一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的動(dòng)作

A SIMPLE GESTURE

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry part of the burden. As they walked Mark discovered the boy’s name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball and history, that he was having a lot of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

They arrived at Bill’s home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Mark went home. They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then both graduated from junior high school. They ended up in the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally the long awaited senior year came, and three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met. “Do you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?” asked Bill. “You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn’t want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my mother’s sleeping pills and I was going home to commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life.”

【日積月累】

◇generate v. 產(chǎn)生，導(dǎo)致，發(fā)生

◇trip v. 失足，絆倒

◇bat n. 球棒

◇scatter v. 散布，布滿；使……四散；分散

◇locker n. 衣物柜

【參考譯文】

一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的動(dòng)作

每個(gè)人都可以成為偉大的人……因?yàn)槿魏稳硕伎梢詾樗�人效勞。為他人服�?wù)，你不要大學(xué)文憑，不需要語(yǔ)法無(wú)誤。你需要的僅是滿心的仁慈，還有愛心鑄成的靈魂。

——馬丁·路德·金

一天，馬克在放學(xué)回家的路上發(fā)現(xiàn)前面有個(gè)男孩絆了一跤，拿著的所有書，還有毛衣、棒球球拍、手套和小錄音機(jī)全掉地上了。馬克蹲下身幫男孩撿東西。因?yàn)轫樎罚�所以馬克幫他拿著。一起走的時(shí)候，馬克知道了那個(gè)男孩叫比爾，喜歡電動(dòng)游戲、棒球和歷史，但他其他科目成績(jī)都不好，還剛和女朋友分了手。

他們先到比爾家。馬克被請(qǐng)進(jìn)去喝可樂(lè)、看電視。那個(gè)下午過(guò)得很愉快，他們說(shuō)了不少話，時(shí)不時(shí)還笑了起來(lái)。之后馬克就回家了。他們?cè)趯W(xué)校也繼續(xù)見面，一起吃過(guò)一兩次飯，后來(lái)兩人都從那個(gè)初中畢了業(yè)，又進(jìn)入了同一個(gè)高中，幾年里有過(guò)幾次短暫的交流。最后期待已久的高三到了，在畢業(yè)的三周前，比爾問(wèn)馬克是否能談一談。

比爾提起多年前他們初次見面的那天。比爾問(wèn)：“你想過(guò)為什么那天我要拿那么多東西嗎？我清空了我的柜子，因?yàn)槲也灰�給別人留下一個(gè)爛攤子。我偷偷拿了一些我媽的安眠藥，正打算回家自殺。但是在我們待在一起說(shuō)說(shuō)笑笑之后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)如果自殺了，我將錯(cuò)過(guò)和你度過(guò)的那段時(shí)間還有其他可能到來(lái)的經(jīng)歷。所以，馬克，當(dāng)你那天幫我撿起書時(shí)，你撿起的不僅僅是書，你還救了我的命。”

【人生啟迪】

子曰：“勿以善小而不為。”但是在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中，我們卻常常認(rèn)為諸如讓座這樣的小忙過(guò)于稀疏平常，而不肯出手。其實(shí)，一個(gè)在你看來(lái)微不足道的一個(gè)小忙，可能對(duì)對(duì)方來(lái)說(shuō)卻無(wú)比重要。請(qǐng)隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備伸出你的援助之手吧。