A4 NGÖÔØI VIEÄT THÖÙ TÖ - SOÁ 6920 - 17 thaùng 11, 2004 (6 thaùng Möôøi naêm Giaùp Thaân) .3”
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2004
Gia Ñình Cuøng Ñoïc
GIÔÙI THIEÄU: Moãi ngaøy Ngöôøi Vieät ñaêng moät caâu chuyeän song song vôùi nhaät baùo The Los Angeles Times, trang Living soá baùo xuaát baûn cuøng ngaøy, vôùi söï thoûa thuaän cuûa tôø baùo, taùc giaû vaø hoïa só. Chuùng toâi ñeà nghò cha meï, oâng baø ngöôøi Vieät cuøng ñoïc vôùi caùc em, khuyeán khích caùc em hoïc theâm tieáng meï ñeû.
Nho Nhoû Naøo Zelda, Nho Nhoû Thoâi. CONNIE CLARK Ñaëc bieät cho baùo Times
Phaàn 3 Tieáp theo kyø tröôùc: Thaày Abel yeâu caàu Zelda haùt chung vôùi thaày trong moät buoåi hoøa nhaïc. Zelda muoán cöôøi nhöng em nhaän ra gioïng cuûa thaày giaùo khoâng ñuøa giôõn. “Thaày muoán noùi em haùt aï? Tröôùc maët moïi ngöôøi aï? Moät mình em aï?” “Ñuùng vaäy,” Thaày Abel noùi. “Moïi ngöôøi seõ thích nghe em haùt ñaáy.” “Chaéc chaén laø hoï nghe ñöôïc em ñoù aï. Coâ Flapple noùi raèng caû vuõ truï naøy coù theå nghe ñöôïc tieáng cuûa em.” Thaày Abel cöôøi. “Ngöôøi ta cuõng ñaõ töøng noùi nhö vaäy vôùi thaày khi thaày coøn nhoû.” “Vaäy aï?” Thaày Abel laøm maët heà. “‘EÂ, coù phaûi gioïng haùt coøi chöõa löûa cuûa Charlie ñoù khoâng?’ hoï noùi vaäy ñaáy.” Zelda cöôøi. “Em coù caùi gioïng thaät to ñoù Zelda,” thaày noùi. “Nhöng em laïi nhoû ngöôøi. Neân coù theå em caûm thaáy nhö moät caùi aùo khoaùc quaù lôùn cho em vaäy. Thaày höùa laø em seõ quen daàn vôùi noù. Vaø moät buoåi hoøa nhac laø moät ñieàu kieän toát ñeå em coù theâm söï töï tin.” “Chaéc laø vaäy,” Zelda nghó thaàm. Em tính nhaän lôøi seõ haùt thì em chôït nhôù ra moät chuyeän. “Coâ Flapple coù ñi döï hoâm ñoù khoâng aï?” “Thaày khoâng bieát,” thaày Abel laät qua moät soá trang giaáy nhaïc. “Maø sao em hoûi?” Zelda quan saùt thaày Abel. Coù leõ coâ Flapple cuõng ñaõ noùi nhö vaäy vôùi thaày. Vì coâ ñaõ daïy thaày naêm lôùp ba maø. Coù leõ coâ ñaõ nhìn thaày qua caëp kính coù gaén trang söùc cuûa coâ y nhö caùch coâ nhìn Zelda vaäy, vaø noùi
raèng: “Nhoû thoâi naøo Charles, nhoû gioïng thoâi.” Nhöng baây giôø nhìn thaày Abel xem. Ngöôøi ta ñi töø bieát bao nhieâu daëm ñöôøng ñeán ñeå nghe thaày haùt. “Ñöôïc aï,” Zelda noùi. “Em seõ haùt taïi buoåi hoøa nhaïc.” “Tuyeät vôøi,” thaày Abel cöôøi töôi. “Em coù theå haùt baøi ‘Shenandoah.’ Em seõ haùt hay laém, thaät ñoù Zelda aï.” Zelda vaãn coøn nghó veà coâ Flapple. Lieäu coâ seõ coù maët ôû ñoù khoâng? Lieäu coâ coù ñöùng leân vaø heùt, “haùt nhoû thoâi Zelda, haùt nhoû thoâi” ôû giöõa buoåi hoøa nhaïc khoâng? Khoâng ñaâu, moät buoåi hoøa nhaïc ôû moät thaønh phoá khaùc maø laïi laø moät buoåi toái trong tuaàn thì coâ Flapple seõ baän roän söûa baøi hay löïa baøi haùt môùi ñeå caû lôùp haùt nho nhoû thoâi. Khoâng ñaâu, coâ Flapple chaéc chaén seõ khoâng ñi. Thöù Naêm: Hay laø coâ seõ ñi?
Truyeän naøy ñaêng treân trang web baùo Times taïi ñòa chæ www.latimes.com/kids.
Quietly Zelda, Quietly BY CONNIE CLARK Special to The Times
Part 3 The story so far: Mr. Abel has asked Zelda to sing in a concert with him. Zelda wanted to laugh until she realized her voice teacher wasn’t kidding. “You mean sing? In front of people? By myself?” “Sure,” Mr. Abel said. “People will love hearing you.” “They already can. Miss Flapple says the entire universe can hear me.” Mr. Abel laughed. “People used to say that stuff to me when I was a kid, too.” “They did?” Mr. Abel made a face. “Hey, was that a
fire alarm or Charlie’s voice?” they’d say. Zelda laughed. “You do have a big voice, Zelda,” he said. “But you’re kind of a small person. So it probably feels like a coat that’s too big for you. I promise you’ll grow into it. And a concert is the perfect thing to give you some self confidence.” “Maybe,” Zelda thought. She was just about to agree to sing when she remembered something. “Will Miss Flapple be there?” “I dunno,” Mr. Abel shuffled through some music sheets. “Why?” Zelda studied Mr. Abel. Maybe Miss Flapple had said the same thing to him. After all, she’d been his third grade teacher, too. Maybe she had looked at him over her bejeweled glasses exactly the way she looked at Zelda, and said “quietly, Charles, quietly.” But look at Mr. Abel now. People came from miles away to hear him sing. “OK,” Zelda said, “I’ll sing at the concert.” “Fantastic,” Mr. Abel beamed. “You can sing ‘Shenandoah.’ You’ll be great, Zelda. Really.” Zelda was still thinking about Miss Flapple. Would she be there?Would she stand up and yell, “quietly, Zelda, quietly” in the middle of the concert? No, the concert was in another city on a school night. Miss Flapple would probably be busy correcting papers or looking for new music that the class could sing - quietly. No, Miss Flapple would definitely not be at the concert. Thursday: Or will she?
This story is on The Times’ website at latimes.com/kids.
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