Sneha Elizabeth Panackal 梁璐茜

Have you ever had a time in your lifewhen you felt really lonely？ And have youever done something amazing that madeeveryone want to be friends with you then？ Ihave been through one of those experiences.

在生活中有沒有一段時間感到真的很孤獨？然后你做過一件讓所有人都想和你做朋友的事嗎？我有過一次這種經(jīng)歷。

This is dated back to when I was inGrade 1. Grade 1 was pretty tough for me.New faces were everywhere and my facedidnt help me， either. Since I came from arural area， nobody wanted to talk to me oreven come close to me. I was only six yearsold then and I didnt know why peoplewere so mean. Every recess1 time was spentalone in the classroom， and I was the lonelyone among all my classmates. Every day， onthe way home， I used to sob2 quietly so thatmy parents wouldnt notice. Luckily， I didwell in my studies or the teachers wouldnthave wanted to talk to me， either！ My parents?used to tell me， “Hey， dont worry. Soon，you will have best friends just likeeveryone else.” At that time， I didntbelieve them， but as everyone knows，parents are always correct.

這可以追溯到我上一年級的時候。一年級對我來說很艱難。到處都是新面孔，我的臉孔也對我沒有幫助。因為我來自農(nóng)村地區(qū)，所以沒有人愿意和我說話，甚至接近我。那時我只有六歲，我不知道為什么人們這么不友好。每次課間休息時間我都是一個人在教室里度過的，我是所有同學中最孤獨的一個。每天，在回家的路上，我都會悄悄地抽泣，以免父母注意到。幸運的是，我學習很好，否則老師們也不想和我說話！我的父母曾經(jīng)告訴我：“喂，別擔心。很快，你就會像其他人一樣擁有最好的朋友。”當時，我不相信他們，但眾所周知，父母總是正確的。

One day， my class teacher， TeacherBarbara， announced that there was going tobe a speech competition. My stomach did aflip-flop3. I really enjoyed participating4 inspeech competitions and， not to brag5， Iwas actually quite good at them. But theonly problem was that the whole schoolwould be watching me and since I was anew girl， I didnt know anyone in thecrowd that would be watching me.

有一天，我的班主任芭芭拉老師宣布將舉行演講比賽。我的心里一陣雀躍。我真的很喜歡參加演講比賽，而且不是吹噓，我其實很擅長。但唯一的問題是，整個學校的人都會看著我，因為我是一個新來的女生，我不認識注視著我的人中的任何一個。

However， I made up my mind， mustered6up all my courage and marched upto the teacher and said， “Teacher， I wantto join the speech competition.” Theteacher stared at me for such a long timethat I started to feel uncomfortable， butthen I saw a smile tugging7 up at bothends of her lips. She gave me the form andI went off for recess.

然而，我下定決心，鼓足勇氣，走到老師面前，說：“老師，我想?yún)⒓友葜v比賽?！崩蠋煻⒅铱戳撕荛L時間，讓我開始感到不安，但隨后我看到她兩邊的嘴角拉起。她給了我表格，我就去休息了。

The next day， I arrived at school earlyto submit8 my form to the teacher. TeacherBarbara looked into my eyes as she tookthe form， and said， “Sneha， for a newstudent， you have a lot of courage.” Iblushed9 and smiled at her remark on theway to class. It was very rare that TeacherBarbara complimented10 anyone， so hercompliment lifted up my spirits a little onthat day.

第二天，我很早就到了學校，把表格交給老師。芭芭拉老師在拿到表格時看著我的眼睛，說：“斯妮哈，作為一個新生，你很有勇氣。”她的評論讓我在上課的路上笑著羞紅了臉。芭芭拉老師很少稱贊他人，所以那天她的贊美讓我的心情有點振奮。

Until the competition day， I practicedmy speech everywhere I went， even while Iwas showering！My little sister thought me acrazy maniac11 and said that even while Iwas sleeping， I practiced my speech！ So，yeah， you probably get the idea.

直到比賽日，我走到哪里都在練習演講，甚至在洗澡的時候！我妹妹認為我是個瘋子，說即使在我睡覺的時候，我也在練習演講！所以，是的，你可能明白了。

Then it was time for the competition. Iwas the last competitor， so， until then， I hadtime to practice my speech.

然后到比賽的時候了。我是最后一個參賽者，所以在那之前，我還有時間練習演講。

Then they called my name. I wasnervous as I went up the stage but I keptreminding myself that this was for a goodcause. （Well， I figured12 out that if I wonthe speech competition， I would gainrespect from my classmates.） So， I went upthe stage and started my speech.

然后他們叫了我的名字。我上臺時緊張不安，但我一直提醒自己，這是有一個合理的理由的。（嗯，我想，如果我贏得了演講比賽，就會贏得同學們的尊重。）于是，我走上舞臺，開始我的演講。

When I ended my speech， I got astanding ovation13！ Everyone was cheeringand clapping madly！ I was on cloudnine！ Even better， the principal14 herselfcame up the stage and presented me withthe first prize trophy15！ Yet， the best wasstill to come.

當我結(jié)束演講時，全場起立喝彩！每個人都在瘋狂地歡呼和鼓掌！我的心已經(jīng)飛上了天！更棒的是，校長她親自上臺向我頒發(fā)了一等獎獎杯！然而，最好的結(jié)果還在后頭。

As I was going down the stairs， Iheard someone call my name. I turnedaround and saw a girl from my class. Shesaid， “Hey， Sneha！ That was amazing，really amazing！I havent seen anyone talklike that before！ Er... I have been wantingto ask you this question since the first dayof school. Would you like to be friendswith me？”

當我下臺階時，我聽到有人喊我的名字。我轉(zhuǎn)過身來，看到了我們班上的一個女生。她說：“喂，斯妮哈！太棒了，真的太棒了！我以前從沒見過有人那樣說話！呃……從上學第一天起，我就一直想問你這個問題，你愿意和我做朋友嗎？”

I happily accepted her friendshipinvitation without any hesitation16. Evenuntil now， she is my best friend. I also havemore than 200 friends in my school now.Come to think of it， none of this would havehappened if I didnt have enough courage tojoin that speech competition.

我毫不猶豫地愉快接受了她的友誼邀請。直到現(xiàn)在，她還是我最好的朋友。我現(xiàn)在在學校也有200 多個朋友。想想看，如果我沒有足夠的勇氣參加演講那場比賽，這一切都不會發(fā)生。

My advice to all those newbies17 is tohave courage in doing whatever you want todo. It turns out that the results of tryingsomething out could lead you to somethingthat you could only dream of at first. So，dont be afraid to try out anything. Believeme. I know.

我對所有新人的建議是，要有勇氣做任何你想做的事。事實證明，嘗試一些東西的結(jié)果可能會讓你得到最初只能夢到的東西。所以，不要害怕嘗試任何東西。相信我。我知道。

淵英語原文選自（kidsworldfun.com）