English Original
You went to the butcher's for meat, the pharmacy for aspirin, and the grocery store for food. But when I spent the summer with my Grandmother in Warwick, N.Y., she sent me down to the general store with a list. How could I hope to find anything on the packed, jumbled shelves around me?
I walked up to the counter. Behind it was a lady like no one I'd ever seen. Fake-jewel-encrusted glasses teetered on the tip of her nose, gray hair was piled on her head.
"Excuse me," I said. She looked up.
"You're that Clements kid," she said. "I'm Miss Bee. Come closer and let me get a look at you." She pushed her glasses up her nose. "I want to be able to describe you to the sheriff if something goes missing from the store."
"I'm not a thief!" I was shocked. I was seven years old, too young to be a thief!
"From what I can see you're not much of anything. But I can tell you've got potential." She went back to reading her newspaper.
"I need to get these," I said, holding up my list.
"So? Go get them." Miss Bee pointed to a sign on the screen door. "There's no one here except you and me and I'm not your servant, so I suggest you get yourself a basket from that pile over there and start filling. If you're lucky you'll be home by sundown."
Sundown was five hours away. I wasn't sure I would make it.
I scanned the nearest shelf for the first item on my list: pork and beans. It took me three wall-to-wall searches before I found a can nestled between boxes of cereal and bread. Next up was toilet paper, found under the daily newspaper. Band-Aids—where had I seen them? Oh, yes, next to the face cream. The store was a puzzle, but it held some surprises too. I found a new Superman comic tucked behind the peanut butter.
I visited Miss Bee a couple of times a week that summer. Sometimes she short-changed me. Other times she overcharged. Or sold me an old newspaper instead of a current one. Going to the store was more like going into battle. I left my Grandma's house armed with my list—memorized to the letter—and marched into Miss Bee's like General Patton marching into North Africa.
"That can of beans is only twenty-nine cents!" I corrected her one afternoon. I had watched the numbers on the cash register closely, and Miss Bee had added 35 cents. She didn't seem embarrassed that I had caught her overcharging. She just looked at me over her glasses and fixed the price.
Not that she ever let me declare victory. All summer long she found ways to trip me up. No sooner had I learned how to pronounce bicarbonate of soda and memorized its location on the shelf, than Miss Bee rearranged the shelves and made me hunt for it all over again. By summer's end, the shopping trip that had once taken me an hour was done in 15 minutes. The morning I was to return to Brooklyn, I stopped in to get a packet of gum.
"All right, Miss Potential," she said. "What did you learn this summer?" That you're a meany! I pressed my lips together. To my amazement, Miss Bee laughed. "I know what you think of me," she said. "Well, here's a news flash: I don't care! Each of us is put on this earth for a reason. I believe my job is to teach every child I meet ten life lessons to help them. Think what you will, Miss Potential, but when you get older you'll be glad our paths crossed!" Glad I met Miss Bee? Ha! The idea was absurd...
Until one day my daughter came to me with homework troubles.
"It's too hard," she said. "Could you finish my math problems for me?"
"If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself?" I said. Suddenly, I was back at that general store where I had learned the hard way to tally up my bill along with the cashier. Had I ever been overcharged since?
As my daughter went back to her homework, I wondered: Had Miss Bee really taught me something all those years ago? I took out some scrap paper and started writing.
Sure enough, I had learned ten life lessons:
1. Listen well.
2. Never assume—things aren't always the same as they were yesterday.
3. Life is full of surprises.
4. Speak up and ask questions.
5. Don't expect to be bailed out of a predicament.
6. Everyone isn't as honest as I try to be.
7. Don't be so quick to judge other people.
8. Try my best, even when the task seems beyond me.
9. Double-check everything.
10. The best teachers aren't only in school.
中文翻译
你去肉铺买肉，去药店买阿司匹林，去杂货店买食物。但当我在纽约州沃里克和祖母共度夏天时，她却给了我一张清单，让我去综合商店采购。面对周围塞得满满当当、乱七八糟的货架，我怎么可能找到任何东西呢？
我走到柜台前。柜台后面是一位我从未见过的女士。一副镶着假珠宝的眼镜摇摇欲坠地架在她的鼻尖上，灰白的头发高高盘在头顶。
“打扰一下，”我说。她抬起头。
“你就是那个克莱门茨家的小孩，”她说。“我是蜜蜂小姐。走近点让我好好看看你。”她把眼镜往鼻梁上推了推。“万一店里丢了东西，我得能向治安官描述你的样子。”
“我不是小偷！”我震惊了。我才七岁，当小偷还太年轻了！
“依我看，你现在还啥也不是。但我看得出你有潜力。”她又回去看她的报纸了。
“我需要买这些东西，”我举起清单说。
“所以呢？自己去拿。”蜜蜂小姐指着纱门上的一个牌子。“这里除了你和我没别人，而且我不是你的仆人，所以我建议你去那边那堆篮子里拿一个，然后开始装东西。如果你运气好，日落前就能到家。”
离日落还有五个小时。我不确定我能做到。
我扫视最近的货架，寻找清单上的第一件物品：猪肉和豆子罐头。我进行了三次地毯式搜索，才在一个麦片盒和面包盒之间找到了一个罐头。接下来是厕纸，在日报下面找到了。创可贴——我在哪儿见过？哦，对了，在面霜旁边。这家店像个谜题，但也藏着一些惊喜。我在花生酱后面发现了一本新的超人漫画书。
那年夏天，我每周都会去蜜蜂小姐的店几次。有时她少找我钱。有时她多收钱。或者卖给我一份过期的报纸，而不是当天的。去那家店更像是去打仗。我离开祖母家时，全副武装地带着我的清单——逐字逐句背下来——然后像巴顿将军进军北非一样，大步走进蜜蜂小姐的店。
“那罐豆子只要二十九美分！”一天下午我纠正她。我紧盯着收银机上数字的变化，蜜蜂小姐却加了35美分。被我抓到多收钱，她似乎并不尴尬。她只是从眼镜上方看着我，然后更正了价格。
倒不是她让我宣告胜利。整个夏天，她都在想办法给我制造麻烦。我刚学会怎么念“碳酸氢钠”并记住了它在货架上的位置，蜜蜂小姐就重新整理了货架，让我又得从头找起。到夏天结束时，曾经需要一小时的购物之旅，我15分钟就能完成。在我即将返回布鲁克林的那天早上，我顺路去买了一包口香糖。
“好了，潜力小姐，”她说。“这个夏天你学到了什么？”你是个刻薄鬼！ 我紧闭双唇。令我惊讶的是，蜜蜂小姐笑了。“我知道你怎么看我，”她说。“好吧，最新消息是：我不在乎！我们每个人来到这个世界上都是有原因的。我相信我的工作就是教给我遇到的每个孩子十条人生经验来帮助他们。随你怎么想，潜力小姐，但等你长大了，你会很高兴我们的人生有过交集！”很高兴遇见蜜蜂小姐？哈！这个想法太荒谬了……
直到有一天，我的女儿带着作业问题来找我。
“这太难了，”她说。“你能帮我做完这些数学题吗？”
“如果我帮你做了，你自己怎么学会呢？”我说。突然间，我仿佛回到了那家综合商店，在那里我艰难地学会了和收银员一起核对账单。从那以后，我还有被多收过钱吗？
当女儿回去做作业时，我想：蜜蜂小姐在那么多年前真的教会了我一些东西吗？我拿出一些废纸，开始写下来。
果然，我学到了十条人生经验：
1. 好好倾听。
2. 永远不要想当然——事情并不总是和昨天一样。
3. 生活充满惊喜。
4. 大声说出来并提出问题。
5. 不要指望有人帮你摆脱困境。
6. 并非每个人都像我努力做到的那样诚实。
7. 不要急于评判他人。
8. 即使任务看似超出能力范围，也要尽力而为。
9. 仔细检查一切。
10. 最好的老师并不只在学校里。