英文優(yōu)美小散文：樓梯上的陌生人

　　A brief act of kindness brings an unexpected insight.

　　I was shopping at a department store and had just boarded the down escalator when I noticed a woman standing to the side. She looked about 65, and her expression told me she was scared.

　　I turned toward her and asked, " Do you need help?"

　　As the escalator continued moving I heard the woman reply softly, " I’m afraid." There was a hint of incredulity in her voice.

　　" Want me to come back and get you?" I called to her. She nodded. But by the time I reached her, the woman had reconsidered. " I don’t think I can do it," she said.

　　I was suddenly aware that I had made a far greater investment than I expected." I know we can do it," I said. " I can hold on to you." She looked down at the beast.

　　Then her eyes came back to mine, looking doubtful. " This has never happened to me before," she said, as much to herself as to me. I felt that her sudden fear had to do with the escalator’s mechanical nature, its basic inhuman untrustworthiness.

　　I took her arm. " Shall we?" She made a little sound of alarm as we stepped on, but we’d passed the point of no return. She relaxed slightly as the stairs moved us downward." I don’t understand this at all," she said. As we neared the bottom, her grip tightened again, but we did fine." I’m so grateful..." she began." It was nothing," I said. " I was happy to do it."

　　Happy, yes. I do very little to help others. I am busy caring for a family and working full time. For a brief moment, I had a flash of insight into why someone would become a nurse or a social worker or a minister. When I helped the woman, I felt pure and whole, purposeful. It was a happier moment than I’d had in weeks.

　　一次簡單的善意幫助卻帶來了出乎意料的領(lǐng)悟。

　　我到一家百貨商店買東西，就在我踏上自動扶梯剛要下樓時，突然注意到扶梯邊站著一位婦女。她看上去差不多有65歲，從她臉上的表情可以看出她很害怕。

　　于是我轉(zhuǎn)向她問道：“需要幫忙嗎?”自動扶梯載著我向下移動著，我只聽到她用低低的聲音回答："我很怕。"聲音中流露出一絲遲疑。

　　“要我回來幫你嗎?”我沖著她叫道，她點了點頭。我又回到了樓上，可老人卻改變了主意。“我不行。”她說。

　　直到這時，我才突然意識到這件事并不像我原想的那樣簡單。“我們能行，”我說，“我會攙扶著你。”

　　她低下頭，看著那個龐然大物，隨后她轉(zhuǎn)回來，看著我，目光中滿是疑慮;“我以前從未遇到過這種情況。”她說道，既像是在對我，又像是在自言自語。

　　我覺得老人這種突如其來的恐懼與自動扶梯的機(jī)械性質(zhì)有關(guān)--它歸根結(jié)底是非人性的東西，很難給人以安全感。我拉起她的胳臂，問道：“可以嗎?”我們邁上扶梯時，她輕輕地尖叫了一聲。然而，既然我們已踏上了扶梯，也就不能再回頭了。

　　直到扶梯載著我們下行了一段，她才略微放松下來。“我一點也不明白這種東西，”她說。我們接近扶梯底部時，她又一次緊緊抓住我，但我們順利走下了扶梯。“我不知怎么謝你才好……”她開口說道。“這沒什么，”我說，“我很高興這樣做。”

　　我很高興，的確如此。平時我很少幫助別人，整日忙于工作和照顧家庭。就在這一剎那，我突然明白了。

英文優(yōu)美小散文：最珍貴的話

　　In a class I teach for adults, I recently did the “unpardonable.”

　　最近在我執(zhí)教的一個成人班級里，我干了一件“不可饒恕的”事情。

　　I gave the class homework!YouTheme論壇

　　我居然給班上的學(xué)生布置了一份家庭作業(yè)!

　　The assignment was to “go to someone you love within the next week and tell them you love them.

　　任務(wù)是“下周之內(nèi)要走到你所愛的人面前，告訴他們你愛他。

　　It has to be someone you have never said those words to before

　　此人必須是一位此前你從未對之說過此話的對象，

　　or at least haven''t shared those words with for a long time.”

　　或至少很久沒有與他們交流過這些愛意盎然的話語了。”

　　Now that doesn t sound like a very tough assignment, until you stop to realize that most of the men were over 35

　　聽起來這不像是一份苛刻的任務(wù)，直到你意識到這個班里多數(shù)男生已年逾35歲。

　　and were raised in the generation of men that were taught that expressing emotions is not “macho.”

　　何況在他們成長的那個年代，他們受到的是這樣的灌輸：流露情感沒有“陽剛之氣”。

　　Showing feelings or crying (heaven forbid!) was just not done.

　　人們不會輕易流露情感和哭泣(老天也不允!)。

　　So this was a very threatening assignment for some.

　　因此對某些人來說，這是一項令人生畏的任務(wù)。

　　At the beginning of our next class,

　　第二次上課一開始

　　I asked if someone wanted to share what happened when they told someone they loved them.

　　我就問：當(dāng)你告訴別人你愛他/她時，結(jié)果怎樣?有沒有人愿意講一講?

　　I fully expected one of the women to volunteer6, as was usually the case,

　　我滿心指望像平常一樣，某位女士能自告奮勇，

　　but on this evening one of the men raised his hand.

　　但是這天晚上，一位男士舉起了手。

　　He appeared quite moved and a bit shaken.

　　他看上去很受感動的樣子，還有一點顫抖。

　　As he unfolded out of his chair(all 6 2" of him),

　　當(dāng)他從座椅上直起身來時(他身高6英尺2英寸)，

　　he began by saying, Dennis, I was quite angry with you last week when you gave us this assignment.

　　他這樣說道：“丹尼斯，上周你給我們布置任務(wù)時，我很生你的氣。

　　I didn`t feel that I had anyone to say those words to, and besides,

　　我認(rèn)為我沒有什么人需要我說那些話，而且，

　　who were you to tell me to do something that personal8?

　　你是誰?憑什么讓我們?nèi)ジ蛇@種涉及隱私的事?

　　“But as I began driving home my conscience started talking to me.

　　“但我驅(qū)車回家時，我的良知開始與我對話。

　　It was telling me that I knew exactly who I needed to say I love you to.

　　它告訴我，我確實知道需要向誰說‘我愛你'這句話。

　　You see, five years ago, my father and I had a vicious disagreement and really never resolved it since that time.

　　“你瞧，5年前，我與父親發(fā)生了激烈的爭執(zhí)，而且從此再也沒有消除隔閡。

　　We avoided seeing each other unless we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings.

　　我們互相回避，除非絕對必須出席圣誕節(jié)聚會或其他的家庭聚會。

　　But even then, we hardly spoke to each other.

　　但甚至在那些場合，我們彼此幾乎也不說一句話。

　　“So last Tuesday by the time I got home I had convinced myself I was going to tell my father I loved him.

　　“因此，上周二到家時，我確信自己做得不對，打算告訴父親我愛他。

　　“It’s weird, but just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy load off my chest.

　　“這事兒有點怪怪的，但就是這個決定似乎搬走了一塊壓在我胸口的重石。

　　“When I got home, I rushed into the house to tell my wife what I was going to do. She was already in bed, but I woke her up anyway. When I told her, she didn’t just get out of bed, she catapulted out and hugged my, and for the first time in our married life she saw me cry. We stayed up half the night drinking coffee and talking. It was great!

　　到家的時候，我沖進(jìn)屋里，想告訴妻子我的打算。當(dāng)時她已經(jīng)上床睡了，但我無論如何還是叫醒了她。我如此這般告訴她，她不單是起了床，簡直就是跳起來擁抱我，婚后第一次她目睹了我哭泣的樣子。那一夜我們品著咖啡說著話一直聊到半夜。這感覺真棒!

　　“The next morning I was up bright and early. I was so excited I could hardly sleep. I got to the office early and accomplished more in two hours than I had the whole day before.

　　“第二天一大清早我就起了床。我激動得睡不著覺，提前到辦公室上班，兩個小時之內(nèi)就干完了比以前干一整天還要多的活。

　　“At 9:00 I called my dad to see if could come over after work. When he answered the phone, I just said, ‘Dad, can I come over after work tonight? I have something to tell you.’ My dad responded with a grumpy, ‘Now what?’ I assured him it wouldn’t take long, so he finally agreed.

　　“在九點的時候我打電話給父親問問能不能下班后去看他，當(dāng)他接電話的時候，我只是說：‘老爸，今晚上下班后我能到你哪兒去嗎?我有事跟你說。’父親不耐煩的應(yīng)答：‘什么事?’我向他保證花不了多長時間，最終他同意了。

　　“At 5:30, I was at my parents’ house ringing the doorbell, praying that Dad would answer the door. I was afraid if Mom answered that I would chicken out and tell her instead. But as luck would have it, Dad did answer the door.

　　“五點半，我就來到父母家摁響了門鈴。我暗自禱告老爸會應(yīng)聲開門。害怕如果應(yīng)聲開門的是母親，我會因膽怯而對她說出那幾個字。終歸我的運(yùn)氣好，老爸應(yīng)聲來到門口。

　　“I didn’t waste any time – I took one step in the door and said, ‘Dad, I just came over to tell you that I love you.’

　　“我抓緊時間———我一腳跨進(jìn)門檻說：‘老爸，我來就是為了特地告訴你一聲我愛你。’

　　“It was as if a transformation came over my dad. Before my eyes his face softened, the wrinkles seemed to disappear and he began to cry. He reached out and hugged me and said, ‘I love you too, son, but I’ve never been able to say it.’

　　“聽了這話，老爸似乎前后判若兩人。只見他臉變得柔和起來，連皺紋似乎也消失了，他泣不成聲。他伸出手擁抱我說：‘兒子，我也愛你，但這話以前我從來沒能說出口。’

　　“It was such a precious moment I didn’t want to move. Mom walked by with tears in her eyes. I just waved and blew her a kiss. Dad and I hugged for a moment longer and then I left. I hadn’t felt that great in a long time.

　　“這一刻如此寶貴以至于我不想挪動半步。媽媽雙眼含淚走過來，我只揮了揮手，給了她一個飛吻。我和父親又相擁片刻，然后我離開了。許久以來，我都沒有過那么棒的感覺了。

　　“But that’s not even my point. Two days after that visit, my dad, who had heart problems, but didn’t tell me, had an attack and ended up in the hospital, unconscious. I don’t know if he'll make it.

　　“但這并不是我說這些的目的。那次上門之后過了兩天，我的父親———他患有心臟病，但沒有告訴我———突發(fā)心肌梗塞，結(jié)果被送往醫(yī)院，昏迷不醒。我不知他是否能挺過去。

　　“So my message to all of you in this is: Don’t wait to do the things you know need to be done. What if I had waited to tell my dad – maybe I will never get the chance again! Take the time to do what you need to do and do it now!”

　　“所以我要忠告全班同學(xué)的是：如果你知道有些事情需要做的話，千萬不要等。要是我等到以后再對父親說‘我愛你’那句話會怎么樣呢———也許我永遠(yuǎn)沒有機(jī)會了!抓緊時間去干你需要干的事情，現(xiàn)在就行動!”

英文優(yōu)美小散文：山泉與金沙

　　A small mountain spring ran tinkling down the narrow stone crevices. Many years passed. An egg-sized shallow hole was washed out on the rock. Strangely, the mountain spring anyhow brought some bright yellow gold sand and got to fill the small hole.

　　One day, an old woodcutter hit on this secret. To his amazement, he cupped the gold sand carefully.

　　Since then, the old man furtively fetched the gold sand once every half a month or so, so he became rich soon.

　　When discovering his father's secret, his son advised:If they widened the stone crevice for more mountian spring, more gold sand could be washed here. The old man thought it over and felt it advisable. So the father and son chiseled the narrow stone crevise so widely that the mountain spring was several times than ever. But unexpectedly, the gold sand didn't increase but disappeared ever since.

　　They felt puzzled: Where had the gold sand gone?

　　一股細(xì)細(xì)的山泉沿著窄窄的石縫叮叮咚咚往下流淌，也不知道過了多少年，竟然在巖石上沖刷出一個雞蛋大小的淺坑。奇異的是，山泉不知從哪里沖來黃澄澄的金砂，漸漸的填滿了小坑。

　　有一天，一位砍柴的老漢偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了這個秘密，驚喜之下，他小心翼翼的捧走了金砂。

　　從此，老漢過個十天半月就偷偷來取一次金砂，日子很快富裕起來。

　　老漢的兒子發(fā)現(xiàn)了父親的秘密，他建議：拓寬石縫，擴(kuò)大山泉，不是能沖來更多的金砂嗎?老漢想了想，覺得有理，父子倆把窄窄的石縫拓寬了，山泉比原來大了幾倍，誰知金砂不但沒有增多，反而從此消失的無影無蹤。

　　父子倆百思不得其解：金砂到哪里去了呢?

※本文作者：※