双语畅销书《我是马拉拉》第17章:祈祷再长高些(13)
When I returned home I was greeted with the news that there was a group of journalists who wanted to interview me at school and that I should wear a nice outfit.
First I thought of wearing a very beautiful dress, but then I decided to wear something more modest for the interview as I wanted people to focus on my message and not my clothes.
起初，我想穿一件很漂亮的裙子。但后来我决定还是穿一套普通一点儿的服装接受采访，因为我想让大家将注意力集中在我想要传达的思想，而不是我的服装上。When I arrived at school I saw all my friends had dressed up.
当我来到学校时，发现大家都精心打扮过了。
'Surprise!' they shouted when I walked in.
“惊喜！”我走进学校时，他们大声喊道。They had collected money and organised a party for me with a big white cake on which was written SUCCESS FOREVER in chocolate icing.
原来他们筹了一笔钱，为我举办了这场派对。派对上有个很大的白色蛋糕，上面用巧克力糖霜写着“永远成功”。It was wonderful that my friends wanted to share in my success.
和朋友们一起分享成功的喜悦，真的是一件很美好的事。I knew that any of the girls in my class could have achieved what I had achieved if they had had their parents' support.
我知道，班上的每个女孩如果能得到父母的支持，也都能做到我目前所做的事。Now you can get back to school work,' said Madam Maryam as we finished off the cake. 'Exams in March!'
“你们现在可以回去上课了，”派对结束时，玛丽安女士说道，“3月举行考试。”But the year ended on a sad note. Five days after I got the award, Aunt Babo, my mother's eldest sister, died suddenly. She wasn't even fifty years old.
但那年却有个令人难过的结尾。在我获奖五天后，宝苞阿姨，也就是我母亲的姐姐突然过世了，她还不到50岁。She was diabetic and had seen a TV advert for a doctor in Lahore with some miracle treatment and persuaded my uncle to take her there.
她是一名糖尿病患者。一天，她在电视上看到一则广告，说在拉合尔有个医生有秘方医治糖尿病，便说服姨丈带她去看那个医生。We don't know what the doctor injected her with but she went into shock and died.
不知道医生给她注射了什么，她突然休克，然后便过世了。My father said the doctor was a charlatan and this was why we needed to keep struggling against ignorance.
父亲说那个医生是江湖郎中，这也就是为什么我们必须继续与无知奋斗的原因。
