《酸豆树下的车胎》

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八年级二班的地理老师海老师，在星期一拿着一张纸走进教室。他笑了笑，就像老师们打算做糟糕的事时那样笑。

On Monday, Mr Hai, the geography teacher of class 8b, came into the room with a slip of paper and smiled the way teachers smile when they are planning something terrible.

“星期五每个人都要做一个演讲，”他说，“五分钟。主题是：我家的工作。你们做什么，你们的父母做什么，其中有什么特别之处？你们可以展示图片。”

“On Friday each of you will give a talk,” he said. “Five minutes. The topic is: my family’s work. What do you do, what do your parents do, and what is special about it? You may show pictures.”

坐在玲旁边的明大声叹了一口气。“我家开了一家汤粉店，”他说，“我只有在吃的时候才在那里工作。”全班同学都笑了，明鞠了个躬，好像自己得了一个奖。

Minh, who sat next to Linh, groaned loudly. “My family works in a noodle soup kitchen,” he said. “I only work there when I’m eating.” The whole class laughed, and Minh bowed as if he had won a prize.

玲没有笑。她遇到了一个难题，而这个难题有两个轮子。

Linh did not laugh. She had a problem, and the problem had two wheels.

她的妈妈以补车胎为生。妈妈的摊位在菜市场附近的拐角处，在一棵老酸豆树下：一张塑料凳子、一桶水、一个打气筒，还有一块在玲小的时候就挂在那里的招牌。每天早上玲都必须经过这个街角。她总是走在马路的另一边。妈妈每天早上都向她招手，而每天早上玲都装作没看见。

Her mother repaired tyres. Her stall was on the corner by the market, under an old tamarind tree: a plastic stool, a bucket of water, a hand pump and a sign that had already been hanging there when Linh was little. Every morning Linh had to pass that corner. She always walked on the other side of the street. Her mother waved every morning, and every morning Linh pretended she had not seen it.

放学后，明走在她身边，吃着一块饼干。他总是有饼干。“你呢？”他问，“星期五你讲什么？”

After class Minh walked beside her, eating a biscuit. He always had a biscuit. “And you?” he asked. “What will you talk about on Friday?”

“讲我舅舅，”玲说，“他在岘港的一家酒店工作。他是总经理。”

“About my uncle,” Linh said. “He works in a hotel in Da Nang. As the boss.”

“真的吗？”明问，“我以前不知道呢。”

“Really?” Minh asked. “I didn’t know that.”

这并不完全是谎话。俊舅舅确实在那家酒店工作。只不过他其实是夜班门卫，当经理这件事是编出来的。

That was not quite a lie. Uncle Tuan really did work in that hotel. But he was the night porter there, and the part about the boss was new.