問得好,傻瓜
My name is Chelsea Chowderhead. A chowder2) is a stew3) made out of thick soup. My father says that our early ancestors may have invented chowder. I wonder if our early ancestors got made fun of all the time, too. For me, the last name teasing4) began as soon as I started school. So when my family moved to South Carolina, I decided that it was my chance for a fresh start. I asked my dad if I could change my name.
我叫切爾西·喬德黑德(譯者注：chowderhead直譯爲“雜燴頭”，引申義爲“傻瓜”)。“喬德”(chowder)是一種用文火燉成的海鮮雜燴濃湯。爸爸說，可能是我們的祖先發明瞭這種海鮮雜燴濃湯吧。我想知道，祖先們是不是也一直被別人尋開心呢？我呢，從上學的那天起，就開始遭到“姓名歧視”了。因此，當我們舉家搬遷到南卡羅來納州時，我下定決心要抓住這個迎來全新開始的大好機會。於是我問爸爸，我可不可以改個名字。“But the Chowderhead name has a long history—” Dad started.
“可是喬德黑德這個姓氏有悠久的歷史——”爸爸又開始了。“I know, I know. We were makers of thick soups or stews.”
“我知道，我知道，我們是做濃湯或者燉菜的。”
“Why do you want to change it?” He asked. My dad always asks lots of questions.
“你爲什麼想要改名字呢？”爸爸問。他總是有問不完的問題。I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I didn’t want to go through another school year as a Chowderhead, either. “I get teased all the time. Even a compliment like ‘Good idea, Chowderhead’ sounds mean.”
我不想讓他傷心，但我也無法忍受再被人叫整整一學年的“傻瓜”了。“我一直都被別人取笑，哪怕是一句稱讚，像是‘好主意，喬德黑德’，聽起來都讓人覺得不舒服。”“I know it’s not always easy being a Chowderhead,” said Dad. “I’ve been a Chowderhead my whole life, and I’ve been teased a lot. But you shouldn’t change who you are. Let people get to know you first and your name later.”
“我知道作爲喬德黑德家族的一員，有時候不是那麼容易，”爸爸說，“我都姓了一輩子喬德黑德了，我也受到了很多嘲弄。但是你不應該因此而改變自己。你要讓別人先了解你，然後纔是你的名字。”“How can people get to know me before they know my name?” I asked.
“別人怎麼會在知道我叫什麼名字之前就瞭解我呢？”我問。He said, “Ask good questions.”
他說：“問些好問題。”I looked at him blankly. He went on, “When you meet someone new, ask them a question. It can’t be a mean question, and it has to be something that you’re really curious about. Once people start talking about themselves, they don’t judge you. They’re just happy that someone is interested in what they have to say.”
我一臉茫然地看着他。他接着說：“當你結識新朋友的時候，問他們一個問題，但是不要問那種尖酸刻薄的問題，這個問題必須是你確實感到好奇的。一旦人們開始談論他們自己，就不會去對你品頭論足了。他們只會覺得開心，因爲有人對他們要說的內容感興趣。”Two days later I headed to my new school for the first day of class. As soon as I got to my classroom, a girl named Claire introduced herself. I noticed that Claire was wearing pretty woven bracelets5). I asked her where she got them. Her face lit up, and she explained that she made them herself. She’d gotten a bracelet-making kit for her birthday, and these were her first try. She offered to make me one.
兩天後是開學的第一天，我去新學校上課。我一進教室，一個叫克萊爾的女生就對我做起了自我介紹。我注意到克萊爾戴着一條漂亮的編織手鍊，便問她在哪兒買的。她的臉立刻神采飛揚起來，說這是她自己做的。她過生日的時候，收到了一套自制手鍊的工具，而這個手鍊是她的處女作。她還說要給我也編一條手鍊。By lunch, I’d talked to lots of people and was getting the hang of6) finding the right question. But there were two kids, twin brothers, who didn’t seem to talk to anyone but each other. When they looked at me, I felt as if they already knew that I was a Chowderhead. Still, my dad’s advice had worked out well, so I decided to give it one more try. I asked Claire if we should sit with the twins. She looked a little surprised, but shrugged her shoulders and followed me.
中午吃飯之前，我已經和很多人都聊過天了，也開始慢慢掌握了找到“問正確問題”的竅門。不過有兩個小孩，他們是一對雙胞胎兄弟，好像除了跟彼此聊天外，都不和別人講話。而他們看着我的樣子，讓我覺得他們好像已經知道我姓什麼了。儘管如此，鑑於爸爸的建議收效還不錯，所以我決定再試一次。我問克萊爾要不要跟這對雙胞胎兄弟坐在一起。她看起來有一點驚訝，不過還是聳了聳肩，跟着我走了過去。“Do you mind if we sit with you?” I asked. The twins stared at us. I sat down and opened my milk. No one said anything. I realized that if the twins never said anything, I’d never think of a question. Claire didn’t say anything, either. I looked at their lunches for some kind of clue and noticed that the lunchboxes were identical7). That’s when it came to me.
“你們介意我們坐在旁邊嗎？”我問。雙胞胎兄弟瞪着我們沒吭聲。我坐下來，打開牛奶盒。沒有人開口說話。我意識到如果這對雙胞胎兄弟一直什麼都不說，那我就永遠也想不出個問題來。克萊爾也不說話。我看了看他們的午餐，想找點話題線索之類的，然後我發現他們的餐盒一模一樣。我的靈感來了。“What’s it like being a twin?” I asked.
“做雙胞胎是什麼感覺呢？”The twins looked astonished. Then they both started talking at the same time.
兄弟倆看上去嚇了一跳，接着同時開口說了起來。“No one has ever asked us that!” one said.
“從來沒有人問過我們這個問題。”其中一個說。“Most of the time it’s good,” the other said. It turns out that being a twin is as complicated as being a Chowderhead. When you’re a twin you always have someone to talk to and have lunch with, but people think that you’re exactly alike.
“大部分時間還好。”另一個說。原來做雙胞胎就像做喬德黑德家的後人一樣複雜。如果你是雙胞胎當中的一個，那麼永遠都會有人陪你說話，陪你吃午飯，但是人們都會覺得你們倆是完全一模一樣的。In no time at all we were laughing and talking. Then one of the brothers said, “I’m Nicholas, and this is my brother, Nathaniel. What’s your name?”
我們很快就變得有說有笑了。然後兄弟當中的一個說：“我叫尼古拉斯，這是我弟弟，納撒尼爾。你叫什麼呢？”I gulped8), took a deep breath, and said, “I’m Chelsea Chowderhead.”
我嚥了咽口水，深吸了一口氣，說：“我叫切爾西·喬德黑德。”“Chowder? Like the soup?” asked Nathaniel.
“海鮮雜燴濃湯？就像湯一樣的？”納撒尼爾問道。“Yes,” I replied, looking down and blushing. “Like a thick soup or stew.”
“是的，”我回答說，低着頭，臉漲得通紅，“像是濃湯或者燉菜之類的。”“Hey, cool. Do you and Claire want to come over after school and play basketball with us?” Nathaniel asked.
“嘿，很酷嘛。你和克萊爾想不想放學後過來跟我們一起打籃球呢？”納撒尼爾問道。“I’d love to,” I said.
“我很樂意。”我說。“Me too,” Claire agreed.
“我也願意。”克萊爾表示同意。And that is how I learned to ask good questions and became friends with Nicholas and Nathaniel Noodlenoggin.
而這就是我如何學會提出好問題，又是怎樣和尼古拉斯·努德諾金(譯者注：Noodlenoggin，直譯爲“麪條腦袋”)與納撒尼爾·努德諾金成爲朋友的。
