2015-02-22

【Aiden in English】

        The Year of Sheep has arrived, and with it came happiness, celebration, and performances. Last weekend, I performed with my Chinese yo-yo at China Grace Christian Church. Today, we were to do so at the Spring Festival Gala of Guang Hua Chinese School (GHCS) again.

        The only difference in the performance was the number of people watching. At the church, there were about a hundred or a hundred fifty. When more than 60% of GHCS came to watch with their parents, there was easily 500 or 600 people altogether. It looked so large that we needed to use the newly renovated Upper Dublin High School’s auditorium. 

        As soon as Mom and I walked in through the entrance, my teacher Eric took me and the other classmates who were already there to a quiet corridor to practice. In a few moments, that quiet place wasn’t so quiet anymore. Yo-yos flew through the air, slamming into walls, ceilings, floors, and a few heads, nothing out of the ordinary with yo-yos. We practiced, practiced, took a break, and practiced over and over again. Because some people missed the performance at the church last week, the timing seemed critical. We had to adjust our tricks to fit in. As soon as we tweaked the original choreography, someone had to mess just about every single time. It was enough to drive even the sanest man mad, and I was far from the sanest man. In fact, I was already near cracking before we got there. The mistakes just made my waiting even more painful. We stayed out there for another two hours and eventually we stopped practicing, because we would take whatever product we could produce on stage. 

        The younger kids left us, and so there was only four people left: the teacher, me, and two of my buds. The teacher tried to open a conversation about anything, and it sounded pretty easy considering he’s only 14 years old in the 9^th grade. After a while, random topics came up like Graham’s number. It’s basically the largest number ever, plugged into an equation and came exponentially, exponentially, exponentially larger. Yep, that was our conversation, and it was really pathetic. Yet it was obvious we were talking just to pass time. By the looks of it, we were doing a good job too. To forget about imminent embarrassment for one second, we felt like paradise. So here we were, chatting away and all of a sudden my friend’s mom said it’s time for us to perform. By that time, it didn’t feel so bad anymore, because the outcome had already been decided. Our teacher was the only one able to complete every single trick every single time, and so he should have no problem on stage. The students, well let just hope no one in the audience got hurt, and we would be happy.

        We walked on stage and managed to perform the yo-yo with a forced smile. But with braces, it looked as if I was screaming and terrified. As the song we were accompanied with shifted, I walked up to take center stage. Like last week, I did the Cat’s Cradle with the X and pulled it done perfectly. Soon with a tiny swing motion, I swung the yo-yo around the stick, landing on my string but with a loop around the stick. I did it again, and then untangled it. My friend went up immediately after I finished, pulling out a Cat’s Cradle of his own. This time, he completed it with ease. He did the same trick as the last time again, sticking his hand between the stings, and tossing the yo-yo in a circle, and easily pulled it off. As soon as he backed up, one of the younger kids pulled off a Magic Knot, nice and easy. During that time, I was preparing for my hardest part. When the Magic Knot was finished, my friend and I stepped up and flung the yo-yo across the stage. My heart sped up, but my friend caught it, showing it back down. He flung it back, and my heart rate zoomed up like my mom’s temper. I adjusted under the yo-yo, and it smoothly landed on my string. We did this again, adjusting and nervous. We stopped back, and gasped. At last, my part was over.

        Our teacher then went up, and disaster always stroke when you least expected it. He did all the same tricks as the last time. Only when he threw his yo-yo up, it landed somewhere that he didn’t want it to land. Bang! The sound of the Chinese yo-yo and the ground wasn’t something pleasant to hear on stage. Our teacher fetched his yo-yo, and our finale arrived. Now when I say the teacher, you think the best, but I say a prodigy, you say better than the teacher. My other friend who performed the Magic Knot stepped up and stunned the crowd. He swung the yo-yo around his head, turned a 360 degree, and slightly tossed the yo-yo into the air. Then, somehow he wrapped his string around his shoulder, caught the yo-yo on his string, twirled again, and did my trick. Instead of untangling it, he released a stick which spun around the yo-yo, and his hand caught it from spinning out of control. The song ended five seconds after, and we bowed.

        Disaster is something that happens to everyone, purposeful or accidental. So we should look out for them, because as you have been told, they can happen to anyone.

【紅霞譯文】

        農曆羊年如期而至，每一位中國人無不載歌載舞，紛紛以各種形式慶祝自己的民族節日。上周末，我特意去神州基督教會助興，為大家獻上了傳統的抖空竹表演；今天，我再度來賓州光華中文學校參加一年一度的春節聯歡。

        兩場音樂會的規模有所不同，出席教堂春晚的朋友有一百至一百五十名；而在中文學校，至少有60%的學生及其家長濟濟一堂，少說500～600觀眾，因為人多勢眾，聯歡會被安排在修葺一新的上都伯林高中禮堂隆重舉行。

        這時低年級的學生一個個走開，留在原地的只剩下四位：老師、本人、還有倆哥們。老師索性跟大家聊起天來，你一言我一語交談甚歡，畢竟他才十四歲上高中一年級，彼此年齡出入不大。說着說着，話題扯到葛立恆數，這可是迄今世上最大的數字，把它搬進函數公式，立刻演變成指數的指數的指數。沒錯，這的確是我們的談話內容，枯燥嗎？我們想起什麼聊什麼，靠侃大山來打發時間可真管用，哪怕為了暫時忘卻即將面臨的尷尬場面，心裡飄飄欲仙快活極了。不知過了多久，朋友的媽媽喊我們登台表演，面對緊要關頭，大家強打起精神，成敗在此一舉，既然老師是整個空竹班裡唯一一位不出差錯的全能，所有的希望全部寄托在他個人身上，但願我們失手的時候空竹不要打中觀眾，除此而外別無他求。

        當我和媽媽一同走進禮堂大門，耶桁老師立刻帶我及其他已經在那裡等候的同學躲進走廊一處無人打擾的角落進行演出前最後練習，沒過多久，原本安靜的地方沸騰起來，空竹漫天飛舞，一會兒蹭着牆壁，一會兒彈到屋頂，一會兒跌回地面，一會兒撞向腦袋，大家早已習以為常。我們不停地悠呀抖呵，喘口氣又繼續突擊集訓，不少同伴上周因缺席去教堂演出而更有緊迫感，我們設法協調好表演動作，在重新部署台上套路之後，毛病相繼暴露出來，此時即使再有耐性的人都會着急上火，何況我本來就沉不住氣。來前，我手已有裂口，反覆陪練讓我疼痛難忍。我們一口氣又練上兩個鐘頭，直到練不動為止，事到如今，只能聽天由命。

        大家依次走上舞台，個個強作歡笑。我因為口戴牙套，咧着嘴苦樂恐怕能嚇死人。隨着伴奏音樂響起，我第一個走向舞台中央。與上次去教堂演出一樣，我表演“小貓搖籃”，先將線繩交叉呈X形狀，然後控制空竹上下跳動，等我輕抖鬆開交叉的線繩時，空竹穩穩地回到復原的線繩上。我表演完後，輪到朋友上台表演同樣的節目，他非常鎮定自若，漂亮地完成了“小貓搖籃”。其實這回他做的全套動作跟以前沒什麼不同，即手指放在線繩之間，空竹轉着圓圈在空中飛舞。接下來上場的是年齡較小的一位男生，“打魔結”是其拿手好戲，他技術嫻熟，演得極為出色。與此同時，我暗自準備下一個難度最大的節目，待“打魔結”完畢，我和朋友馬上走上前台一起表演雙人抖空竹。我神經緊張地把空竹仍給他，他成功地接住空竹；他再把空竹悠給我，我心慌得要命，好像眼見媽媽發火的時候，我趕緊調整接空竹的姿勢，空竹乖乖地落到我的線繩上。我倆又反覆做了一遍，重複拿捏落點，神經依然繃得緊緊的，直到動作結束才長舒了一口氣。至此，我終於完成了任務。

        老師出場了。意想不到的事情出現在眼前，確實超乎我們的想象。他在做常規動作時不知怎麼搞的，悠出的空竹在回落過程中竟然沒有到位，哐當！空竹應聲落地，在台上聽到這種聲音可想而知當事人的心情。老師順手拾起空竹，帶領大家繼續表演壓軸戲。我想在這強調一句，我們的老師不但動作靈巧，而且極富天份，因此比一般老師水平要高得多。剛才表演“打魔結”的朋友挺有眼力勁兒，眼見老師失誤後立刻補台，並以精湛的演技博得了觀眾一片喝彩。他先讓空竹圍着腦袋打轉，而自己來了一個360度轉身，再出手高拋空竹；隨後，他又神奇地將線繩纏在胳膊上，空竹上下左右來回飛旋，接着重複我表演的動作，不過他並沒交叉線繩，相反卻讓空竹在棍棒上旋轉，最後才用手抓住瘋轉的空竹。五秒鐘後曲終，我們鞠躬謝幕。

        看來無論偶然還是必然，任何人都會遇到意外。這麼說來，我們凡事都應該做好兩手準備，因為誰都無法避免意外發生。