Almie Rose

艾尔米·罗斯

It was at least two months before Christmas, when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle. Her old Barbie bicycle was just too babyish, and besides, it needed a new tire.

离圣诞节还有两个多月，9岁的艾尔米·罗斯告诉他爸爸和我说她想要一辆新的自行车。她那老旧的芭比自行车太幼稚了，而且还需要更换新轮胎。

As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade – or so we though, as she didn’t mention it again. Merrily, we started purchasing the latest rage – BabySitter’s Club dolls – and beautiful story books, a doll house, a holiday dress and toys. Then, much to our surprise, on December 23^rd she proudly announced that she ‘really wanted a bike more than anything else.’

随着圣诞节的临近，她对自行车的渴望好像消逝了 – 我们是这么想的，她也没再提起。我们高高兴兴地进行最后一次扫荡 – 保姆俱乐部娃娃 – 还有精美的故事书，一个玩偶屋，节日服装和玩具。然而，出乎意料的是，在12月23号她又骄傲地宣布她最想要的就是自行车。

Now we didn’t know what to do. It was just too late, what with all the details of preparing Christmas dinner and buying lastminute gifts, to take the time to select the ‘right bike’ for our little girl. So here we were – Christmas Eve around 9:00 P.M., having just returned from a wonderful party, contemplating our evening ahead – hours of wrapping children’s presents, parents’ presents, a brother’s presents and friends’ presents. With Almie Rose and her six-year-old brother, Dylan, nestled snug in their beds, we could now think only of the bicycle, the guilt and the idea that we were parents who would disappoint their child.

现在我们也不知道应该怎么办。准备圣诞晚餐的东西和圣诞礼物都买好了，帮我们这位小女儿买自行车已经太迟了。所以情况是这样的 – 圣诞节前夕大概晚上9点左右，从一个超棒的派对回到家里，考虑着晚上要做的事 – 包装好孩子们的礼物，父母的礼物，弟弟的礼物和朋友的礼物。艾尔米·螺丝和她6岁的弟弟，迪伦，舒心的躺在他们温暖的床上，我们现在想着那辆自行车，做一对让孩子失望的父母的想法使他们充满着罪恶感。

That’s when my husband, Ron, was inspired. ‘What if I make a little bicycle out of clay and write a note that she could trade the clay model in for a real bike?’ The theory, of course, being that since that is a high-ticket item and she is ‘such a big girl’, it would be much better for her to pick it out. So he spent the next five hours painstakingly working with clay to create a miniature bike.

这是我的丈夫，隆，灵机一动。‘如果我用粘土捏出一个小的自行车并附上一个纸条说她可以用这个粘土模型换一个真正的自行车呢？’这个想法，虽然是个贵重的物品不过她也‘不小了’，让她来挑自行车也是极好的。因此他花了5个小时艰苦地用粘土捏出一个小型自行车。

Three hours later, on Christmas morning, we were so excited for Almie Rose to open the little heart shaped package with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened and read the note aloud.

3个小时后，在圣诞节早上，我们都很期待艾尔米·罗斯打开一个小小的心形盒子，里面装着红白的粘土自行车和一条小纸条。最后，她打开盒子然后很大声地念着纸条上的字。

She looked at me and then at Ron and said, ’So, does this mean that I trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one? ’

她看看我然后看着隆说，‘这是不是说我可以用爸爸给我捏的自行车换一辆真的？’

Beaming, I said, ’Yes.’

我高兴地说道，‘是的。’

Almie Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied, ‘I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I’d rather keep this than get a real bike.’

眼里饱含泪水的艾尔米·罗斯回应道，‘我才不会用爸爸给我捏的漂亮自行车拿去换辆真的，我宁愿留着它。’

At that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy her every bicycle on the planet!

此时此刻，我们愿意给她买自行车，什么自行车都可以！

仅为个人翻译，如若有错，不关我事。