2015-05-04

【Aiden in English】

        “Remembering is just an invention of the mind.” I, Max as big and slow, can never imagine not knowing the memories that had been inside this thick head of mine, and Freak as small and quick showed me the key to unlocking them all. Now, I can remember everything, including Freak’s tragic …… leaving. His … passing has torn a hole in this world, but his thoughts, feelings, and memories live on, because that’s what I know he would want me to do, and it’s the least I co- could do for such a great …… friend. No, more than that. Freak was physically handicapped with Morquio Syndrome, and I do not plan with him leaving the face of this earth, knowing that his …… our adventures go on unnoticed, unheard of, or forgotten as a firework once the explosion is over, because Freak is like that firework, and he will be remembered.

        To set this straight, I am not calling Freak “Kevin”, because to me, Kevin was just a stupid, no-brainer kid that was picked on. Freak is a - was a knight in shining armor, with nerdy stuff as a shield, combined with a quick wit and nerve and guts and jokes and, oh boy, I can go all day if I have to. He was like the … the … the brain for me, the fuel for a car, the Kryptonite for Superman. To be honest, Freak was just like Superman; although I’m pretty sure Freak would be blasted to, what’s the word, smithereens if he and Superman got into a fight. Anyway, the purpose I’m here for is to say how Freak’s all “sweet” and “cuddly”, right? But I’m not. I know Freak, and I know that he is more than just the fuzzily; nice boy who skips through the fields and lets people give him hugs and kisses. I know this because if you hug him, he’ll probably just hit you with his crutch, and don’t expect Freak to feel sorry for you. Just imagine, a kid of that size, talking trash to Blade, an alcoholic at the Fourth of July fireworks. That was the start of a real ……connection between us. Man, if Freak was here now, I probably lose a few teeth just from saying that. I saw how he rolled, the confidence in his voice, the steel of the words coming from his mouth, and the brain-power behind every syllable.  I mean, Blade was coming in for the kill right then. I could see the fire in his eyes, but Freak did something that I couldn’t do in a lifetime. Freak absolutely exploded, calling Blade a …c-…crep…cretin, whatever! I believe that it had something to do with a slow brain. I think, anyway. Jeez, I’m a butthead. Later that night, Freak directed me to the millpond. With his kind of mind, escaping from Blade’s gang seemed so orchestrated. That’s the word, right? Well, we surely led Blade running around in circles for a while. That was our first stand as Freak the Mighty, because Freak was my brain that night, no doubt about it. 

        Well, to be honest, before Freak moved into town, my so-called-brain was just an empty space in my thick skull where nothing happened. School, for an example, had become so much ……less lame. It still gives the head a real beating, but trust me, before Freak came, it was so torturous. Not to offend all those teachers out there. Like when he revealed the truth of reading. Oh, he would say, books are the truth serum- if you don’t read, you can’t figure out what’s real. Up until then, to me, reading was simply a waste of brain cells, not that I had any. But, like in most other point of views, Freak had a strong and convincing argument.  There wasn’t any way to say “no” to him. It’s like giving a child ice cream, unless you are lactose intolerant. If I were them, I’ll stick to a bag of chips or something. So, Freak convinced me to change my ways, even in sore subjects like school. But with his passing, Freak could not teach me more, yet he left a way of teaching others, preserving the precious moments we, as Freak the Mighty, had. He left a book before he died. That book was the last thing Freak gave to me, along with a gift, an opportunity to write. Once more, Freak was that guardian angel again. Scratch that, he was an armed escort of valiant knights. I take valiant means brave, right? 

        Anyhow, writing, as Freak and only Freak would put it, was just simply talking on paper. I guess you can all see the progress I have come from hearing me read this to you out loud. This was the one thing that he really wanted from me. Well, to be honest, Freak wanted a lot of things out of me, like learning quantum physics, for instance. The book he gave me was what Freak would call a “legacy”. All I know about “legacy” is that it sounds cool and that Freak is probably the only kid in eighth grade that uses it in his conversations. So, Freak wanted me to write in the empty book. I know right? That’s like asking a pig to sprout wings and fly. And breathe fire. But, since now remembering comes along easily, I just put all my thoughts, feelings, and memories into that pencil moved it across the paper, and letters just formed in front of my eyes. Yes, the trip down memory lane was painful at times, and tears sometimes came free, but I know that this is what Freak would ask of me. I’ll do anything to repay what he did to me, opening my eyes to a true world, and writing so little is hardly too much to ask for. And that leads me to my final point. Freak…… left way before his time, cutting it short. Yet in such a small period of time, Freak did some things that would’ve taken most people a life time. I believe he was the Einstein, the Newton, and the Galileo all combined into one, even, of the century. The possibilities were endless. So, it was at that moment when Freak died, that I realized. Life is more precious than some of us take it to be. It is a priceless treasure, and Freak used is time wisely. He soaked up every drop, every bit there was to absorb, and used it until the final seconds. Life was the most important thing to Freak, and to take the maximum reward, well, it takes real guts to do what Freak has done. It’s hard to believe a kid with such a small body could do something so big, but with the constant reminder of how much life is worth to Freak, I’m sure, with his kind of character and brains, he found a way how.

        Okay, keep it together, I’m almost finished here. Freak taught me a lot of things, and I could probably keep learning until my time is up, but because Freak knew about his time line’s end, and which he saw coming like a train with no emergency brakes, he was able to accomplish … so much. Now he’s gone, the only thing left of him is memories, and even they are fading away. But I will bare his loss, and keep whatever remains he has in … here (tap to temple), and here (tap to heart).

【红霞译文】

        “记忆不过是大脑的一项发明”，我—麦克斯即“傻大个”无法想象人的大脑会记忆全无，而弗里克即 “小天才”教我打开探索心灵深处的大门。如今我对一切记忆犹新，甚至包括有关弗里克的悲惨结局……离去，他的…过世令大家伤心难过，但其思想情感将永远铭刻在记忆之中，因为我明白这样才符合弗里克的遗愿，起码也是我为如此了不起的…朋友所尽微薄之力。不，绝非仅此而已。弗里克生来患有软骨发育不良综合症，因此我并没打算跟他一块冒险，因为我清楚他的……“我们的”计划听所未听闻所未闻，甚至被遗忘，如同焰花爆竹一旦升空燃放即刻成为过去，但弗里克非同过眼烟云，他将永垂不朽。

        坦率地说，我不想称呼弗里克为“凯文” ，因为对我来说，凯文只是一位随便叫的傻了吧叽头脑简单的家伙，而弗里克却是、“曾是”一位金甲骑士，外表看起来呆里呆气，实际上机智灵活勇敢幽默；天哪，如果需要详细介绍，我可以不分昼夜连续说个不停，他就像个…个…我的头脑、汽车的燃料、超人的氪石，言而总之，弗里克真像超人，我敢肯定他准能腾空而去，一旦与超人交手，恐怕他俩势均力敌难分胜负。我之所以美言几句，无非希望表明弗里克可亲可爱，对不对？其实未必完全如此，我了解弗里克，很难简单地用好与坏来草下定论。他很和善，但并不习惯被别人搂搂抱抱；如果你执意要这么做，他会毫不客气地将你推开。试想一下，个头不大的年方少年在七月四日独立节观赏焰火时与酒鬼刀锋杀手呛来呛去，从那时起，我俩之间才开始真正……有了共同语言。嗨，要是弗里克得知我提及此事，非打掉我几颗牙齿不可。我了解其为人处事，他一向谈吐自信斩钉截铁，说话正中要害，我指的是，刀锋杀手赶来行刺的时候面带怒火，顿时激起弗里克无比义恨，我一辈子都不敢有这股勇气。弗里克按耐不住内心的愤怒，破口大骂刀锋杀手是…什么…白痴之类的东西！反正跟脑残笨蛋没啥区别，相比之下，我简直太悚啦。当天晚上，弗里克要我到磨坊池塘，打算与刀锋杀手同伙好生周旋一番。说得痛快，对吗？没错，我俩《小天才与傻大个》让他们手脚忙乱空兜圈子，抢先赢了第一回合，而弗里克堪称我的智多星。

        论真格的，在弗里克搬进小城之前，我头脑简单四肢发达。举例来说，我对学校生活或多……或少颇感无聊乏味，去课堂上课简直活受罪，我丝毫没有得罪所有老师的意思，老师光顾得强调读书的重要性，哇塞，书籍是真理是养分，你不读书就无法辨认是非曲直。在我看来，读书浪费大脑细胞，我并非吹嘘自己有过丁点智商，但从其它多数情况来讲，弗里克表现得论点明确论据充足，什么都难不倒他，就像给小孩子冰激凌吃人人喜爱，除非他无法消化乳糖；当然如果换成我，消受不了冰激凌，吃点薯条之类的垃圾食品也行。弗里克说服我改变学习方法，包括那些棘手的课程。他走了，不能再教我更多的东西，然而正因为他善于助人为乐，让我俩这对“小天才与傻大个”共同度过了宝贵时光。他死前曾送给我一本书，这是他送的最后一个礼物，同时又为我创造了写作机会，弗里克好像守护天使继续照看我，不过从此以后，他还要作为威武骑士来保护我，这里“威武”意指“勇敢”，恰当吗？

        谈及写作，弗里克也只有弗里克才出口成章，连你都会意识到我阅读的进步，是他成就了我写作能力。说实在的，弗里克从我身上发掘出很多潜力，譬如学习量子物理学。弗里克送给我的那本书叫“传奇”，他所说的“传奇”听起来真酷，大概八年级学生当中只有他一人聊这种话题。弗里克要我在空白书上写东西，明白吗？莫非叫猪身上长出翅膀飞上天不成，岂不异想天开；但如今我确实能挥笔让思想情感缅怀统统跃然纸上，珠玑成行的字母一个个出现在眼前。回首走过的艰难历程，禁不住叫我潸然泪下，没有弗里克陪着一路走来，哪有我今天的收获。我将放眼世界继续努力，不辜负他的期待，尽管写作对我来说困难重重。写到这里，我想说的就是，弗里克……没能走完该走的路，年华易逝时光短暂，他做了许多人一辈子来不及完成的事情，集爱因斯坦、牛顿和伽利略之聪明才智于一身，其德才双馨必将流芳百年。未来的可能性无穷无尽，早在弗里克临终时我即认识到这一点，生命可谓无价之宝，弗里克活得精彩，并始终沉浸在阳光雨露之中，直到心脏停止了跳动。活着对弗里克来说至关重要，他想方设法让每一天过得充实饱满，殊不知需要付出多大勇气，一位孱弱瘦小的少年竟然做出如此可歌可泣的豪迈事迹，令人难以置信。由此可以看来，弗里克向往美好生活的一贯愿望，早已在他个性与思想上打下了深刻烙印。

        对了，要把上面所有内容集中起来，我差不多该停笔收工。弗里克教赐教给我的恩典，定叫我受用一辈子，因为他生前可能清楚自己的病情，所以才会像一列无法紧急刹闸的火车，尽其所能……多多益善。如今他远离人间，身后留下的只有记忆，随着时间的推移这些记忆会逐渐被淡忘，而我将缅怀这位哥们，即使他魂归……天国，我的心与他同在。