A Fateful Dinner 一顿改变命运的晚餐
“Dinner is ready, Ken,” Ken’s mum called.
Ken was immersed in an adventure book, “OK, Mum.”
Five minutes later,
“Dinner is getting cold, Ken, come right now!” his dad called.
Ken took the book with him to the dining room; his mum and dad were waiting.
“Put that book away, son, eat your dinner now,” his dad said.
“But I nearly finished it,” Ken’s eyes were glued on the book.
“Put that book away!” his dad said sternly.
“Tell us about your school today, did anything interesting happen?” his mum tried to calm the air.
“Nothing new really.”
“晚餐弄好了，肯恩，” 肯恩的妈妈叫着。
肯恩沉浸在一本探险的书里， “好的，妈。”
五分钟后，
“晚餐快凉了，肯恩， 马上来吃!” 他的爸爸叫着。
肯恩带着他的书来到餐厅﹔他的妈妈和爸爸在等着。
“放下那本书，儿子，现在吃晚餐，”他的爸爸说。
“可是我几乎要读完了，” 肯恩的眼睛盯住那本书。
“放下那本书!” 他的爸爸严肃地说。
“告诉我们你今天在学校的事吧， 有没有什么有趣的事发生啊?” 他的妈妈试着使气氛缓和下来。
“其实没什么新鲜事。”
“We know you love reading, but why don’t you have a hobby like other kids?” his mum asked.
“Reading is a hobby, Mum, and I want to be a great reader when I grow up.”
“Reading is good, but we hope you have a proper hobby like collecting stamps, playing some musical instruments, making some art crafts, painting pictures or writing …” his mum went on.
“Mmm! I like the idea of painting and writing, my art teacher Mrs Greenford said my drawings were very good, and I always get an A plus in English, but what shall I paint or write?”
“Why not start by writing a short story and drawing some pictures for the story?” his dad suggested.
“That sounds difficult, I don’t know what to write…”
“Or paint a picture then write a poem or something for it,” his mum suggested.
“Mmm…” Ken’s eyes fixed on a painting on the wall, he made a decision.
“我们知道你很喜爱读书，可是你怎么不像其他小孩一样有个嗜好呢?” 他妈妈问。 “读书是个嗜好啊，妈，而且我长大后要当个伟大的阅读家。”
“读书是好的， 但我们希望你有个适当的嗜好像收集邮票、弹某种乐器、制作某些工艺品、画图或写作… ” 他妈妈继续说着。
“嗯! 我喜欢画图和写作的主意，我的美术老师格林佛得太太说我的图画得很好， 而且我的英文总是得A+的， 可是我要画什么和写什么呢?”
“何不开始写个短篇故事与替那故事画些图呢?” 他的爸爸 建议。
“那听起来蛮困难的，我不知道要写什么…”
“或者画个图然后给那个图写篇诗或什么的，” 他妈妈建议。
“嗯…”肯恩的眼睛盯在墙上的一幅画上，他作了一个决定。
Fifteen years later,
“Congratulations, Mr Parkton. Today’s exhibition was a big success, and you have two books on the best sellers list at the same time; as a young artist, how did you come to choose both painting and writing as a career?”
“It all started at a dinner when I was about ten, my father was upset about me reading at the dinner table, and my mother suggested that I have a hobby…the painting on the wall of the dining room made the decision for me.”
“What was the decision?”
“To take up painting and writing as my hobby.”
“What was the painting on the wall?” the reporter asked.
“Salvador Dali’s ‘The Persistence of Memory’, as a child I was fascinated by those melting pocket watches, and often wondered about the intriguing visions in Dali’s head, so I started to copy his painting style and write stories about my own paintings; over the years I developed my own style and concepts which led to what you saw today.” Ken replied.
十五年后.，
“恭喜，派克顿先生。今天的展示真是个大成功，而且你同时有两本书在畅销书单上﹔身为一个年轻的艺术家，你怎么会选择绘画和写作当事业的?”
“这从当我大约十岁时的一个晚餐开始的， 我的父亲不高兴我在吃饭的时候读书，我母亲建议我有个嗜好… 餐厅墙上的一幅画为我作了决定。”
“什么决定?”
“以绘画和写作当我的嗜好。”
“墙上 的那幅画是什么?” 记者问。
“萨尔瓦多达利的画 ‘持续的记忆’，当我小的时候我很着迷于那些溶化的怀表， 也常迷惑于达利脑子里的那些耐人寻味的幻象， 所以我开始模仿他的绘画风格 也为我自己的画写故事﹔ 多年来我发展出自己的风格与概念演化成你今天所见的作品。”肯恩回答。
