“牙齿仙女”的道歉 Tooth Fairy Apologizes
文字难度：★★☆
When our son discovered his first loose tooth, he was 2)perplexed about this event at first. It 3)wiggled back and forth; so was it a novelty? Something he could entertain himself with for hours 4)on end?
当儿子第一次发现自己有一颗牙齿松动时，起初他很困惑。松动的牙齿前后摇摆，不是挺新奇的吗？足以让他自娱自乐玩个不停吧？
Apparently it was, he decided, and would wiggle his tooth with the enticing boast of “Look at what I can do!” After all, no one else in the household could wiggle a tooth, so, in his opinion, it was a talent deserving of every opportunity available for showing it off.
显然，他就是这样做的。他会边摇动牙齿边得意洋洋地夸耀着：“瞧，我可以这样！”毕竟，家里没有其他人可以这样摇动牙齿。因此，在他看来，这是一种才能，应当抓住每个可利用的机会来炫耀一番。
All went well for the first day or two, but the more he wiggled the tooth, the looser it became. “Ow,” he howled when trying to take a bite of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “Mean tooth,” he 5)pouted when asked what was the matter. “It hurt my sandwich!”
起初的一两天里，一切还好。然而，随着他摇动牙齿的次数增多，牙齿变得越加松动。“哎哟！”当他试图咬一口蘸有花生酱和果酱的三明治时，他嚎叫了一声。问他怎么回事，他撅着嘴说道：“可恶的牙齿！它把我的三明治咬疼了！”
The day came when the “mean” loose baby tooth finally reached the point where he could pull it out with his little fingers. “Look Mommy.” He came running into the living room holding up this little pearl-like item in his fingers. “My mouth has a hole now!”
这一天到来了——儿子终于可以用他的小手把那颗松动的“可恶”乳齿拔出来了。“瞧，妈咪，现在我的嘴里有个小洞！”他高举着那颗珍珠般的小乳齿跑进客厅。
“It certainly does,” I chuckled as he opened his mouth to show all his teeth, minus the one in his little hand.
“的确是啊。”我轻声笑着说。儿子张开嘴巴向我展示他全部的牙齿，除了握在他小手中的那颗。
He quickly informed us about having knowledge of someone known as the Tooth Fairy existing and that this Tooth Fairy would trade a tooth for some money. That night our son set his tooth out for the Tooth Fairy to locate. Unfortunately, the Tooth Fairy somehow forgot “she” was supposed to stop by for a visit as he, erm—I mean “she”, fell asleep instead.
很快，儿子就告诉我们，他知道有个“牙齿仙女”，她会用钱来跟我们交换牙齿。当晚，儿子把他的那颗牙齿放在外面好让“牙齿仙女”找到。不幸的是，“牙齿仙女”不知何故忘记了“她”本应顺道来访。相反，他，呃……我指的是“她”——睡着了。
What does a parent do when a child peeks under their pillow and says, “Tooth Fairy didn’t leave me any money. And she didn’t take my tooth, too”? A parent cannot tell his or her child that someone as great and mystical as the Tooth Fairy just “forgot”. After all, according to 6)lore, the Tooth Fairy instinctively knew when and where in the world a tooth awaited her. Nor can you say that maybe the tooth wasn’t “good enough”.
要是孩子瞥一眼枕头底下然后说：“‘牙齿仙女’没有给我留下钱，也没有拿走我的牙齿。” 家长该怎么做呢？家长可不能告诉孩子那是因为“忘记了”，像“牙齿仙女”那样伟大神秘的仙人怎么可以随便“忘记”呢。毕竟，按道理，“牙齿仙女”会本能地知晓世界上什么时候、什么地方有牙齿在等着她。你也不能说，也许是那颗牙齿“不够好”。
So my husband did the next best thing, he confessed. Yes—he admitted to forgetting that the Tooth Fairy called to let him know “she” was 7)low on funds so needed to go by the bank. “She” was extremely apologetic but would be coming that evening instead.
于是，接下来，我丈夫使出一记“坦白”的高招。是的，他承认自己忘记了“牙齿仙女”曾打电话告诉他说，“她”手头上钱不够，所以需要去银行取钱。“她”对此非常抱歉，不过她会在第二天晚上再过来。
This 8)placated the little boy. After all, Daddy periodically had to go by the bank to take out money, so it seemed 9)plausible other people, including one Tooth Fairy, would too.
这个说法安抚了儿子。毕竟，爸爸也是得定期地去银行取钱的。因而，说其他人也要这样做，包括“牙齿仙女”，还是说得通的。
Game plan on the adult side of things went into action. My oldest daughter was recruited to show off a bit of her creativity in assisting the Tooth Fairy making up for disappointing one little boy. Our son also recognized my and my husband’s handwriting, so that helped provide another reason to 10)enlist her help. “Just make it short but sincere while mentioning about the bank,” I instructed her after locating two shiny 11)dimes that would later accompany the note that would take the place of a tooth hidden under a pillow thus complete the Tooth Fairy’s method of 12)bartering.
大人精心策划的行动计划要付诸实施了。为了帮“牙齿仙女”补偿这位失望的小男孩，大女儿被叫过来一展她的创意点子。儿子能够认出我和丈夫的笔迹，这也是我们让大女儿帮忙的另一个理由。“在提到有关银行的事时，话语要简短而诚挚。”在放好两枚闪闪发光的一角硬币之后，我教女儿写了一封短信，然后把硬币和信一起放在了儿子枕头下藏牙齿的地方。这样就完成了“牙齿仙女”的交换过程。
The next morning I heard a gleeful sound as my son woke up, then raced out to the living room. “Look, Mommy, two whole dimes!”
第二天一早，当儿子醒来时，我听到了一阵欢叫声。接着他边跑进客厅边叫道：“瞧，妈咪！两枚完好的硬币！”
“13)Heck of a deal for one little tooth! Anything else?” I boldly 14)prodded.
“一颗小牙齿换来了一笔大买卖！还有别的什么吗？”我煞有介事地提醒他。
“A letter,” he beamed while holding up a piece of folded paper. “Just for me!”
“有一封信，是专门写给我的！”儿子眉开眼笑地回答道，手里拿着一张折叠起来的纸。
“Dear R.,” he read out loud for all of us. “I am very sorry I didn’t visit sooner. I was 15)broke and had to stop at the bank. I told your daddy. You have been taking good care of your teeth! Keep on brushing, The Tooth Fairy.”
“亲爱的R.，没有尽早来看你，我非常抱歉。那时候我没钱了，不得不去趟银行。我把这事告诉了你的爸爸。你一直都把你的牙齿照顾得很好！要继续勤于刷牙。‘牙齿仙女’。”他在我们所有人面前大声读出了那封信。
The two shiny dimes quickly became lost somewhere in the 16)confines of the couch within an hour of him waking and finding them under his pillow. He did not seem upset about their loss. However, whenever the letter, from someone known as the Tooth Fairy, was 17)remotely suspected of being lost or accidentally thrown away, it was an entirely different story—even three months later after initially receiving the “letter”.
那两枚闪闪发光的硬币很快就给丢在沙发里的某个地方不见了，这距离儿子醒来在枕头下发现它们还不到一个小时。两枚硬币丢失后，儿子似乎并不难过。然而，换了是那封来自“牙齿仙女”的信——只要他有一丝怀疑可能弄不见了或者被无心扔掉了——他的反应就截然不同了，即便是收到那封“信”三个月后。
