雙語(yǔ) ● The Wish of Brother　哥哥的心愿

The Wish of Brother　哥哥的心愿

◎ Don Clank

A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.

我有個(gè)朋友叫保羅，他的哥哥送給他一輛車(chē)作為圣誕禮物。圣誕節(jié)前夕，保羅下班走出辦公室，看見(jiàn)一個(gè)淘氣的小男孩繞著他那嶄新的車(chē)欣賞著，發(fā)出陣陣贊嘆聲。

“Is this your car, Mister?” he said.

“這是您的車(chē)嗎，先生？”他問(wèn)道。

Paul nodded, “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was astounded, “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you anything? Boy, I wish...” He hesitated.

保羅點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，說(shuō)：“這是我哥哥送給我的圣誕禮物?！蹦泻Ⅲ@呆了，有些語(yǔ)無(wú)倫次：“您是說(shuō)這是您哥哥送的，您沒(méi)花一分錢(qián)？噢，我希望……”

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the lad said jarred Paul all the way down to his heels.

保羅當(dāng)然知道男孩希望什么，無(wú)非希望也有一位這樣的哥哥。但是，這個(gè)小家伙接下來(lái)的話(huà)卻完全出乎他的意料。

“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.”

“我希望，”男孩繼續(xù)說(shuō)道，“我也能成為那樣的哥哥?！?

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, and then impulsively he added, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”

保羅吃驚地看著男孩，脫口而出：“你想坐我的車(chē)去兜兜風(fēng)嗎？”

“Oh yes, I’d love that.”

“哦，當(dāng)然想了，我太高興了?！?

After a short ride, the boy turned with his eyes aglow, said, “Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

車(chē)開(kāi)了一會(huì)兒后，男孩轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭來(lái)，用殷切的眼神望著保羅說(shuō)：“先生，您介意把車(chē)開(kāi)到我家門(mén)口嗎？”

Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the lad wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked.

保羅笑了笑。他以為自己知道小男孩想干什么，一定是想向鄰居炫耀他可以坐氣派的轎車(chē)回家。但這次他又錯(cuò)了。“您把車(chē)停在那兩個(gè)臺(tái)階前，好嗎？”男孩問(wèn)。

He ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step, then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.

男孩跑上臺(tái)階，不一會(huì)兒，保羅聽(tīng)到他回來(lái)的聲音，但動(dòng)作似乎較先前慢了好多。原來(lái)他把自己跛腳的弟弟帶來(lái)了，他讓弟弟坐在第一個(gè)臺(tái)階上，然后靠緊他坐下，用手指著那輛新車(chē)。

“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m gonna give you one just like it... then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”

“就是它，弟弟，這就是我剛剛在樓上和你說(shuō)的那輛新車(chē)，是保羅的哥哥送給他的圣誕禮物，他沒(méi)花一分錢(qián)哦?？傆幸惶欤視?huì)送你這樣一輛車(chē)……那樣，到了圣誕節(jié)，你就可以自己去看商店櫥窗里的漂亮飾品了，我告訴過(guò)你的?！?

Paul got out and lifted the lad to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when he said, “It is more blessed to give...”

保羅下了車(chē)，把跛腳男孩抱到前座。哥哥很興奮，眼中閃著奇異的光芒，他也爬上車(chē)，坐在弟弟身邊。就這樣，三人開(kāi)始了令人難忘的假日旅行。那個(gè)圣誕夜，保羅才真正領(lǐng)悟耶穌講過(guò)的道理：“施比受更有福……”

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