In the months following my arrival, my mum feared she could not look after me. My dad could not see a happy future for me and worried about the kind of life I would have. They considered their options, including the possibility of giving me up for adoption. Both sets of my grandparents offered to take me and care for me. My parents declined the offers. They decided it was their responsibility to raise me as best they could.
我刚来到这个世界的头几个月，妈妈害怕自己无力照顾我，爸爸则觉得我前途坎坷，担心我日后会过什么样的日子。他们思考过几种选择，甚至包括放弃我，送给别人收养。祖父祖母和外公外婆两边都提出要把我接去照顾。我父母拒绝了他们的提议，认定尽其所能抚养我是他们的责任。
I soon proved that even without limbs I was athletic and well coordinated. I was all trunk but all baby boy too; a rolling, diving 1)daredevil. I learned to haul myself into an upright position by 2)bracing my forehead against a wall and scooting up it. My mum and dad worked with me for a long time trying to help me master a more comfortable method, but I always insisted on finding my own way.
我很快就证明了即使没有手脚，我依然行动敏捷，并具备良好的协调性。我整个人只有躯干，但也是个小男婴，是个到处滚到处撞的冒险鬼。我学着把自己拉成直立姿势，方法是用前额顶住墙面，然后使劲向上移动。长久以来，爸妈和我一起，试图教我掌握一种更为舒服的方法，但我总坚持要自己解决问题。
My parents worried about me constantly, of course. Parenthood is a shocking experience even with full-bodied babies. New mothers and fathers often joke that they wish their first child came with an operating manual. There was no chapter even in 3)Dr. Spock for babies like me. Yet I stubbornly grew healthier and bolder. I closed in on the “4)terrible twos” stage, packing more potential parental terrors than a set of 5)octuplets.
当然了，我的父母常常为我担心。其实就算孩子四肢健全，为人父母也是一种充满惊吓的体验。新手父母常开玩笑说，希望第一个孩子出生时能附带一本使用手册。但就算是斯波克医生的育儿畅销书上也没有任何一章谈到该怎么照顾像我这样的婴儿。不过，我还是顽强地长大了，越来越健康，胆子也越来越大。我慢慢长到了“猫狗都嫌”的两岁阶段，带给父母们的潜在恐怖体验，比一组八胞胎还多。
How will he ever feed himself! How will he go to school? Who would take care of him if something happened to us! How will he ever live independently!
他要怎么吃东西？他要怎么上学？如果我们出了什么事，谁来照顾他？他要怎么独立生活？
Our human powers of reasoning can be a blessing and a curse. Like my parents, you have probably fretted and worried about the future. Often, though, that which you dread turns out to be far less a problem than you imagined. There is nothing wrong with looking ahead and planning for the future, but know that your worst fears could just as easily prove to be your best surprise. Very often life works out for the good.
人类的推理能力可以是种福佑，也可能是个诅咒。你很可能也像我父母一样，想到未来就苦恼、发愁。不过，通常你所害怕的事情到最后不会如你想象的那么严重。未雨绸缪没什么不好，但你要知道，最可怕的梦魇有可能轻而易举就变成了最棒的惊喜。人生很多事到最后，结果是美好的。
One of the best surprises of my childhood was the control I had over my little left foot. Instinctively I used it to roll myself around, to kick, shove, and brace myself. My parents and doctors felt that the handy little foot might be of greater use. There were two toes, but they were fused together when I was born. My parents and doctors decided that an operation to free the toes might allow me to use them more like fingers to grip a pen, turn a page, or perform other functions.
我童年最棒的惊喜之一，是学会掌控我那只小小的左脚。出于本能，我用它来滚、踢、推和撑住自己，但爸妈和医生认为这只便利的小左脚应该可以发挥更大的作用。我的小左脚有两个趾头，不过我出生时它们黏在了一起。爸妈和医生认为动个手术分开这两个趾头，会让它们使用起来更像手指，可以做些握笔、翻页之类的事。
We then lived in Melbourne,Australia, which offered some of the best medical care in the country. I did present challenges beyond the training of most health care professionals. At the time when doctors were preparing me for foot surgery, my mum kept emphasizing to them that I ran hot most of the time and that they would have to be especially attentive to the possibility of my body overheating. She knew about another child without limbs who overheated during an operation and was left with brain damage after suffering a brain 6)seizure.
当时我们住在澳大利亚的墨尔本，这里可以提供这个国家某些最棒的医疗照护，但我带来的挑战超过大部分医护人员所受的训练。当医生们准备为我的脚动手术时，妈妈不断提醒他们，我大部分时间都在发烧，一定要特别提防我身体过热的状况。她了解到有另一个没有四肢的孩子，在手术时因为体温过高，引发了脑部癫痫，从而留下脑损伤的后遗症。
My self-roasting tendencies prompted an oft repeated family saying: “When Nicky’s cold, the ducks must be freezing.” Still, it is no joke that if I exercise too much, get stressed out, or stay too long under hot lights, my body temperature will rise dangerously. Avoiding a meltdown is one of the things I have to always be on guard against.
因为我的身体常常会自动发热，所以我家很流行一句话：“当尼克觉得冷的时候，鸭子都要冻僵了。”这可不是开玩笑，如果我运动得太厉害、压力大，或者在炙热的光线下待太久，我的体温会上升到危急状态。避免自己被融化掉是我一直必须要提防的事情之一。
“Please monitor his temperature carefully,” my mum told the surgical team. Even though the doctors knew my mother was a nurse, they still didn’t take her advice seriously. They managed a successful surgery separating my toes, but what my mum had warned them about came to pass. I emerged from the operating room soaked because they hadn’t taken any 7)precautions for keeping my body from over-heating, and when they realized that my temperature was getting out of control, they tried to cool me with wet sheets. They also put buckets of ice on me to avoid a seizure.
“请小心监控他的体温。”妈妈提醒手术团队。尽管医生们都知道我妈是一名护士，但他们还是没把她的话当一回事。我脚趾的分割手术很成功，但妈妈警告过的事还是发生了。我从手术室出来时，全身湿透，因为医护人员没有采取任何预防我体温过热的措施，而当他们猛然发现我体温失控时，就用湿毯子裹住我，想让我冷却下来。他们甚至将好几桶冰块放到我身上，以防我发生癫痫。
My mum was furious. No doubt the doctors felt the 8)wrath of Dushka!
我妈妈气炸了。毫无疑问，医生们感受到了杜什卡的愤怒！
Even still, once I chilled out (quite literally), my quality of life received a big boost from my newly freed toes. They didn’t work exactly as the doctors had hoped, but I adapted. It’s amazing what a little foot and a couple of toes can do for a 9)bloke with no arms and no legs. That operation and new technologies liberated me by giving me the power to operate 10)custom-built electronic wheelchairs, a computer, and a cell phone too.
不过，当我冷静下来（真的是“冷”下来了），我的生活质量确实因为两个刚刚分开了的脚趾头而有了大幅提升。它们并没有像医生期望的那么好用，但我会调适。对一个没手没脚的小伙子来说，这么一只小脚和两个趾头的作用已经很了不起了。这个手术加上新科技，使我能操作量身订做的电动轮椅、计算机和手机，行动更加自由。
I can’t know exactly what your burden is, nor do I pretend that I’ve ever been through a similar crisis, but look at what my parents went through when I was born. Imagine how they felt. Consider how bleak the future must have looked to them.
我不知道你的重担是什么，也不会假装自己经历过类似的难关，但看看我父母在我出生时所经历的，想象一下他们当时的感受吧！想想，未来对他们来说是多么凄凉无望啊！
You may not be able to see a bright light at the end of your own dark tunnel right now, but know that my parents could not envision what a wonderful life I would have one day. They had no idea that their son would be not only self sufficient and fully engaged in a career but happy, and full of joyful purpose!
或许你目前正处于黑暗的隧道中，看不到尽头的光明，但你要知道，当年我父母也无法想象有一天我会拥有如此美妙的人生。他们当时不知道，儿子不但可以自给自足，完全就业，而且还过得快乐、充满喜悦，有目标！
Most of my parents’ worst fears never materialized. Raising me was certainly not easy, but I think they’ll tell you that for all the challenges, we had plenty of laughter and joy. All things considered, I had an amazingly normal childhood in which I enjoyed tormenting my siblings, Aaron and Michelle, just like all big brothers!
我父母最害怕的事，大部分都没发生。养育我当然不容易，但我觉得他们会告诉你，即使经历种种挑战，我们的生活还是充满欢笑与喜乐。总的来说，我的童年生活过得出奇地正常，时常折磨弟弟亚伦和妹妹米歇尔，就像所有的大哥哥一样！
Life may be 11)kicking you around right now. You may wonder if your fortunes will improve. I’m telling you that you can’t even imagine the good that awaits you if you refuse to give up. Stay focused on your dream. Do whatever it takes to stay in the chase. You have the power to change your circumstances. Go after whatever it is you desire.
生活或许现在对你来说很残酷。你或许不知道自己的运气会否好转。但我要告诉你，只要拒绝放弃，就会有超乎想象的美好在前方等着你。请把焦点放在你的梦想上，竭尽所能地去逐梦。你有改变自身环境的力量。追求你心中的渴望吧，不管那是什么。
1) daredevil [?de?devl] n. 铤而走险的人，蛮勇的人
2) brace [bre?s] v. 支住，撑牢
3) Dr. Spock 即Benjamin Spock（1903—1998），美国儿科权威，医学博士。其撰写的《斯波克育儿经》（Dr. Spock on Parenting）被公认为20世纪最可信的育儿手册，多年来畅销全球
4) terrible twos 可怕的两岁，也叫“两岁执拗期”，指婴儿长到两岁进入人生的第一个叛逆期，会经常任性、哭闹、难以调教
5) octuple ['?ktj?pl] n. 八倍，八胞胎
6) seizure [?si:??] n. 癫痫发作，抽搐
7) precaution [pr??k?:?n] n. 预防，警惕
8) wrath [r?θ] n. 愤怒
9) bloke [bl??k] n. 英俚>小子，家伙
10) custom-built adj. 定制的，定做的
11) kick around 粗暴对待
