第12章 父亲的吻

Dad’s Kiss

父亲的吻

Anonymous/佚名

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

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.”

董事会议已经结束了。鲍勃站起身时不小心碰了下桌子，咖啡溅在了笔记本上。“真尴尬。我老了，变得笨手笨脚了。”

每个人都大笑起来。接着我们开始讲述自己最尴尬的时刻。弗兰克正静静地听着别人的故事时，有人说道：“到你了，弗兰克，说说你最尴尬的时刻！”

Frank laughed and began to tell us of his childhood.“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 the family.Not just enough for our family，but also for his morn and dad and the other kids that were still at home.”

弗兰克笑了笑便开始说起他小时候的事情。“我在桑河边长大。父亲是个热爱大海的渔民。虽然他有自己的渔船，但仅靠捕鱼来维持生计是非常艰辛的。他拼命地工作，每次出海，他都要捕到足够多的鱼才回来。他不仅要养活我们一家三口，还要养活祖父祖母和家里的其他孩子们。”

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 like the ocean.He would wear his old canvas，foul-weather coat and his bibbed overalls.His rain hat would be pulled down over his brow.No matter how much my mother washed them，they would still smell of the sea and of fish.”

他看了看我们接着说：“真希望你们能见一见我父亲本人。他十分高大，由于要拉网和跟海浪作斗争，他练就了一副健壮的身躯。靠近他，你会闻到海的味道。他总是穿着又旧又脏的粗帆布外套和有围兜的罩衫。他的雨帽压得很低，遮住了眉毛。无论我母亲把这些行头搓洗多少遍，还是会有一股海水和鱼腥味。”

Frank‘s voice dropped a bit.“When the weather was bad he would drive me to school.He had this old truck that he used in his fishing business.That truck was older than he was.It would wheeze and rattle down the road.You could hear it coming for blocks.As he would drive toward the school，I would shrink down into the seat hoping to disappear.

“Half the time，he would slam to a stop and the old truck would belch a cloud of smoke.He would pull right up in front，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 goodbye！”

弗兰克的声音小了一些：“天气不好的时候，他就会开车送我去学校。那是一辆比父亲更老的载鱼的旧卡车，行驶在路上还会发出咯吱咯吱的响声，隔几个街区你都能听到。当他每次送我去学校时，我都是缩着身子坐在车座上，希望没有人看到我。

“通常，他会砰的一声把车门关上，而老卡车也随之喷出一股浓烟。他会‘恰好’把车停在校门前，我只觉得周围每个人都在看着我们。接着他总会弯下腰在我脸颊上重重亲一下，叮嘱我要乖。这太让我感到难堪了。那时我已经十二岁了，而我的父亲还要在道别前弯下腰亲我！”

He paused and then went on，“I remember the day I decided I was too old for a goodbye kiss.When we got to the 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.”

“I said，‘Dad，I’m too old for a goodbye kiss.I‘m too old for any kind of kiss.’”

他停了一下又继续说：“我一直记得那一天，我决定不再让父亲亲我了，因为我已是个大小伙子了。当车子在学校门口停下后，父亲仍然带着灿烂的笑容向我靠过来。但这次我举起了手拦住了他，说：‘爸，不要。’”

“那是我第一次那样跟他说话，他满脸惊讶。”

我说：“爸爸，我已经长大了，道别时不要再亲我了。任何时候都不要再亲我了。”

“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 are right，’he said.‘You are a big boy--a man.I won’t kiss you any more.‘”

Frank got a funny look on his face，and the tears began to well up in his eyes，as he spoke.“It wasn’t long after that when my dad went to sea and never came back.It was a day when most of the fleet stayed in，but not dad.He had a big family to feed.They found his boat adrift with its nets half in and half out.He must have gotten into a gale and was trying to save the nets and the floats.”

父亲久久地看着我，双眼开始变得潮湿。我从来没见他哭过。他转过身对着挡风玻璃：“你说得对，你长大了，是个男子汉了。我以后不会再亲你了。”

弗兰克脸上表情开始变得怪怪的，接着便泪如泉涌。“不久之后，父亲出海捕鱼，却再也没回来。那天除了我父亲外其他大多数渔船都没出海，因为还有那么多人等着父亲养活，他不得不去。事后人们发现父亲的渔船正随波漂浮着，渔船半沉半浮着，他肯定是遇到了大风，为了保护鱼网和渔船而丧命的。”

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 never have told my dad I was too old for a goodbye kiss.”

我看着弗兰克的泪水缓缓流过他的脸颊。他继续说：“朋友们，你们不知道我多么希望父亲能够再亲一下我的脸颊……让我再次触摸他那饱经风霜的老脸……闻一闻他身上大海的味道……重温他双手绕在我脖子上的感觉。多么希望当时我真的是个男子汉，如果是这样的话，我就不会告诉父亲，我已长大了，不再需要他离别时的吻了。”