杂货店的人生课

One day I went to a store with a list.
有一天我拿着购物清单走进一家商店。
“Excuse me,” I said.
“打扰一下。”我开口说道。
A lady with glasses looked up, saying, “I’m Miss Bee.
一位戴眼镜的女士抬起头，回应道：“我是比伊小姐。
Come closer and let me look at you.
走近点让我好好看看你。
I want to be able to describe you to the police if something is missing from the store.”
要是店里丢了什么东西，我就能向警察准确描述你的样子了。”
“I’m only a little girl, not a thief !” I was surprised.
“我只是个小女孩，又不是小偷！”我十分惊讶。
“But I think you’re potential ,” she said.
“但我觉得你有成为小偷的可能性。”她说道。
“I need these,” I said, holding up my list.
“我要买这些清单上的东西。”我举着手里的清单对她说。
“So what? I am not a person who works for you.
“那又怎样？我不是专门为你服务的店员。
Go to get them.” she said.
自己去找这些商品。”她回答道。
The store was a puzzle to me.
这家店对我来说像个迷宫。
It took me two hours to find everything on the list.
我花了整整两个小时才把清单上的所有东西找齐。
“That packet of beans is only 29 cents, but you asked me for 35 cents.” I corrected her.
“这包豆子只要29美分，你却收了我35美分。”我纠正了她的错误。
She didn’t seem unhappy, just looked at me over her glasses.
她看起来一点也不生气，只是透过眼镜盯着我看。
The following summer I visited Miss Bee some times a week.
接下来的那个夏天，我每周都会去比伊小姐的店里好几次。
She always found ways to fool me.
她总想着法子捉弄我。
Or shortly after I remembered the places of something on the shelf, she arranged the shelves again and made me hunt for them again.
我刚记住货架上某样商品的位置，她就会重新整理货架，让我不得不重新四处搜寻。
By the end of the summer the shopping trip that had once taken me an hour was done in 15 minutes.
到夏末的时候，原本要花一小时才能完成的采购，我15分钟就能全部搞定。
One morning I was to get a packet of chocolate.
一天早上我去店里买巧克力。
“Miss Potential, what did you learn this summer?” she said.
“‘潜力小姐’，这个夏天你学到了什么？”她开口问道。
“That you’re a meanie!” I answered angrily.
“你就是个刻薄鬼！”我气冲冲地回答。
But she laughed, “Well, I believe my job is to teach every child I meet life lessons to help them.
但她却笑了起来：“我的工作就是给我遇到的每个孩子上人生课，帮他们成长。
When you get older, you’ll be glad our paths crossed!”
等你长大之后，你一定会庆幸我们曾经有过交集。”
Glad I met Miss Bee? Ha! It was absurd.
庆幸我遇到了比伊小姐？哈，这简直太荒唐了。
Until one day my daughter said, “Could you finish my math problems for me?”
直到有一天我的女儿对我说：“你能不能帮我把数学作业写完呀？”
“How will you ever learn to do it yourself if I do it for you?” I said.
我脱口而出：“如果我帮你做了，你自己什么时候才能学会独立完成呢？”
Suddenly, I was back at that store where I had learned the hard way to check my bill.
就在那一刻，我瞬间回忆起了那家小店，想起了当初自己费劲核对账单的经历。
Now I have known what Miss Bee did for me.
直到这时我才终于明白比伊小姐当年的良苦用心。
She is my good teacher.
她是我的好老师。