A Life Lesson That toto Taught Me托托教给我的人生一课

李明娟

I first met Toto， a rabbit， when I was eight years old. One day， when I camehome from school， my parents surprised me with Toto. He was a tiny little pet and Iloved his long ears and button nose. His soft hair felt good when I ran my handsalong his back. Although Toto had great color combinations1 of white， brown andblack， he looked shy， like he was a little scared of people and other things thatsurrounded2 him. But he found his place in the house soon enough—that littlecorner in my bedroom with my dolls and toys.

我八岁时第一次见到了兔子托托。一天，当我放学回家时，我的父母用托托给了我一个惊喜。它是一只小小的宠物，我太喜欢它的长耳朵和纽扣鼻子了。当我的手沿着它的背部摸索时，它柔软的毛摸著很舒服。虽然托托身上是白、棕、黑三色的完美组合，但它看起来很害羞，好像有点害怕周围的人和其他东西。但它很快就在家里找到了自己的地盘———我卧室里一个放娃娃和玩具的小角落。

Toto had this habit of sitting in all dolls and toys， and he almost looked like atoy himself. I treated3 him like a toy most of the time： a toy to be played with. Thecorner was his favorite place， and looking back， Toto was my favorite toy.

托托有这样一个习惯，它待在所有娃娃和玩具中，它自己看起来就像一个玩具。我大部分时间都把它当作玩具：一个可以玩的玩具。那个角落是它最喜欢的地方，现在回想起来，托托是我最喜欢的玩具。

As a young and playful4 girl， I would feel joy in throwing Toto around andletting him jump around my room. It was fun to see how long he would hold out. I hithim sometimes when I got unhappy because he would not play with me. Once， Iburied5 Toto under the blanket just to see if he could find his way out. He was solittle and so defenseless6 and yet， he went on sleeping beside me no matter what.Trust was the only option7 left for Toto. He could not do anything about it.

作为一个年幼贪玩的女孩，我把托托扔来扔去，让它在我的房间里跳来跳去，我感到很高兴。看它能坚持多久是件很有趣的事情。有时我生气了就会打它，因为它不愿意和我一起玩。有一次，我把托托埋在毯子底下，看它能否找到出路。它那么小，那么无助，但不管发生什么，它都继续睡在我身边。信任是托托剩下的唯一选择。它对自己的处境无能为力。

I woke up suddenly one night. Because it was dark， I knew that it was stillnight. I checked on Toto， he was sleeping peacefully. I tried to change my position8without waking him. I carefully turned on my side to face him. I could feel his heartbeating， and I thought that he was trying not to wake me up， too. I knew what myresponsibility9 was： I should start training him to sleep in his new cage. But he didnot like it.

某个夜晚，我突然醒了过来。因为天很黑，我知道还是晚上。我查看了一下托托，它睡得很安稳。我试图在不吵醒它的情况下换个姿势。我小心翼翼地转过身来面对它。我能感觉到它的心跳，我想它也在试图不吵醒我。我知道我的责任是什么：我应该开始训练它在新笼子里睡觉。但它不喜欢笼子。

I did not understand it at the time， but now I do. I wished Toto would alwaysstay the same. So if I would come home tomorrow tired and unhappy， he would bethere to make me feel okay. These kinds of thoughts made me feel calmer10， until Ifell into a deep sleep.

当时我不明白，但现在我明白了。我希望托托能一直保持原样。这样如果我明天回到家，感到很累很不开心，它会在我身边给我安慰。这些想法让我感到平静，直到我陷入沉睡之中。

When I was ten， I brought Toto to school. My shoebox was colored green and ithad three holes in it. I was so proud that he did very well， never once causing meany problem while he was inside. I carried him to class and everyone wanted toknow what was inside the box. I opened it to“show and tell”for my classmates anda few seconds later everyone was all over him. I felt so proud.

十岁的时候，我把托托带到了学校。我的鞋盒是绿色的，上面有三个洞。我很骄傲，它表现得很好，当它待在里面的时候，从来没有给我带来任何麻烦。我带着它去上课，每个人都想知道盒子里是什么。我打开盒子给我的同学们“展示和讲述”，几秒钟后，所有人都围着它转。我感到很骄傲。

At first， they just talked to Toto right there as he sat in the box. They wereexcited and said how cute he looked. And then， after much poking11， I took Totoout. I noticed that Toto was trembling12， and I felt sorry for him. Toto sat on somany arms that day. Some children were not used to him and they held himroughly13.

起初，当托托蹲在盒子里时，他们只是对着它说话。他们很兴奋，说它看起来很可爱。然后，经过多次戳戳点点，我把托托带了出来。我注意到托托在发抖，心中为它感到难过。托托那天被这么多手臂抱过，有些孩子不习惯抱它，动作有些粗暴。

I know how badly Toto must have wanted to run and jump to a place wherepeople could never catch him. I was not happy when Toto used to do that at home.But in that classroom， with all those strangers who could have dropped or injuredhim in some other way， Toto held his ground. He was my own brave rabbit. Hetrembled， I am sure. I felt it but ignored14 it. I was too caught up showing Toto offbecause it felt good.

我知道托托是多么渴望逃走，跳到一个人们永远抓不到它的地方。当托托过去在家里这样做时，我总是感到不开心。但在那间教室里，有那么多陌生人，他们可能摔了它或以其他方式伤害了它，然而托托坚持住了。它是我的那只勇敢的兔子。我确信它当时颤抖了，我感觉到了，但我忽略了。我太想炫耀托托了，因为这感觉很好。

When I came home， I left him in his favorite place and went to watchtelevision. I wonder what Toto thought of me at that moment. I felt disappointed atmyself for I may have had treated Toto as a lifeless toy. And I knew now clearly thathe was not.

回家后，我把它留在它最喜歡的地方，然后去看电视。我不知道托托那一刻是怎么想我的。我对自己感到失望，因为我可能已经把托托当作一个没有生命的玩具，而此刻我清楚地知道，它并不是。

Notes

1. combination 结合体；联合体；结合；联合

2. surround 围绕；环绕

3. treat 对待；看待

4. playful 顽皮的

5. bury 埋进……中

6. defenseless 无防备的

7. option 可选择的事物；选择

8. position 姿势

9. responsibility 责任；负责

10. calm 平静的

11. poke  用手指或尖利物品戳、刺

12. tremble  颤抖；哆嗦；害怕；紧张

13. roughly 粗暴地；粗鲁地

14. ignore 佯装未见；不理睬；忽视