一個名叫勞倫斯的人

A MAN NAMED LAWRENCE

This is an act of kindness that happened to me one Sunday morning.

It was at two o’clock in the morning. We had just come out of a club and were trying to find our way back to Berkeley. As we were trying to find the bus stop, a man came to us and said he would show us where it was. Although we were a little worried, we had no choice but to follow him. He told us he was a homeless man and that his name was Lawrence.

When we passed some city workers washing the streets, they sprayed the homeless man. Lawrence told us that they always sprayed the homeless if they were “in the way”. I didn’t know why they would do that. They were human beings, after all, not cattle or objects.

This man had just gotten wet in the middle of a cold night, but instead of shouting at the workers, he asked them, “How would you feel if your father or grandfather were treated like this?” He then told us, “It’s no use shouting at them, because they just get angry. You’re better off saying something from the heart.”

It is true! The world could be so different if only we put our anger aside, lowered our voices and tried to speak from our hearts.

He took us safely to the stop and on the way we talked about everything. We thanked him and told him that we could have never found the place on our own. He said, “I have a son of your age, and I hope that if he were lost, someone would help him.”

Not only did Lawrence clear out all the fear and distrust in our hearts, he helped us find our way, in more than one way. What’s more, this man taught us kindness. There was nothing we could really do to repay him. The only thing I hope to do is to help other people out.

【日積月累】

◇spray v. 噴灑，噴涂，濺散

【參考譯文】

一個名叫勞倫斯的人

這是一個星期天早上發生在我身上的一件助人為樂的好事。

那是凌晨兩點。我們剛從一家酒吧出來，想回伯克利市去。在找車站牌的時候，一個男人走了過來，說他能帶我們去。雖然有點不安，但是除了跟他走我們沒有別的選擇。他告訴我們他是流浪漢，叫勞倫斯。

當我們經過幾個沖洗街道的工人時，他們把水灑在這個流浪漢身上。勞倫斯告訴我們，如果碰到流浪漢，這些工人總是朝他們灑水。我不知道為什么他們要這樣做。畢竟流浪漢也是人，不是牲畜或東西。

這個在寒冷深夜弄得一身濕的男人沒有朝那些工人叫嚷，而是問：“如果你們的爸爸或爺爺遭到這樣的對待，你們會作何感想？”他告訴我們：“對他們叫喊一點用都沒有，因為只會惹火他們。最好是說出心底的話。”

沒錯！如果我們能把憤怒擱置一邊，降低說話的音量，說出真心話，這個世界將會不一樣。

他把我們安全地送到了車站，在路上我們無話不談。我們跟他道謝，告訴他說，要不是他的幫助我們自己永遠找不到這個地方。他說：“我有個兒子，和你們一般大，我只希望如果他迷路了，有人會幫他。”

勞倫斯不僅消除了我們心中的恐懼和懷疑，他還讓我們找到了方向，不僅僅是車站的方向。此外，他會教會了我們善良。我們做不了什么來報答他。我唯一能做的就是幫助其他人。

【人生啟迪】

每個人都希望過上體面的生活，沒有實現這個愿望并不一定是他們的錯。我們不應該因為別人境遇不好，而歧視他們，因為就算貧民窟里也不乏心底善良的人。而且我們應該記住，回報幫助我們的人的最好方式就是把這善舉傳播出去。