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Twelve invitations

十二张请帖

Amir drove a bus in Toronto. He was forty-two, and he came from Iran. He lived with his son, Daniel, in a small flat.

阿米尔在多伦多开公交车。他四十二岁，来自伊朗。他和儿子丹尼尔住在一套小公寓里。

It was only the two of them. Amir worked long hours, but he always came home before dinner.

家里只有他们两个人。阿米尔工作时间很长，但他总会在晚饭前回家。

One evening in February, he sat at the kitchen table with twelve cards.

二月的一个晚上，他拿着十二张卡片坐在厨房的桌子旁。

“Daniel, come here,” he said. “Your birthday is in two weeks. You will be ten!”

“丹尼尔，过来，”他说，“再过两周就是你的生日了。你就要十岁了！”

Daniel came out of his room. He was a quiet boy with big dark eyes. “I know, Baba.”

丹尼尔从房间里走出来。他是一个安静的男孩，长着一双大大的黑眼睛。“我知道，Baba。”

“So we’re going to have a party. A real party, with your friends from school. Look, I bought invitations.”

“所以我们要办一个聚会。一个真正的聚会，邀请你学校的朋友来。看，我买了请帖。”

The cards had blue balloons on them. Amir opened the first one and started to write.

卡片上印着蓝色的气球。阿米尔打开第一张，开始写字。

“Dear friend, please come to Daniel’s tenth birthday party! Saturday, 7 March, from two until five.”

“亲爱的朋友，请来参加丹尼尔的十岁生日聚会！时间是3月7日，星期六，下午两点到五点。”

“Where: our home, 15 Weston Road, flat 12. There will be pizza, cake and games. Please reply to Amir.”

“地点：我们家，韦斯顿路15号12室。会有披萨、蛋糕和游戏。请回复阿米尔。”

He wrote his phone number at the bottom. Then he looked at Daniel. “Who do you want to invite?”

他在底部写下了自己的电话号码。然后他看着丹尼尔。“你想邀请谁？”

Daniel didn’t answer at once. “I don’t know. Maybe nobody.”

丹尼尔没有马上回答。“我不知道。也许谁都不请。”

“Nobody? What about the boys on your football team? You talk about them all the time.”

“谁都不请？你足球队里的男孩子们呢？你总是提起他们。”

“OK. The football team. And some girls from my class.”

“好吧。足球队的同学。还有我们班的一些女生。”