Unit 5

水手的圣誕禮物

威廉·J·萊德勒

去年圣誕期間，我、妻子和三個兒子在法國，從巴黎前往尼斯。一連五天都很倒霉，沒有一件事順心。入住的旅館盡是些“宰客的黑店”，租用的汽車也壞了，一家人擠在車上個個顯得煩躁不安。圣誕節(jié)前夜，我們住進了尼斯一家邋遢的旅店，心里沒有半點圣誕感覺。close2RT It was raining and cold when we went out to eat. We found a boring looking little joint carelessly decorated for the holiday. It smelled greasy. Only five tables in the restaurant were occupied. There were two German couples, two French families, and an American sailor, by himself. In the corner a piano player monotonously played Christmas music.

我們外出就餐時，天正下著雨，天氣寒冷。我們找到了一家小餐館，這小店看著很乏味，只是隨便裝飾了一下來應(yīng)節(jié)。餐館散發(fā)著一股油膩的味道。里面只有五張桌子坐了人：兩對德國夫婦，兩戶法國家庭和一名獨自用餐的美國水手。在餐廳的一個角落里，鋼琴師在無精打采地彈奏著圣誕樂曲。close3RT I was too stubborn and too tired and miserable to leave. I looked around and noticed that the other customers were eating in stony silence. The only person who seemed happy was the American sailor. While eating, he was writing a letter, and a half-smile lighted his face.

我情緒低落，加之疲憊不堪，執(zhí)意不愿離開這兒去找別的餐館了。我環(huán)顧四周，只見顧客們都默默地在吃著飯，唯一一個顯得開心的是那位美國水手。他一邊吃著，一邊寫信，臉上閃耀著淡淡的微笑。close4RT My wife ordered our meal in French. The waiter brought us the wrong thing. I scolded my wife for being stupid. She began to cry. The boys defended her, and I felt even worse.

妻子用法語點了菜，服務(wù)員給我們端來的卻是別的東西。我罵妻子愚蠢，她哭了起來。孩子們護著媽媽，我的情緒變得更加糟糕。close5RT Then, at the table with the French family on our left, the father slapped one of his children for some minor fault, and the boy began to cry. On our right, the German wife began scolding her husband.

繼而，坐在我們左側(cè)餐桌上的那位法國父親因為一點小事打了其中一個孩子一記耳光，小男孩大哭起來。我們的右邊，那個德國婦女開始喋喋不休地數(shù)落她的丈夫。close6RT All of us were interrupted by an unpleasant blast of cold air. Through the front door came an old French flower woman. She wore a dripping, ragged overcoat, and dragged herself in on wet, rundown shoes. Carrying her basket of flowers, she went from one table to another.

一陣令人不快的寒風吹了進來。從前門進來一個賣花的法國老太太。她穿著一件濕淋淋的破舊大衣，穿一雙水淋淋的舊鞋拖著腿進來。她提著花籃，沿桌叫賣。close7RT "Flowers, monsieur? Only one franc."

"買花嗎，先生？只要一個法郎哩。"close8RT No one bought any.

誰也沒有買。close9RT Wearily she sat down at a table between the sailor and us. To the waiter she said, "A bowl of soup. I haven't sold a flower all afternoon." To the piano player she said hoarsely, "Can you imagine, Joseph, soup on Christmas Eve?"

她疲憊不堪，在水手和我們之間的那張餐桌旁邊坐了下來，對服務(wù)員說："請來碗湯吧。一下午連一朵花也沒賣掉。"接著，她用嘶啞的聲音對鋼琴師說，"你能想象嗎，約瑟夫，圣誕節(jié)前夜就喝點湯？"close10RT He pointed to his empty "tipping plate". The young sailor finished his meal and got up to leave. Putting on his coat, he walked over to the flower woman's table.

鋼琴師指了指身旁的那只空空如也的"小費盤"。年輕的海員已吃完，起身準備離開。他穿上外套，走到賣花老太太的桌前。close11RT "Happy Christmas," he said, smiling and picking out two flowers. "How much are they?"

他笑著說了聲"圣誕快樂！"，一邊挑出兩朵小小的花，"多少錢？"close12RT "Two francs, monsieur."

"兩個法郎，先生。"close13RT Pressing one of the small flowers flat, he put it into the letter he had written, then handed the woman a twenty-franc note.

他把其中的一朵花壓平，放進已經(jīng)寫好的信里，然后將一張20法郎面額的鈔票遞給了老婦。close14RT "I don't have change, monsieur," she said. "I'll get some from the waiter."

"我沒有零錢找您，先生。"她說，"我去跟服務(wù)員換一點來。"close15RT "No, ma'am," said the sailor, leaning over and kissing the ancient cheek. "This is my Christmas present to you."

"不用了，夫人。"說著，水手俯身吻了吻那張老邁的臉，"這是我送給您的圣誕禮物。"close16RT Straightening up, he came to our table, holding the other flower in front of him. "Sir," he said to me, "may I have permission to present this flower to your beautiful daughter?" In one quick motion he gave my wife the flower, wished us a Merry Christmas, and departed.

他直起身，朝我們的餐桌走來，那另一朵鮮花舉在他的胸前。"先生，"他對我說，"我可以將這花作為禮物送給您漂亮的女兒嗎？"說著，他迅速地將那朵花塞到我妻子的手中，道了聲"圣誕快樂"，就離去了。close17RT Everyone had stopped eating. Everyone had been watching the sailor. Everyone was silent. A few seconds later, Christmas exploded throughout the restaurant like a bomb. The old flower woman jumped up, waving the twenty-franc note. Hobbling to the middle of the floor she did a lively folk dance and shouted to the piano player, "Joseph, my Christmas present! And you shall have half, so you can have a feast, too."

人們都停止吃飯，大家都看到了那位水手的一舉一動，整個餐廳鴉雀無聲。幾秒鐘后，圣誕的歡樂激情像炸彈似的爆炸開來。賣花老婦騰身站起，揮動著她手中的那張20法郎的鈔票。她蹣跚著走到餐廳的中央，歡快地踏起了舞步，沖著鋼琴師嚷道："約瑟夫，我收到圣誕禮物了！我也讓你分享一半，讓你也能吃上一頓豐盛的圣誕晚餐。"close18RT The piano player began to sing loudly "Good King Wenceslaus," beating the keys with magic hands, nodding his head in rhythm.

鋼琴師急速地彈起了"好國王瓦茨拉夫"舞曲，魔力十足的雙手敲擊著琴鍵，頭和著樂曲的旋律頻頻點動。close19RT My wife waved her flower in time to the music. She was radiant and appeared twenty years younger. The tears had left her eyes, and the corners of her mouth turned up in laughter. She began to sing, and our three sons joined her, bellowing the song with uninhibited enthusiasm.

妻子也隨著音樂的節(jié)奏揮動著那朵鮮花。她容光煥發(fā)，仿佛一下子年輕了20歲。淚水不見了，嘴角上綻出笑容。她啟動歌喉，放聲歌唱，我們的三個兒子隨聲和了起來，縱情高歌。close20RT "Gut!Gut!" shouted the Germans. They jumped on their chairs and began singing the words in German. The waiter embraced the flower woman. Waving their arms, they sang in French. The Frenchman who had slapped the boy beat rhythm with his fork against a bottle. The lad climbed on his lap, singing merrily too.

"好！好！"德國人高聲喝彩。他們跳到椅子上，并用德語唱起這支歌。服務(wù)員上前擁抱著賣花的老太太，兩人揮舞手臂，用法語唱了起來。那個打了兒子一巴掌的法國男子用餐叉敲擊著酒瓶打起了拍子，那男孩爬上他爸爸的膝頭，用童稚的高音歌唱起來。close21RT The Germans ordered wine for everyone. They delivered it themselves, hugging the other customers. One of the French families called for champagne — made the round, kissing each of us on both cheeks. The owner of the restaurant started "The First Noel", and we all joined in, half of us crying.

德國人請在場的每個人喝酒。人們自斟自飲，相互擁抱。其中的一家法國人要來了香檳——到每張桌上給人敬酒，親吻每個人的雙頰。飯館老板帶頭唱起"耶穌降生"，我們大家都跟著唱，其中有半數(shù)人是含淚唱的。close22RT People crowded in from the street until many customers were standing. The walls shook as hands and feet kept time to the Christmas carols.

人們絡(luò)繹不絕地從街上向餐館涌來，后來連位子都不夠了，一些顧客只好站著。人們和著圣誕歌的節(jié)奏手舞足蹈，聲音震動了餐廳的四壁。close23RT The miserable evening in a dull restaurant ended up being the very best Christmas Eve we had ever experienced just because of a young sailor who had Christmas spirit in his soul. He released the love and joy that had been smothered within us by anger and disappointment. He gave us Christmas.

原本是在一家簡陋的小餐館里的一個凄涼的夜晚，結(jié)果竟變成我們一生中最最美好的圣誕前夜。這全虧那位靈魂中閃爍著圣誕精神的年輕海員。是他釋放了我們心中那被憤懣和失望壓抑的愛心和快樂。他賜給了我們圣誕的歡樂。Close

2

T Our "Family"

Linda Snelson This text is adapted from Chicken Soup at http://www.chickensoup.com.

close1RT My daughter Gina was in Mrs. Melton's fourth-grade class. After only a month in school, she began to come home on a regular basis asking for pencils, crayons, paper, etc. At first I provided whatever she needed.

我們"一家子"

琳達·斯內(nèi)爾森

我的女兒吉娜在梅爾頓太太的班上讀四年級，才上了一個月的學，就開始定期向家里要鉛筆、蠟筆、紙張等學習用品。一開始我對她有求必應(yīng)。close2RT After ongoing requests for items that should have easily lasted a mere six weeks of fourth grade, I became concerned and asked her, "Gina, what are you doing with your school supplies?" She would always give me a satisfactory answer.

我買給她的學習用品本來足夠她用六個星期了，而她還在不斷向我要。我開始擔心起來，便問她："吉娜，你是怎么用你的學習用品的？"每次她都能給我一個合理的解釋。 close3RT One day, after supplying the same thing only a week earlier, I became irritated (激怒，使煩躁) with her pleading (請求) for more and sternly (嚴厲地) asked her once more, "Gina! What is going on with your school supplies?" Knowing her excuses would no longer work, she bent her head and began to cry. I lifted her tiny chin (下巴) and looked into those big brown eyes, filled now with tears. "What? What is wrong?" My mind was racing with all sorts of ideas. Had she been bullied (欺辱，威逼) by another child? Was she giving her supplies to him or her to keep from being hurt? I couldn't imagine what was going on, but I knew it was something serious for her to cry. I waited for what seemed like an eternity for her to answer.

有一天，她又說要買學習用品了，而我一星期前才給她買過。我很不高興，便厲聲問她，"吉娜，你的學習用品用來干什么了？"這下她知道瞞不過去了，低下頭哭起來。我抬起她的小下巴，盯著她那對棕色的大眼睛，那眼里已經(jīng)滿是淚水。"怎么了？到底怎么了？"我的腦海里滿是疑問。她是不是被別的孩子欺負了？她是不是為了免受傷害而被迫把自己的學習用具給了出去？我不清楚究竟出了什么事，但她哭了說明事情一定很嚴重。我等著她的回答，似乎等了一萬年。 close4RT "Mom," she began, "there is a boy in my class; he doesn't have any of the supplies he needs to do his work. The other kids make fun of him because his papers are messy and he only has two crayons to color with. I have been putting the new supplies you bought me in his desk before the others come in, so he doesn't know it's me. Please don't get mad at me, Mom. I didn't mean to tell you a lie, but I didn't want anyone to know it was me."

"媽媽，"她開口了，"我班上有個男孩，他沒有文具做功課。其他的孩子們都取笑他，因為他的作業(yè)本很臟，他只有兩種蠟筆涂色。我趁別人還沒進教室前把你給我買的新文具放在他的書桌里，這樣他就不會發(fā)現(xiàn)是我給的。你別生氣，媽媽，我不是故意要撒謊的，我只是不想讓任何人發(fā)現(xiàn)是我做的。"close5RT My heart sank as I stood there in disbelief. She had taken on the role of an adult and tried to hide it like a child. I knelt down, hugged her, and then said, "Gina, I would never get mad at you for wanting to help someone."

我心一沉，呆立著，簡直無法相信這一切。她扮演了一個大人的角色，又像孩子般地藏藏掖掖。我蹲下身去，擁抱了她，然后說："吉娜，媽媽絕不會因為你想幫助別人而生你的氣。"close6RT The next day I visited Mrs. Melton. I told her what Gina had said. She knew John's situation all too well. There were four boys in the family, John being the oldest. The parents had just moved here, and when the school presented them with the school supply list for all four grades they were overwhelmed. So, when the boys came to school the next week, they barely had the necessities.

第二天，我去見了梅爾頓太太，把吉娜的事告訴了她。梅爾頓太太對約翰一家的情況了如指掌。約翰是家中四個兒子中的長子，父母剛搬來不久。當學校把四個孩子所需的學習用品清單給約翰父母時，他們簡直不知所措。第二個星期孩子們上學時，帶的用品只勉強夠用。close7RT I asked Mrs. Melton for the list from all four grades and told her I would take care of it the next day. She smiled and gave me the lists.

我向梅爾頓太太拿了四個年級需要的學習用品清單，告訴她第二天我會幫忙處理。她微笑著把單子給了我。close8RT The next day, we brought the supplies in and gave them to the office with instructions to give them to the boys.

第二天，我們買齊了學習用品，交給辦公室，囑咐他們轉(zhuǎn)交給約翰四兄弟。 close9RT As Christmas neared, the thought of John, his brothers and family weighed heavily on my mind. What would they do? Surely they would not have money for gifts.

圣誕節(jié)快到了，我非常惦記約翰、他的弟弟以及他們?nèi)?。他們會做什么呢？他們一定沒錢買禮物的。close10RT I asked Mrs. Melton if she could get me their address. At first she refused, reminding me that there was a policy that protected the privacy (隱私) of the students, but because she knew me from my work at the school and involvement on the PTA board, she slipped a piece of paper into my hand and whispered, "Don't tell anyone I gave it to you."

我問梅爾頓太太要約翰家的地址。一開始她不肯，說學校有規(guī)定要保護學生的隱私。但因為我參與一些學校和教師家長協(xié)會上的工作，她了解我，最后她還是將一張紙條塞給了我，悄悄地說："別說是我給的。"close11RT When my family began to set the stage for our traditional Christmas Eve, which was usually held at my house, I simply told them all that my husband, the kids and I did not want gifts, but instead we would prefer to have groceries and gifts for our "family". And we shopped throughout the holiday season for the four boys too. Gina was especially interested in things for John.

我的親戚家人通常在我家慶祝圣誕前夜，當大家開始為這傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日做準備時，我只告訴他們，我丈夫、孩子們和我不要禮物，而只要給我們"一家子"日用品和禮品。整個假日期間我們也在留意購買適合約翰四兄弟的物品。吉娜特別注意給約翰的禮物。close12RT Christmas Eve came and my family began to arrive. Each of them had bags of food and gifts wrapped for the children. My living room was full and the excitement was contagious (傳染的；有感染力的).

圣誕前夜，親戚們開始陸續(xù)來到。每個人都帶來了左一包右一包的食物和給孩子們的禮物，把起居室都堆滿了。我們激動的心情感染了大家。close13RT Finally at 9:00 we decided it was time to take our treasures to them. My brothers, dad, uncles and nephews loaded up their trucks and set out for the address that Mrs. Melton gave us.

終于到了九點，送禮的時候到了。我的兄弟、父親、叔父和侄子們將東西裝滿了他們的貨車，開始向梅爾頓太太提供的地址出發(fā)。close14RT They knocked on the door and a little boy appeared. They asked for his mother or dad and he ran away. The guys waited until a young man came to the door. He looked at the men standing there, with arms full of gifts and bags full of groceries, and couldn't say a word. The men pushed past him and went straight to the kitchen counter to set the bags down.

他們敲了門，一個小男孩出現(xiàn)了，聽說要找他的父母，小孩便跑回去了。等了片刻，一個年輕人出來了。他看到抱著大包禮品與日用品的來人，不知說什么好。送禮的人們從他身邊經(jīng)過，直接將東西放在了廚房的灶臺上。close15RT There was no furniture. It was an empty one-bedroom apartment with a few blankets on the floor and a small TV where they obviously spent their time. A Christmas tree was the result of the kids bringing in a bush they had found in the field behind their apartment. A few paper decorations made in their classrooms made it look like a real Christmas tree. Nothing was underneath.

這個一居室的家空空如也，連家具都沒有。地板上扔著幾張?zhí)鹤?，還有一臺小小的電視，顯然他們大部分的時間都在電視機前度過。"圣誕樹"是孩子們從屋后的田里挖來的一叢灌木，掛著在教室里做的幾樣紙飾品，看上去還有一點圣誕節(jié)的味道?？蓸湎率裁匆矝]有。close16RT The boys and their parents stood without speaking as the men sat down bag after bag. They finally asked who had sent them, how they knew them and so on. But the men just left them with shouts of "Merry Christmas!"

孩子們和他們的父母站在一旁，一言不發(fā)，看著大家把一袋袋的物品搬進來。最后他們終于開口問東西是誰讓送來的，怎么認識他們的，等等。但來人只高喊了幾聲"圣誕節(jié)快樂"就離開了。close17RT When the guys got back to my house they didn't say a word. They couldn't.

送禮的人回到我家時，什么話也沒說。什么話也說不出來。close18RT To break the silence, my aunt stood up and began to sing "Silent Night", and we all joined in.

為打破沉默，我的嬸嬸站起身，帶頭唱起"平安夜"這首歌，大家都跟著唱了起來。close19RT When school resumed, Gina came home daily telling of John's new clothes and how the other children now played with him and treated him like the rest of the children.

開學以后，吉娜每天都帶回關(guān)于約翰的消息，他有新衣服穿了，其他孩子肯和他玩了，也平等對待他了。close20RT She never told a soul at school about what we did, but every Christmas since that one she will say to me, "Mom, I wonder what happened to John and his family?" While I'm not quite sure of the answer, I'd like to think that John and his family were somehow helped by my daughter's gift.

吉娜從來沒有在學校里向任何人提起我們所做的一切，但那以后的每個圣誕節(jié)，她都會問我："媽媽，不知約翰和他的家人怎樣了？"我雖然無法給她一個確切的答復(fù)，但我愿意相信，女兒的禮物多少幫助了約翰和他的家人。