注：書名“Flipped”有雙關(guān)意。它在美國俚語中有發(fā)狂、激動(dòng)的意思，而其本意則是翻轉(zhuǎn)，就像男女主角視角的轉(zhuǎn)換一樣，讓我們看到事情的兩面。

故事發(fā)生在50年代末的美國。

一年級的暑假，Bryce和家人搬到了Juli家的對面。

兩個(gè)小朋友第一次見面。

Juli被Bryce的一雙藍(lán)眼睛迷倒了。

但Bryce是個(gè)害羞 叛逆的男孩子，覺得大咧咧跑來幫忙搬家的Juli太煩人，想著法兒躲開她。

I planted myself and was about to tell her to get lost when the weirdest thing happened. I was making this big windmill motion to break away from her, but somehow on the downswing my hand wound up tangling into hers. I couldn't believe it. There I was, holding the mud monkey's hand!

我站定了，想告訴她快滾開，這時(shí)卻發(fā)生了最最詭異的事情。我本來掄起胳臂想擺脫她，可是手臂落下來的時(shí)候卻變成了挽著她的姿勢。我簡直不敢相信，我竟然站在那兒，牽著這只泥猴的手！

My heart stopped. It just stopped beating. And for the first time in my life, I had that feeling.

我的心跳停止了。它真的停止了跳動(dòng)。我的人生中第一次有了那種感覺。

You know, like the world is moving all around you, all beneath you, all inside you, and you're floating. Floating in midair. And the only thing keeping you from drifting away is the other person's eyes.

你懂的，就像整個(gè)世界在你四周旋轉(zhuǎn)，從你身體由內(nèi)而外地翻滾，而你漂浮在半空中。唯一能讓你定在原地不飄走的，是那人的一雙眼睛。

They're connected to yours by some invisible physical force, and they hold you fast while the rest of the world swirls and twirls and falls completely away.    

你們兩人的眼睛被一種不可見的力量連結(jié)在一起，當(dāng)外面的世界旋轉(zhuǎn)、翻騰并徹底分崩離析的時(shí)候，一把抓住了你。 

I almost got my first kiss that day. I'm sure of it.

那天，我差一點(diǎn)兒就得到了我的初吻。我十分肯定。

Juli Baker is the kind of annoying person who makes a point of letting you know she's smart. Her hand is the first one up; her answers are usually complete dissertations; her projects are always turned in early and used as weapons against the rest of the class. Teachers always have to hold her project up and say, “This is what I'm looking for, class. This is an example of A-plus work.”

朱莉·貝克是那種一心要展現(xiàn)自己聰明才智的人，可討厭了。她總是第一個(gè)舉手；她回答完的問題就是一篇完整論文；她的作業(yè)永遠(yuǎn)交得最早，永遠(yuǎn)被老師用來打擊其他人。老師們經(jīng)常舉著她的作業(yè)說：“同學(xué)們，這才是我想要的。這是篇A+的模板?！?/span>

So this tree, this sycamore tree, was up the hill on a vacant lot on Collier Street, and it was massive. Massive and ugly. It was twisted and gnarled and bent, and I kept expecting the thing to blow over in the wind.

這棵美國梧桐，長在山坡上克里爾街的一片空地里，很大很大。而且又大又丑。它長得張牙舞爪、布滿結(jié)疤，樹干彎曲。我總覺得一陣風(fēng)能把它刮倒。

That's when the fear of being up so high began to lift, and in its place came the most amazing feeling that I was flying. Just soaring above the earth, sailing among the clouds.

這時(shí)候在高空的恐懼消失了，卻有另一種令人驚奇的感受，好像我在飛，在地球上空翱翔，在云間穿行。

Then I began to notice how wonderful the breeze smelled. It smelled like … sunshine. Like sunshine and wild grass and pomegranates and rain! I couldn't stop breathing it in, filling my lungs again and again with the sweetest smell I'd ever known.

然后我開始嗅到微風(fēng)的芬芳，聞上去像……陽光。像陽光、野草、石榴和雨！我忍不住深呼吸，一次又一次讓肺中充盈著我有生以來聞過的最香甜的氣息。 

I could sit there for hours, just looking out at the world. Sunsets were amazing. Some days they'd be purple and pink, some days they'd be a blazing orange, setting fire to clouds across the horizon.   

 我可以在那里坐上幾個(gè)小時(shí)，看著這個(gè)世界。夕陽美極了。有時(shí)它是紫色或粉色的，有時(shí)候，橙色的余暉會(huì)點(diǎn)燃地平線的晚霞。 

It was on a day like that when my father's notion of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts moved from my head to my heart. The view from my sycamore was more than rooftops and clouds and wind and colors combined.

就在那一天，我開始真正明白爸爸所說的“整體大于部分和”。我從梧桐樹上看到的景色并不僅僅是屋頂，云朵，風(fēng)和顏色的結(jié)合。 

It was magic.

那是一種魔力。

Don't get me wrong here, okay? The tree was an ugly mutant tangle of gnarly branches. The girl arguing with those men was Juli — the world's peskiest, bossiest, most know-it-all female. But all of a sudden my stomach completely bailed on me. Juli loved that tree. Stupid as it was, she loved that tree, and cutting it down would be like cutting out her heart. 

別理解錯(cuò)了，好嗎？那棵樹是個(gè)丑陋的突變體，滿是多瘤的樹枝。和那些男人爭吵的是朱莉——全世界最煩人、最專橫、最無所不知的女生。但是突然間我的胃里開始翻江倒海。朱莉愛這棵樹。雖然很愚蠢，但她愛這棵樹，把這棵樹砍下了就像把她的心挖出來一樣。 

It wasn't my tree, and even though she acted like it was, it wasn't Juli's, either. 

那不是我的樹，就算她表現(xiàn)得像她的一樣，那也不是她的樹。

When the bus dropped us off that afternoon, Juli was gone and so was half the tree. The top branches, the place my kite had been stuck, her favorite perch — they were all gone.

那天下午公車到站的時(shí)候，朱莉和一半的樹都不見了。最高的樹枝，我的風(fēng)箏被掛住的地方，她最愛的棲息處——它們都不在了。 

We watched them work for a little while, the chain saws gunning at full throttle, smoking as they chewed through wood. The tree looked lopsided and naked, and after a few minutes I had to get out of there. It was like watching someone dismember a body, and for the first time in ages, I felt like crying. Crying. Over a stupid tree that I hated.

我們看著他們工作了一會(huì)兒，鏈鋸開到了最高檔，一邊鋸木頭一邊冒著煙。那棵樹看起來頹向一邊，赤裸裸的。沒過多久我就呆不下去了。這就像看分尸現(xiàn)場，這么多年來第一次，我想哭。想哭！就為了一棵我討厭的愚蠢的樹。

I went home and tried to shake it off, but I kept wondering, should I have gone up the tree with her? Would it have done any good?

我回到家努力想忘掉這些事，但是我不斷地想，我當(dāng)時(shí)應(yīng)該和她一起爬上樹嗎？那樣事情會(huì)有改變嗎？

“I want the spirit of that tree to be with you always. I want you to remember how you felt when you were up there.” He hesitated a moment, then handed me the painting. “So I made this for you.”  

“我希望那棵樹的靈魂永遠(yuǎn)伴隨著你。我希望你永遠(yuǎn)不要忘記在那棵樹上的感覺。”他猶豫了一會(huì)兒，然后把畫遞給我，“所以我畫了這個(gè)給你?！?nbsp;

I pulled off the towel, and there was my tree. My beautiful, majestic sycamore tree. Through the branches he'd painted the fire of sunrise, and it seemed to me I could feel the wind. And way up in the tree was a tiny girl looking off into the distance, her cheeks flushed with wind. With joy. With magic. 

我拉下畫布，就看到了我的樹。我美麗的、高大的梧桐樹。穿透樹枝的是火焰般燃燒著的日出，我?guī)缀跄芨杏X到風(fēng)。在高高的樹枝上，一個(gè)小女孩正眺望著遠(yuǎn)方，她的面頰被風(fēng)吹得通紅。充滿了歡樂，充滿了魔力。 

I look out the window and there's Juli, spitting out nails and slamming them in place. No kidding. She's got nails lined up between her lips like steel cigarettes, and she's swinging that hammer full-arc, way above her head, driving nails into pickets like they're going into butter.

我從窗戶外望去，朱莉就在那兒，吐出釘子用力把它們釘上去。沒開玩笑，她把釘子銜在嘴唇中間像叼著鋼香煙，她把榔頭甩得虎虎生風(fēng)，高高越過頭頂，把釘子敲進(jìn)尖樁里。

For a split second there, I saw my head as the recipient of her hammer, cracking open like Humpty Dumpty. I shuddered and dropped the curtain.

有那么一瞬間，我仿佛看見了自己的頭是她榔頭下的受害者，像童謠里的矮胖子一樣被敲裂。我一陣戰(zhàn)栗，放下窗簾。

“One's character is set at an early age, son. The choices you make now will affect you for the rest of your life.”

“一個(gè)人的品行是從小養(yǎng)成的，孩子?，F(xiàn)在的選擇會(huì)影響你的一生?！?/span>

“Just think about what I've said, and the next time you're faced with a choice, do the right thing. It hurts everyone less in the long run.”  

“想想我說的話，下一次面對一個(gè)選擇的時(shí)候，做正確的事。這樣所有人都不會(huì)那么痛苦?！?nbsp;

Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss. But every once in a while you find someone who's iridescent, and when you do, nothing will ever compare.    

我們當(dāng)中有些人平庸，有些人金玉其外，有些人光鮮亮麗。但有時(shí)你會(huì)遇到一些人，由內(nèi)而外地散發(fā)著彩虹般的光芒。一旦遇見過，你會(huì)覺得其他一切都不過是浮云。

They were, I don't know, deep. Sitting in that tree was seriously philosophical to her.

那些話，很深刻。坐在那棵樹上對朱莉來說有很大的哲學(xué)意義。

And the odd thing is, it all made sense to me. She talked about what it felt like to be up in that tree, and how it, like, transcended dimensional space. “To be held above the earth and brushed by the wind,” she said, “it's like your heart has been kissed by beauty.” Who in junior high do you know that would put together a sentence like that? None of my friends, that's for sure.

而奇怪的是，我居然都看懂了。她講了在樹上是怎樣一種感覺，仿佛超越了空間的維度。“被托上天空，被風(fēng)撫摸，”她說，“就像你的心被美麗的事物親吻了一樣?！蹦懵犨^哪個(gè)初中生能說出這樣的話？我的朋友中絕對沒有。 

There was other stuff, too, like how something can be so much more than the parts it took to make it, and why people need things around them that lift them above their lives and make them feel the miracle of living.

她還說了好多東西，什么整體可以遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)大于組成它的部分之和，還有人們需要某些東西能讓他們從瑣事中升華，讓他們感受到生命的奇跡。 

I found myself looking at her in class. The teacher'd be talking and all eyes would be up front … except mine. They kept wandering over to Juli. It was weird. One minute I'd be listening to the teacher, and the next I'd be completely tuned out, looking at Juli.

我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在上課時(shí)老去看她。老師講課時(shí)所有的眼睛都看著前方……除了我的。它們不停地徘徊到朱莉身上。好奇怪。前一分鐘我還在聽老師講課，但下一分鐘我就完完全全地分心，盯著朱莉看。

My heart started pounding and my hands clenched up. And for the first time since I'd learned to dive away from trouble, I wanted to deck somebody.    

我的心狂跳，拳頭攥了起來。自從我學(xué)會(huì)不主動(dòng)惹麻煩以來，頭一次想把別人臭揍一頓。

But we were in the library. And besides, it flashed through my mind that if I decked him for what he'd said, he'd turn around and tell everyone that I was hot for Juli Baker, and I was not hot for Juli Baker!

但是我們在圖書館里。而且我腦海里突然閃過一個(gè)念頭，如果我真的揍了他，他會(huì)立刻告訴所有人我迷上了朱莉·貝克。我才沒有迷上朱莉·貝克！ 

So I made myself laugh and say, “Oh, right,” and then came up with an excuse to put some distance between him and me.   

于是我讓自己大笑著說，“哦，好吧?！比缓笱杆僬伊藗€(gè)借口，能離他多遠(yuǎn)就離他多遠(yuǎn)。

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. What right did Bryce have to make fun of my uncle? How dare he!    

我越想越氣。布萊斯有什么資格嘲笑我叔叔？他怎么敢！

I felt fire burn in my cheeks and a cold, hard knot tighten in my heart. And in a flash I knew—I was through with Bryce Loski. He could keep his brilliant blue eyes. He could keep his two-faced smile and… and my kiss. That's right! He    

could keep that, too. I was never, ever going to talk to him again!

我感覺到臉頰在燃燒，一個(gè)冰冷的、堅(jiān)硬的結(jié)系在了我心里。一瞬間我知道了——我和布萊斯結(jié)束了。他留著他閃亮的藍(lán)眼睛吧。留著他兩面派的笑容吧，和……和我的吻。沒錯(cuò)！留著它吧！我永遠(yuǎn)，永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)再和他講話！ 

He said hi to me and I lost it. I spun on him, snapping, “Don't you speak to me! I overheard you and Garrett in the library, and I don't want to talk to    

you now or ever!”

他跟我打招呼，我沒忍住，轉(zhuǎn)身對著他厲聲道：“別跟我說話！我聽見你和加勒特在圖書館說的話了。我永遠(yuǎn)都不想再理你了！”

“So instead you laughed.”

“所以你就跟著笑了。” 

He shrugged and looked miserable and sheepish. “Yeah.”    

他聳了聳肩，看起來絕望又困窘?！笆前??！?nbsp;

I left him. If he was making it up, he was quite an actor. If he was telling the truth, then Chet was right —he was a coward. Either way, I didn't want to be anywhere near him. 

我扭頭就走。如果這些都是他編造的，那他可真能演。如果他說的是實(shí)話，那么查特說對了——他是個(gè)懦夫。不管是哪種情況，我都想離他遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)的。