“所谓的父女母子一场，只不过意味着，你和他的缘分就是今生今世不断地在目送他的背影渐行渐远。”牙牙学语的孩童长成少年，留给父母的却是个远行的背影。不知何时，我们开始对父母说，“我长大了，你不要……”选文的主人公弗兰克也曾是这样的一个少年，他拒绝了父亲的告别之吻。时光流逝，岁月沉淀，这个错过的吻却成了他永生的伤痛……岁月易老，不妨缓下你远行的脚步，陪父母慢慢变老。

——编者语

The board meeting had come to an end. Bob starred to stand up and jostled the table, spilling his coffee over his notes. “How embarrassing. I am getting so clumsy in my old age.”

董事会议结束了，鲍勃站起身时不小心撞到了桌子，把咖啡洒到了笔记本上。“真丢脸啊，这把年纪了还毛毛糙糙的。”他不好意思地说。 

Everyone had a good laugh, and soon we were all telling stories of our most embarrassing moments. It came around to Frank who sat quietly listening to the others. Someone said, “Come on, Frank. Tell us your most embarrassing moment.”

所有人都哈哈大笑起来，然后我们都开始讲述自己经历的最尴尬的时刻。一圈过来，轮到一直默默坐在那儿听别人讲的弗兰克了。有人说：“来吧，弗兰克，给大家讲讲你最难为情的时刻。”

Frank began, “I grew up in San Pedro. My Dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed his family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his Mom and Dad and the other kids that were still at home.” He looked at us and said, “I wish you could have met my Dad. He was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the seas for his catch. When you got close to him, he smelled the ocean.”

弗兰克开始了他的讲述。“我是在桑派德罗长大的。我爸爸是一位渔夫，他非常热爱大海。他有自己的小船，但是靠在海上捕鱼为生太艰难了。他辛勤地劳动着，一直待在海上，直到捕到足以养活全家的鱼为止。他不仅要养活我们的小家，还要养活爷爷奶奶以及还未成年的弟弟妹妹，”弗兰克看着我们，继续说,“我真希望你们见过我的爸爸，他是一个身材高大的男人。因长期拉网捕鱼，与大海搏斗的缘故，他十分强壮。走近他时，你能够闻到他身上散发出来的大海的气息。” 

Frank's voice dropped a bit. “When the weather was bad, he would drive me to school. He would park right up in front of the school gate, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here I was twelve years old, and my Dad would lean over and kiss me good-bye!”

弗兰克的声音低了一点：“天气不好的时候，爸爸会开车送我们去学校。他会把车停在学校正门口，好像每个人都能站在一旁观看。然后，他弯下身子在我脸上重重的亲了一口，告诉我要做一个好孩子。这让我觉得很难为情。那时我已经12岁，而爸爸还俯身给我一个道别的亲吻。”

He paused and then went on, “I remember the day I thought I was too old for a good-bye kiss. When we got to school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, ‘No, Dad.’ It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised look on his face.”

弗兰克停顿了一下，又继续说道：“我还记得那天。我认为自己已经长大到不再适合一个道别亲吻了。当我们到了学校停下来的时候，像往常一样爸爸露出了灿烂的笑容，他开始向我俯下身来，然后我抬手挡住了他，‘不，爸爸。’那是我第一次那样对他说话，他十分吃惊。”

“I said, ‘Dad, I’m too old for a good-bye kiss. I’m too old for any kind of kiss.’ My Dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked out the windshield. ‘You're right,’ he said. ‘You are a big boy…a man. I won't kiss you anymore.’”

“我说道，‘爸爸，我已经长大了，大到不再适合接受一个道别亲吻了。也不再适合任何的亲吻了。’爸爸盯着我看了好长时间，潸然泪下。我从来未见过他哭泣。他转过身子，透过挡风玻璃向外望去：“没错，你已经是一个大男孩儿……一个男子汉了。我以后再也不这样亲吻你了。” 

For the moment, Frank got a funny look on his face, and the tears began to well up in his eyes. “It wasn’t long after that when my Dad went to sea and never came back.”

讲到这儿，弗兰克脸上露出了古怪的表情，泪水开始在眼眶里打转。“从那之后没多久，爸爸出海后就再也没回来了。”

I looked at Frank and saw that tears were running down his cheeks. Frank spoke again. “Guys, you don’t know what I would give to have my Dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek…to feel his rough old face…to smell the ocean on him…to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would been a man, I would never have told my Dad I was too old for a good-bye kiss.”

我看着弗兰克，眼泪正顺着他的脸颊流下来。弗兰克又开口了：“伙计们，你们不知道，如果我爸爸能在我脸上亲一下……让我感觉一下他那粗糙的脸……闻一闻他身上海洋的气息……享受他搂着我脖子的感觉，那么让我付出什么我都愿意。我真希望那时候我是一个真正的男子汉。如果我是，我绝不会告诉爸爸我已经长大到不再适合一个道别的亲吻了。”

 

词汇点津：

jostled /'dʒɒs(ə)l/ v. 推挤，碰撞

例句：

You get 2,000 people jostling each other and bumping into furniture.

你令2000人互相推搡并撞倒家具。

 

clumsy /'klʌmzɪ/ adj. 笨拙的

例句：

He is so clumsy that he can't even push the small cart ahead.

他真是笨手笨脚，连小推车都不会推。

 

windshield /'wɪn(d)ʃi:ld/ n. 汽车的挡风玻璃

例句：

She even wiped the inside of the windshield with a cloth so I could see better.

她甚至用了一块布将挡风玻璃里面擦了擦，因此我的视野更清楚了。