我是個話匣子

Sunday, June 21, 1942

1942年6月21日，星期日

Dearest Kitty,

最親愛的基蒂：

Our entire class is quaking in its boots. The reason, of course, is the upcoming meeting in which the teachers decide who'll be promoted to the next grade and who'll be kept back. Half the class is making bets. G. Z. and I laugh ourselves sick at the two boys behind us, C.N. and Jacques Kocernoot, who have staked their entire vacation savings on their bet. From morning to night, it's "You're going to pass, No, I'm not," "Yes，you are," "No, I，m not." Even G.'s pleading glances and my angry outbursts can't calm them down. If you ask me, there are so many dummies that about a quarter of the class should be kept back, but teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth. Maybe this time they'll be unpredictable in the right direction for a change. I'm not so worried about my girlfriends and myself. We'll make it. The only subject I'm not sure about is math. Anyway, all we can do is wait. Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose heart.

我們?nèi)喽荚谏l(fā)抖，原因當然是近在咫尺的教師大會了，會上老師們將決定哪些人升級，哪些人留級。全班一半的同學都在打賭。我和G.Z.大肆嘲笑坐在我們后面的C.N.和杰克斯·科瑟努特，他們倆把整個假期的積蓄都花在了打賭上。從早到晚，他們倆不斷在爭論，"你會升級的。" "不，我不會。" "會的，你會的。" "不，我不會。"就算G.Z.瞥他們一眼求他們安靜，我暴跳如雷，也堵不上他們的嘴。要是你問我呀，我覺得班上笨人那么多，大概四分之一的人會留在原級，不過老師可是世上最捉摸不透的人啦，他們這次還是會一如既往地難以預(yù)料， 不過也許他們會換換花樣。我對自己和我的女朋友們都不擔心，我們準能闖過去的。我唯一擔心的科目就是數(shù)學。不論如何，我們只能耐心等候，我們不停地鼓勵對方不要氣餒。

I get along pretty well with all my teachers. There are nine of them, seven men and two women. Mr. Keesing, the old fogey who teaches math, was mad at me for the longest time because I talked so much. After several warnings, he assigned me extra homework. An essay on the subject "A Chatterbox." A chatterbox, what can you write about that? I'd worry about that later, I decided. I jotted down the assignment in my notebook, tucked it in my bag and tried to keep quiet.

我跟所有的老師都相處得很好。我共有九位老師，七位男老師，兩位女老師。 基辛先生，就是那個年紀大的數(shù)學老師，很久以來一直對我很頭疼，因為我太喜歡講話了。他警告我?guī)状魏?，給我布置了額外的家庭作業(yè)，罰我以《話匣子》為題寫篇作文?！对捪蛔印?，你能寫出什么呢？我決定回頭再來對付它，于是我把題目記在了筆記本上，把筆記本塞進書包，努力地保持鎮(zhèn)定。

That evening, after I'd finished the rest of my homework, the note about the essay caught my eye. I began thinking about the subject while chewing the tip of my fountain pen. Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking. I thought and thought, and suddenly I had an idea. I wrote the three pages and was satisfied. I argued that talking is a female trait and that I would do my best to keep it under control, but that I would never be able to break myself of the habit, since my mother talked as much as I did, if not more, and that there's not much you can do about inherited traits.

那天晚上，我把其他家庭作業(yè)做完后，目光落在了筆記本上的那個作文題目上。我一邊啃著鋼筆頭一邊琢磨。要想胡亂寫些廢話，把字間距空得開開的，誰不可以呢，可難就難在怎么來充分證明講話的必要性。我想呀想呀，突然靈光一閃， 洋洋灑灑寫了三頁紙，滿意極了。我的論點是講話是女性的特質(zhì)，我當然愿意盡全力克制，不過永遠也別想讓我改掉這個習慣，因為我媽媽和我一樣愛講話，即使講得沒我多，我們倆也是不相上下。對于這遺傳的性格，你只能無能為力了。

Mr. Keesing had a good laugh at my arguments, but when I proceeded to talk my way through the next class, he assigned me a second essay. This time it was supposed to be on "An Incorrigible Chatterbox." I handed it in, and Mr. Keesing had nothing to complain about for two whole classes. However, during the third class he'd finally had enough. "Anne Frank, as punishment for talking in class, write an essay entitled 'Quack, Quack, Quack, said Mistress Chatterback."'

基辛先生看了我的作文哈哈大笑，可當我下一節(jié)課繼續(xù)滔滔不絕的時候，他又布置了一篇作文。這回是《不可救藥的話匣子》。我又把作文交上去，結(jié)果整整兩節(jié)課基辛先生沒發(fā)過一句牢騷?？墒堑谌握n他再也憋不住了。"安妮·弗蘭克， 為了懲罰你上課講話，寫一篇題為《呱呱呱，閑話小姐唧唧喳喳》的作文。"

The class roared. I had to laugh too, though I'd nearly exhausted my ingenuity on the topic of chatterboxes. It was time to come up with something else, something original. My friend Sanne, who's good at poetry, offered to help me write the essay from beginning to end in verse. I jumped for joy. Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I'd make sure the joke was on him. I finished my poem, and it was beautiful! It was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much. Luckily, Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well. Since then I've been allowed to talk and haven't been assigned any extra homework. On the contrary, Keesing's always making jokes these days.

全班哄堂大笑。我也只好跟著笑，可是我的聰明才智在寫《話匣子》作文題目的時候就幾乎用盡了。是時候想些別的東西了，絕對有創(chuàng)意的東西。我的朋友桑妮很擅長寫詩，她答應(yīng)幫我把整篇作文用詩來寫。我快活地蹦了起來?；帘鞠胗眠@個可笑的題目讓我出洋相，但是我確信他反而會成為全班的笑柄的。詩寫好了，簡直美極了。講的是一只鴨媽媽和一只天鵝爸爸帶著三只小鴨子的故事，因為小鴨子太愛講話，最后全被爸爸用嘴巴啄死了。多虧基辛看出這是鬧著玩的，他給全班大聲朗讀了那首詩，而且還加以點評。后來他給其他幾個班的同學也念了我的詩。從那以后，我說話就得到默許了，基辛先生再也沒有給我布置過額外的作業(yè)。相反，這些天他還一直說笑話來著。

Yours, Anne

你的，安妮