1)Nail Holes 記憶留痕
Finally, for the first time in my life, I was going to move into a2)brand-new house and it was an absolute beauty.
I spent hours upon hours walking up and down the hallway just looking at that3)sunken living room. I had never actually seen one of those before and always thought they were only for rich people. It sure made me proud to now have one for my very own. I smiled real big and then put a foot down onto the first step, which led down onto the beautifully4)carpeted living room. Then I carefully looked to make sure I did not get any dirt on the golden colored carpet. Then I removed my shoes and walked all around the living room, feeling the soft, new, thick carpet beneath my feet.
I met the5)real estate agent for the last time, signed the final papers and he handed me the keys. I jumped into my car and rushed as fast as I could to my rented 6)mobile home to get the family and start the moving-in process.
That was a very good day in my life, because no one in my family would ever have to live on the streets like I did as a young boy when running away from that7)abusive8)Florida9)orphanage. This house would be kept in brand-new condition, and would last forever and ever—so that all my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren would always have a nice, new looking place to live, no matter what.
終于,我人生中第一次要搬進一所全新的房子。這所房子絕對稱得上是美倫美奐。
我來來回回地在走廊上走了幾個小時,就為了觀看那沉降式的客廳。我以前從沒親眼見過沉降式的客廳,也總覺得那只是屬于有錢人的?,F(xiàn)在我卻也擁有了這樣一個客廳,當(dāng)然備感自豪。我笑容燦爛,伸出一只腳踏在第一級臺階上,臺階下面是鋪著漂亮地毯的客廳。我小心翼翼地觀看著,避免把一丁點的塵土留在金色的地毯上。接著我脫掉鞋子,在客廳里來回地走,盡情感受著腳下那柔軟、厚實的新地毯。
我與房地產(chǎn)中介見了最后一次面,簽好最終的文件后,他把房子的鑰匙交給了我。我跳進車里,以最快的速度駛向我租來的活動房屋,我要去那里接我的家人,并著手搬進新家。
那是我生命中極其美好的一天,因為從此以后,我的家人決不會像童年的我那樣住在大街上了——小時候,我逃離那個我備受虐待的佛羅里達孤兒院后,就住在大街上。我要讓這所房子始終保持在嶄新狀態(tài),讓它永久長存。這樣一來,我所有的子孫和曾孫們就可以一直住在一個嶄新而漂亮的地方了。
That held true year after year and about five years later, we sold that 10)immaculate house for top dollar. There was not a spot or 11)smear or hole anywhere in that beautiful house. Not even on the walls could you find a small nail hole that would have held a picture.
I was supposed to meet with the real estate agent who was selling our house later that evening and when I arrived, I was surprised to find the new owners of the house standing in the driveway. I parked my car, walked up and began talking with the older couple.
“This house is in perfect condition,” said the old man. “Perfect in every way. Not even a nail hole in any of the walls,” I told him proudly.
“It’s really too bad that nobody lived here,” said the old woman. “I lived here for five whole years,” I said with a great big smile on my face. “No. You didn’t live here for five years. You just stayed here for five years,” said the old lady.
All the way home I thought about what she said. What did she mean? How could they not be happy about buying a house in perfect condition and without any holes in the walls? I was very puzzled. Then it hit me like a 12)ton of bricks. I quickly 13)pulled over to the side of the road and just sat there thinking. The old lady was absolutely right.
年復(fù)一年,事情一直如我想象中一樣發(fā)展著。大約五年后,我們以最高的價格賣掉了這所完美的房子。這所漂亮的房子里沒有留下任何一處斑點、污漬或是小洞,甚至在墻上你也找不到一個曾因為掛過畫而留下的小釘孔!
那晚稍晚些的時候,我約了正在幫我們賣房子的房地產(chǎn)中介見面。當(dāng)我到達的時候,驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)房子的新主人正站在車道上。我停好車子,走上前去,開始和這對年長的夫婦攀談起來。
老先生說:“這所房子堪稱完美,”“無論從哪一個角度看,它都是完美無瑕的。房子的任何一面墻上甚至找不到一個釘孔?!蔽因湴恋馗嬖V他。
“沒有人住過,真是太可惜了!”老太太說?!拔以谶@里整整住了五年呢。”我大笑著告訴她?!安唬悴]有在這里‘住’了五年,你只是在這里‘待’了五年而已?!崩咸貞?yīng)道。
回家的路上,我一直在思索著老太太的話。她為什么會那樣說呢?他們能買到一所保持得如此完好,墻上連一個小孔都沒有的房子,不是應(yīng)該很高興嗎?我百思不得其解。突然,答案像磚頭一樣砸醒了我。我趕緊把車停靠在路邊,坐在那里思考起來。老太太的話是完全正確的!
Just because you stay in a house, it doesn’t mean you really lived in it. Not unless you put your heart into it, enjoy it and do the things that make you happy while you are there—like walking into the living room and seeing pictures of the kids and the smiling faces of the grandchildren or watching them yelling their little lungs out under the 14)sprinkler in your front yard, and yes, maybe even a picture of the old dog who decided to 15)go to the bathroom on that beautiful carpet.
I sat there alone biting my bottom lip and feeling very much ashamed of what I had done by having lost five years of my life, not to mention what I had taken from my family without even realizing it. Living really is much more than just remembering yesterday with only your mind. It is walking into your home and living for today with your heart and your eyes. Those holes in the wall, when all the furniture is gone and the house is completely 16)bare, are memory holes and without any memories, “You didn’t really live there. You just stayed there.”
Today, our home in 17)Brunswick, 18)Georgia has so many 19)darn pictures of kids, grandkids, friends and dogs on the walls that it might20)collapse one day. And if it does, that will be very sad for me.
僅僅因為你搬進了一所房子里,并不意味著你真正在那里安家,除非你住在房子里的時候,全身心投入、樂在其中,并做著令自己快樂的事情。例如,走進客廳,看看墻上那些記錄著子女以及孫輩們的燦爛笑容的照片,或者看看他們在前院的噴水頭下扯著喉嚨大喊的照片,甚至還可以看看一張老狗在那美麗的地毯上撒尿的照片。
我獨自坐在那里,咬著下唇若有所思:我浪費了生命中的五年時光去保持房子的完好。對此,我羞愧不已。更不用說我從家人那里剝奪了許多快樂,而自己卻根本沒有意識到?;钪?,不僅僅意味著在腦海里留下昨天的印記,還意味著走進家里,用真心、用雙眼度過每一個“今天”。有一天,當(dāng)所有的家具都移走了,這所房子也變得空蕩蕩時,房子墻上的那些孔洞就是記憶的痕跡。沒有任何記憶,那就會像老太太所說的“你并不曾真正‘住’在那里,你只是在那里‘待’過而已?!?
現(xiàn)在,我們的新家位于佐治亞州的不倫瑞克。家里的墻上掛滿了照片,有子女們的,孫輩的,朋友的,還有小狗的,我真擔(dān)心釘了那么多釘子后,墻壁也許有一天會坍塌。如果真的發(fā)生那樣的事,我會非常傷心的。