我所能带给你们的事物（1）

我从乌鲁木齐回来，给家人买回了两只小兔子。

I returned from Urumqi with two small rabbits for my family.

卖兔子的人告诉我：“这可不是普通兔子，这是 ‘袖珍兔’，永远也长不大的，吃得又少，又乖巧。”

The rabbit seller told me, "These are not ordinary rabbits; they are 'miniature rabbits,' which will never grow big, eat very little, and are quite tame."

所以，一只非得卖二十块钱不可。

So, he insisted they cost twenty yuan each.

结果，买回家不到两个月，每只兔子就长了好几公斤。

As a result, less than two months after bringing them home, each rabbit had gained several kilograms.

比一般的家兔还大，贼肥贼肥的，肥得跳都跳不动，只好爬着走。

They ended up being larger than regular domestic rabbits, incredibly fat to the point they could barely jump and had to crawl around.

真是没听说过兔子还能爬着走……而且还特能吃，一天到晚三瓣嘴喀嚓喀嚓磨个不停，把我们家越吃越穷。

I had never heard of rabbits crawling like that… and they also eat a lot. All day long, they would munch away, making our family poorer by the minute.

给它什么就吃什么，毫不含糊。到了后来居然连肉也吃。

They would eat anything given to them without hesitation. Eventually, they even tried meat.

兔子还吃肉？真是没听说过兔子还能吃肉……

Rabbits can eat meat? I had never heard that rabbits could eat meat…

后来，果然证实了兔子是不能吃肉的，它们才吃了一次肉，就给吃死了。

Later, it was indeed confirmed that rabbits shouldn’t eat meat; they only had it once, and it ended up killing them.

还有一次，我从乌鲁木齐回来，带回了两只“金丝熊”（乌鲁木齐真是一个奇怪的地方……）。

Another time, I returned from Urumqi with two "Teddy Bear Hamsters" (Urumqi really is a strange place…).

当时我蹲在那个地摊前研究了半天，觉得这种“金丝熊”看起来要比上次的兔子可靠多了，而且还更便宜一些，才五块钱一只。

I squatted in front of that stall for a long time and thought these “Teddy Bear Hamsters” looked much more reliable than the rabbits I bought last time, and they were even cheaper, only five yuan each.

就买了回去。我妈一看，立刻骂了我一顿：“五块钱啊？这么贵啊！真是，咱家还少了耗子吗？到处都跑的是，还花钱在外面买……”

So I bought them. When my mom saw them, she immediately scolded me: "Five yuan? That's so expensive! Really, do we need more rats? They're running everywhere, and you're spending money to buy them outside..."

我再仔细一看，没错，的确是耗子，只是少了条长尾巴而已……

Upon closer inspection, she was right; they were indeed just rats, only lacking their long tails…

只要我从乌鲁木齐回家，一定会带很多很多东西的。

Every time I come back from Urumqi, I always bring back a lot of things.

乌鲁木齐那么大，什么东西都有，看到什么都想买，但是买回家的东西大都派不上什么用场。

Urumqi is so vast; it has everything, and I want to buy everything I see, but most of what I bring home ends up being of little use.

想想看，家里人都需要些什么呢？

What does my family really need?

妈妈曾明确地告诉过我，家里现在最需要的是一头毛驴，进山驮东西方便。可那个……我万万办不到。

Mom had once clearly told me that the most pressing need at home was a donkey, which would make it easier to carry things into the mountains. But that… I could never manage to get.

家里还需要二十到三十公斤马蹄铁和马掌钉。

We also needed twenty to thirty kilograms of horseshoes and nails.

转移牧场的牧民快要下山了，到时候急需这个。

The herdsmen moving their pastures will be coming down soon, and they will urgently need these.

另外我叔叔给牧民补鞋子，四十码和四十二码的鞋底子没有了，用来打补丁的碎皮渣也不多了。

In addition, my uncle repairs shoes for the herdsmen, and there are no more soles in sizes forty and forty-two left, and the scraps of leather for patching are running low.

我家杂货店的货架上也空空落落，香烟和电池一个月前就脱销了。

The shelves in our family grocery store are also quite empty; cigarettes and batteries ran out a month ago.

可是每次我回家，带给大家的东西不是神气活现的兔子，就是既没尾巴也没名堂的耗子。

Yet every time I return home, the items I bring for everyone are either those lively rabbits or the tailless rats with no purpose.

我在乌鲁木齐打工，也没能赚上什么钱。

I worked in Urumqi, but I didn’t make much money.

但即使赚不上钱，还是愿意在那个城市里呆着。

But even if I didn’t earn much, I still wanted to stay in that city.

乌鲁木齐总是那么大，有着那么多的人。

Urumqi is always so large, with so many people.

走在街上，无数种生活的可能性纷至沓来，走在街上，简直想要展开双臂走。

Walking down the street, countless possibilities of life come rushing in; I walk down the street wanting to stretch my arms wide.

晚上却只能紧缩成一团睡。

But at night, I can only curl up tightly to sleep.

被子太薄了，把窗帘啊什么的全拽下来裹在身上，还是冷。

The blanket is too thin, so I pull down the curtains and anything else to wrap around myself, but I’m still cold.

身上穿着大衣，扣子扣得一丝不苟，还是冷。

Even wearing a coat with the buttons fastened perfectly, I’m still cold.

我给家里打电话，妈妈问我：“还需要什么啊？”

I called home, and Mom asked me, "Do you need anything?"

我说：“不需要，一切都好。就是被子薄了点。”

I said, "No, everything's fine. It’s just the blanket is a bit thin."

于是第二天晚上她就出现在我面前了，扛着一床厚到能把人压得呼吸不畅的驼毛被。

So the next evening, she appeared before me, carrying a thick camel hair blanket that was heavy enough to make it hard to breathe.

原来她挂了电话后，立刻买来驼毛，连夜洗了，烧旺炉子烘干。

It turns out right after hanging up the phone, she immediately bought camel hair, washed it overnight, and fired up the stove to dry it.

再用柳条儿抽打着弹松、扯匀，细细裹上纱布。

Then she beat it with willow branches, teased it out, and carefully wrapped it in gauze.

熬了一个通宵才赶制出来。然后又倒了三趟班车，坐了十多个钟头的车赶往乌鲁木齐。

She worked through an entire night to finish it. Then she took three long bus rides and spent over ten hours traveling to Urumqi.

我又能给家里带来什么呢？

What else can I bring home?

每次回家的头一天，总是在超市里转啊，转啊。转到“中老年专柜”，看到麦片，就买回去了。

Every time I return home, the day before, I always wander around the supermarket, turning and turning. I eventually end up at the “middle-aged and elderly section” and, upon seeing cereal, decided to buy it.

我回到家，说：“这是麦片。”

When I got home, I said, "This is cereal."

她们都很高兴的样子，因为之前只听说过，从没尝过。我也没吃过，但还是想当然地煮了一大锅。

They all seemed very happy because they had only heard about it but had never tried it. I hadn't tried it either, but I presumptuously cooked a large pot of it.

先给外婆盛一碗，她笑眯眯喝了一口，然后又默默地喝了一口，说：“好喝。”

First, I served a bowl to Grandma; she smiled as she took a sip, then quietly had another sip, saying, "It’s good."

然后死活也不肯喝第三口了。

But then she refused to take a third sip.

我还买过咸烧白。封着保鲜膜，一碟一碟摆放在超市里的冷柜里，颜色真好看，和童年记忆里的一模一样。

I had also bought some sweet soy sauce meat. Wrapped in plastic wrap, neatly arranged in the supermarket’s cold case, it looked so good, just like in my childhood memories.

外婆看了也很高兴，我在厨房忙碌着热菜，她就搬把小板凳坐在灶台边，兴致很高地说了好多话，大都是当年在乡坝吃席的趣事，还很勤快地帮着把筷子早早摆到了饭桌子上。

Grandma was very happy to see it. I was busy heating up the dishes in the kitchen, while she sat on a small stool by the stove, excitedly chatting about many stories from the past, mostly about the fun times at banquets in the countryside, and she eagerly helped to set the chopsticks on the table.

等咸烧白蒸好端上来时，她狠狠地夹了一筷子。但是勉强咽下去后，悲从中来。

When the sweet soy sauce meat was ready and served, she eagerly grabbed a chopstick full. But after she forced herself to swallow it, sadness washed over her.

——不是过去的那种味道！完全不一样。

—It wasn’t like the flavor of the past! Not at all.

乌鲁木齐的东西真是中看不中用……更重要的是，这意味着过去事物、过去感觉的“永不再有”。

The things in Urumqi are indeed good to see but not good to use… More importantly, this signifies the "never again" of past things, past feelings.

她九十多岁了，再也经不起速度稍快一些的“逐一消失”了。

She is over ninety years old and can’t handle the "gradual disappearance" of things happening a bit faster anymore.

我在超市里转啊转啊。这一回，又买些什么好呢？最后只好买了一包红糖。

I kept wandering around the supermarket. This time, what should I buy? In the end, I had to settle for a bag of brown sugar.

但是红糖在哪里没有卖的啊？虽然这种红糖上明确地标明是“中老年专用红糖”……

But brown sugar was hard to find anywhere! Although this kind of brown sugar was clearly labeled as “special for the middle-aged and elderly”...

妈妈，外婆，其实我在欺骗你们。

Mom, Grandma, I’m actually deceiving you.

我不在家的日子里，兔子或者没尾巴的小耗子代替我陪着我的家人。

During the times I am not at home, the rabbits or the tailless little rats keep my family company.

兔子在房间里慢慢地爬，终于爬到外婆脚下。

The rabbit crawled slowly around the room until it finally reached Grandma's feet.

外婆缓慢地弯下腰去，慢慢地，慢慢地，终于够着了兔子，然后吃力地把它抱起来。

Grandma slowly bent down, and slowly, slowly, she finally reached the rabbit, then laboriously picked it up.

她抚摸兔子倒向背后的柔顺的长耳朵，问它：“吃饱没有？饿不饿？”

She stroked the soft long ears that fell back, asking it, "Are you full? Are you hungry?"

——就像很早很早以前，问我“吃饱没有，饿不饿”一样。

—Just like many, many years ago, when she would ask me, “Are you full? Are you hungry?”

天色渐渐暗下来，又是一天过去了。

As the sky gradually darkened, another day had passed.

还有小耗子，代替我又一年来到深山夏牧场。趴在铁笼子里，背朝广阔碧绿的草原。

And those little rats, in there again for another year in the summer pastures of the deep mountains. They huddled in the iron cage, backs facing the vast and green grassland.

晚上，妈妈脱下自己的大衣把笼子层层包裹起来，但还是怕它冷着，又包了一层毛衣。

At night, Mom took off her coat and wrapped the cage, layer by layer, but still worried they might be cold, she added a layer with a sweater.

寒冷的夜里，寂寞的没尾巴小耗子把裹着笼子的衣物死命地扯拽进笼子里，一点一点咬破。它们在黑暗中睁大了眼睛。

In the cold night, the lonely tailless little rats pulled the cloth that wrapped around the cage, biting it little by little until it tore. They opened their eyes wide in the darkness.

尽管咬破了衣服，晚上还是得再找东西把它们包起来。

Even though they tore through the fabric, I still had to find something else to wrap them up again.

妈妈点着它们的脑门大声训斥，警告说下次再这样的话就如何如何。

Mom scolded them loudly on their foreheads, warning them what would happen if they did it again next time.

外婆却急着带它们出去玩。她提着笼子，拄着拐棍颤巍巍地走到外面的草地上。

But Grandma was eager to take them out to play. She carefully carried the cage, using a cane to support herself, and unsteadily walked to the grassy area outside.

在青草葱茏处艰难地弯下腰，放下笼子，打开笼门，哄它们出去。

Struggling to bend down in the lush grass, she set the cage down, opened the door, and coaxed them to come out.

可是它们谁也不动，缩在笼角挤作一团。

But none of them moved, huddled in a corner of the cage.

于是外婆就唠唠叨叨地埋怨妈妈刚才骂它们骂太狠了，都吓畏缩了。

So Grandma started to mumble that Mom had scolded them too harshly earlier, and they were all frightened.

她又努力弯下腰地把手伸进笼子，把它们一只一只捉出来放到外面，让它们感觉到青草和无边的天地。

She then bent down again, stretched her hand into the cage, and one by one took them out and placed them outside so they could feel the grass and the vast world.

阳光斜扫过草原，两只小耗子小心地触动身边的草叶，拱着泥土。

The sunlight slanted across the grassland, and the two little rats cautiously touched the grass blades around them, rooting around in the soil.

但是吹过来一阵长长的风，它们顿时吓得连滚带爬钻回笼子里，怎么唤也唤不出来了。

But a gust of wind blew, and they were so frightened that they rolled and crawled back into the cage, refusing to come out no matter how much they were called.