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. 

【红霞译文】

        随着学期末了最后几天倒计时的来临，杂七杂八的会务接踵而至，年终颁奖典礼便是其中之一，藉此来奖励整个学年在各个领域成绩斐然的学生。

        获取奖状的确令人振奋，但实在没啥了不得！一张纸上不过添加了醒目的字符，当然如果能金榜题名还是挺有意义的，至少自己的所作所为得到认同。大家纷纷感慨不已，到处充满惆怅之情，我和朋友借机开起小差。

        （警告：如果你害怕下面所述的蚂蚁、解剖或者被肢解的蚂蚁某个部位，务必到此止步！）丝毫未想冒犯何人，咱哥们维克多可是一位什么都干得出的家伙，难怪他的绰号叫“蹦蹦侠”，正像迪斯尼动画片“小熊维尼”中跳跳虎，总是不停地上窜下跃。一般情况下，维克多常在同学群里撞来碰去，偶尔会弹到比人身子骨更硬朗的东西上，吓得我们虚惊一场，他反倒仅仅惨叫一声便罢。我放眼望去，看见他手中正有一只指甲大小的蚂蚁，接下来你猜得出即将发生的事情。维克多握住蚂蚁，用拇指和食指使劲按捏蚂蚁，蚂蚁蠕动着，不知得使出多大的力气才能顶住这般挤压？随后，他转向我征求意见，是否要把蚂蚁的几条腿和触角统统拔掉，说心里话，这不关我的事。维克多开始先从触角或后腿下手（我无法看下去），本以为会折腾出点音响效果，但结果什么动静也没有。蚂蚁好不容易从指间挣脱出来，不过维克多一直握着这个倒霉鬼，它玩命挣扎，宛如一口气喝过三杯浓咖啡，维克多最终松手，蚂蚁拖着受伤的身体仓皇逃窜。

        与会同时，我被授予蒙哥马利小学“总统奖”，美其名曰“优秀学生”奖；另有学区“口算24点锦标赛”第三名及管乐队荣誉成员称号，所有奖品均为一纸证书。

        年终颁奖典礼形式不错，争当先进必须要有学习实力，直到今天全年业绩评比总算告一段落。鉴于自己所取得的奖项，我心满意足。