第30章 真正的慷慨True Generosity

佚名 /Anonymous

When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby, many families were left devastated. Afterward, all the local newspapers carried many human interest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest._______

One Sunday, a particular picture especially touched me. A young woman stood in front of a totally demolished mobile home, an anguished expression twisting her features. A young boy, seven or eight years old, stood at her side, eyes downcast. Clutching at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera, eyes wide with confusion and fear. The article that accompanied the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member. With growing interest, I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours. This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves._______

I taped the picture of the young family to our refrigerator, explaining their plight to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and to three-year-old Meghan. “We have so much, and these poor people now have nothing,” I said. “We'll share what we have with them.”_______

I brought three large boxes down from the attic and placed them on the living room f loor. Meghan watched solemnly as the boys and I f illed one of the boxes with canned goods, soap and other assorted toiletries. While I sorted through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up discarded toys and games. “I'll help you f ind something for the little girl when I'm done with this,” I said.

The boys placed the toys they had chosen to donate into one of the boxes while I f illed the third box with clothes. Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, faded, frazzled, much-loved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest. She paused in front of the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy's f lat face, gave her a f inal kiss, then laid her gently on top of the other toys. “Oh, Honey,” I said. “You don't have to give Lucy. You love her so much.”_______

Meghan nodded solemnly, eyes glistening with held-back tears. “Lucy makes me happy, mommy. Maybe she'll make that other little girl happy, too.”_______

Swallowing hard, I stared at Meghan for a long moment, wondering how I could teach the boys the lesson she had just taught me. For I suddenly realized that anyone can give their casts-offs away. True generosity is giving that which you cherish most. Honest benevolence is a three-year-old offering a treasured, albeit shabby doll to a little girl she doesn't know with the hope that it will bring this child as much pleasure as it brought her. I, who had wanted to teach, had been taught.

The boys had watched, open-mouthed, as their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box. Without a word, Brad rose and went to his room. He came back carrying one of his favorite action f igures. He hesitated brief ly, clutching the toy, then looked over at Meghan and placed it in the box next to Lucy. A slow smile spread across Brett's face, then he jumped up, eyes twinkling as he ran to retrieve some of his prized Matchbox cars. Amazed, I realized that the boys had also recognized what little Meghan's gesture meant. Swallowing back tears, I pulled all three of them into my arms._______

Taking the cue from my little one, I removed my old tan jacket with the frayed cuffs from the box of clothes. I replaced it with the new hunter green jacket that I had found on sale last week. I hoped the young woman in the picture would love it as much as I did.

附近的一个小镇遭到了龙卷风的袭击，许多家庭也因此被毁。随后，当地报纸对一些受灾严重的家庭进行了特别报道，并刊登了许多感动人心的故事。

星期天，我被一张特别的照片深深地感动了。完全被毁坏的活动房前站着一位少妇，她的面容因痛苦而严重扭曲。她身旁站着一个七八岁的小男孩，低垂着眼睛。还有一个小女孩拽着少妇的衣裙，正用充满困惑和恐惧的大眼睛盯着照相机。照片旁边的文章给出了这个家庭各成员的衣服尺寸。更为触动我的是，我发现他们的尺寸与我们家的很相似。我觉得应该趁这个机会来教育我的孩子们，让他们去帮助那些比自己不幸的人们。

我在冰箱上贴上这个年轻家庭的照片，向七岁的双胞胎儿子布拉德和布雷特及三岁的女儿梅甘说明他们的不幸遭遇。我说：“他们现在一无所有，非常可怜。而我们有这么多东西，我们应该和他们一起分享。”

我从阁楼上拿下三个箱子，放到客厅地板上。当我和两个儿子往其中的一个箱子里装罐头食品和洗漱用品时，梅甘一脸严肃地望着我们。之后我挑选衣服，并督促男孩们挑出他们不太喜欢的玩具。儿子们把不要的玩具堆成了一堆，而梅甘只是静静地看着。于是我说：“待会儿我帮你给那个小女孩找个玩具。”

剩下的两个箱子，一个装我挑出的衣服，另一个装男孩们捐出的玩具。这时，梅甘紧紧抱着一个破旧的、褪色的布娃娃走了过来，那是她最喜欢的布娃娃露茜。她将露茜扁扁的娃娃脸紧紧贴在自己的小圆脸上，最后给了它一个吻，便轻轻放到装玩具的箱子里，放在其他玩具的上面。“噢，宝贝儿，你不用把露茜送出去。”我说，“你那么喜欢它。”

梅甘强忍着眼中闪烁的泪花，认真地点了点头说：“妈妈，露茜让我快乐，也许也能让那个小女孩快乐起来。”

我注视着梅甘，许久说不出话来，不知道如何将梅甘对我的教化传达给儿子们。我突然意识到，每个人都可能会把不喜欢的东西让给别人，但让出自己最珍爱的东西才是真正的慷慨。三岁的梅甘把最珍爱的娃娃——尽管它又破又旧，捐给一个陌生的小女孩，希望能给她带去同样的快乐，这才是真正的仁爱。我本想教育孩子们，却受到了小女儿的教育。

看着小妹妹把心爱的洋娃娃放进箱子，儿子们惊讶地张大了嘴。布拉德静静地走进房间，拿出了最喜爱的动作人偶。他抓着人偶犹豫了一下，看了看梅甘，便把人偶放进了箱子，放在露茜的旁边。这时布雷特也笑了，眼睛闪闪发光。他跳起来跑去拿来几个最喜欢的火柴盒汽车。看到男孩们也领悟到了梅甘行为的深意，我吃惊不已。我忍住眼泪将他们三个搂入怀中。

我把上周刚买的新夹克放入箱子，代替了那件袖口磨破的旧夹克，这全是小女儿的功劳。我也希望照片上的少妇像我一样喜欢它。

记忆填空

1.A young boy, seven or eight years_______, stood at her side, eyes downcast. Clutching at her skirt was a tiny_______ who stared into the camera, eyes wide with confusion and_______ . The article that accompanied the picture gave the clothing_______of each family member.

2.I brought three large_______down from the attic and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched solemnly_______the boys and I f illed one of the boxes with canned goods, soap and_______assorted toiletries.

3._______ the cue from my little one, I removed my old tan_______with the frayed cuffs from the box of clothes.

佳句翻译

1.儿子们把不要的玩具堆成了一堆，而梅甘只是静静地看着。

译_______________________________________________________________

2.这时，梅甘紧紧抱着一个破旧的、褪色的布娃娃走了过来，那是她最喜欢的布娃娃露茜。

译_______________________________________________________________

3.我突然意识到，每个人都可能会把不喜欢的东西让给别人，但让出自己最珍爱的东西才是真正的慷慨。

译_______________________________________________________________

短语应用

1.When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby, many families were left devastated.

touch down：落地，降落；着陆

造_______________________________________________________________

2.She paused in front of the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat face, gave her a f inal kiss, then laid her gently on top of the other toys.

in front of：在……的前面

造_______________________________________________________________