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.

【红霞译文】

        农历羊年如期而至，每一位中国人无不载歌载舞，纷纷以各种形式庆祝自己的民族节日。上周末，我特意去神州基督教会助兴，为大家献上了传统的抖空竹表演；今天，我再度来宾州光华中文学校参加一年一度的春节联欢。

        两场音乐会的规模有所不同，出席教堂春晚的朋友有一百至一百五十名；而在中文学校，至少有60%的学生及其家长济济一堂，少说500～600观众，因为人多势众，联欢会被安排在修葺一新的上都伯林高中礼堂隆重举行。

        这时低年级的学生一个个走开，留在原地的只剩下四位：老师、本人、还有俩哥们。老师索性跟大家聊起天来，你一言我一语交谈甚欢，毕竟他才十四岁上高中一年级，彼此年龄出入不大。说着说着，话题扯到葛立恒数，这可是迄今世上最大的数字，把它搬进函数公式，立刻演变成指数的指数的指数。没错，这的确是我们的谈话内容，枯燥吗？我们想起什么聊什么，靠侃大山来打发时间可真管用，哪怕为了暂时忘却即将面临的尴尬场面，心里飘飘欲仙快活极了。不知过了多久，朋友的妈妈喊我们登台表演，面对紧要关头，大家强打起精神，成败在此一举，既然老师是整个空竹班里唯一一位不出差错的全能，所有的希望全部寄托在他个人身上，但愿我们失手的时候空竹不要打中观众，除此而外别无他求。

        当我和妈妈一同走进礼堂大门，耶桁老师立刻带我及其他已经在那里等候的同学躲进走廊一处无人打扰的角落进行演出前最后练习，没过多久，原本安静的地方沸腾起来，空竹漫天飞舞，一会儿蹭着墙壁，一会儿弹到屋顶，一会儿跌回地面，一会儿撞向脑袋，大家早已习以为常。我们不停地悠呀抖呵，喘口气又继续突击集训，不少同伴上周因缺席去教堂演出而更有紧迫感，我们设法协调好表演动作，在重新部署台上套路之后，毛病相继暴露出来，此时即使再有耐性的人都会着急上火，何况我本来就沉不住气。来前，我手已有裂口，反复陪练让我疼痛难忍。我们一口气又练上两个钟头，直到练不动为止，事到如今，只能听天由命。

        大家依次走上舞台，个个强作欢笑。我因为口戴牙套，咧着嘴苦乐恐怕能吓死人。随着伴奏音乐响起，我第一个走向舞台中央。与上次去教堂演出一样，我表演“小猫摇篮”，先将线绳交叉呈X形状，然后控制空竹上下跳动，等我轻抖松开交叉的线绳时，空竹稳稳地回到复原的线绳上。我表演完后，轮到朋友上台表演同样的节目，他非常镇定自若，漂亮地完成了“小猫摇篮”。其实这回他做的全套动作跟以前没什么不同，即手指放在线绳之间，空竹转着圆圈在空中飞舞。接下来上场的是年龄较小的一位男生，“打魔结”是其拿手好戏，他技术娴熟，演得极为出色。与此同时，我暗自准备下一个难度最大的节目，待“打魔结”完毕，我和朋友马上走上前台一起表演双人抖空竹。我神经紧张地把空竹仍给他，他成功地接住空竹；他再把空竹悠给我，我心慌得要命，好像眼见妈妈发火的时候，我赶紧调整接空竹的姿势，空竹乖乖地落到我的线绳上。我俩又反复做了一遍，重复拿捏落点，神经依然绷得紧紧的，直到动作结束才长舒了一口气。至此，我终于完成了任务。

        老师出场了。意想不到的事情出现在眼前，确实超乎我们的想象。他在做常规动作时不知怎么搞的，悠出的空竹在回落过程中竟然没有到位，哐当！空竹应声落地，在台上听到这种声音可想而知当事人的心情。老师顺手拾起空竹，带领大家继续表演压轴戏。我想在这强调一句，我们的老师不但动作灵巧，而且极富天份，因此比一般老师水平要高得多。刚才表演“打魔结”的朋友挺有眼力劲儿，眼见老师失误后立刻补台，并以精湛的演技博得了观众一片喝彩。他先让空竹围着脑袋打转，而自己来了一个360度转身，再出手高抛空竹；随后，他又神奇地将线绳缠在胳膊上，空竹上下左右来回飞旋，接着重复我表演的动作，不过他并没交叉线绳，相反却让空竹在棍棒上旋转，最后才用手抓住疯转的空竹。五秒钟后曲终，我们鞠躬谢幕。

        看来无论偶然还是必然，任何人都会遇到意外。这么说来，我们凡事都应该做好两手准备，因为谁都无法避免意外发生。