佚名nonymous

“Mother，”shesaid，lookingdownattheolderwomanwhosatinthewheelchair。Sheignoredtheotherresidentsofthenursinghomearoundthem。“Mother，Iknownow。Iunderstand。”

Thewomanlookeduandsmiledather。“Sonya，itsalwayssogoodtoseeyou。”shesaid。

“Whydidntyoutellmewhatyouweredoing?”askedSonya。Shedroedintoachairbesidethewheelchair，sothatsheandhermothercouldbeonthesamelevel。“Alltheseyears，andyounevertoldme。”

“Idontknowwhatyouretalkingabout，”saidtheolderwoman。“Howisyourjobgoing?Wereyouromoted，asyouwantedtobe?”

“Idontwanttotalkaboutmyjob。Iwanttotalktoyouaboutwhatyouvedonetomakemesuccessful。”

“Ididntdoanything。Youvedoneitall。Alltheeducation，allthehardwork……”

“No!”Sonyastooduagain，unabletokeestill。“Youvebeendoingitall!WhenIwasinhighschoolandIsaidIneededhelwiththehigherlevelmathcourses，becauseIcouldntfigureanyofitout，yousaidIshouldntworry。”

“Youdidfine。”saidhermother。

“Yes!Becauseyougavemeyourmathability!Afterthat，youcouldntevenbalanceyourcheckbook，remember?”

Sheshrugged。“Wheneolegetolder，theystarttoslowdown。”

“Youhadagraduatedegreeinmathematics。Youwereabrilliantteacher。ButafterIstarteddoingwellinhighschoolmath，youlostallyourabilities。Tellmeitwasacoincidence!”

“Darling，youreuset。Probablytoomuchstress。”

“No!No!Icantstandtakingfromyouanymore!IneverwantedtogotogradschoolforthatMBA。Ineverhadtheambition。Butyoudid。Youhadmoreambitionthantenwomen!UntilIneededit，andthen-thensuddenlyIburnedwiththedesiretorovemyselfandyou-yougaveu。Thatswhenyoustartedworkingatthesuermarket。”

“Iwantedalowerstressjob。”

“ItoldyouIwaslonelybutIthoughtIwouldneverfindanyonewhowouldwanttomarryme，andthensuddenlyBobturnedintothemostcommittedmanIcouldeverimagine，andDadsuddenlylostinterestinyouandwanderedoffwiththatstuidwomanacrossthestreet。”

“NowsurelyyourenotsayingImresonsibleforyourfathersfailings，areyou?”askedhermother，smilingweakly。

“Imsayingyougaveuyourowndesirability，togiveittome!Attremendouscosttoyou!Butthatwasntall，either，wasit?”

“Sonya，youreallyshouldntgetyourselfworkeduthisway。Itcantbegoodforyou。”

“Andthen，”Sonyacontinued，ignoringtheolderwoman，“whenIneededthatextraenergytodoalltheworkIhadtodoinmyfirstexecutiveosition，suddenlyIhadtheenergyIneeded，andyoucouldbarelydragyourselfoutofbedinthemorning!”

“Ijustwantedtoseeyousucceed。”

“Why?”Sonyadroeddownonherkneesinfrontofhermotherswheelchair，clutchinghermothersfrailhands。“Whydidyoudoallthistoyourself?Why?Imnotworthit，Mom!NosuccessIvehadinmylifeisworthwhatyouvedonetoyourself，forme!”

“Oh，”saidhermother，strokingSonyashair，“yourewrongaboutthat。EverythingIdid，everythingIgaveu，wasworthitbecauseofyou，ofwhatyouvemadeofyourself。”

“Mom，Mom，lease，Imbeggingyou，takeitback。Idontwantmysuccessontheseterms!Idontwanttoseeyougrowmoreandmorefrail，moreandmorehelless，justsothatIcangrowstrongerandricherandmorefamous!”

“Whatsholdingyoubacknow?”askedhermother。“Whydidntyougettheromotion?”

“Imnotgoingtotellyou!Arentyoulisteningtome?Idontwantyoutodomoretoyourselfforme!”

Hermotherlookeddownatherforafewseconds，andthennodded。“Ah，yes，Isee。Iunderstand，dear。Yourealmostthere，arentyou?Youjustneedalittlemore，justatadmorestrength，butitsallright。Youregoingtogetit，dontworry。”

Sonyaraisedherhead，horrified。“No，Mom!Itoldyou，Idontwantit!Dont-whateveryouregoingtodo，dontdoit!”

Hermothersheadsnaedbackwards，andhereyesrolledinherhead。Sonya，horrified，clutchedathermotherswrist。Theulsewasbarelydiscernible。Sonyascreamed，andtheersonnelatthenursinghomerushedtowardthem。

Butbeforetheyarrived，hermotherseyesoenedforasecond，andforthelasttime，Sonyasawtheintelligenceshealwaysrememberedinhermother。“Haveadaughter，”hermotherbreathed。“Doitforher。”

“妈妈，”她看着轮椅上的老妇人说道，好像没有察觉到自己周围疗养院的其他居民，“妈妈，我现在知道了，我懂了。”

老妇人抬起头，笑着对她说：“索尼娅，每次见到你，我都非常高兴。”

“为什么不早点儿告诉我您所做的一切呢？”索尼娅问道，她在轮椅旁边的椅子上坐了下来，和妈妈并肩坐在一起，“这些年来，您从没对我说过。”

“我不知道你在说什么，”老妇人说，“你的工作还好吗？提拔到你追求的位置了吗？”

“我不想谈工作。只想和您谈谈，为了我的成功，您作出了多大的牺牲！”

“我什么都没做，都是你自己努力的结果，你学业有成，所有艰巨的工作也能……”

“不！”索尼娅腾地站起来，身子有些摇晃，“所有的一切都是您的付出！读高中时，我说自己的高年级数学课需要帮助，因为我根本算不出来。您让我不必担心。”

“你确实做得很好。”她的母亲说。

“是的！因为您把您的数学才能给了我！从那以后，您连自己的账本都算不清楚了，您还记得吗？”

她耸了耸肩：“人一旦衰老，大脑就反应迟钝了。”

“您有大学数学学位，是一名优秀教师，但是，自从我高中数学有所起色后，您却失去了所有的能力，告诉我，这难道是巧合吗？”

“亲爱的，你太紧张了，可能压力太大了。”

“不！不是的！我不能再剥夺您的任何东西了！简直令我无法忍受！我从来没想过要去念MBA，我没有雄心大志。但是，您有，您的志气比十个女人的还要大，直到我需要它，突然强烈地想要证明自己能力时，但是，您——您却放弃了，开始在超市干活。”

“我想要一份压力小些的工作。”

“我告诉您我很孤独，觉得不会有人愿意娶我。可是，突然，鲍勃成为我期待中的最适合托付终身的人。但是，爸爸突然对您失去了兴趣，与街对面的蠢妇走到一起。”