【愛的禮物篇一】
"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked.
“我可以看看我的寶寶嗎？”初為人母的她開心地問道。
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.
當(dāng)裹著的嬰兒放到她臂彎里，她掀開裹著嬰兒的布，在看到他的小臉時，她不禁倒吸了一口氣。醫(yī)生快速地轉(zhuǎn)過身，透過醫(yī)院的高層窗戶向外看去。嬰兒生下來就沒有耳朵。
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.
時間證明嬰兒的聽力毫無問題，只是有損他的相貌。一天，當(dāng)他匆匆從學(xué)校跑回家，撲向母親的懷抱時，她嘆了口氣，意識到他的生活注定會受到一連串的打擊。
He blurted out the tragedy. "A boy, a big boy...called me a freak."
他脫口訴說遭到的不幸：“一個男孩，一個大個子男孩……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.
他長大了，雖然不幸但還是長得挺帥。頗受同學(xué)的歡迎，要不是有缺陷，他很可能當(dāng)了班長。他對文學(xué)和音樂很有天賦和潛質(zhì)。
"But you might mingle with other young people," his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart.
“但你可能會和其他年輕人一樣�！蹦赣H責(zé)備地說，但從心底里覺得很欣慰。
The boy's father had a session with the family physician... "Could nothing be done?"
男孩的父親與家庭醫(yī)生商量……“難道真無法補救嗎？”
"I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be procured," the doctor decided. So the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man.
“我認(rèn)為可以移植一雙外耳，如果能夠找到的話�！贬t(yī)生做了決定，于是他們開始尋求一個愿意為這個年輕人做出犧牲的人。
Two years went by.Then, "You're going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret." said the father.
兩年過去了。對兒子說，“孩子，你要住院了。我和你媽找到愿意為你捐獻耳朵的人了。但要求保密�！�
The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged. His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs.
手術(shù)獲得了巨大成功，一個新人誕生了。他的潛力發(fā)展成一個天才，在中學(xué)和大學(xué)都取得了一連串的成功。
Later he married and entered the diplomatic service. "but I must know," he asked his father, "Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him."
后來他結(jié)婚了，進入外交行業(yè)工作。一天，他問父親：“是誰給我的耳朵？誰給了我那么多？我做多少都無法報答他/她。”
"I do not believe you could," said the father, "but the agreement was that you are not to know...not yet."
“我也這樣認(rèn)為，”父親說，“但是協(xié)議上說你不能知道……還不到時候�！�
The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come. One of the darkest days that ever pass through a son. He stood with his father over his mother's casket. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to reveal taht the mother had no outer ears.
他們的秘密遵守了很多年，但這天終于來了，這也是兒子度過的最黑暗的日子。他和父親站在母親的棺材前，慢慢地，輕柔地，父親向前伸出一只手，掀開母親濃密的、紅褐色的頭發(fā)：母親竟然沒有耳朵！
"Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut," his father whispered gently, "and nobody ever thought mother less beautiful, did they?"
“你母親說過她很高興，她從不理發(fā)，”父親輕柔地低聲說，“但沒人覺得母親沒以前美麗，是吧？”
【小小的謊言篇二】
I was six years old, my sister, Sally Kay, was a submissive three-year-old girl. For some reasons, 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 quater cents. Reasonable as our offer was, there were no takers. But one neighbor telephoned my mother to let her know what Mary Alice and Sally Kay were doing.
Mother had just hung up the phone when we came first into the back door into the kitchen of our apartement. "Girls," mother asked, "why were you two going around the neighborhood telling people you would clean their houses?" Mother wasn't angry with us. In fact, we learned afterwards she was amused that we had came up with 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 "boldfaced (厚顏無恥的) liars" . Mother then told us that Mrs. Jones had just called and told her we had been to her house and said we would clean it for a quater cents .
Faced with the truth, we admitted what we had done. Mother said we have fibed, we have not told the truth. She was sure that we knew better. She tried to explain why a fib (小謊) hurt, but she didn't feel that we really understood.
Years later, she told us that the lesson she came up with for trying to teach us to be truthful would probably have been found upon by child psychologists. The idea came to her in a flash, and a tender-hearted mother told us it was the most difficult lesson she ever taught us. It was a lesson we never forgot. After admonishing(警告，勸告) us, mother cheerfully begain preparing for lunch. As we monching on sandwhiches, she asked:" Would you two like to go to see the movies this afternoon?"
"Wow, would we ever?" We wondered what movie would be playing. Mother said:"The Matinee".
"Oh, fatastic！ We would be going to see The Matinee, would 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, Mom stunned (使震驚) us by saying, "Girls, we are not going to the movies today." We didn't hear her right.
"What?" we objected. "What do you mean? Aren't we going to The Matinee? Mommy, you said that we are going to the Matinee. " Mother stooped and gathered us in her arms. I couldn't understand why there were tears in her eyes. We still had the time to get the bus, but hugging us, she gently explained this is a fib felt like. "It is important that what we say is true ," Mom 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 others. Do you understand? "
We assured her that we understood. We would never forget. And since we had learned a lesson, why not go to the movie to see The Matinee. There were still time. Not today. Mother told us. We would go another time. That is how over fifty years ago, my sister and I learned to be truthful. We have never forgotten how much a fib can be hurt.
【朋友就該這么做篇三】
Jack tossed the papers on my desk—his eyebrows knit into a straight line as he glared at me.
杰克把文件扔到我桌上，皺著眉頭，氣憤地瞪著我。
"What’s wrong?" I asked.
“怎么了？”我問道。
He jabbed a finger at the proposal. "Next time you want to change anything, ask me first," he said, turning on his heels and leaving me stewing in anger.
他指著計劃書狠狠地說道：“下次想作什么改動前，先征求一下我的意見�！比缓筠D(zhuǎn)身走了，留下我一個人在那里生悶氣。
How dare he treat me like that, I thought. I had changed one long sentence, and corrected grammar, something I thought I was paid to do.
他怎么能這樣對我！我想，我只是改了一個長句，更正了語法錯誤，但這都是我的分內(nèi)之事啊。
It’s not that I hadn’t been warned. Other women who had worked my job before me called Jack names I couldn’t repeat. One coworker took me aside the first day. "He’s personally responsible for two different secretaries leaving the firm," she whispered.
其實也有人提醒過我，上一任在我這個職位上工作的女士就曾大罵過他。我第一天上班時，就有同事把我拉到一旁小聲說：“已有兩個秘書因為他而辭職了�！�
As the weeks went by, I grew to despise Jack. His actions made me question much that I believed in, such as turning the other cheek and loving your enemies. Jack quickly slapped a verbal insult on any cheek turned his way. I prayed about the situation, but to be honest, I wanted to put Jack in his place, not love him.
幾周后，我逐漸有些鄙視杰克了，而這又有悖于我的信條——別人打你左臉，右臉也轉(zhuǎn)過去讓他打；愛自己的敵人。但無論怎么做，總會挨杰克的罵。說真的，我很想滅滅他的囂張氣焰，而不是去愛他。我還為此默默祈禱過。
One day another of his episodes left me in tears. I stormed into his office, prepared to lose my job if needed, but not before I let the man know how I felt. I opened the door and Jack glanced up. “What?” he asked abruptly.
一天，因為一件事，我又被他氣哭了。我沖進他的辦公室，準(zhǔn)備在被炒魷魚前讓他知道我的感受。我推開門，杰克抬頭看了我一眼。“有事嗎？”他突然說道。
Suddenly I knew what I had to do. After all, he deserved it.
我猛地意識到該怎么做了。畢竟，他罪有應(yīng)得。
I sat across from him and said calmly, “Jack, the way you’ve been treating me is wrong. I’ve never had anyone speak to me that way. As a professional, it’s wrong, and I can’t allow it to continue.”
我在他對面坐下：“杰克，你對待我的方式很有問題。還從沒有人像你那樣對我說話。作為一個職業(yè)人士，你這么做很愚蠢，我無法容忍這樣的事情再度發(fā)生�！�
Jack snickered nervously and leaned back in his chair. I closed my eyes briefly. God help me, I prayed.
杰克不安地笑了笑，向后靠靠。我閉了一下眼睛，祈禱著，希望上帝能幫幫我。
“I want to make you a promise. I will be a friend,” I said. “I will treat you as you deserve to be treated, with respect and kindness. You deserve that. Everybody does.” I slipped out of the chair and closed the door behind me.
“我保證，可以成為你的朋友。你是我的上司，我自然會尊敬你，禮貌待你，這是我應(yīng)做的。每個人都應(yīng)得到如此禮遇�！蔽艺f著便起身離開，把門關(guān)上了。
Jack avoided me the rest of the week. Proposals, specs, and letters appeared on my desk while I was at lunch, and my corrected versions were not seen again. I brought cookies to the office one day and left a batch on his desk. Another day I left a note. “Hope your day is going great,” it read.
那個星期余下的幾天，杰克一直躲著我。他總趁我吃午飯時，把計劃書、技術(shù)說明和信件放在我桌上，并且，我修改過的文件不再被打回來。一天，我買了些餅干去辦公室，順便在杰克桌上留了一包。第二天，我又留了一張字條，在上面寫道：“祝你今天一切順利�！�
Over the next few weeks, Jack reappeared. He was reserved, but there were no other episodes. Coworkers cornered me in the break room. “Guess you got to Jack,” they said. “You must have told him off good.”
接下來的幾個星期，杰克不再躲避我了，但沉默了許多，辦公室里再也沒發(fā)生不愉快的事情。于是，同事們在休息室把我團團圍了起來�！奥犝f杰克被你鎮(zhèn)住了，”他們說，“你肯定大罵了他一頓�！�
I shook my head. “Jack and I are becoming friends,” I said in faith. I refused to talk about him. Every time I saw Jack in the hall, I smiled at him. After all, that’s what friends do.
我搖了搖頭，一字一頓地說：“我們會成為朋友�！蔽腋静幌胩崞鸾芸�，每次在大廳看見他時，我總沖他微笑。畢竟，朋友就該這樣。
One year after our "talk," I discovered I had breast cancer. I was thirty-two, the mother of three beautiful young children, and scared. The cancer had metastasized to my lymph nodes and the statistics were not great for long-term survival. After my surgery, friends and loved ones visited and tried to find the right words. No one knew what to say, and many said the wrong things. Others wept, and I tried to encourage them. I clung to hope myself.
一年后，我32歲，是三個漂亮孩子的母親，但我被確診為乳腺癌，這讓我極端恐懼。癌細胞已經(jīng)擴散到我的淋巴腺。從統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)來看，我的時間不多了。手術(shù)后，我拜訪了親朋好友，他們盡量寬慰我，都不知道說些什么好，有些人反而說錯了話，另外一些人則為我難過，還得我去安慰他們。我始終沒有放棄希望。
One day, Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway of my small, darkened hospital room. I waved him in with a smile. He walked over to my bed and without a word placed a bundle beside me. Inside the package lay several bulbs.
就在我出院的前一天，我看到門外有個人影。是杰克，他尷尬地站在門口。我微笑著招呼他進來，他走到我床邊，默默地把一包東西放在我旁邊，那里邊是幾個球莖。
"Tulips," he said.
“這是郁金香。”他說。
I grinned, not understanding.
我笑著，不明白他的用意。
He shuffled his feet, then cleared his throat. "If you plant them when you get home, they’ll come up next spring. I just wanted you to know that I think you’ll be there to see them when they come up."
他清了清嗓子，“回家后把它們種下，到明年春天就長出來了�！彼才材_，“我希望你知道，你一定看得到它們發(fā)芽開花�！�
Tears clouded my eyes and I reached out my hand. "Thank you," I whispered.
我淚眼朦朧地伸出手。
Jack grasped my hand and gruffly replied, "You’re welcome. You can’t see it now, but next spring you’ll see the colors I picked out for you. I think you’ll like them." He turned and left without another word.
“謝謝你�！蔽业吐曊f。杰克抓住我的手，生硬地答道：“不必客氣。到明年長出來后，你就能看到我為你挑的是什么顏色的郁金香了。”之后，他沒說一句話便轉(zhuǎn)身離開了。
For ten years, I have watched those red-and-white striped tulips push their way through the soil every spring.
轉(zhuǎn)眼間，十多年過去了，每年春天，我都會看著這些紅白相間的郁金香破土而出。事實上，今年九月，醫(yī)生已宣布我痊愈了。我也看著孩子們高中畢業(yè)，進入大學(xué)。
In a moment when I prayed for just the right word, a man with very few words said all the right things.
在那絕望的時刻，我祈求他人的安慰，而這個男人寥寥數(shù)語，卻情真意切，溫暖著我脆弱的心。
After all, that’s what friends do.
畢竟，朋友之間就該這么做。
