2015-05-04

【Aiden in English】

        "Remembering is just an invention of the mind," except from Freak the Mighty. I, Max, as big and slow, can never imagine not knowing the memories 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 could do for such a great… friend. No, more than that. Freak was physically handicapped with Morquio Syndrome, and I do not plan on him leaving the face of this earth, knowing that his …… 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 Kevin was just a stupid, no-brainer kid who was picked on. Freak 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. Freak was just like Superman, although I'm pretty sure Freak would be blasted too; what's the word, smithereens, if he and Superman got into a fight? Anyway, I'm here to say how Freak's all "sweet" and "cuddly," right? But I'm not. I know Freak, and he is more than just the fuzzily; he is a lovely 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. If Freak were here now, I'd 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 brainpower 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 I couldn't do in a lifetime. Freak exploded, calling Blade a …c-… crop…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. Well, we indeed 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. 

        Before Freak moved into town, my brain was just a space in my thick skull where nothing happened. School, for 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 about reading. He would say that books are the truth serum- if you don't read, you can't figure out what's real. Until then, reading was simply a waste of brain cells, not that I had any to spare. However, like in most other points of view, 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'd 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 shared. He left a book before he died. That book was the last thing Freak gave 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? 

        As Freak and only Freak would put it, writing was talking on paper. You can all see my progress from hearing me read this out loud. This was the one thing that he wanted from me. For instance, Freak wanted many things from me, like learning quantum physics. 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 who 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 now, since remembering comes easily, I just put all my thoughts, feelings, and memories into that pencil and moved it across the paper, and letters formed before my eyes. Yes, the trip down memory lane was painful, and tears sometimes came freely, but I know this is what Freak would ask of me. I'll do anything to repay what he did to me, opening my eyes to an actual 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 short period, Freak did some things that would've taken most people a lifetime. I believe he was the Einstein, Newton, and 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 his time wisely. He soaked up every drop, every bit, and absorbed it until the very last second. Life was the most crucial thing to Freak, and getting the maximum reward 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.

        Okay, keep it together. I'm almost finished here. Freak taught me many things, and I could probably keep learning until my time is up, but because Freak knew about his timeline's end, 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 his memories, and even they are fading away. But I will bear his loss and keep whatever remains he has in… here (tap to the temple), and here (tap to the heart).

【紅霞譯】

        源自《小天才與傻大個》書中所言，“記憶不過是大腦的一項發明”。我—麥克斯即“傻大個”無法想象人的大腦會記憶全無，而弗里克即 “小天才”教我打開探索心靈深處的大門。如今我對一切記憶猶新，甚至包括有關勇者的悲慘結局……離去，他的……過世令大家傷心難過，但其思想情感將永遠銘刻在記憶之中，因為我明白這樣才符合勇者的遺願，起碼也是我為如此了不起的…朋友所盡微薄之力。不，絕非僅此而已。勇者生來患有軟骨發育不良綜合症，因此我並沒打算跟他一塊冒險，因為我清楚他的……“我們的”計劃聽所未聽聞所未聞，甚至被遺忘，如同焰花爆竹一旦升空燃放即刻成為過去，但勇者非同過眼煙雲，他將永垂不朽。

        坦率地說，我不想稱呼勇者為“英俊” ，因為對我來說，“英俊”只是一位隨便叫的傻了吧嘰頭腦簡單的傢伙，而勇者卻是、“曾是”一位金甲騎士，外表看起來呆裡呆氣，實際上機智靈活勇敢幽默；天哪，如果需要詳細介紹，我可以不分晝夜連續說個不停，他就像個…個…我的頭腦、汽車的燃料、超人的氪石，言而總之，勇者真像超人，我敢肯定他准能騰空而去，一旦與超人交手，恐怕他倆勢均力敵難分勝負。我之所以美言幾句，無非希望表明勇者可親可愛，對不對？其實未必完全如此，我了解勇者，很難簡單地用好與壞來草下定論。他很和善，但並不習慣被別人摟摟抱抱；如果你執意要這麼做，他會毫不客氣地將你推開。試想一下，個頭不大的年方少年在七月四日獨立節觀賞焰火時與酒鬼刀鋒殺手嗆來嗆去，從那時起，我倆之間才開始真正……有了共同語言。嗨，要是勇者得知我提及此事，非打掉我幾顆牙齒不可。我了解其為人處事，他一向談吐自信斬釘截鐵，說話正中要害，我指的是，刀鋒殺手趕來行刺的時候面帶怒火，頓時激起勇者無比義恨，我一輩子都不敢有這股勇氣。勇者按耐不住內心的憤怒，破口大罵刀鋒殺手是…什麼…白痴之類的東西！反正跟腦殘笨蛋沒啥區別，相比之下，我簡直太悚啦。當天晚上，勇者要我到磨坊池塘，打算與刀鋒殺手同夥好生周旋一番。說得痛快，對嗎？沒錯，我倆《小天才與傻大個》讓他們手腳忙亂空兜圈子，搶先贏了第一回合，而勇者堪稱我的智多星。

        論真格的，在勇者搬進小城之前，我頭腦簡單四肢發達。舉例來說，我對學校生活或多……或少頗感無聊乏味，去課堂上課簡直活受罪，我絲毫沒有得罪所有老師的意思，老師光顧得強調讀書的重要性，哇塞，書籍是真理是養分，你不讀書就無法辨認是非曲直。在我看來，讀書浪費大腦細胞，我並非吹噓自己有過丁點智商，但從其它多數情況來講，勇者表現得論點明確論據充足，什麼都難不倒他，就像給小孩子冰激凌吃人人喜愛，除非他無法消化乳糖；當然如果換成我，消受不了冰激凌，吃點薯條之類的垃圾食品也行。勇者說服我改變學習方法，包括那些棘手的課程。他走了，不能再教我更多的東西，然而正因為他善於助人為樂，讓我倆這對“小天才與傻大個”共同度過了寶貴時光。他死前曾送給我一本書，這是他送的最後一個禮物，同時又為我創造了寫作機會，勇者好像守護天使繼續照看我，不過從此以後，他還要作為威武騎士來保護我，這裡“威武”意指“勇敢”，恰當嗎？

        談及寫作，勇者也只有勇者才出口成章，連你都會意識到我閱讀的進步，是他成就了我寫作能力。說實在的，勇者從我身上發掘出很多潛力，譬如學習量子物理學。勇者送給我的那本書叫“傳奇”，他所說的“傳奇”聽起來真酷，大概初中三年級學生當中只有他一人聊這種話題。勇者要我在空白書上寫東西，明白嗎？莫非叫豬身上長出翅膀飛上天不成，豈不異想天開；但如今我確實能揮筆讓思想情感緬懷統統躍然紙上，珠璣成行的字母一個個出現在眼前。回首走過的艱難歷程，禁不住叫我潸然淚下，沒有勇者陪着一路走來，哪有我今天的收穫。我將放眼世界繼續努力，不辜負他的期待，儘管寫作對我來說困難重重。寫到這裡，我想說的就是，勇者……沒能走完該走的路，年華易逝時光短暫，他做了許多人一輩子來不及完成的事情，集愛因斯坦、牛頓和伽利略之聰明才智於一身，其德才雙馨必將流芳百年。未來的可能性無窮無盡，早在勇者臨終時我即認識到這一點，生命可謂無價之寶，勇者活得精彩，並始終沉浸在陽光雨露之中，直到心臟停止了跳動。活着對勇者來說至關重要，他想方設法讓每一天過得充實飽滿，殊不知需要付出多大勇氣，一位孱弱瘦小的少年竟然做出如此可歌可泣的豪邁事跡，令人難以置信。由此可以看來，勇者嚮往美好生活的一貫願望，早已在他個性與思想上打下了深刻烙印。

        對了，要把上面所有內容集中起來，我差不多該停筆收工。勇者賜教給我的恩典，定叫我受用一輩子，因為他生前可能清楚自己的病情，所以才會像一列無法緊急剎閘的火車，盡其所能……多多益善。如今他遠離人間，身後留下的只有記憶，隨着時間推移，這些記憶會逐漸被淡忘，而我將緬懷這位哥們，即使他魂歸……天國，我的心與他同在。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: Badminton Competition(羽毛球賽)

2009: 騎車漫步(Biking & Strolling)

Freak the Mighty (《小天才與傻大個》)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

2015: Text-dep Analysis─Stone Age Discovery(語境分析─石器時代創新)

2014: Text-dependent Analysis—Lab Rats(語境分析—《超能高校生》)

6th Grade(初中一年級)