The Greatest Of These 最偉大的是真愛
◎ Nanette Thorsen-Snipes
My day began on a decidedly sour note when I saw my six-year-old son wrestling with a limb of my azalea bush. By the time I got outside, he’d broken it. “Can I take this to school today?” he asked. With a wave of my hand, I sent him off. I turned my back so he wouldn’t see the tears gathering in my eyes. I loved that azalea bush. I touched the broken limb as if to say silently, “I’m sorry.”
今天一大早我就非常惱火，因為我看見六歲的兒子正在費力扭折我的一枝杜鵑花。當(dāng)我趕到外面時，他已經(jīng)把花摘下來了。“今天我能把花帶到學(xué)校嗎？”他問。我擺了擺手，讓他離開了。我轉(zhuǎn)過身來，為的是不讓他看到我眼里的淚水，因為我很愛杜鵑花。我輕撫那被折斷的花枝，像是在對它無聲地道歉。
I wished I could have said that to my husband earlier, but I’d been angry. The washing machine had leaked on my brand-new linoleum. If he’d just taken the time to fix it the night before when I asked him, instead of playing checkers with Jonathan. What are his priorities anyway? I wondered. I was still mopping up the mess when Jonathan walked into the kitchen. “What’s for breakfast, Mom?” I opened the empty refrigerator. “Not cereal,” I said, watching the sides of his mouth drop. “How about toast and jelly?” I smeared the toast with jelly and set it in front of him. Why was I so angry? I tossed my husband’s dishes into the sudsy water.
我多希望我能早點兒把那件事告訴丈夫，但是當(dāng)時我很生氣。洗衣機(jī)的水都漏到我那嶄新的油毯上了。如果他能在我問他的前一晚上花點時間把洗衣機(jī)修好，這樣的事就不會發(fā)生，可他當(dāng)時卻在和喬納森玩跳棋。我搞不明白他到底有什么了不起？當(dāng)喬納森走進(jìn)廚房時，我還在收拾那雜亂的一攤?！皨寢專绮统允裁?？”我打開空空的冰箱，“不吃麥片粥，”我回答，這時我看到他的嘴角拉了下來?！巴滤竞凸觾鲈趺礃?？”我把果子凍抹在吐司上放在他面前。我為什么這么生氣呢？我把丈夫用過的碟子扔進(jìn)洗滌池里。
It was days like this that made me want to quit. I just wanted to drive up to the mountains, hide in a cave, and never come out.
就是這樣的日子讓我有了退卻的想法。我真想開車到山里，藏在一個山洞里，永遠(yuǎn)也不再出來。
Somehow I managed to lug the wet clothes to the Laundromat. I spent most of the day washing and drying clothes and thinking how love had disappeared from my life. Staring at the graffiti on the walls, I felt as wrung-out as the clothes left in the washers.
不過我還是把那一堆濕衣服拿到了自助洗衣店。那一天的大部分時間我都在清洗和烘干那些衣服，同時也在思考著愛是如何從我的生活中消失的。看著墻上的涂鴉，我突然感到自己就像洗衣機(jī)里的衣服一樣扭曲。
As I finished hanging up the last of my husband’s shirts, I looked at the clock. 2:30. I was late. Jonathan’s class let out at 2:15. I dumped the clothes in the back seat and hurriedly drove to the school.
當(dāng)我把丈夫的最后一件襯衫掛起來時，我看了看時間，已經(jīng)2∶30了。我遲到了，喬納森2∶15下課。我把衣服塞到后座上，急急忙忙開車去學(xué)校。
I was out of breath by the time I knocked on the teacher’s door and peered through the glass. With one finger, she motioned for me to wait. She said something to Jonathan and handed him and two other children crayons and a sheet of paper.
當(dāng)我敲響老師的門，透過玻璃向里窺探時，我已經(jīng)上氣不接下氣了。她用一根手指示意我等一下。她對喬納森說了些什么，然后給了他和另外兩個孩子一些彩色筆和一張紙。
What now? I thought, as she rustled through the door and took me aside. “I want to talk to you about Jonathan,” she said.
當(dāng)她從門內(nèi)過來，把我拉到一邊時，我心里想著她要干什么。“我想和你談?wù)剢碳{森?！彼f。
I prepared myself for the worst. Nothing would have surprised me. “Did you know Jonathan brought flowers to school today?” she asked. I nodded, thinking about my favorite bush and trying to hide the hurt in my eyes. I glanced at my son busily coloring a picture. His wavy hair was too long and flopped just beneath his brow. He brushed it away with the back of his hand. His eyes burst with blue as he admired his handiwork. “Let me tell you about yesterday,” the teacher insisted. “See that little girl?” I watched the bright-eyed child laugh and point to a colorful picture taped to the wall. I nodded.
我已經(jīng)作好了最壞的準(zhǔn)備，什么事都不會讓我驚訝的。“你知道喬納森今天帶花來學(xué)校了嗎？”她問。我點點頭，心里還在想著我最愛的花束，但我試著隱藏眼中殘余的傷痛。我瞥了一眼兒子，他正忙著給一幅圖畫上色。他的卷發(fā)太長了，都已經(jīng)垂到了他的眉毛下面。他用手背把頭發(fā)撥開。當(dāng)他欣賞自己的作品時，眼中充滿著憂郁。“我要跟你講一下昨天的事情，”老師繼續(xù)說，“看到那個小女孩了嗎？”我看著那個眼睛明亮的孩子，點了點頭，她當(dāng)時正用手指著墻上的一副五彩的圖畫開懷大笑。
“Well, yesterday she was almost hysterical. Her mother and father are going through a nasty divorce. She told me she didn’t want to live, she wished she could die. I watched that little girl bury her face in her hands and say loud enough for the class to hear, ‘Nobody loves me.’ I did all I could to console her, but it only seemed to make matters worse.”
“呃，昨天她幾近歇斯底里。她的父母正在鬧離婚。她告訴我她不想活了，她希望自己死掉。我看著那個小女孩把臉埋在雙手里大聲對全班同學(xué)喊道‘沒有人愛我’。我盡自己所能去安慰她，但這似乎使事情變得更加糟糕。”
”I thought you wanted to talk to me about Jonathan,” I said.
“我以為你會跟我談喬納森?！蔽艺f。
“I do,” she said, touching the sleeve of my blouse. “Today your son walked straight over to that child. I watched him hand her some pretty pink flowers and whisper, ‘I love you.’”
“是的，”她邊說邊碰了碰我的上衣袖子?！敖裉炷愕膬鹤訌街背莻€孩子走過去。我看見他給了她幾枝很漂亮的粉色花朵，然后悄悄對她說‘我愛你’。”
I felt my heart swell with pride for what my son had done. I smiled at the teacher. “Thank you,” I said, reaching for Jonathan’s hand, “you’ve made my day.”
對兒子的所作所為，我心里充滿了自豪感。我對老師笑了笑，并說了聲“謝謝”，然后我抓住了兒子的手說，“你讓我感覺到了快樂?！?
Later that evening, I began pulling weeds from around my lopsided azalea bush. As my mind wandered back to the love Jonathan showed the little girl, a biblical verse came to me: “...these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” While my son had put love into practice, I had only felt anger.
那天傍晚的時候，我開始清理傾斜的杜鵑花周邊的雜草。當(dāng)我回想起喬納森對小女孩表達(dá)的愛意時，圣經(jīng)中的一句話在我腦海中浮現(xiàn)：“……這三樣留了下來：信仰、希望和愛。但這之中最偉大的是愛?！碑?dāng)我的兒子將愛付諸實踐時，我卻只感受到了氣憤。
I heard the familiar squeak of my husband’s brakes as he pulled into the drive. I snapped a small limb bristling with hot pink azaleas off the bush. I felt the seed of love that God planted in my family beginning to bloom once again in me. My husband’s eyes widened in surprise as I handed him the flowers. “I love you.” I said.
當(dāng)丈夫開車回來時，我聽到了那熟悉的剎車聲。我從花叢中折下一小束粉紅至極的杜鵑花。我感到上帝在家庭中播撒的愛的種子又一次在我心里開花。當(dāng)我把花遞給丈夫時，他吃驚地睜大眼睛?！拔覑勰?。”我對他說。
