經(jīng)典英語(yǔ)散文:手The Hand

A Thanksgiving Day editorial『社論』in the newspaper told of a school teacher who asked her class of first graders to draw a picture of something they were thankful for. She thought of how little these children from poor neighborhoods actually had to be thankful for. But she knew that most of them would draw pictures of turkeys or tables with food. The teacher was taken aback『吃驚;驚訝』with the picture Douglas handed in… a smile childishly drawn hand.

感恩節(jié)那天，報(bào)紙刊登了一篇社論，其中講到這樣一個(gè)故事：有位小學(xué)一年級(jí)的老師叫班上的小朋友畫出他們感恩的東西。這些孩子均來(lái)自貧苦家庭，所以她料想他們多半會(huì)畫桌豐富的感恩節(jié)佳肴，外加一只香噴噴的火雞。但看到道格拉斯的作品后，她驚訝不已，上面畫了一只手!

But whose hand? The class was captivated『迷惑;困惑』by the abstract『抽象的』image. “I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food,” said one child. “A farmer,” said another, “because he grows the turkeys.” Finally when the others were at work, the teacher bent『彎腰;屈身』over Douglas’s desk and asked whose hand it was. “It’s your hand, Teacher,” he mumbled『咕噥;含糊地說(shuō)』.

這是誰(shuí)的手?班上的小朋友都興致勃勃地開(kāi)始臆測(cè)，“這一定是賜給我們食物的上帝的手。”一個(gè)小孩說(shuō)道。 “是農(nóng)夫，他用這手養(yǎng)出火雞。”另一個(gè)小孩也有意見(jiàn)。在一陣猜測(cè)后，小朋友們又跑回座位繼續(xù)畫畫。這時(shí)老師走到道格拉斯身旁，彎下腰問(wèn)他那是誰(shuí)的手。“那是您的手，老師。”他怯怯地回答。

She recalled that frequently at recess『課間休息』she had taken Douglas, a scrubby『身材矮小的』forlorn『孤獨(dú)的』child by the hand. She often did that with the children. But it meant so much to Douglas. Perhaps this was everyone’s Thanksgiving, not for the material things given to us but for the chance, in whatever small way, to give to others.

道格拉斯個(gè)頭矮小，平時(shí)落落寡歡，但老師在下課時(shí)總會(huì)過(guò)去牽牽他的手。她常這樣握孩童的手，但對(duì)道格拉斯而言，意義格外重大。也許過(guò)感恩節(jié)的真正意義并不在于收受他人給予我們的有形物質(zhì)，而是借此機(jī)會(huì)回饋他人，無(wú)論是如何的微小的付出。