2015-06-11

【Aiden in English】

        As the countdown to the end of school became single digits, many boring assemblies are bound to strike, one of which is the Year-End Awards Ceremony. Kids are given awards from their achievements throughout the year, hence the name.

        Sure, getting certificates are exciting but come on! It’s only a piece of paper with fancy symbols on it. The more worthwhile part was the event that gave you the award. This is just a proof that I did something. So while everyone was given his or her speech, making the ending of the year soon sadder than it was, my friend and I found something to occupy ourselves. 

        (Warning! Do not proceed if you are afraid of the following: ants, dissection, body parts, or ants with dissected body parts.) My friend, Victor, is very, very crazy kid (no offense), and so crazy that he earned the nickname “Tigger” like the Tigger in Winnie the Pooh, because how he bounced around so much. Usually, he rebounded off people, but occasionally, he would hit something harder than a human being. Here we were sweating our tails off, and Victor yelped. I looked and saw an ant the length of a fingernail on his hand. Next thing you know, he’s got it trapped in his hand, squished between his thumb and index finger. It squirmed, but how much force could an ant generate being squeezed? Victor then asked me if he should pull of legs and antennas. To be honest, I didn’t care. So Victor started with the antennas or back legs (I couldn’t look), and pulled it off. I sort of expected some sound effects, but none came. The ant was freed from Victor’s finger, but he still kept the poor thing on his hand. It ran around his hand as it had three espressos in one breath, and eventually Victor let it down. It ran off, tending to its injuries. 

        Meanwhile, I received a President’s Award, a fancy name for “Straight A+ Student”, and the Math24 Award for 3^rd Place and Montgomery Band Certificate in my school district, all on sheets of paper.

        The Year-End Awards Ceremony looked great, getting the awards and showing off our academic skills. The year is reflected on today. And considering the things I got, I think I did pretty good overall. 

【紅霞譯文】

        隨着學期末了最後幾天倒計時的來臨，雜七雜八的會務接踵而至，年終頒獎典禮便是其中之一，藉此來獎勵整個學年在各個領域成績斐然的學生。

        獲取獎狀的確令人振奮，但實在沒啥了不得！一張紙上不過添加了醒目的字符，當然如果能金榜題名還是挺有意義的，至少自己的所作所為得到認同。大家紛紛感慨不已，到處充滿惆悵之情，我和朋友藉機開起小差。

        （警告：如果你害怕下面所述的螞蟻、解剖或者被肢解的螞蟻某個部位，務必到此止步！）絲毫未想冒犯何人，咱哥們維克多可是一位什麼都幹得出的傢伙，難怪他的綽號叫“蹦蹦俠”，正像迪斯尼動畫片“小熊維尼”中跳跳虎，總是不停地上竄下躍。一般情況下，維克多常在同學群里撞來碰去，偶爾會彈到比人身子骨更硬朗的東西上，嚇得我們虛驚一場，他反倒僅僅慘叫一聲便罷。我放眼望去，看見他手中正有一隻指甲大小的螞蟻，接下來你猜得出即將發生的事情。維克多握住螞蟻，用拇指和食指使勁按捏螞蟻，螞蟻蠕動着，不知得使出多大的力氣才能頂住這般擠壓？隨後，他轉向我徵求意見，是否要把螞蟻的幾條腿和觸角統統拔掉，說心裡話，這不關我的事。維克多開始先從觸角或後腿下手（我無法看下去），本以為會折騰出點音響效果，但結果什麼動靜也沒有。螞蟻好不容易從指間掙脫出來，不過維克多一直握着這個倒霉鬼，它玩命掙扎，宛如一口氣喝過三杯濃咖啡，維克多最終鬆手，螞蟻拖着受傷的身體倉皇逃竄。

        與會同時，我被授予蒙哥馬利小學“總統獎”，美其名曰“優秀學生”獎；另有學區“口算24點錦標賽”第三名及管樂隊榮譽成員稱號，所有獎品均為一紙證書。

        年終頒獎典禮形式不錯，爭當先進必須要有學習實力，直到今天全年業績評比總算告一段落。鑑於自己所取得的獎項，我心滿意足。