亡羊补牢，犹未为晚 Better Late Than Never

　　Papa's jaw dropped when mama told him that sister had cheated on her final exams -- not to succeed but to fail. "It's unbelievable!" he said. "Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!"
　　"Yes, she has," said Mama. "But it's not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team."
　　"Wanted off the swimming team?" said Papa. "She never said anything about that to me."
　　"Of course she didn't," said Mama. "She was afraid you'd blow your top1. You already had her getting a swimming scholarship2 to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn't have been much fun."
　　"Oh, my Gosh!" Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I've been so stupid! I just thought she'd want to be a champion3 swimmer because she's so good at it."
　　"It's like anything else, dear," said Mama. "No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore."
　　Papa put his head in his hands.
　　"She must be really mad at me," he mumbled. "Maybe I should say sorry to her."
　　Sister's footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents.
　　"Honey," said Mama with a smile, "Your papa and I have decided that there's no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don't want to."
　　Sister's face lit up4 like a Christmas tree. "Yippee!" she cried.
　　"And," added Papa, "there's no need for any more drills5. I'm sure you'll bring your grades back up all by yourself."
　　Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. "I'm going to go play cards with Lizzy!" she said. "See you later!"
　　From the kitchen window, Mama and papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy's house.
　　"It's good to see her happy again," said Mama.
　　"It sure is," Papa agreed. "As for the swimming team, there's always next year."
　　"If?" Mama prompted6 him.
　　"Oh, right, " said Papa." If she wants to."Mama smiled. "At least you're learning, dear. "she said. She kissed him.
　　"Well, you know what they say," Papa said. "Better late than never."
　　
　　当妈妈告诉爸爸妹妹在最后的测试中作弊的目的——不是为了成功而是失败的时候,爸爸的下巴差点儿掉了下来。“真是难以置信!”他说。“她总是为她的好成绩感到骄傲啊!”
　　“是的,她是为自己骄傲,”妈妈说。“但这并不是难以置信的。看得出她是多么想要退出游泳队。”
　　“要退出游泳队?”爸爸说。“她从没对我提过这件事。”
　　“她当然没有,”妈妈说。“她怕你会生气。你已经让她拿到游泳奖学金好进人大学,还要在奥运会上获得金牌。你能想象她究竟有多大的压力吗?对她来说,在游泳队里没有多少乐趣可言。”
　　“哦,我的天哪!”爸爸说,用手拍了拍自己的脑门儿。“我真是笨啊!我以为她那么擅长游泳,她也一定想成为冠军的。”
　　“亲爱的,它和别的事情一样,”妈妈说。“无论你对此多么擅长,如果它不再是一件有乐趣的事,你就不会想要再继续做下去。”爸爸用手掌捂住了脸。
　　“她一定很生我的气,”他嘟哝着。“也许我应该对她说抱歉。”楼梯上传来了妹妹上楼的声音。她走进厨房,充满希望地注视着她的父母。
　　“亲爱的,”妈妈微笑着说,“你爸爸和我认为如果你不想继续待在游泳队,我们没有理由让你继续下去。”妹妹的脸像圣诞树一样绽放了笑容。“啊呀!”她哭了。
　　“还有,”爸爸又说道,“不需要再训练了。我相信你会用自己的成绩证明的。”
　　妹妹奔向爸爸,扑进了他的怀里。她紧紧地拥抱爸爸。“我和黎姿打牌去了!”她说。“再见啊!”
　　透过厨房的窗子,妈妈和爸爸看到他们的女儿沿着洒满阳光的路上跑向黎姿的家。
　　“又看到她这么高兴真好,”妈妈说。
　　“的确是这样,”爸爸表示同意。“至于游泳队的事,明年再说吧。”
　　“如果?”妈妈提示他。
　　“哦,对了,”爸爸说。“如果她愿意的话。”妈妈笑了。“亲爱的,至少你学会了,”她一边说,一边吻了爸爸。
　　“嗯,那句话怎么说的,”爸爸说。“亡羊补牢,犹未为晚。”
　　
　　注释
　　①blow one's top 发脾气
　　②scholarship n.奖学金
　　③champion n.冠军,夺得锦标者,获胜者
　　④light up 点燃
　　⑤drill n.操练;训练
　　⑥prompt vt.激励,鼓励,提示