李明娟

Mrs. Lane knew I needed help， and she found a way to help me.

萊恩太太知道我需要幫助，她找到了一種方法來幫我。

Ive done almost every sport I can think of for almost as long as I can recall. So Ive had a lot of coaches. And my best coach was my eighth grade math teacher， Mrs. Lane.

從我記事起，我?guī)缀踝鲞^每一項我能想到的運動，所以我有很多教練。我最好的教練是我八年級的數(shù)學老師，萊恩太太。

She scared me witless. She scared everyone witless. She wasnt mean. She didnt yell. But you knew that she knew everything. Especially about you.

她嚇得我魂不附體，嚇到了所有人。她并不尖刻，不會大聲喊叫。但你知道，她什么都知道，尤其是關于你的事。

She wore a different knockoff1 Chanel suit to school every day and had high-fashion oversized black-framed glasses. She spoke in the snappy2 cadence3 of an actress in a 1940s romantic comedy. Her white hair was carefully coiffed4. I never saw a strand out of place. Nothing was ever out of place. The desks in our classroom （her classroom） were always in perfect rows. Even the wastebaskets were orderly. At the end of class， she would ask one of us to march down the rows with the wastebasket， and we would lay our scratch5 paper in the bottom of the basket， flat.

她每天都穿著不同的仿香奈兒套裝去上學，戴著時尚的超大黑框眼鏡。她說話的節(jié)奏像20世紀40年代愛情喜劇片中的女演員。她的白頭發(fā)梳得很仔細，我從來沒有看到一根頭發(fā)絲錯位。她對待所有的事情都一絲不茍，我們教室（她的教室）里的課桌總是排得很整齊，甚至廢紙簍也井然有序?？煜抡n時，她會讓我們中的一個人拿著廢紙簍沿著一排排課桌走著，我們會把草稿紙平放在籃子的底部。

One Wednesday in November， as the wastebasket made its way down the aisles6， my friend Dave threw a balled-up sheet of paper into the basket from a distance of about four feet. A dunk， really. Tim， the kid holding the basket， froze. The room froze. Daves eyes turned back and forth. We held our breath. Mrs. Lane sat at her desk， saying nothing.

11月的一個星期三，當廢紙簍從過道經過時，我的朋友戴夫從四英尺遠的地方把一張揉成團的紙扔進了廢紙簍。一個扣籃，真的。蒂姆，拿著簍子的那個孩子，僵住了，教室里的人也僵住了。戴夫的眼睛來回瞟著，我們屏住了呼吸。萊恩太太坐在桌旁，一言不發(fā)。

Curtis balled up his paper and threw it in. Nothing. Then Terry. A joyful storm of paper balls happened. I wadded up my scratch paper and put up a beautiful shot from about 10 feet out.

柯蒂斯把紙揉成一團扔了進去，沒有什么事。然后是特里，接著是一場紙團的快樂暴風雪。我卷起我的草稿紙，從10英尺外投了一個漂亮的籃。

The instant it left my fingertips， Mrs. Lane said， flatly， “Mr. Wilcoxen.”

草稿紙一離開我的指尖，萊恩太太就直截了當?shù)卣f道：“威爾科森先生?！?/p>

She got up from her desk. I had the sensation of having almost fallen backward off a ladder. I was sweating.

她從書桌上站了起來。我有種幾乎要從梯子上摔下來的感覺，汗流浹背。

“Nice shot，” she said， walking toward me， high heels clicking on the floor.

“投得不錯，”她說著，向我走來，高跟鞋在地板上嗒嗒作響。

I almost fainted with relief. Chatter and laughter began. She asked Tim for the wastebasket and fished out my ball of paper. She handed it to me and walked to the back of the room. She set the wastebasket down about a foot from the wall in the corner. Relief turned to fear. She wasnt done.

我松了一口氣，幾乎要暈過去了。聊天聲和笑聲又開始了。她向蒂姆要來廢紙簍，把我的紙團撈了出來。她把它遞給我，然后走到教室后面，把廢紙簍放在離墻角一英尺遠的地方。安心變成了恐懼，事情還沒有完。

“It was such a nice shot that Id like to see some more，” she said. “Get up， Mr. Wilcoxen， and join me.”

“那個投籃非常棒，我想再看一次?！彼f：“起來，威爾科森先生，和我一起做?！?/p>

We walked to the door. “Id like to see 10 more shots， from here. Every time you miss， you owe me one hour of detention7.”

我們走到門口。“我想再看10次投籃，從這里投。一次投不中，你就欠我一個小時的留校?！?/p>

The class buzzed with murmurs. Mrs. Lane did not silence them. Any kid whos ever thrown a balled-up sheet of paper knows that theres barely enough weight in such a missile8 to get it all the way across the room， let alone accurately9.

全班都在竊竊私語。萊恩太太沒有讓他們閉嘴。任何一個曾經扔過紙團的孩子都知道，這樣的紙團幾乎沒有足夠的重量能穿過房間，更不用說精確命中了。

I squeezed the ball as tightly as I could and took my first shot. Enough distance， but wide left. The class was depressed. One hour of detention. Next shot： short. Two hours. My third shot dropped in the center of the basket， and the class shouted as if Id hit a walk-off home run at Fenway Park. Mrs. Lane did not blink.

我盡可能地把紙球捏緊，然后進行第一次投籃。距離足夠，但太偏向左邊。全班學生都很沮喪，留校一小時。下一投：距離短了。兩個小時。我的第三個球落在了籃筐中央，全班都沸騰了起來，好像我在芬威公園打了一個本壘打。萊恩太太眼都沒眨一下。

I made three shots and missed seven. Seven hours of one-on-one with Mrs. Lane. I did not question the fairness of my sentence. I simply accepted the fact that Id never be happy again.

我投中了三個球，丟了七個，于是和萊恩太太一對一地聊了七個小時。我沒有質疑判決是否公正。我只是接受了再也不會快樂起來的事實。

It has taken me nearly half a century to figure it out， but heres why Mrs. Lane was my best coach： I was new to Connecticut， having moved up from Miami that summer. Id made only a few friends. I wore Florida sneakers and Florida jeans. I was never dressed warmly enough for the weather. In short， I was a little different in a community that didnt celebrate being a little different.

我花了將近半個世紀才弄明白，但這就是為什么萊恩夫人是我最好的教練的原因：那年夏天我剛從邁阿密搬到康涅狄格州，只交了幾個朋友。我穿著佛羅里達運動鞋和佛羅里達牛仔褲，穿的衣服一直都不夠暖和，沒有適應天氣。簡而言之，我在一個不崇尚與眾不同的團體里有點與眾不同。

Heres what happened： Each shot I hit made me a bit of a hero. Each shot I missed made me a bit of a hero. I think Mrs. Lane knew what she was doing.

事情是這樣的：我每一次投中都給我增添了幾分英雄色彩;投不中的也都給我增添了幾分英雄色彩。我想萊恩太太知道她在做什么。

I was also seriously behind in math. I was an A student， but Id been able to hide what I didnt know. By now Mrs. Lane had discovered what I didnt know. I couldnt hide it from her.

我在數(shù)學方面也明顯落后。我曾是一名優(yōu)等生，但我能隱藏我所不知道的東西。到目前為止，萊恩太太已經發(fā)現(xiàn)了那些我不知道的事情。我沒法對她隱瞞。

How many hours of tutoring did I need to get up to grade level？ Exactly seven.

我需要多少小時的輔導才能達到本年級水平？確切地說是七個小時。

Day One of detention was Thursday.

留校的第一天是星期四。

“Come in，” she said. “Pull up a chair.”

“進來，”她說?！鞍嵋话岩巫舆^來。”

I did. Without looking up from her papers， she passed a plate of cookies across her desk. “Youre probably hungry，” she said.

我照做了。她沒有從報紙上抬起頭，把一盤餅干從桌子上遞過來。“你可能餓了，”她說。

I was always hungry， two or three-sandwich hungry， so I took a cookie. “Thank you，” I said. 我總是餓，兩、三個三明治都不頂餓，所以我吃了一塊餅干?！爸x謝你，”我說。

There was a plate of cookies on her desk every afternoon for the next six afternoons. They were homemade， and they were delicious.

在接下來的六個下午，她的桌上每天下午都有一盤餅干，是自制的，很好吃。

I wish I could say we grew close that week， but I learned nothing of her private life， nor she about mine. But I did learn math. Each detention was tailored10 to address and make up for a weakness that she had found. It was exciting to finally understand the things that Id pretended to know. I grew comfortable with her.

我真希望那周能讓我們的關系變得親密起來，但我對她的私生活、她對我的私生活都一無所知。但我確實好好學了一下數(shù)學。每一次留校都是為了解決和彌補她發(fā)現(xiàn)的一個弱點。終于明白了我假裝知道的事情，真是令人興奮。我和她的相處變得很愉快。

And on that eighth afternoon， I felt a little lost as I kicked my way through piles of fallen leaves， all the way home.

第八天下午，當我一路踏過一堆落葉時，心中感到有點失落。

Notes

1. knockoff [? ? ?] n. （貴重品的）廉價仿制品

2. snappy [? ? ?] adj. 厲聲說話的;生氣勃勃的;時髦的;爽快的

3. cadence [? ? ?] n. 節(jié)奏;韻律;抑揚頓挫

4. coif [? ? ?] v. 戴緊帽;覆以頭巾;梳理;給……做發(fā)型

5. scratch [? ? ?] adj. 打草稿用的

6. aisle [? ? ?] n. 通道，走道;側廊

7. detention [? ? ?] n. （為懲罰學生的）課后留校

8. missile [? ? ?] n. 導彈;投射物

9. accurately [? ? ?] adv. 精確地，準確地

10. tailor [? ? ?] v. 專門制作，訂做;調整;迎合