蠟燭

CANDLE

I run an online shop selling gadgets. A lot of Internet shoppers have asked me if I have a “real” store, where the products can be held, touched, turned over, or set up on a coffee table. So I rented a space at a local mall and started to face different kinds of customers.

Then one night, two days before Christmas and shortly before closing, a girl under ten and an adult came in. A candle caught the girl’s attention. She asked me the price and I told her, and she frowned, and told me that her mom really needed a new pair of slippers but she couldn’t get both on her small budget.

I asked her how much she thought she needed for the slippers and how much she had, then told her I’d let her have the candle for $2 (it was over $25). This made her happy. Then she told me how much her mom would love the candle while I wrapped it up for her.

Three days after Christmas a woman came in and asked me if I was Beverly. Getting ready for the worst and a possible refund, I said “yes”. The woman started crying. I became even more nervous. She went on to say how excited her daughter was on Christmas morning to give her a very special gift. When the woman opened the gift, they both cried with joy.

The adult woman who had been shopping with the girl was the mother’s sister, and she told the mother how the little girl came to get the candle. The mother just wanted to tell me how happy she was and how special this Christmas was for her, and to thank me in person. She started to cry again!

I lost money because of that candle, but I would do what I did again and again.

【日積月累】

◇gadget n. 小器具，小玩意，小配件

◇budget n. 預算

◇refund n. 退款

【參考譯文】

蠟燭

我開了一個網店賣各種各樣的小玩意兒。很多網上的顧客都問我有沒有一個真實的店，在那里擺著商品，可以親手摸摸，可以翻過來看看，還可以擺上一張咖啡桌。所以我在當地一家商場里租了一個店面，開始接觸形形色色的客人。

圣誕節前兩天的晚上，快關門了，一個不足10歲的女孩和一個大人走了進來。一支蠟燭把小女孩吸引住了。她問我多少錢，我報完價她便皺起了眉頭，說她媽媽真的很需要一雙新拖鞋，而以她不多的預算，不能買下兩樣。

我問她覺得買拖鞋會要多少錢，和她身上帶了多少。知道后告訴她我可以以兩美元的價錢把蠟燭賣給她（蠟燭至少值25美元）。她聽了很高興。在我給她打包起來的時候，她告訴我，她媽媽會多么喜愛這支蠟燭。

圣誕節過后的第三天，一位女士走進來問我是不是伯克利。做好了退貨的最壞打算，我回答說“是”。她開始哭起來。我變得更緊張了。她說她女兒因為能在圣誕節早上送給她這么特別禮物興奮得不得了。當她把禮物打開，兩母女都高興地哭了。

那天陪女孩一起購物的是她阿姨，她告訴這位母親小女孩是怎么買下這支蠟燭的。這位母親只想告訴我這年的圣誕節對她說很特別，想當面謝謝我。說完她又哭了。

因為那支蠟燭讓我虧了本，但是我還會繼續這樣做。

【人生啟迪】

你是否念念不忘曾經幫過你的人，雖然那只是個小小的舉動，在那個時候對你來說卻很重要。所以當你力所能及的時候，不要吝嗇伸出你的雙手，在你看來只是舉手之勞，在他們眼里也許意義非凡。