Daddy just didn’t know how to show love. It was Mom who held the family together. He just went to work every day and came home; she’d have a list of sins we’d committed and he’d scold us about them.

爸爸根本不知道怎样表达爱。把这个家维系在一起的人是妈妈。爸爸天天去上班，回家，然后是妈妈向他数落我们所做的一连串错事，爸爸再为了这些事把我们骂一顿。

Once when I stole a candy bar, he made me take it back and tell the man I stole it and that I’d pay for it. But it was Mom who understood I was just a kid.

有一次我偷了一根棒棒糖。爸爸硬是要我送回去，还要我告诉卖糖的人是我偷了糖，并说我愿意帮他拆箱开包作为赔偿。但妈妈却理解我，她知道我只不过是个孩子。

I broke my leg once on the playground swing and it was Mom who held me in her arms all the way to the hospital. Dad pulled the car right up to the door of the emergency room and when they asked him to move it saying the space was reserved for emergency vehicles, He shouted, “What do you think this is? A tour bus?”

再有一次，我在操场荡秋千摔坏了腿，一路抱着我到医院的人是妈妈。爸爸将车正好停在急诊室门口。因为那儿是专供急救车停靠的，医院里的人就叫我爸爸把车开走。爸爸大声吼叫起来：“你以为这是什么车？难道是旅游车吗？”

02一把车钥匙

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

从前，有位年轻人即将大学生毕业。数月来，他一直渴望得到某汽车商产品陈列室中的一辆跑车。他知道，他那富有的父亲肯定买得起这辆车，于是，他便跟父亲说他很想得到那辆漂亮的跑车。

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

在毕业典礼即将来临的日子里，年轻人等待着父亲买下跑车的消息。终于，在毕业典礼那天上午，父亲将他叫到自己的书房，并告诉他，有他这么出色的儿子自己感到非常自豪而且非常爱他这个儿子。接着，父亲递给儿子一个包装精美的礼品盒。年轻人感到好奇，但带着些许失望地打开礼品盒，却发现里面是一本精美的精装本《圣经》，上面以金子凸印着年轻人的名字。看罢，年轻人怒气冲冲地向父亲大喊道：“你有那么多钱，却只给我一本《圣经》？”说完，便丢下《圣经》，愤怒地冲出房子。

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

多年以后，年轻人已事业有成。他拥有一所漂亮的房子，一个温馨的家庭。但当得知父亲年事已高，他想，或许应该去看看他。自从毕业那天起他就一直不见父亲。就在起程时，他收到一封电报－－父亲已逝世，并已立下遗嘱将其所有财产转给儿子。他要立即回父亲家处理后事。

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words... "PAID IN FULL".

在父亲的房子里，他突然内心感到一阵悲伤与懊悔。他开始仔细搜寻父亲的重要文件，突然发现了那本《圣经》－－还跟几年前一样崭新。他噙着泪水打开《圣经》并一页一页地阅读着。忽然，从书的背面掉出一把钥匙。钥匙上挂着一个标签，上面写着一个汽车经销商的名字－－正是他曾渴望的那辆跑车的经销商。标签上还有他的毕业日期及“款已付清”的字样。

How many times do we miss blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

我们多少次地与祝福擦肩而过，仅仅因为他们没有按我们想象中的样子包装好？不要在渴望得到没有的东西时损坏你已经拥有的东西，但要记住一点：你现在所拥有的恰恰正是你曾经一心渴望得到的。

Sometimes we don't realize the good fortune we have or we could have because we expect "the packaging" to be different. What may appear as bad fortune may in fact be the door that is just waiting to be opened.

有时，我们并没有意识到我们已经拥有或本该拥有的好运，仅仅因为它的外表与我们想象中的有所不同。其实，表面上看起来像是坏运气的东西或许正是等待开启的幸运之门。

03爱的礼物

"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked.

“我可以看看我的宝宝吗？”初为人母的她开心地问道。

When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

当裹着的婴儿放到她臂弯里，她掀开裹着婴儿的布，在看到他的小脸时，她不禁倒吸了一口气。医生快速地转过身，透过医院的高层窗户向外看去。婴儿生下来就没有耳朵。

Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred. When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks.

时间证明婴儿的听力毫无问题，只是有损他的相貌。一天，当他匆匆从学校跑回家，扑向母亲的怀抱时，她叹了口气，意识到他的生活注定会受到一连串的打击。

He blurted out the tragedy. "A boy, a big boy...called me a freak."

他脱口诉说遭到的不幸：“一个男孩，一个大个子男孩……他喊我怪胎。”

He grew up, handsome except for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music.

他长大了，虽然不幸但还是长得挺帅。颇受同学的欢迎，要不是有缺陷，他很可能当了班长。他对文学和音乐很有天赋和潜质。

04父子俩

Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning, I caught one of those trains that take travelers from the main terminal to their boarding gates. Free, sterile and impersonal, the trains run back and forth all day long. Not many people consider them fun, but on this Saturday I heard laughter.

一天早晨去亚特兰大机场，我看见一辆列车载载着旅客从航空集散站抵达登记处。这类免费列车每天单调、无味地往返其间，没人觉得有趣。但这个周六我却听到了笑声。

At the front of the first car – looking out the window at the track that lay ahead – were a man and his son.

在头节车厢的最前面，坐着一个男人和他的儿子。他们正透过窗户观赏着一直往前延伸的铁道。

We had just stopped to let off passengers, and the doors wee closing again. “Here we go! Hold on to me tight!” the father said. The boy, about five years old, made sounds of sheer delight.

我们停下来等候旅客下车，之后，车门关上了。“走吧。拉紧我！”父亲说。儿子大约5岁吧，一路喜不自禁。

I know we’re supposed to avoid making racial distinctions these days, so I hope no one will mind if I mention that most people on the train were white, dressed for business trips or vacations – and that the father and son were black, dressed in clothes that were just about as inexpensive as you can buy.

车上坐的多半是衣冠楚楚，或公差或度假的白人，只有这对黑人父子穿着朴素简单。我知道如今我们不该种族歧视，我希望我这样描述没人介意。

“Look out there!” the father said to his son. “See that pilot? I bet he’s walking to his plane.” The son craned his neck to look.

“快看！”父亲对儿子说：“看见那位飞行员了吗？我敢肯定是去开飞机的。”儿子伸长脖子看。

As I got off, I remembered some thing I’d wanted to buy in the terminal. I was early for my flight, so I decided to go back.

下了车后我突然想起还得在航空集散站买点东西。离起飞时间还早，于是我决定再乘车回去。

I did – and just as I was about to reboard the train for my gate, I saw that the man and his son had returned too. I realized then that they hadn’t been heading for a flight, but had just been riding the shuttle.

正准备上车的时候，我看到那对父子也来了。我意识到他们不是来乘飞机的，而是特意来坐区间列车的。

“I want to ride some more!”

“我还想再坐一会儿！”

“More?” the father said, mock-exasperated but clearly pleased. “You’re not tired?”

“再坐一会儿！”父亲嗔怪模仿着儿子的语调，“你还不累？”

“This is fun!” his son said.

“真好玩！”儿子说。

“All right,” the father replied, and when a door opened we all got on.

“好吧，”父亲说。车门开了，我们都上了车。

There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland, and the children turn out rotten. There are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools, yet something goes wrong. Rich and poor, black and white, so much goes wrong so often.

我们很多父母有能力送孩子去欧洲，去狄斯尼乐园，可孩子还是堕落了。很多父母住豪华别墅，孩子有车有游泳池，可孩子还是学坏了。富人、穷人，黑人、白人，那么多人都轻易学坏了。

“Where are all these people going, Daddy?” the son asked.

“爸爸，这些人去哪？”儿子问。

“All over the world,” came the reply. The other people in the air port wee leaving for distant destinations or arriving at the ends of their journeys. The father and son, though, were just riding this shuttle together, making it exciting, sharing each other’s company.

“世界各地。”父亲回答。机场来来往往的人流或准备远行，或刚刚归来。这对父子却在乘坐区间列车，享受着父子间的亲情与陪伴。

So many troubles in this country – crime, the murderous soullessness that seems to be taking over the lives of many young people, the lowering of educational standards, the increase in vile obscenities in public, the disappearance of simple civility. So many questions about what to do. Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.

我们正面临许多问题：犯罪、越来越多的年轻人变得冷漠无情、文化水平下降、公共场合卑劣猥亵上升、起码的礼貌丧失，等等。我们有那么多的问题要处理。而这里。这位父亲却很在意花上一天陪伴儿子，并在这样一个星期六的早上，提出这个计划。

The answer is so simple: parents who care enough to spend time, and to pay attention and to try their best. It doesn’t cost a cent, yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.

其实答案很简单：父母愿意花时间，愿意关注，愿意尽心尽职。这不要花一分钱，可这却是世间无价之宝。

The train picked up speed, and the father pointed something out, and the boy laughed again.

火车加速了。父亲指着窗外说着什么，儿子直乐。

05小小的谎言

I was six years old and my sister, Sally Kay, was a submissive three.For some reason, I thought we needed to earn some money. I decided we should “hire out” as maids. We visited the neighbors, offering to clean houses for them for a quarter cents.

那一年我6岁，听话的妹妹萨利凯只有3岁。出于某种原因，我认为我们需要挣一些钱。我觉得我们应该去“打工”做女佣。于是，我们去拜访邻居们，提出为他们打扫房子，开价25美分。

Reasonable as our offer was, there were no takers. But one neighbor telephoned Mother to let her know what Mary Alice and Sally Kay were doing. Mother had just hung up the phone when we came bursting through the back door, into the kitchen of our apartment.“Girls,”Mother asked, “ Why were you two going around the neighborhood telling people you would clean their houses?”

虽然我们的提议合情合理，但是却没有人愿意雇用我们。并且还有一位邻居打电话给我们的母亲，告诉她玛丽艾丽丝和萨莉凯所做的事情。我们推开后门走进自家厨房的时候，母亲刚刚挂上电话。“姑娘们，”母亲问道，“你们俩为什么告诉邻居们想给他们打扫房子？”

Mother wasn’t angry with us. In fact, we learned afterwards, she was amused that we had come up wih such an idea. But, for some reason, we both denied having done any such thing. Shocked and terribly hurt that her dear little girls could be such “bold-faced liars,” Mother then told us that Mrs. Jones had just called to tell her we had been to her house and said we would clean it for a quarter.

母亲并未生我俩的气。我们后来才知道，事实上，她为我们冒出那样的想法而觉得有趣。但不知为何，我俩一致否认做过这样的事情。没有想到两个可爱的小女儿竟然会是“厚颜无耻的撒谎精”，母亲大为震惊和伤心。然后，她告诉我琼斯太太刚刚打过电话来，告诉她我们去过她家并提出25美分为她打扫房子。

Faced with the Truth, we admitted what we had done. Mother said that we had “fibbed.” We had not told the Truth. She was sure that we knew better. She tried to explain why a fib hurt but she didn’t feel that we really understood.

在事实面前，我们只好承认自己的所作所为。母亲说我们“撒谎”了。我们没有说真话。她相信我们是无心之过。她尽量向我们解释为什么撒谎会伤害别人，但是她觉得我们并未真的明白。

Years later, she told us that the “lesson” she came up with for trying to teach us to be truthful would probably have been frowned upon by child psychologists. The idea came to her in a flash… and our tender-hearted mother told us it was the most difficult lesson she ever taught us. It was a lesson we never forgot.

数年之后，母亲告诉我们，儿童心理学家们对她随后的诚实教育的做法很可能是不赞同的。她当时也是突发奇想……温柔的母亲告诉我们，那是她对我们的教导中最困难的一次，也是我们终生难忘的一课。

After admonishing us, Mother cheerfully began preparing for lunch. As we munched on sandwiches, she asked, “ Would you two like to go to th moives this afternoon?”

在告诫完我们之后，母亲开始饶有兴致地做午餐。当我们大口咬着三明治的时候，她问我们：“今天下午，你们俩愿意去看电影吗？”

“Wow! Would we ever!” We wondered what movie would be playing. Mother said The Matinee. Oh, fantastic! We would be going to The matinee! Weren’t we lucky? We got bathed and all dressed up. It was like getting ready for a birthday party. We hurried outside the apartment, not wanting to miss the bus that would take us downtown. On the landing, Mother stunned us by saying, “Girls, we are not going to the movies today.”

“哇！我们当然愿意！”我们猜想要去看什么电影。母亲说是《马蒂尼》。奥，太棒了！我们要去看《马蒂尼》了！我们不是很幸运吗？我们洗了澡，穿戴整齐，就像去赴一个生日宴会一样。我们迅速出了门，去赶开往市区的公共汽车。到了车站，母亲的一句话把我们惊呆了：“姑娘们，我们今天不去看电影了。”

We didn’t hear her right. “What?” we objected. “What do you mean? Aren’t we going to The Matinee? Mommy, you SAID we were going to go the The Matinee!”

我们一下没反应过来。“什么？”我们抗议道。“什么意思？我们不去看《马蒂尼》了吗？妈妈，你说过要带我们去看《马蒂尼》的！”

Mother stooped and gathered us in her arms. I couldn’t understand why there were tears in her eyes. We still had time to get the bus. But hugging us, she gently explained that this was what a fib felt like.

母亲弯下了腰，搂住我俩。我不明白她的眼睛里为什么会有泪。我们还有时间坐公共汽车。但是，她拥抱着我们，轻声解释说这就是被谎言欺骗的感觉。

“It is important that what we SAY is TRUE,” Mother said, “ I fibbed to you just now and it felt awful to me. I don’t ever want to fib again and I’m sure you don’t want to fib again either. People must be able to believe each other. Do you understand?”

“说真话是非常重要的，”母亲说。“我刚才对你们撒了谎，我觉得糟透了。我不愿意再撒谎了，我相信你们也不愿意再撒谎了。人与人之间必须互相信任。你们明白了吗？”

We assured her that we understood. We would never forget.

我们向她保证我们明白了。我们永远也不会忘记。

And since we had learned the leeson. Why not go on to The Matinee? There was still time.

既然我们已经接受了思想教育，为什么不接着去看《马蒂尼》呢？我们还有时间。

“Not today,” Mother told us. We would go another time.

“不是今天，”母亲告诉我们。我们改天去。

That is how, over fifty years ago, my sister and I learned to be truthful. We have never forgotten how much a fib can hurt.

这便是50多年前我和妹妹如何学会了诚实，我们从未忘记一个谎言会造成多大的伤害。

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