 據(jù)我所知

⑤ grocery 英 ['gr??s(?)r?] 美 ['ɡros?ri]

n. 食品雜貨店；食品雜貨

⑥fruit stand 水果店

⑦ crayon 英 [kre??n] 美 [kre?n]

n. 蠟筆，有色粉筆vt. 以蠟筆作畫，用彩色粉筆畫⑧ broom 英 [bru?m] 美 [brum]

n. 掃帚；金雀花vt. 掃除vi. 樁頂開花或開裂