摘要：我很小心，无论走到哪里，我都向她展示一个城市女孩真正有趣的生活

Hello everybody

Hello everybody

my name is Kim

我叫金姆

something awful happened to me recently

最近发生了一件可怕的事

I really need support

我真的需要支持

an advice from you

你的建议

it might seem strange

可能看起来很奇怪

what I'm going to tell you right now

我现在要告诉你的是

but my life has been stolen

但我的生活被偷走了

everything started last summer

一切都是去年夏天开始的

my second cousin Karen came to visit us for the first time

我的表妹凯伦第一次来看我们

it was actually the very first time she had ever left her native tiny town

实际上，这是她第一次离开家乡的小城镇

and she was pretty excited about everything

她对每件事都很兴奋

of course she stayed at our big house and I was happy to share my room with her

当然，她住在我们的大房子里，我很高兴和她一起住在我的房间里

at first

一开始

everything seemed to be really great

一切似乎都很好

I took care and everywhere I went and showed her the truly fun life of a city girl

我很小心，无论走到哪里，我都向她展示一个城市女孩真正有趣的生活

she met all my girl friends

她见过我所有的女朋友

we taught her how to follow the latest fashion trends

我们教她如何追随最新的时尚潮流

went to the SpA together

一起去了水疗中心

explained why fast food wasn't the worst teasing thing ever

解释了为什么快餐不是最糟糕的玩笑

and even pushed her to get acquainted with the guy she really liked

甚至逼她去认识她真正喜欢的男人

I loaned her some clothes and cosmetics so that she really looked more like a part of our gang

我借给她一些衣服和化妆品，让她看起来更像我们帮派的一员

you know

你知道

I was really proud of myself

我真的为自己感到骄傲

and I saw how extremely happy she was about the rapid change in her appearance

我看到她对自己外表的快速变化是多么的高兴

only one thing about Karen that annoyed me from the very beginning was that she was too

凯伦从一开始就让我感到厌烦的唯一原因就是她也是

subservient

subservient

so to speak

可以这么说

So at some point my mom began to pit the two of us against each other and always said something like

所以在某个时候，我妈妈开始让我们两个互相竞争，总是说一些类似的话

why wasn't I as helpful as Karen or as kind as Karen and things like that

为什么我不能像凯伦那样乐于助人或者像凯伦一样善良之类的

this happened so much that Karen's helpfulness had become an annoyance to me

这件事发生得太多了，凯伦的帮助成了我的烦恼

Anyways

不管怎样

that summer ended really fast and Karen went home with tears in her eyes

那个夏天很快就结束了，凯伦回家时眼里含着泪水

cause she really didn't want to leave me as she'd put it

因为她真的不想像她说的那样离开我

I was also crying and had promised to Miss her

我也哭了，答应过要想念她

although I was looking forward to having my room back to myself again

不过，我很期待能有自己的房间

we even Emailed each other until the end of the summer

我们甚至互相发电子邮件直到夏天结束

Karen sent me a photo of her right after getting a new hair cut

凯伦刚剪了头发就给我发了一张她的照片

she now looked a lot like me and it seemed a little weird but nice

她现在看起来很像我，虽然有点怪，但人很好

virtually nothing seemed to be suspicious

几乎没有什么是可疑的

but when the school year was about

但是当学年临近的时候

to start and I returned home from a regular movie in friends night

开始，我从朋友之夜的一场常规电影中回家

my mom told me that there was a surprise waiting for me upstairs

我妈妈告诉我楼上有个惊喜等着我

it was Karen

是凯伦

I was definitely happy to see her

我真的很高兴见到她

but I wondered what she was doing here while she had to get prepared for her last year of school

但我想知道她在这里做什么，而她必须为最后一年的学习做准备

she said that there was another surprise and that she was going to study at my school

她说还有一个惊喜她要去我的学校学习

and in my class so that we could graduate together

在我的班上这样我们就可以一起毕业了

it turned out she liked city life and life with me so much

原来她很喜欢城市生活和我一起生活

that she practically begged her parents on her knees to let her come back here

她几乎是跪下来求她父母让她回到这里

I was really happy for her

我真的为她高兴

since I could only imagine how lame life in her tiny little town was

因为我只能想象在她的小镇上生活是多么的无聊

From the very first day of school

从上学的第一天开始

Karen tried to follow me everywhere I went and acted pretty much exactly like me

凯伦想跟着我走到哪里都像我一样

so by the end of the first term

所以在第一学期结束的时候

I had started to notice that she was copying my

我开始注意到她在抄我的

mannerisms

怪癖

my walk and my sense of humor and stuff

我的走路姿势和我的幽默感

she was now even eating the same way I was

她现在吃东西的方式和我一样

for example

例如

when she'd first arrived in the city

当她第一次来到这个城市的时候

she would eat everything she wanted

她想吃什么就吃什么

but now she'd begun counting calories just like me

但现在她开始像我一样计算卡路里了

she also stopped eating pork just like me

她也不再像我一样吃猪肉了

and she'd even started peeling the skin off of her apples just like I did

她甚至开始像我一样剥掉苹果上的皮

so now Karen

所以凯伦

this once shy and polite girl was totally gone

这个曾经害羞而有礼貌的女孩彻底消失了

she wasn't shy any more

她不再害羞了

especially hanging out with my friends

尤其是和我的朋友在一起

and once a totally outrageous situation happened

一旦发生了令人愤慨的事情

I found Karen talking on the phone with somebody setting up a meeting

我发现凯伦在电话里和别人约好了见面

and when I asked where she was going

当我问她要去哪里时

especially without me

尤其是没有我

she said she had to go meet with Emily

她说她得去见艾米丽

my Emily behind my back

我的艾米丽在我背后

I couldn't let her do it

我不能让她这么做

that's why I decided to ask her directly what she was up to with my friends

所以我决定直接问她她和我朋友在干什么

adding additional stress to the word

给这个词增加额外的重音

my

我的

I couldn't ignore the fact that Karen's smile became wider

我不能忽视凯伦的微笑变得更大了

she said that they were also friends of hers and that I was actually the one who introduced them

她说他们也是她的朋友实际上是我介绍他们认识的

that's why now I shouldn't be worried about them preferring her over me

所以现在我不该担心他们喜欢她胜过我

unless Maybe I thought I was more interesting to hang out with

除非也许我觉得和我在一起更有趣

and then she left

后来她离开了

and there I was

我就在那里

standing there in the middle of the room

站在房间的中央

with this deep feeling inside me that I had created a real monster

我内心有一种深深的感觉，我创造了一个真正的怪物

I stayed at home for the rest of that day

那天剩下的时间我一直呆在家里

trying to think over the situation and figure out some appropriate and strong words

努力思考形势，找出一些恰当而有力的词语

you know

你知道

to have a really serious talk with Karen when she came back

在凯伦回来的时候和她认真地谈一谈

she came back pretty soon and she was not alone

她很快就回来了，她不是一个人

my parents happened to meet her half-way and gave her a ride

我父母碰巧在半路上遇见了她并开车送她

you know

你知道

when they entered the House

当他们进入房子的时候

everybody seemed really happy and

所有人都很开心而且

harmonious

和谐

so to speak

可以这么说

I had even thought about how well Karen seems to fit into our family

我甚至想过凯伦似乎很适合我们的家庭

and this thought made me sick

这个想法让我恶心

it was impossible for her to replace me

她根本不可能取代我

right

对的

we weren't alone again until late at night

我们直到深夜才再次独处

and I was the one who started the conversation

我是开始谈话的那个人

she was silent

她很沉默

but I could feel her tension and irritation

但我能感觉到她的紧张和恼怒

When I was done with my speech

当我结束演讲的时候

Karen showed me her cell phone

凯伦给我看了她的手机

there's a group chat with her and all of my friends

我和她还有我所有的朋友一起聊天

but I wasn't included

但不包括我

she said that she never meant to replace me totally

她说她从没想过要完全取代我

and that she was grateful for everything that I had done for her

她很感激我为她做的一切

but since my friends were more interested in hanging out with her rather than me

但因为我的朋友更喜欢和她而不是我一起

I was probably never interesting for them at all

我可能对他们一点都不感兴趣

it sounded like nonsense and was really offensive

这听起来像是无稽之谈，真的很无礼

I've never experienced this type of cruelty before in my life

我从来没有经历过这样的残酷

and I never thought that a person who I was sharing my room with would ever steal my life

我从没想过和我同住一个房间的人会偷走我的生活

we had a huge fight

我们大吵了一架

and it was so bad that even my mom knocked on the door asking what was going on between us

太糟糕了，连我妈妈都敲门问我们之间发生了什么事

both of us said nothing and silently went to sleep

我们俩什么也没说，静静地睡着了

since that

从那以后

I've barely Interacted with Karen

我很少和凯伦说话

I didn't want to bother my friends by having them hang out with me

我不想让我的朋友和我一起出去玩而打扰他们

so I kind of ignored them

所以我忽略了他们

and even though they continuously Texted me

即使他们一直给我发短信

I kept thinking that they were doing it deliberately

我一直以为他们是故意的

I was feeling so sorry for myself in the situation that I had almost forgotten about my birthday

在这种情况下我为自己感到难过，几乎忘了自己的生日

that coming Sunday

即将到来的星期天

I mean

我是说

I had no one to properly celebrate this day with

我没有合适的人来庆祝这一天

so why should I be excited about it

所以我为什么要兴奋呢

When I woke up that Sunday morning

当我那个星期天早上醒来时

I felt the day was already

我觉得这一天已经

ruined because my nasty brother

因为我恶心的弟弟而毁了

was screaming downstairs that my birthday cake looked better than his or something

在楼下大喊我的生日蛋糕比他的好看

I knew the family was about to enter my room to congratulate me

我知道这家人正要走进我的房间来祝贺我

it was a sort of our tradition

这是我们的一种传统

so I was lying in bed waiting for them to appear

所以我躺在床上等着他们出现

but when they entered my room I was so surprised that I even screamed

但当他们走进我的房间时，我惊讶得尖叫起来

everybody was there with the cake

所有人都带着蛋糕

I mean not only my family and Karen

不仅仅是我的家人和凯伦

but also every single girl from my group of friends

也包括我那群朋友中的每一个女孩

it definitely wasn't what I had expected

这绝对不是我所期望的

everybody laughed and began hugging me one by one

大家都笑了，开始一个接一个地拥抱我

and once all the excitement had settled down

一旦所有的兴奋都平息了

Karen approached me

Karen approached me

she said she was really sorry for her behaviour

她说她对自己的行为感到很抱歉

but our fight was a part of her master plan to surprise me for my birthday

但我们的争吵是她总计划的一部分为了给我的生日惊喜

I had brought her to life with everything I did for her

我为她做的每一件事都让她活了过来

and she had finally figured out a way to thank me

她终于想出了感谢我的方法

I was in shock

我当时吓坏了

it was a good shock

这是一个很大的打击

I think

我觉得

but still shock

但还是很震惊

of course

当然了

I had accepted her apology and her wrongly chosen way to please me and I was no longer angry at her

我接受了她的道歉，她错误地选择了取悦我的方式，我不再生她的气了

however

但是

now that some time has passed I still think her behaviour was slightly weird and deep down

一段时间过去了，我还是觉得她的行为有点怪，有点骨子里

I hope we go to different colleges

我希望我们能上不同的大学

来源：播得英语