Proud of You　為你驕傲

Proud of You　為你驕傲

◎ Debra Stitt

Forty-three years seems like a long time to remember the name of a mere acquaintance. I have forgotten the name of an old lady, who was a customer on the paper route in my home town when I was a twelve-year-old boy. Yet it dwells in my memory that she taught me a lesson in forgiveness that I shall never forget.

記住一個(gè)僅是認(rèn)識(shí)的人的名字，43年似乎是段很長的時(shí)間。我已經(jīng)忘了那位老婦人的名字，她是我12歲那年在家鄉(xiāng)送報(bào)歷程中的一位客戶。然而，她曾給我上的那堂關(guān)于“寬恕”的課，我永遠(yuǎn)都不會(huì)忘記。

On a winter afternoon, a friend and I were throwing stones onto the slanted roof of the old lady’s house from a spot near her backyard. The object of our play was to observe how the stones changed to missiles as they rolled to the roof’s edge and shot out into the yard like comets falling from the sky. I found myself a perfectly smooth rock and threw it out. The stone was too smooth, however, so it slipped from my hand as I let it go, and headed straight not for the roof but for a small window on the old lady’s back porch . At the sound of fractured glass, we knew we were in trouble. We turned tail and ran faster than any of our missiles flew off her roof.

一個(gè)冬日的下午，我和一個(gè)朋友在老太太家附近的一個(gè)后院，往她家的斜屋頂上扔石子玩。我們游戲的目的就是觀察這些石子如何變成一顆顆導(dǎo)彈，從屋頂?shù)倪吘壦查g滾落到河岸，像滑過天空的彗星那樣射入院中。我發(fā)現(xiàn)了一顆十分光滑的石子，然后扔了出去。但是，這顆石子太光滑了，出手的一剎那，它偏離了方向。它沒有落在屋頂上，反而直接擊中了老太太屋后門廊上的一扇小窗戶。聽到玻璃的破碎聲，我們知道自己闖禍了。我們掉頭就跑，跑得比任何一顆從她屋頂發(fā)射的導(dǎo)彈都要快。

I was too scared about getting caught that first night to be concerned about the old lady with the broken window in winter. However, a few days later, when I was sure that I hadn't been discovered, I started to feel guilty for her misfortune. She still greeted me with a smile each day when I gave her the paper, but I was no longer able to act comfortable in her presence.

那天晚上，我太害怕被抓住，沒有考慮到被打碎的窗戶在寒冷的冬天里會(huì)給老太太帶來什么麻煩。然而，幾天之后，當(dāng)我確認(rèn)沒被人發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)，就開始對(duì)給她帶來的不幸感到內(nèi)疚了。每天我給她送報(bào)紙時(shí)，她仍然笑瞇瞇地迎接我。但是，在她面前，我再也無法像過去那樣自由自在了。

I made up my mind that I would save my paper delivery money, and in three weeks I had the seven dollars that I calculated would cover the cost of her window. I put the money in an envelope with a note explaining that I was sorry for breaking her window and hoped that the seven dollars would cover the cost for repairing it.

我自己打定主意，決定把送報(bào)掙的錢攢起來。三周后，我便有了7美元。我估計(jì)這大概夠賠償她的窗戶了。我把錢放進(jìn)一個(gè)信封，并附上一張便條，解釋說我十分抱歉打破了她家的窗戶，希望這7美元足夠賠付她修理窗戶的費(fèi)用。

I waited until it was dark, snuck up to the old lady’s house, and put the letter I didn't sign through the letter slot in her door. My soul felt redeemed and I could have the freedom of, once again, looking straight into the old lady’s kind eyes.

我一直等到天黑，才悄悄溜進(jìn)老太太的家，把這封沒有署名的信從信箱口投了進(jìn)去。做完這件事情后，我感到自己的靈魂似乎得到了解脫，重新獲得了自由，我能夠再次無拘無束地直視老太太親切的目光了。

The next day, I handed the old lady her paper and was able to return the warm smile that I was receiving from her. She thanked me for the paper and gave me a bag of cookies she had made herself. I thanked her and proceeded to eat the cookies as I continued my route.

第二天，當(dāng)老太太微笑著從我手上接過報(bào)紙時(shí)，我也向她回報(bào)了一個(gè)溫暖的微笑。她對(duì)我的送報(bào)工作表示感謝，送了我一袋她親手做的甜餅。謝過她后，我一邊吃著曲奇餅，一邊繼續(xù)給別的客戶送報(bào)紙。

After several cookies, I felt an envelope and pulled it out of the bag. When I opened the envelope, I was stunned. Inside were the seven dollars and a short note that said, “I’m proud of you.”

吃了幾塊餅干后，我摸到了一個(gè)信封，就把它從袋子里拽了出來。當(dāng)我打開信封時(shí)，我愣住了。信封里有7美元，還有一張紙條，上面寫道：“我為你感到驕傲。”

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