《Rise Up长女当家英对照版》KaylieLiu

7、Chapter 7: Turbulent Childhood

　　I knew I couldn't retrieve my sister's clothes, so I had to accept it.

　　衣服是捡不回来了，我也只有认了。

　　"Sister, where are the clothes?" My younger sister looked at me, sweaty and empty-handed, as I ran back home.

　　“姐姐，衣服呢？”妹妹看我满头大汗地跑回家里，并且两手空空道。

　　I then took my two younger sisters aside and told them what had happened today, warning them to be extremely cautious of those "men" in the future.

　　于是我拉着两个妹妹，给她们讲了今天的事情，并且嘱咐她们以后要千万小心那些“男人”

　　……

　　Somehow, I grew up through all the hardships, like a blade of grass with a humble fate, managing to survive and become an □□.

　　也这样长大了，在风雨飘摇中长大了，万般凄苦，命贱如草，居然也就地么的平安长大成人了。

　　As the eldest daughter in the family, I was the first to have my marriage discussed. However, my lifelong malnutrition had left me resembling a withered tree branch – thin, frail, and short. People called me skin and bones and worried that a girl as small and weak as me might be unable to bear children.

　　我是家中的长女，所以我是第一个谈论婚配的，可是从小到大的营养不良让我长得像根老树枝一样又枯又瘦又小，别人说我是皮包骨，并且担心像我这样瘦小的女孩子，可能没有生儿育女的能力。

　　A woman's primary purpose in this remote mountain village is to have children. Given my situation, one can imagine how unlikely it was for a girl like me to marry into a good family.

　　在这个偏僻的小山村，女人最大的作用就是生儿育女，而我这一方面受到了质疑，所以可以想象到像我这样的女孩子怎么可能能嫁入好点的家庭？

　　Nevertheless, no matter how undesirable a girl may be, there will always be someone to marry her.

　　只是女孩子再差，也没有嫁不出去的。

　　There might always be more men than women in this world, so my father managed to arrange a marriage for me.

　　这个世界上也许永远都是男多女少，所以我的父亲也帮我订了一桩亲事。

　　Bound by my parents' orders and the matchmaker's words, I was firmly held in the hands of fate, unable to break free and unsure of how to resist or rebel.

　　父母之命媒妁之言，我也被命运之神牢牢地握在手心里，挣脱不开，也不知如何去挣脱，如何去反抗。

　　Later, I heard rumors that my fiance had a health problem and was suffering from an incurable disease. At sixteen or seventeen, I clenched my teeth and demanded my father cancel the engagement.

　　后来传言我的未婚夫身体上有毛病，他有着不治之症。十六七岁的我咬着牙齿要父亲退婚。

　　How could I marry someone who was so sick?

　　我怎么能够嫁给一个病秧子呢？

　　My father agreed that the marriage was a bad idea and didn't want to ruin my life, so he promised to help me cancel the engagement with the man's family.

　　父亲也觉得这婚事不成，不能就这样毁了我一辈子，所以我父亲答应帮我去男方家退婚。

　　On the day my father went to cancel the engagement, I was still doing business at the market as usual. Amidst the bustling crowd, a neighbor came to inform me.

　　父亲去退婚的那天，我仍然像往常一样在集市做着生意，街上人来人往中，有邻居找来告诉我。

　　"Lotus, your father has been beaten!"

　　“莲儿，你的父亲被打了！”

　　"What? Who did it?" I asked angrily. Who was bullying him this time?

　　“什么，谁打他了？”我听闻愤怒道，这次又是谁欺负他？

　　Our family had been constantly bullied since we were young. My father was weak, and some neighbors who were bullies often looked for trouble, trying to beat my father. I would protect him each time, fiercely fighting back against those who bullied us, desperately shielding him.

　　我们一家从小受尽欺负，父亲懦弱，街里邻居有那些欺软怕硬者时常找麻烦，要打父亲，每次都是我护着，不要命地反击着欺负我们的那些人，拼命地护着他。