Dear Arizona,
親愛的亞利桑那：
My brother is so lucky. Good stuff is always happening to him. Do you believe in luck? And if so, how can I get more of it?
我的兄弟運氣特別好，常有好事發生在他身上。你相信運氣嗎?如果真有運氣，我怎樣才能得到更多一些呢?
—Looking for Luck in Louisiana
——身在路易斯安那尋找好運的人
英語美文：幸運帽
Dear Looking,
親愛的運氣尋覓者：
I was eating breakfast with one hand, petting my cat, Cow, with the other, and reading the back of the cereal box, when—“YOUCH!” I screamed. “Why’d you pinch me?”
我當時正一手吃早餐，一手愛撫著我的貓“牛牛”，同時在看燕麥片盒子背面的信息。就在這時——“哎呦”，我尖叫起來，“你干嘛捏我?”
“You’re not wearing green,” said my little brother, Tex. “Everyone knows you get pinched if you don’t wear green on Saint Patrick’s Day!”
“因為你沒穿綠色衣服，”我的小弟弟特克斯說，“人人都知道如果在圣帕特里克節里不穿綠色衣服就會被捏!”
“It’s true,” said my little sister, Indi.
“這是真的!”我的小妹妹英蒂說。
I was mostly mad about getting pinched, but also a tiny bit glad about being reminded that it was Saint Patrick’s Day.
我對自己被掐感到非常生氣，但有一點兒值得高興的是，這提醒了我今天是圣帕特里克節。
I panicked. “What am I going to do? I don’t have time to change. I’ll get pinched all day long!”
我驚慌失措：“我該怎么辦?我沒時間換衣服了。一整天我都會被人捏的!”
“Well,” Tex said, taking the old green baseball cap off his head, “you could borrow my lucky hat.”
“好吧，”特克斯從他頭上摘下那頂綠色的舊棒球帽，說，“你可以借我的幸運帽。”
“But it’s your favorite!” I said.
“但它可是你的最愛。”我說。
“I know,” said Tex. “Just promise to give it back after school.”
我知道，”特克斯說，“只要你答應放學后還給我就行了。”
“No problem,” I said, glancing in the mirror on my way out the door. “I look like a goofball in this thing!”
“沒問題，”我說。出門前，我照了照鏡子。“戴上這個東西，我看上去就像個傻瓜!”
“A lucky goofball!” said Tex.
“一個幸運的傻瓜!”特克斯說。
“Hum.” I grabbed my backpack. “Thanks, I think.”
“嗯，”我抓起書包說道，“好吧，謝謝。”
Now, before I go on, you should know that I’m not an overly superstitious person. I don’t believe that thirteen is an unlucky number or that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck. I definitely don’t freak out if a black cat crosses my path. And when it comes to things like lucky four-leaf clovers and lucky pennies, I just never believed in them.
說到這里，你要知道我不是個極其迷信的人。我不認為13是個倒霉的數字，或者打碎鏡子會帶來7年的厄運。我決不會因為一只黑貓在我面前走過而被嚇壞，也決不會相信諸如幸運四葉草、幸運便士這類東西。
Anyway, I was racing to catch the school bus, and I saw a dollar on the sidewalk! I looked around to see if anyone was looking for it, but people just kept stepping on the poor thing, so I decided to rescue it. I’d found pennies and nickels before, but never a dollar! Then, I didn’t miss the bus, because the bus was even later than me—which never happens!
不管怎樣，當我正拼命追趕校車 時，我看到人行道上有張一美元的鈔票!我環顧四周，看看有沒人在找它，可人們都相繼踩過這個可憐的家伙，所以我決定營救它。以前我撿過便士和鎳幣，可從沒 發現過一美元的鈔票。隨后，我沒有錯過校車，因為校車甚至比我還晚到——這是從未發生過的!
My luck didn’t stop there. Carlos and Jackson were sitting behind me, quizzing each other on spelling words. I turned around and said, “You guys know that test isn’t till tomorrow, right?”
我的運氣并未就此打住�？�洛斯和杰克遜剛好坐在我后面，正相互考單詞拼寫。我轉過頭去，說：“你們知道明天才測驗，對嗎?”
“It got switched to this morning,” said Jackson. “Remember? There’s some assembly tomorrow. ”
“已經改到今天早上了。”杰克遜說，“記得嗎?明天有個大會要開。”
“That’s right. I totally forgot!” I said. “I’m so lucky that I sat in front of you. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have found out till it was too late!” I got out my spelling words, studied all the way to school. And ended up acing the test!
“對哦。我忘得一干二凈!”我說，“坐在你們前面我多么幸運啊。不然，到我發現已經晚了。”我拿出要考的單詞表來，去學校的一路上，我都在復習。最終，我考了個好成績。
The minute I got home, I gave Tex a gigantic hug.
一回到家，我就給特克斯一個大大的擁抱。
“This is the luckiest hat in the world,” I said. “I’m never taking it off!”
“這是世界上最幸運的帽子。”我說，“我永遠都不取下來了!”
“But you promised to give it back!” said Tex.
“但你答應過要還給我的。”特克斯說。
“I know, but…” I pretended to try to pull the hat off my head. “I think it’s stuck.”
“我知道，但是……”我假裝試圖把帽子摘下來，“我想它粘住了。”
“It is not!” said Tex.
“沒有!”特克斯說。
“Please-oh-please let me borrow your lucky hat for one more day!” I begged.
“求求你把你的幸運帽借我再用一天。”我請求道。
“Tomorrow I’m auditioning for the school play, and I need every bit of help I can get.”
“明天我要參加學校話劇表演的選角面試，我需要得到所有幫助。”
“OK,” said Tex. “One more day. But you’d better be really nice to me.”
“好吧，”特克斯說，“再借一天。但你最好真得對我好點。”
“I will,” I agreed. “In fact, here you can have my lucky dollar!” Tex let out a whoop, then started dancing around and waving his gift in the air.
“我會的，”我同意道，“這樣，我這張幸運美元給你!”特克斯歡呼了一聲，接著，他一邊在空中揮舞著他的禮物，一邊開始在四周跳起舞來。
The next day turned out to be super lucky. My audition couldn’t have gone better.
第二天，我的運氣棒極了。我的試演再好不過了。
“Wow, Arizona!” said my friend Mareya. “I can’t believe how amazingly you just did! You are so getting a major part in this play!”
“哇，亞利桑那!”我的朋友瑪瑞婭說，“你剛剛的表演太令人吃驚了，我簡直不敢相信!你肯定可以在這部話劇里演主角!”
“Thanks! You did really great, too!” I said. “But honestly, the only reason I did OK is because I had my lucky hat.”
“謝謝!你也表演得很棒!”我回答道，“不過，老實說，我表演好全因為我有一頂幸運帽。”
“What lucky hat?” asked Mareya.
“什么幸運帽?”瑪瑞婭問。
“This one,” I said, reaching into my backpack, where I thought I’d put Tex’s hat since I couldn’t wear it for the audition. But it wasn’t there! “Oh no!” I cried. “It’s gone! What am I going to tell Tex?”
“就是這個，”我邊說邊把手伸進書包里，我以為我把特克斯的帽子放在書包里了，因為我不能戴著它表演。但帽子不在里面!“哦，不!”我喊道，“它不見了!我怎么跟特克斯交代啊?”
Mareya helped me look for it. Luckily, we found Tex’s hat in my locker. Also luckily, I discovered that I could be lucky with or without a goofy-looking cap in my possession.
瑪瑞婭也幫我找，幸運的是，我們發現原來帽子放在我的儲物柜里了。同樣幸運的是，我發現無論戴不戴那頂落入我手中讓我看起來滑稽可笑的帽子，我都會有好運。
“So it wasn’t the hat,” said Mareya. “This is just a wild guess, but maybe it was all those hours you spent practicing over the past month.”
“所以，并不是因為那頂帽子，”瑪瑞婭說，“那不過是瞎猜罷了。也許那是你過去一個月里刻苦練習的結果。”
“Hmm,” I said. “It’s possible.”
“嗯，”我說，“可能是!”
So, dear Looking, I guess you could say that luck is a combination of being prepared, believing in yourself…and maybe just a tiny bit of magic! In other words, luck may come your way, but you have to be ready for it when it does!
所以，親愛的運氣尋覓者，我想你可以說幸運是這樣一個組合——做好準備，相信自己……也許再加上一點點的魔法!換言之，幸運也許正向你走來，但在它降臨時，你得做好準備!
Ciao for now.
寫到這里。再見。
Arizona
亞利桑那