人生钢琴课
I have always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons----something I have done for over 30 years. 我一直靠教钢琴课来补充收入——我干这行已经三十多年了。 During those years I found that children have many levels of musical ability, and even though I have never had the pleasure of having a prodigy, I have taught some very talented students. 那些年里，我发现孩子们的音乐水平参差不齐，虽然我从未有幸招收过音乐神童，但也教过不少极具天赋的学生。 However, I have also had my share of what I call musically challenged pupils---one such pupil being Robby. 然而，我也遇到过被我称之为“有音乐障碍”的学生，罗比就是其中之一。 Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single mom) dropped him off his first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother’s dream to hear him play the piano, so I took him as a student. 罗比的妈妈（一位单身母亲）送他来上第一节钢琴课的时候，他已经11岁了。我更青睐年纪更小就开始学习钢琴的学生（尤其是男孩），这点我已经对罗比解释过了，但罗比说能听他弹钢琴是母亲的夙愿，因此我就收他当了我的学生。 Robby began his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary piano pieces that I require all my students to learn. 罗比开始上钢琴课了。从一开始，我就认为这不过是徒劳。尽管罗比非常用功，但他缺乏乐感和基本节奏，根本无法出彩。不过他总是认认真真地复习我要求同学们学习的音阶和几首入门曲目。 At the end of each weekly lesson he would always say “My mom’s going to hear me play someday”. But to me, it seemed hopeless; he just did not have any inborn ability. 每周上课结束后，他都会说：“我妈妈总有一天会听见我弹钢琴的。”但对我而言，这纯属无望，他就是没有那种天分。 I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. Shealways waved and smiled, but never dropped in. 我只在罗比的妈妈送他上课或者等在旧汽车里接他下课的时候远远看过她。她总会向我挥手，微笑，但从未进过教室。 Then one day Robby stopped coming for his lessons. I thought about calling him, but assumed that because of his lack of ability he had decided to pursue something else. I was also glad that he had stopped coming-he was a bad advertisement for my teaching! 接着有一天，罗比不再来上课了。我想过给他打电话，但又猜想他可能因为能力不足，所以改学其他东西了。他不来上课我也挺高兴的——他只会对我的教学水平起负面宣传。 Several weeks later I mailed a flyer recital to the student’s homes. To my surprise, Robby (who had received a flyer) asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and that because he had dropped out, he really did not qualify. 几周后，我给学生家里邮寄了演奏会的传单。让我惊讶的是，罗比（他也收到了传单）问我他能否也参加此次演奏会。我告诉他演奏会是为在学的学生举办的。由于他已退课，因此没有资格参加。 He told me that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to his piano lessons, but that he had been practicing. “Please Miss Honor, I’ve just got to play.” he insisted. I don’t know what led me to allow him to play in the recital-perhaps it was his insistence or maybe something inside of me saying that it would be all right. 罗比说他妈妈生病了，不能送他来上钢琴课，不过他一直都勤于练习。“奥纳小姐，拜托你了，我必须要表演。”他坚持道。我不知道到底是什么让我同意他在此次演奏会上表演——或许是他的执意坚持，抑或是我内心深处有个声音在说这不会有什么问题。 The night of the recital came and the high school gymnasium was packed with parents, relatives and friends. I put Robby last in the program, just before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he might do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my “curtain closer”. 到了演奏会那晚，高中体育馆里挤满了学生的亲朋好友。我把罗比放在演奏会末尾。之后，我就要出场向全体学生致意并弹奏最后一支曲子。我想，不管他表演出现什么差池，那都会在节目最后，我肯定能用我的“谢幕表演”来挽回局面。 Then Robby came up on the stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked as though he had run an egg beater through it. Why wasn’t he dressed up like the other students?” I thought. “Why didn’t his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?” 接着，罗比上台了。他的衣服皱皱巴巴，头发看起来就像被鸡蛋搅拌过一样。“他为什么不像其他孩子那样精心打扮？”我心里想着，“他妈妈怎么也不为这个特殊的夜晚让他梳理一下头发？” I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen to play Mozart’s Concerto No. 21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys. Never had I heard Mozart played so well by anyone his age. 他说他要演奏莫扎特的《C大调第21号钢琴协奏曲》，我大吃一惊。接下来我所听见的演奏也让我措手不及。他的手指在琴键之间轻快地飞舞。有生之年，我从未听过像他这个年纪的孩子能把莫扎特的曲子演奏得如此之好。 After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo, and everyone was on their feet in wild applause! I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. “I have never heard you play like that Robby, how did you do it?” 六分半钟后，他以一个宏伟的高潮结束演奏。在场的人都站起来热烈鼓掌！我冲上舞台，高兴地拥抱罗比。“罗比，我从没有听你演奏钢琴弹得这么好，你是怎么做到的？” Through the microphone Robby explained: “Well, Miss Honor …remember I told you that my mom was sick? Well, she actually had cancer and passed away this morning. And well …she was born deaf, so tonight was the first time she had ever heard me play, and I wanted to make it special.” 罗比用麦克风解释说：“噢，奥娜小姐…还记得我告诉你我妈妈生病的事？嗯，她其实患了癌症，今天早上已经去世了。嗯还有…她天生就是聋人，所以今晚是她第一次听我演奏，我想让它特别一点。 There wasn’t a dry eye in the house that evening. I thought to myself then how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil. 那晚，没有人不为之动容落泪。我告诉自己，收下罗比这个学生让我的生命变得如此丰富。 No, I have never had a prodigy, but that night I became a prodigy of Robby. He was the teacher and I was the pupil, for he had taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself, and may be even taking a chance on someone and you didn’t know why. |
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