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A few weeks later，Old Chong and my mother conspired to have me play in a talent show which would be held in the church hall. By then, my parents had saved up enough to buy me a secondhand piano, a black Wurlitzer spinet with a scarred bench. It was the showpiece of our living room.
几星期后，老钟和母亲秘密谋划让我在即将于教堂大厅举办的才艺表演上演奏。那时父母已攒足了钱，给我买了一架二手钢琴。那是架黑色的乌立兹牌的立式钢琴，还有一个带有划痕的琴凳。钢琴成了我家起居室的唯一摆设。
For the talent show, I was to play a piece called "Pleading Child" from Schumann's Scenes From Childhood. It was a simple, moody piece that sounded more difficult than it was. I was supposed to memorize the whole thing, playing the repeat parts twice to make the piece sound longer. But I dawdled over it, playing a few bars and then cheating, looking up to see what notes followed. I never really listed to what I was playing. I daydreamed about being somewhere else, about being someone else.
我将演奏从舒曼《童年情景》中选出的《祈求的孩子》。这是一首指法简单，表达内心忧郁的曲子？听起来还是像很有难度的。我得把它背下来，重复部分弹两次，使曲子显得更长些。磨磨蹭蹭弹了几小节后我就开始偷懒，不停地抬头看后边的部分，而根本没有真正听自己弹出的音乐。我遐想自己身在他处，成了另外一个什么人。
The part I liked to practice best was the fancy curtsy: right foot out, touch the rose on the carpet with a pointed foot, sweep to the side, left leg bends , look up, and smile.
我最喜欢练习的部分是花哨的谢幕行礼动作：先出右脚，脚尖点在地毯的玫瑰图案上，身子侧摆，左腿弯曲，抬头，微笑。
My parents invited all the couples from their the Joy Luck Club to witness my debut. Auntie Lindo and Uncle Tin were there. Waverly and her two older brothers had also come. The first two rows were filled with children both younger and older than I was. The littlest ones got to go first. They recited simple nursery rhymes, squawked out tunes on miniature violins, twirled Hula Hoops, pranced in pink ballet tutus, and when they bowed or curtsied, the audience would sigh in unison, "Awww," and then clap enthusiastically.
父母邀请喜福会的所有夫妇观看我的首次演奏。琳朵阿姨和提恩叔叔来了，威芙丽和她的两个哥哥也来了。坐在前两排的孩子有的比我年龄大，有的比我年龄小。最小的孩子先开始表演。他们背诵简单的儿歌，随着微型小提琴曲大呼小叫，转呼啦圈，身着粉色的芭蕾舞裙乱跃。结束时，他们鞠躬或行屈膝礼，观众齐声赞叹，“哇”，并致以热烈的掌声。
When my turn came, I was very confident. I remember my childish excitement. It was as if I knew, without a doubt, that the prodigy side of me really did exist. I had no fear whatsoever, no nervousness. I remember thinking to myself, This is it! This is it! I looked out over the audience, at my mother's blank face, my father's yawn, Auntie Lindo's stiff-lipped smile, Waverly's sulky expression. I had on a white dress layered with sheets of lace, and a pink bow in my Peter Pan haircut. As I sat down I envisioned people jumping to their feet and Ed Sullivan rushing up to introduce me to everyone on TV.
轮到我了，我很自信。我还记得我幼时的兴奋。毫无疑问，我好像觉得自己真有天才的一面。没有恐慌，也不紧张。我仍记得我对自己说：这就是天才！这就是天才！我抬头看了看观众：母亲表情麻木，父亲打着哈欠，琳朵阿姨僵硬地微笑着，威芙丽脸色阴沉。我穿了一件有几层花边的白色连衣裙，彼得·潘的发型上戴着一个粉色的蝴蝶结。我坐下幻想着全场观众会起立，埃德·沙利文会跑上台向电视观众做介绍。
