2015-03-19

【Aiden in English】

        The nervous tension before something important always makes people want to snap. Anything that moves or speaks seems so frightening to you, and there’s always a need to tap your feet or whistle. In these situations, everyone feels like the slightest push can send you over the edge. The author of the book Head Above Water gives you the feeling because of the descriptive words and the perspective. It’s about a girl named Skye, and she is swimming to qualify for the state. The word choice really gives the readers a detailed vision in their heads, feeling what Skye feels, and hearing what she hears. With all the nervous energy and the tenacity challenge in her competition, Skye gets into the state finals, but it’s a tough ride.

        From coming out of the locker room to getting past qualifying time, Skye goes through a lot of feelings. Before the race, Skye is very tense and is trying to ventilate herself. She is extremely nervous because if she won this race, it meant a pass to the state finals, or the alternative, a trip home. The stakes are very high, and the story really lets the reader know when the author says different ways she was trying to comfort herself. Skye was taking deep breaths, letting her calm down, and taking her time to come out of the locker rooms. Another sign of nervousness was that Skye ran the race over in her head, thinking of the things to do to get the advantage. This showed that she needed every trick in the book to win and was trying to calm down by shifting her thoughts away from the nervousness. Then, Skye’s mood takes a huge swing. Right before her time to shine, Skye seems to be able to pull her scattered self together into a different person. She became focused on the upcoming race, blocking out all the unnecessary noise. In the text, the author writes “I was finely tuned-seeing, hearing, feeling everything; yet seeing, hearing, feeling nothing but the upcoming race.” His mood of Skye changed dramatically from a nervous girl to a mentally prepared swimmer at that time, and her mind was focused on one and only one task. Her feelings took another turn during the race. Skye was swimming a two-hundred freestyle, and during the middle of the laps, she was afraid that she couldn’t keep up with such a fast pace. The author writes “simple, uncomplicated pain” as a sentence, signifying and emphasizing the pain Skye felt. At this point, her feelings changed again. She was determined to win the race, and with every ounce of strength in her, she pushed herself to the limit, straining to keep pace. Skye became relentless, telling herself to not slow until the end, and when she touched the wall, her emotions softened, turning into joy. She had gotten a passing time, and, as the author put it, jumped “nearly three feet out of the water.” Her pain had receded in a flash, replaced by the sweetness of a well-earned victory.

        Skye’s experience in Head Above Water isn’t something that only happens to her, because everyone has a time when the butterflies somehow sneak down your throat and into your stomach. Yet what set Skye apart from most of the other kids out there in the world is how she was able to overcome that nervous tension and become that great swimmer and happy, joyful champion with, with words straight from the book, “the whole world in the palm of my hand.”

【红霞译文】

        每每重要事情发生之前，人们神经紧张，哪怕一点动静或声音都会引起心理上极度恐惧，以致下意识地轻跺脚尖吹起口哨，在这种情况下，仿佛稍有不慎，整个身心大有可能陷入濒临崩溃的边缘。《浮出水面》作者运用生动的笔触和深邃的洞察力和盘道出你的心声。本书女主人公名叫斯凯，正准备参加州级游泳资格赛。书中字字句句如同绘画图像深深影印在人们的脑海，而斯凯的所思所闻无不引发读者共鸣，经过白热化激烈角逐，她过五关斩六将，终于如愿出线。

        当走出更衣室得知赢得进军决赛资格时，斯凯心潮起伏。赛前她情绪不安，试图想尽办法来缓解压力。斯凯明白，如果战胜队手，意味着自己有望晋级参加下一轮比赛；而败走麦城则只能打道回府。前途未卜，故事跌宕起伏，作者有意将人们的注意力吸引到斯凯如何调整心态的细节上。她先做深呼吸，努力让自己镇定下来，然后不慌不乱地走出更衣室。造成斯凯心情过度紧张的还有，她满脑子装的尽是比赛，并且只想为赢而战。书中着重描述了几种解决方法，使得斯凯有效地转移了注意力，从过度紧张中解放出来。正因为斯凯的思绪发生了巨大改变，在大赛到来之际，她才能放弃各种顾虑，以崭新的姿态出现在游泳池畔。斯凯集中精力，排除任何不必要的纷扰，正如书中作者所述：“我已从视觉、听觉、感觉各个方面做好了充分准备，这样才有助于投身参与。”斯凯从一位沉不住气的小姑娘摇身变成镇定自信的游泳健将，踏踏实实迎接每一个挑战，接下来的赛事再度见证了这种转变。斯凯参加二百米自由泳比赛，在中途较量期间，曾一度担心自己赶不上对手，作者用“无缘无故的烦恼”来象征性刻画其内心不安，但她马上找回自我，下定决心要拿下这场比赛。她竭尽全力拼命加速向前，始终保持顽强的斗志，并告诫自己不到终点决不退缩；当触摸到池壁最后时刻，她激动得热泪盈眶，看到自己取得的可喜成绩，禁不住又蹦又跳，竟然“一下子窜出水面达三英尺之高”，所有委屈全部被池水冲刷得干干净净，从前辛苦的耕耘终于换来今天甜美的果实。

        《浮出水面》里斯凯的经验并非仅仅适用她本人，因为谁都体会过蝴蝶卡住嗓子掉进胃里的紧张时刻。与众不同地，斯凯在征服内心恐惧的同时，不仅成为一名了不起的运动员，而且还是一位幸福快乐的游泳冠军，直接借用小说原话，“我主宰自己的世界”。

Head above Water （《浮出水面》）

Crosslinks(相关博文):

2014: Book Review─Urban Outlaws(书评─浅议《城市水浒传》)

6th Grade(初中一年级)