生命是一場旅行（上） 第二卷 生活充滿選擇

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\"code\": 200,

\"title\": \"\",

\"content\": \"Life is all about choices\\n\\nLife is all about choices\\n\\n生活充滿選擇\\n\\nMichael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, \\\"If I were any better, I’d be twins!” He was a natural motivator.\\n\\nIf an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, \\\"I don' t get it. You can' t be positive all the time. How do you do it?\\\"\\n\\nMichael replied, \\\"each morning I wake up and say to myself 'Mike, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.\\\"\\n\\n\\\"Yeah, right. It isn't that easy.\\\" I protested.\\n\\n\\\"Yes it is, \\\" Michael said. \\\"Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line is: It's your choice how you live life. \\\" I reflected on what Michael said.\\n\\nSoon thereafter, I left the big enterprise that I had worked in for years to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often though about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling off 60 feet from a communications tower.\\n\\nAfter l8 hours of surgery, and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, \\\"If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?\\\" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.\\n\\n\\\"The first thing that went through my mind was the well being of my soon-to-born daughter,\\\" Michael replied. \\\"Then, as I lay on the ground, remembered I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live.\\\" \\\"Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?\\\" I asked. Michael continued, \\\"... the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the operation room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, l read 'He's a dead man.' I knew I needed to take action.\\\" \\\"What did you do?\\\" I asked. \\\"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me” said Michael. \\\"She asked me if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I said. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled\\\", ‘Gravity’” Over their laughter, I told them, 'I'm choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead'.\\\"\\n\\nMichael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I 1eamed from him that every day we have a choice to live fully. Attitude is everything.\\n\\n邁克爾是那種你真想恨一恨的傢夥，他總是樂嗬嗬的，總是說些積極上進的話。如果有人問他近況如何，他會這樣回答：“如果我還能再好，我就成雙胞胎了！”他生來就會讓人積極進取。\\n\\n如果哪位雇員哪一天過得很糟糕，邁克爾會告訴他如何看待問題的積極一麵。他的這種方式著實讓我好奇，所以有一天我找到邁克爾問：“我真弄不明白。你怎麼能總是那樣積極樂觀？你是如何做到這一點的？”\\n\\n邁克爾回答說，“每天早晨醒來時我對自己說，‘邁克，今天你有兩種選擇。你可以選擇心情愉快，你也可以選擇心情惡劣。’我選擇心情愉快。每次什麼不愉快的事情發生時，我可以選擇成為一個犧牲品，也可以選擇從中吸取教訓。我選擇從中吸取教訓。每次有什麼人找我來抱怨，我可以選擇接受他們的抱怨，也可以選擇向他指出生活的積極麵。我選擇指出生活的積極麵。”\\n\\n“是的，不錯。可並不那麼容易呀。”我表示異議。\\n\\n“其實很容易，”邁克爾說。“生活就是選擇。從每一事物剔除一切枝節後剩下的都是一種選擇。你選擇如何應付生活中的種種情形。你選擇他人會怎樣影響你的情緒。你選擇是心情愉快還是心情惡劣。說到底：如何生活是你自己的選擇。”我琢磨著邁克爾的這席話。\\n\\n那以後不久，我離開了工作數年的大企業去創建自己的公司。我們失去了聯絡，但當我對生活做出一種選擇而非對它做出反應時，我時常想起邁克爾。幾年之後，我聽說邁克爾遭遇一場惡**故，從一座通訊大樓的60英尺高處掉了下來。\\n\\n在經曆了18個小時的手術和數週的精心護理之後，邁克爾出院了，背部裝有金屬桿。大約事故半年之後，我見到了邁克爾。當我問他怎麼樣時，他回答，“如果我還能再好，我就成雙胞胎了。想看看我的傷疤嗎？”我拒絕看他的傷痕，但的確問了他事故發生時他是怎麼想的。\\n\\n“我首先想到的是我那即將出世的女兒的幸福生活，”邁克爾答道。“當時我躺在地上，我記起我有兩種選擇：我可以選擇活著，也可以選擇死。我選擇了活。”“你難道不害怕嗎？你失去知覺了嗎？”我問。邁克爾接著說，“……那些護理人員棒極了。他們不停地告訴我我會好的。但當他們把我推進手術室，我看到醫生和護士臉上的表情時，我真是嚇壞了。在他們的眼裡，我讀出了‘他是個死人。’我知道我應該采取行動。”“你采取了什麼行動？”我問道。“有一位人高馬大的護士大聲衝我問問題，”邁克爾說。“她問我是否對什麼過敏。‘是的，’我說。醫生和護士都停下手中的活兒等我回答。我深吸一口氣大聲說出，‘萬有引力。’他們的笑聲未了，我告訴他們，‘我選擇活著。把我當活人而不是死人來做手術。”’\\n\\n邁克爾活了下來，這要感謝他那些醫生的高明醫術，但也要歸功於他那令人讚歎的態度。我從他那裡學到了我們每天都有機會充實地活著，關鍵是態度。\\n\\nThe Praying Hands\\n\\n祈禱之手\\n\\nThe true story behind a well-known piece of art:\\n\\nBack in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder's children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.\\n\\nAfter many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring the mines.\\n\\nThey tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.\\n\\nWhen the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, \\\"And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.\\\"\\n\\nAll heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, \\\"No ...no ...no ...no.\\\"\\n\\nFinally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, \\\"No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look... look what four years in the mines has done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother ... for me it is too late.\\\"\\n\\nMore than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer's works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.\\n\\nOne day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply \\\"Hands,\\\" but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love \\\"The Praying Hands.\\\"\\n\\nThe next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one -no one ever makes it alone!\\n\\n這幅畫的背後有一則真實的故事。\\n\\n十五世紀時，在德國的一個小村莊裡，住了一個有十八個孩子的家庭。父親是一名冶金匠，為了維持一家生計，他每天工作十八個小時。生活儘管窘迫逼人，然而這個家庭其中兩個孩子卻有一個同樣的夢想。他們兩人都希望可以發展自己在藝術方麵的天份。不過他們也瞭解，父親無法在經濟上供他們倆到紐倫堡藝術學院讀書。\\n\\n晚上，兩兄弟在床上經過多次討論後，得出結論：以擲銅板決定──勝者到藝術學院讀書，敗者則到附近的礦場工作賺錢；四年後，在礦場工作的那一個再到藝術學院讀書，由學成畢業那一個賺錢支援。如果需要，可能也要到礦場工作。\\n\\n星期日早上做完禮拜，他們擲了銅板，結果，弟弟Albrecht Durer勝出，去了紐倫堡藝術學院。哥哥Albert則去了危險的礦場工作，四年來一直為弟弟提供經濟支援。Albrecht在藝術學院表現很突出，他的蝕刻畫、木刻畫、油畫簡直比教授的還要好。到畢業時，他的作品已經能賺不少錢了。\\n\\n在這位年輕的藝術家返回家鄉的那一天，家人為他準備了盛宴，慶祝他學成歸來。當漫長而難忘的宴席快要結束時，伴隨著音樂和笑聲，亞爾伯起身答謝敬愛的哥哥幾年來對他的支援，他說：“現在輪到你了，親愛的哥哥，我會全力支援你到紐倫堡藝術學院攻讀，實現你的夢想！”\\n\\n所有的目光都急切地轉移到桌子的另一端，坐在那裡的Albert雙淚直流，隻見他垂下頭，邊搖頭邊重複說著：“不……不……”\\n\\n終於，Albert站了起來他，擦乾臉頰上的淚水，看了看長桌兩邊他所愛的親友們的臉，把雙手移近右臉頰，說：“不，弟弟，我上不了紐倫堡藝術學院了。太遲了。看看我的雙手──四年來在礦場工作，毀了我的手，關節動彈不得，現在我的手連舉杯為你慶賀也不可能，何況是揮動畫筆或雕刻刀呢？不，弟弟……已經太遲了……”\\n\\n四百五十多年過去了，Albrecht Durer有成千上百部的傑作流傳下來，他的速寫、素描、水彩畫、木刻、銅刻等可以在世界各地博物館找到；然而，大多數人最為熟悉的，卻是其中的一件作品。也許，你的家裡或者辦公室裡就懸掛著一件它的複製品。\\n\\n為了補償哥哥所做的犧牲，表達對哥哥的敬意，一天，Albrecht Durer下了很大的工夫把哥哥合起的粗糙的雙手刻了下來。他把這幅偉大的作品簡單地稱為“雙手”，然而，全世界的人都立刻敞開心扉，瞻仰這幅傑作，把這幅愛的作品重新命名為“祈禱之手”。\\n\\n下次當你看到這幅感人的作品，仔細看一下。如果你也需要這麼一幅畫，就讓它成為你的提醒，冇有──它是世上獨一無二的事物。\\n\\nThe power of love\\n\\n愛的力量\\n\\nA guard came to the prison shoe shop where Jimmy Valentine was working and took him to the prison office. There the warden handed Jimmy his pardon, which had been signed that morning by the governor. He took it quietly; he was too tired to show excitement. He had been in prison nearly ten months and he had been sentenced to four years. True, he had expected to stay only about three months, at the longest. He had a lot of friends and he had been sure they would help him.\\n\\n“Now, Valentine,” said the warden, “You’ll go out in the morning. Make a man of yourself. You’re not a bad fellow really. Stop breaking open safes and be honest.”\\n\\n“Me?” said Jimmy, in surprise. “Why, I’ve never broken open a safe in my life.”\\n\\n“Oh, no,” laughed the warden. “Of course not. And what about that Springfield job? Do you mean to say you didn’t take part in it?”\\n\\n“Me?” said Jimmy still more surprised. “Why, warden, I’ve never been to Springfield in my life!”\\n\\n“Take him back,” the warden said to the guard smiling, “and give him some clothes. Unlock him at seven in the morning and let him come to me. Better think over my advice, Valentine.”\\n\\nAt a quarter past seven the next morning Jimmy stood in the warden’s office. He wore a badly-fitting ready-made suit and the cheap shoes that the state gives to prisoners, when they are set free. The clerk handed him a railroad ticket and the five-dollar bill with which he was supposed to start a new, honest life. The warden gave him a cigar, and they shook hands. Valentine, 9762, was registered on the books “Pardoned by Governor,” and Mr. James Valentine walked out into the sunshine.\\n\\nDisregarding the song of the birds, the green trees, and the smell of the flowers, Jimmy went straight to a restaurant. There he ordered a roast chicken and a bottle of white wine and a better cigar than the one the warden had given him. Then he walked slowly to the railroad station. He put a quarter into the hat of a blind man sitting by the door, and took a train. Three hours later he arrived at his native town, went directly to the cafe of his old friend Mike Dolan and shook hands with Mike, who was alone behind the counter. “Sorry we couldn’t make it sooner, Jimmy, my boy,” said Mike. “It wasn’t so easy this time and we had a lot of trouble. Are you all right?”\\n\\n“Fine,” said Jimmy. “Have you got my key?”\\n\\nHe took his key and went upstairs, unlocking the door of his room. Everything was just as he had left it. There on the floor was still the collar-button that had been torn from the shirt of Ben Price—the well known detective—when Price had come to arrest him. Jimmy removed a panel in the wall and dragged out a dust-covered suitcase. He opened it and looked fondly at the finest set of burglar’s tools in the East. It was a complete set, made of special steel. The set consisted of various tools of the latest design. He had invented two or three of them himself, and was very proud of them. Over nine hundred dollars they had cost him! They had been made at X., a place where they make such things for the profession.\\n\\nIn half an hour Jimmy went downstairs and walked through the cafe. He was now dressed in an elegant new suit, and carried his cleaned suitcase in his hand. “What are you going to do next? To break another safe?” asked Mike Dolan smiling cheerfully.\\n\\n“I don’t understand. I’m representing the New York Amalgamated Biscuit Company.”\\n\\nThis statement delighted Mike to such an extent that he gave Jimmy a seltzer-and-milk on the spot. Jimmy never touched “hard” drinks.\\n\\nA week after the release of Valentine, 9762, there was a new safe-burglary in Richmond, Indiana. Only eight hundred dollars were stolen. Two weeks after that another safe was opened and fifteen hundred dollars disappeared; securities and silver were untouched. That began to interest the detectives. A few days later the Jefferson City Bank was robbed and banknotes amounting to five thousand dollars were taken. The losses were now so high that it was time for so well known a detective as Ben Price to begin investigation. When all the cases were compared, a striking similarity in the methods of burglaries was noticed. Ben Price investigated the scenes of the robberies and was heard to say.\\n\\n“That’s all Jimmy Valentine’s work. He’s resumed business. He’s got the only tools that can open any safe without leaving the slightest trace. Yes, it is Mr. Valentine.”\\n\\nBen Price knew Jimmy’s habits. He had learned them while investigating the Springfield case.\\n\\nOne afternoon Jimmy Valentine and his suitcase climbed out of a train in Elmore, a little town in Arkansas. Jimmy, looking like a student who had just come home from college, walked out of the station and went toward the hotel.\\n\\nA young lady crossed the street, passed him at the corner and entered a door over which was the sigh “The Elmore Bank”. Jimmy Valentine looked into her eyes, forgot what he was, and became another man. She lowered her eyes and blushed slightly. Young men of Jimmy’s style and looks were scarce in Elmore.\\n\\nJimmy called a boy that was standing on the steps of the bank as if he were one of the stockholders, and began to ask him questions about the town, giving him dimes from time to time. By and by the young lady came out, passed Jimmy again, pretending not to see him, and went on her way.\\n\\n“Isn’t that young lady Miss Polly Simpson?” asked Jimmy slyly.\\n\\n“No,” said the boy. “She’s Annabel Adams. Her father owns this bank. What have you come to Elmore for? Is that a gold watch-chain? I’m going to get a bulldog. Have you got any more dimes?”\\n\\nJimmy went to the planters’ Hotel, registered as Ralph D. Spencer, and engaged a room. He leaned on the desk and declared his intentions to the clerk. He said he had come to Elmore to start business. How was the shoe business now in the town? He had thought of the shoe business. Was it worthwhile opening a shoe-store? The clerk was impressed by the clothes and manner of Jimmy and he was ready to give the young man any information he desired.\\n\\nYes, it was worthwhile investing money in the shoe business, he thought. There wasn’t a shoe-store in the place. The dry-goods and general stores sold them. Business in all lines was fairly good.\\n\\n“I hope, Mr. Spencer, you’ll decide to stay in Elmore. You’ll find it a pleasant town to live in, and the people are very nice,” continued the clerk.\\n\\nMr. Spencer said that he would stop in the town for a few days and consider the situation.\\n\\nThe clerk wanted to call the boy to carry up the suitcase, but Mr. Spencer said that he needn’t do it. He would carry his suitcase himself; it was rather heavy. Mr. Ralph Spencer, the phoenix that arose from Jimmy Valentine’s ashes—ashes left by the flame of a sudden attack of love—remained in Elmore and prospered. He opened a shoe-store and made large profits. In all other respects he was also a success.\\n\\nHe was popular with many important people and had many friends. And he accompanied the wish of his heart. He met Miss Annabel Adams, and fell more and more deeply in love with her.\\n\\nIn a year the situation of Mr. Ralph Spencer was this: he had won the respect of most of the inhabitants of the place, his shoe-store was prospering, and he and Annabel were to be married in two weeks. Mr. Adams, Annabel’s father, who was a typical country banker, approved of Spencer. Annabel herself was very proud of her fiancé. In fact her pride almost equaled her affection. Jimmy was as much at home in the family of Mr. Adams and that of Annabel’s married sister as if he were already a member.\\n\\nOne day Jimmy sat down in his room and wrote this letter which he sent to the address of one his old friends:\\n\\n“Dear Old Chap,\\n\\nI want you to be at Brown’s Cafe, in Little Rock, next Wednesday night at nine o’clock. I want you to do something for me. And, also, I want to make you a present of my tools. I know you’ll be glad to get them—you couldn’t get such a set for a thousand dollars. Say, Billy, I gave up the old business—a year ago. I’ve got a nice store. I’m making an honest living, and in two weeks I’m going to marry the finest girl on earth. It’s the only life, Billy, the straight one. I wouldn't’ touch a dollar of another man’s money now for a million. After I get married I’m going to sell my store and go west, where there won’t be so much danger of meeting people who knew me before. I tell you, Billy, she’s an angel. She believes in me and I would never do another crooked thing for the whole world. Do come to Brown’s, for I must see you. I’ll bring the tools with me.\\n\\nYour old friend,\\n\\nJimmy.”\\n\\nOn the Monday night after Jimmy wrote this letter, Ben Price, the detective, arrived in Elmore. He walked about the town quietly until he found out what he wanted to know. From the drugstore across the street from Spencer’s shoe-store he got a good look at Ralph D. Spencer.\\n\\n看守來到基米·範林丁正在乾活的監獄製鞋間，將他帶到監獄辦公室。到了那裡，監獄長將一張赦免書遞給基米，這是今天早上州長簽署的。基米默默地接過去，對此他冇有流露出任何的激動。他早已膩煩，他在獄中呆了將近10個月，而判他的是4年徒刑。說真的，他本來打算最多呆3個月的。他有好多朋友，他相信他們一定會為他想辦法的。\\n\\n“範林丁，”監獄長說，“明天早上你就可以出獄了，要活出個人樣來。其實你這人並不壞。再不要撬保險櫃了。做一個誠實的人。”\\n\\n“我？”基米吃驚地說，“你說什麼？我可從來冇有撬過保險櫃呀。”\\n\\n“啊，冇有，”監獄長笑道，“當然冇有。可是，春田事件該怎麼說呢？你是說你冇有參與那件事嗎？”\\n\\n“我？”基米更吃驚了。“怎麼，監獄長，我可從來冇有去過春田呀！”\\n\\n“把他帶回去，”監獄長對看守笑道，“給他一些衣服，明天早上7點給他開鎖後讓他到我這裡來。最好還是把我的勸告想一下，範林丁。”\\n\\n第二天早上7點15分，基米站在了監獄長的辦公室。他穿著一套很不合身的現成衣服和一雙廉價的鞋子。這些是在釋放犯人時發給他們的。一名職員遞給他一張火車票和5美元。拿著這些錢，從此就可以開始誠實的新的人生了。監獄長遞給他一支雪茄。他們握了握手。範林丁，9762號，已經登記在“州長赦免冊”中。於是，詹姆斯·範林便走到了陽光下。\\n\\n基米冇有理會鳥鳴、綠樹和花香，徑直向飯店走去。到了那裡，他要了一份燒雞、一瓶葡萄酒和一支比監獄長給他的要好的雪茄，隨後慢慢地踱向了火車站。他向坐在門邊的盲人的帽中丟了2角5分錢。3個小時之後，他來到了自己的家鄉，直奔他的好友邁克·杜蘭開的咖啡館而去，跟獨自站在櫃檯後麵的邁克握了握手。“很抱歉我們冇有早些辦成，基米，我的孩子，”邁克說，“這次可真不容易，我們費了不少周折。你一切都好吧？”\\n\\n“很好，”基米說，“你冇拿我的鑰匙吧？”\\n\\n他拿了鑰匙就上了樓，打開他房間的門。一切都和他離開時一樣。地板上那顆領釦還在，這是那個著名偵探本·普萊斯逮捕他時，從他的襯衫上撤掉的。基米移開牆壁上的一塊嵌板，取出一隻積滿灰塵的手提箱。他將它打開之後，愛惜地瞧著那套在東部最出色的盜竊工具。這是完整的一套，是用特種鋼製成的，包括各種最新式的工具，其中兩三件還是他自己發明的，對此他感到非常自豪。他為這套工具花費了900多美元。這是在某地製作的，那個地方以製造這種東西而聞名。\\n\\n半小時後，基米下了樓，穿過咖啡館，現在他穿上一套新穎雅緻的衣服，手裡提著擦拭一新的手提箱。“下一步準備做什麼呢？撬開另一個保險櫃吧？”邁克·杜蘭笑道。\\n\\n“我不懂你的意思，我是紐約聯合陶器公司的代表。”\\n\\n這一番話把邁克逗樂了，他為此馬上遞給基米一杯礦泉牛奶。基米是從來不碰烈性飲料的。\\n\\n在9762號範林丁釋放一週之後，印第安那州的裡士滿又發生了一起保險櫃被盜事件。隻有區區800美元。兩星期後，一家保險櫃再次被盜，1500美元不翼而飛，證券和銀器紋絲未動。這開始引起了偵探的注意。又過了幾天，傑弗遜市銀行被盜，被竊走了5000美元。現在損失的數目越來越大，因此該由本·普萊斯這樣大名鼎鼎的偵探來著手偵查。在比較了所有的案件之後，普萊斯偵探發現盜竊手法如出一轍。本·普萊斯調查了這些盜竊案的現場。爾後，人們聽他說道：\\n\\n“這都是基米·範林丁乾的。他又重操舊業了。他有非常出色的工具，可以打開任何保險櫃而又不留下任何蛛絲馬跡。是的，這是範林丁乾的。”\\n\\n本·普萊斯對基米的惡習瞭如指掌。當他在偵查春田案件時就掌握了所有這一切。\\n\\n一天下午，基米·範林丁帶著他的手提箱在阿肯色州的一個名叫愛爾摩的小鎮下了火車。基米看上去就像一個剛從學校回家的大學生。他出了車站，向旅館走去。\\n\\n這時，正好有一位年輕小姐穿過馬路，在拐角處和他擦身而過，走進了寫有“愛爾摩銀行”的大門。基米·範林丁凝視著她的眼睛，忘乎所以，像換了一個人似的。她雙眼低垂，臉色羞紅。在愛爾摩，像基米這樣風度翩翩的年輕人還是不多見的。\\n\\n基米將站在銀行台階上的一個男孩叫了進來，活像一個股東似的，向他瞭解該鎮的情況，不時給他幾個一角的銀幣。過了一會兒，那個小姐走了出來，又從基米的身邊走過，假裝冇有看見他的樣子，隻顧走自己的路。\\n\\n“這不是波麗·辛普森小姐嗎？”基米神情閃爍地問道。\\n\\n“不是，”那個男孩說，“她是安娜貝爾·亞當斯。她的父親是這家銀行的老闆。你到愛爾摩來做什麼？你這是金錶鏈嗎？我想買一條哈巴狗。你還有銀幣嗎？”\\n\\n基米來到了普蘭特旅館登記時簽的是拉爾夫·D·斯賓塞，他在那裡租賃了一個房間。他靠著桌子向店員說明瞭來意。他說他是來愛爾摩做生意的。這鎮上鞋子生意怎麼樣。他想做鞋子的生意。開一家鞋店劃得來嗎？基米的衣著和舉止使店員感到這人來頭不小，因此很樂意為這個年輕人提供他所需要的情況。\\n\\n他想，不錯。投資經營鞋子是劃得來的。這地方冇有鞋店。鞋子隻在布店和百貨商店有售。各行各業的買賣都相當不錯。\\n\\n“我希望，斯賓塞先生，你能決定在愛爾摩居住。你會發現住在這個小鎮是非常令人愉快的。這裡的人都很好，”店員繼續說道。\\n\\n斯賓塞先生說，他想在這鎮上呆一段時間，看看情況。\\n\\n店員想叫手下人搬手提箱。斯賓塞先生說不需要，他自己會提。手提箱是相當沉的。拉爾夫·斯賓塞先生，這隻由基米·範林丁的灰燼中再生的鳳凰——灰燼是由突然襲來的愛情之火燃成的——在愛爾摩定居下來了，並且取得了成功。他開了一家鞋店，獲利甚豐，在其它方麵也都一帆風順。\\n\\n他在眾多重要人物中名聲鵲起，也結交了不少朋友。他在努力實現自己的心願。他和安娜貝爾·亞當斯小姐相識，而且越來越深地墜入了情網。\\n\\n在一年的時間裡，拉爾夫·斯賓塞先生達到了這樣一種境況：他贏得了本地大多數居民的尊敬；他的鞋店生意興隆；他和安娜貝爾也將於兩週內喜結良緣。亞當斯先生，安娜貝爾的父親，這位典型的地方銀行家，也對斯賓塞非常滿意。安娜貝爾對自己的未婚也很自豪。實際上，她的自豪幾乎和她的愛情不相上下。基米在亞當斯先生的家裡以及在安娜貝爾已經出嫁的姐姐那裡，都感到像在自己家裡一般無拘無束。\\n\\n一天，基米坐在他的房裡，給一個好友寫了這樣一封信：\\n\\n“親愛的老夥計：\\n\\n下週三晚上9點，希望你到小石城波浪咖啡館來。我有事相托。同時，我將把我的工具送給你。我知道，你得到它們會很高興的——你花1000美元也買不到這一套東西。聽我說，比利。我已經在一年前金盆洗手。我開了一家非常出色的商店。我現在過的是正直清白的生活，兩週內我要和世界上最好的姑娘結婚。這纔是真正的生活，比利，這纔是正直的人生。現在我已經對彆人的東西秋毫不犯。結婚後，我打算將店賣掉，移居西部，在那裡可以更安全些，不致碰到那些知道我過去底細的人。我對你說，比利，她真是一個天使。她信任我，而我無論如何也不能再走邪路了。務必到波浪咖啡館來。我必須見你。我將隨身帶來那些工具。\\n\\n你的好友\\n\\n基米”\\n\\n星期一晚上，也正是在基米寫完這封信之後，本·普萊斯偵探來到了愛爾摩。他悄悄地走遍了整個鎮子，直到他搞清了他想要知道的種種情況。他從斯賓塞鞋店對麵馬路的一家雜貨店中，詳細地觀察了拉爾夫·斯賓塞的一舉一動。\\n\\nLady, Are You Rich?\\n\\n太太，您富有嗎?\\n\\nThey huddled inside the storm door—two children in ragged outgrown coats.\\n\\n\\\"Any old papers, lady?\\\"\\n\\nI was busy. I wanted to say no—until I looked down at their feet. Thin little sandals, sopped with sleet.\\n\\n\\\"Come in and I'll make you a cup of hot cocoa.\\\"\\n\\nThere was no conversation. Their soggy sandals left marks upon the hearthstone. I served them cocoa and toast with jam to fortify against the chill outside. Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget.\\n\\nThe silence in the front room struck through to me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked in a flat voice,\\\" Lady ... are you rich?\\\"\\n\\n\\\"Am I rich? Mercy, no!\\\" I looked at my shabby slipcovers. The girl put her cup back in its saucer -- carefully.\\n\\n\\\"Your cups match your saucers.\\\"\\n\\nHer voice was old, with a hunger that was not of the stomach. They left then, holding their bundles of papers against the wind. They hadn't said thank you. They didn't need to. They had done more than that. Plain blue pottery cups and saucers. But they matched.\\n\\nI tested the potatoes and stirred the gravy. Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job -- these things matched, too.\\n\\nI moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my hearth. I let them be. I want them there in case I ever forget again how very rich I am.\\n\\n他們蜷縮著相互偎依在我家的擋風門棟裡——兩個衣衫襤褸的孩子，他們的衣服小得不能再小了。\\n\\n“太太，請問您有舊報紙嗎?”\\n\\n當時，我正忙著，本來想對他們說冇有，但當我看到他們腳上隻穿著一雙被冰雪浸濕得再單薄不過的便鞋時，我再也說不出口了。\\n\\n“進屋來吧，我來給你們煮一杯熱可可茶。”\\n\\n默默地他們跟我進了屋，爐邊他們浸濕的便鞋留下了一串腳印。我給他們端上可可茶和果醬麪包，我想這能幫助他們抵禦外麵的風寒。然後我回到了廚房，像往常一樣，為了明天的生活而精打細算。\\n\\n前屋裡冇有一點聲音，這讓我感到很奇怪。我向屋裡望去，小女孩手裡正端著那個已經喝完了的茶杯，認真地凝視著，太太——您富有嗎?\\\"男孩子語氣平緩地問道。\\n\\n\\\"我富有嗎?\\\"我看了看沙發上那寒酸的裝飾布，回答說，“天哪，我可算不上。”這時，那個小女孩非常小心地把杯子放回到茶碟裡。\\n\\n“您的杯子和茶碟非常相配。”\\n\\n她說話的聲音聽起來不像是個孩子，帶著一種對食物以外的東西的渴望。然後，他們抱著舊報紙，頂著風雪離開了。他們甚至冇有說一聲“謝謝”，是的，他們根本冇有必要說，實際上他們所做的比道謝更重要。非常平常的一對蘭色陶瓷杯碟，但它們確實很相配。\\n\\n我檢視了一下鍋裡煮著的土豆然後又攪拌了幾下肉汁。有土豆和棕色肉湯可以吃，有房子可以住，我的丈夫有一份很好很穩定的工作——這一切的一切同樣也很匹配。\\n\\n我把椅子從爐邊向後拉開些，然後把起居室整理乾淨。地麵上留下的泥腳印還冇乾。是的，我想讓它們留在那裡，提醒我不要忘了我是多麼的富有。\\n\\nSummer gift\\n\\n夏日的禮物\\n\\nOne hot and humid day, I decided to mow our extremely hilly lawn. It was threatening to turn into a jungle.\\n\\nAfter several false starts, I got our ancient lawn mower going. Struggling to push the machine uphill, I grumbled under my breath.\\n\\nAt the top of a rise, I looked up to see my 12-year-old son standing there, a smile on his face and a glass of ice water in his hand. “Here, Mom,” he said, “have a drink. Want me to rest you? Dad lets me mow on the flat places.”\\n\\nI accepted the ice water and went to sit in the shade of a tall tree. As I sipped my drink, I watched John Thomas. He didn’t seem to be following the normal mowing pattern. And he kept grinning at me as he worked. What’s he doing that makes him so happy? I thought to myself.\\n\\nAfter a while, he stopped mowing. “Hey, Mom, could you come over here?”\\n\\nI stood up grumpily. As I walked across the lawn, I noticed that he’d missed a sizable spot. “John, you didn’t...” The irritable words faded. For the spot I thought he’d neglected had been carefully and meticulously mowed into the shape of a heart.\\n\\n“Like it, Mom?” he asked with a big smile. “Now I’ll finish the job.”\\n\\n一個炎熱而潮濕的夏日，我打算修剪那凸凹不平的草地。因為它眼看著就要變成叢林了。\\n\\n幾次啟動失敗後，我最後終於把我們那台古董割草機發動起來了。我一邊奮力推著它爬上草坡，一邊氣喘籲籲地埋怨著活兒太累。\\n\\n在一個小草坡上，我抬起頭看見我那12歲的兒子正站在那裡。他臉上掛著一絲微笑，手裡拿著一個裝滿冰水的玻璃杯。“給您，媽媽，”他說，“喝點水吧。想讓我替換您休息一下嗎？爸爸讓我割那些平坦地方的草。”\\n\\n我接過冰水，走到一棵大樹底下去乘涼。我一邊喝著冰水，一邊注視著約翰·托馬斯。他似乎冇有遵循正常割草的模式。他在乾活的時候一直在咧著嘴衝我笑。難道他喜歡乾這活兒？我在心裡暗暗地想著。\\n\\n過了一會兒，他停了下來，“嗨，媽媽，您能過來一下嗎？”\\n\\n我煩燥地站起來。當我穿過草地向他走去時，我注意到他漏掉了相當大一片草冇有割。“約翰，你冇有……”帶著怒氣的話漸漸弱了下去。因為我原以為被他漏割的那塊草地已經被他仔細地修割成一個心形圖案。\\n\\n“喜歡嗎，媽媽？”他臉上洋溢著一個燦爛的微笑。“現在，我要把這活兒乾完。”\\n\\nMy first job\\n\\n我的第一份工作\\n\\nBoth my parents came from towns in Mexico. I was born in El Paso, Texas, and when I was four, my family moved to a housing project in East Los Angeles.\\n\\nEven though we struggled to make ends meet, my parents stressed to me and my four brothers and sisters how fortunate we were to live in a great country with limitless opportunities. They imbued1 in us the concepts of family, faith and patriotism2.\\n\\nI got my first real job when I was ten. My dad, Benjamin, injured his back working in a cardboard-box factory and was retrained as a hairstylist. He rent ed space in a little strip mall and gave his shop the fancy name of Mr Ben’s Coiffure.\\n\\nThe owner of the shopping center gave Dad a discount on his rent for cleaning the parking lot three nights a week, which meant getting up at 3 a.m. To pick up trash, Dad used a little machine that looked like a lawn mower. Mom and I emptied garbage cans and picked up litter by hand. It took two to three hours to clean the lot. I’d sleep in the car on the way home.\\n\\nI did this for two years, but the lessons I learned have lasted a lifetime. I acquired discipline3 and a strong work ethic, and learned at an early age the importance of bal ancing life’s competing interests—in my case, school, homework and a job. This really helped during my senior year of high school, when I worked 40 hours a week flip ping burgers at a fast-food joint while taking a full load of college-prep courses.\\n\\nThe hard work paid off. I attended the U.S. Military Academy and went on to receive graduate degrees in law and business from Harvard. Later, I joined a big Los Angeles law firm and was elected to the California state assembly. In these jobs and in everything else I’ve done, I have never forgotten those days in the parking lot. The experience taught me that there is dignity in all work and that if people are working to provide for themselves and their families that is something we should honor.\\n\\n我的父母都來自墨西哥的小鎮。我出生於得克薩斯州的埃爾帕索城。我四歲時，全家搬到了東洛杉磯的一處低收入住宅區。\\n\\n儘管我們當時要做到收支平衡都很困難，但父母仍對我和四個兄弟姐妹強調說，能在這樣一個充滿無限機遇的國家裡落戶，我們是多麼幸運啊！他們潛移默化地給我們注入了家庭、忠誠和愛國主義觀念。\\n\\n十歲的時候，我得到了人生第一份正式的工作。我的爸爸，本傑明，在卡紙製盒廠工作時背部受傷。經過再培訓，他成了一名髮型師。他在一個規模不大的單排商業區租下了一個攤位並給他的店麵取了個有趣的名字“本先生的髮型”。\\n\\n商業中心的老闆給爸爸的租金打了個折扣，但條件是一週打掃三個晚上的停車場，這也就是說淩晨三點就要起床乾活。爸爸用一個看起來像除草機的小機器來撿拾垃圾，而我和媽媽把垃圾從桶裡倒出來後就直接用手撿。打掃這個停車場要用兩三個小時。回家的路上，我總是在車裡就睡著了。\\n\\n這份工作我乾了兩年，但我從中學到的東西卻受用終生。我學會了自律並具備了良好的職業道德，從小我就懂得了平衡生活中各種利益衝突的重要性 ——對我而言，就是上學、作業和工作。這些東西在我高二那年真是很有用處。那時，我在一家合資快餐店製作那糟糕透頂的漢堡包，一週要工作四十個小時，同時還要肩負著沉重的大學預科課程。\\n\\n艱辛的工作終見回報。我考進了美**事學院，接著又獲得了哈佛大學的法律和商業學士學位。後來，我進入了洛杉磯一家著名的律師事務所，後又被選入加州議會。在做這些工作和其他所有事的過程中，我從未忘記過在停車場辛勤工作的日子。那段經曆使我懂得工作無貴賤, 隻要是自食其力來供養自己和家人就是值得我們敬佩的。\\n\\n77 cents\\n\\n77美分\\n\\nI live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and there are some homeless people in the downtown, especially the University area. I used to give a lot of money to the homeless, feeling sorry for their misfortune. But as time passed, I fell into avictim to many of the cir cum stances of a home less person. After I was divorced from my husband, I became a single mom with no home, a huge debt, and hardly any income. As a result, I became very mean and stopped giving to the people on the side of the road.\\n\\nThrough my working hard, things started to change for me. I be came responsible enough to have a home with a back yard for my daughter, and plenty of food, and I started to pull myself out of debt. One day we saw a homeless person with the sign“Will work for food.” I passed by. My daughter commented, “Mommy, you used to always give to those people in need. But now...”I replied, “Honey, they just use that money for alcohol or other bad things.”She didn’t respond1. But when I said that, I didn’t feel right.\\n\\nThree days later, I was driving to pick up my daughter from school. A man was standing on the corner with the appearance of worries，and suddenly something deep inside me said, \\\"Just help the guy.”So I rolled down my window, and he ran over with enthusiasm2. He said, D'ind lady, I only need 77 cents.”I reached into my pock et and found that I didn’t take my purse. And then I embarrassedly spread out my hands to show that I was in no position to help him. But when he turned away, I called to him, “Wait a moment!”I found in my ashtray there sat three quarters and two pennies. Oddly enough, it was the very 77 cents.\\n\\nMy skin was prickling as I saw this. I scooped it up and gave it to him. He burst out with joy and tears in his eyes, “Wow, you just made it possible for me to see my mom for Christmas! Thank you so much! I haven’t visited my mother for three years. The bus is leaving in 20 minutes! I have to go now.”\\n\\nIt was the moment that I’ll never forget. I think that man won’t forget it either, but I was the one who got the best gift in life——GIVING. It also strikes me that nothing is a coincidence, and every giving has meaning, although it is the humble 77 cents.\\n\\n我住在新墨西哥州的愛伯克奇城。而市中心則住著很多無家可歸的人，尤其是高校區。過去，我很同情這些人的悲慘遭遇，常常會給他們很多錢。但後來我自己也成為他們其中的一員。我與丈夫離婚後，成了一位單身母親。我無家可歸，欠了一大筆債，而且還幾乎冇有任何收入來源。所以，我也就開始變得吝嗇，不再給路邊的乞討者任何錢。\\n\\n經過我的努力，生活開始有了好轉。我已有足夠的能力給女兒買帶有後院的房子，為她提供充足的食物，而且我也漸漸地從債海中掙脫出來。一天，我看到一個無家可歸的人，他拿著一個牌子，上麵寫著“請幫幫我，給我些食物。”我若無其事地從他身邊走了過去，女兒卻突然感歎道：“媽咪，過去你總是幫助需要幫助的人，可現在……”我回答道：“親愛的寶貝，他們隻會拿著乞討來的錢去買酒喝或乾其他壞事情。”雖然女兒冇有回答，但我還是感覺到了這樣說不太好。\\n\\n三天後，我開車去學校接女兒。我看到角落裡站著一名男子，一臉焦急的表情。突然，我心中響起了這樣一個聲音“幫幫他吧！”我搖下車窗，他滿臉欣喜地飛奔過來說：“善良的女士，我隻需77美分。”我把手伸進口袋，才發現忘了帶錢包，我不好意思地攤開雙手，以示無奈。但當他正要轉身離開時，我叫住了他，“等等！”我發現我時常放零錢的菸灰缸裡躺著三張25美分的紙幣和兩分錢，真巧，不多不少，剛好77美分。\\n\\n當我看到這77美分時，我的皮膚有股刺痛感，我迅速地將這77美分遞給了他。他高興得手舞足蹈，並且眼睛裡閃爍著感激的淚花。“哇，您讓我終於可以在聖誕節回家看母親了！太謝謝您了，我已經有三年冇回家看她了。巴士車20分鐘後就要開了，我不得不走了。”\\n\\n這個時刻，我將記憶猶新。我想那位男子也會永遠記得，而我卻有幸得到了人生最好的禮物——給予。我恍然悟到：那些看似巧合的事絕非巧合，任何給予都會有意義，哪怕隻是少得可憐的77美分。\\n\\nDeliberate Design of Two\\n\\n天生“一對”\\n\\nA gray African goose stood at the rear of my father’s truck, staring into the wide chrome bumper—completely engrossed with the image he saw there. The goose preened, cocking his outstretched neck from side to side, occasionally flapping his wings to punctuate his conversation of clucks and honks. It was an interesting and amusing sight.\\n\\nWhen I noticed that the goose was still there nearly four hours later, I thought it was odd. So I asked my father about it.\\n\\n“Dad,”I said. “that old gray goose has been standing behind your truck all day. Do you have any idea why”\\n\\n“Oh, sure,”he answered without hesitation. “That’s Grady. He lost his “missus”a year ago, and he’s lonely without her. For nearly a month he searched the farmstead for her every day. Then one day, as he passed the shiny bumper, he caught sight of his reflection in it. I guess he thinks he’s found her. So every day he comes to be with her.”\\n\\nEach and every morning, the geese wait impatiently at the door of their protective shed for my father to free them so they can roam the farmstead. When Grady is turned to loose, he departs from the others, preferring instead to be with “his missus.”On a full waddle, he rushes to wherever my father’s truck is parked and stares into the truck’s shiny silver bumper and exuberantly cackles away, perhaps filling her in on the events that transpired while they were apart.\\n\\n“Isn’t it a bit strange that Grady stays at the bumper all day long” I asked.\\n\\n“Not if that’s where he thinks his companion is,”my father replied. “He’s devoted to her.”\\n\\nI was intrigued by the apparent affection this goose had once shared with his mate, an affection so strong he was determined to hang on to some semblance of it after her parting.\\n\\n“Dad,”I asked with genuine curiosity. “Why do you think that goose would go to such lengths”\\n\\n“No mystery to it,”he said matter-of-factly.“Everything in nature is a deliberate design of two. It’s natural to want a companion. Union, having someone to share your days with, being concerned with someone other than yourself, gives reason to life. And most all of us seek a mate even after painful loss and heartbreak in that quest.”\\n\\nHis words struck me and reminded me that in our greatest joys and sorrows, we generally reach out for the person with whom we are closest to share the experience. And it’s this sharing that exponentially heightens the experience. When my daughter was born, as overjoyed as I felt, the experience was incomplete until I saw the joy in her father’s eyes. This past week my daughter came to visit me with some flowers. When I swooned at the beauty of the flowers and her gesture of giving them to me, her eyes lit up and a beautiful ear-to-ear smile appeared. Buying the flowers for me had elicited her joy, but seeing my happiness in receiving them had made her joy complete.\\n\\nMy father paused, looked toward the sky and summed it up with his words, “A sunset watched with your mother is much more beautiful than one I see without her.”\\n\\nLater that day, Grady was still attending to his lover in the bumper.\\n\\nWhen I asked my elder brother who stopped at the farm to visit me what he thought about the goose’s behavior. He said, “It’s been my experience that many species in the animal kingdom seek union and mourn its loss. In a paired union, the loss of a mate can be so great that, like people, heart-broken with grief over the partner’s death, the other partner even lose his will to live sometimes. Old Grady didn’t come to that conclusion. He set about finding his companion.”\\n\\nBut eventually Grady did come to that conclusion. Ten months after my visit home, my parents traded the old truck in for a car, a vehicle more conducive to spending time together taking drives in comfort.\\n\\n“Dad,”I asked.“what does Grady think of the bumper on the new car”?\\n\\n“Oh,”he replied sadly. “The bumper on the new car is painted fiberglass. It doesn’t shine. Without the shiny bumper, Grady lost his missus once again. He spent nearly a week looking for her all over the farm, but to no avail. He nearly drove us crazy with his honking and calling out to her. Having mourned for several days, Grady died just eight days after we traded in the truck.”\\n\\nI was shocked with tears in my eyes.\\n\\nThe bonds of sharing—perhaps interwoven into all souls—sweeten life’s joys, ease the bitterness of its losses and color the beauty of sunsets shared.\\n\\n一隻灰色的非洲鵝站在我父親的貨車後麵，目不轉睛地凝視著車尾寬大的鍍鉻保險杠——它完全被它所見到的景象吸引住了。對著保險杠，灰鵝精心地整理著自己的羽毛，豎起長長的脖子扭來扭去，大聲咯咯地叫著，還不時地拍拍自己的翅膀。這個場景既有趣又滑稽。\\n\\n將近四個小時過後，當我見到那隻鵝還站在保險杠那裡的時候，我開始覺得它有些奇怪了。於是，我詢問父親是怎麼回事。\\n\\n“爸爸，”我說，“那隻老灰鵝在你的貨車後麵站了一整天了。你知道是什麼原因嗎？”\\n\\n“噢，冇什麼。”父親毫不遲疑地回答道，“它叫格拉迪。一年前它的‘老伴’去世了，它覺得很孤單。當時將近有一個月，它每天都在農場周圍到處尋找它的老伴，直到有一天，它經過那條閃閃發光的保險杠，從中見到了它自己的倒影。我猜，它是認為自己找到老伴了，所以每天都來陪她。”\\n\\n每天早上，鵝群都會不耐煩地等在鵝棚的門口，等我父親開門放它們出去，然後在農場四周漫步。而格拉迪每次獲得自由以後，就會離開鵝群——它更願意和它的“老伴”呆在一起。無論我父親的貨車停在哪裡，它總會搖搖擺擺地衝過去，凝視著貨車銀光閃閃的保險杠，興高采烈地咯咯叫著，也許它是在向它的老伴講述它們分彆之後發生的事情。\\n\\n“格拉迪一整天都呆在保險杠那裡，不是有點奇怪嗎？”我問道。\\n\\n“如果它相信它的老伴在那裡，那就不足為怪了，”我父親回答道，“它對它的老伴一往情深。”\\n\\n很顯然，這隻鵝與它的伴侶感情深厚，它們的愛是如此強烈以至它在老伴逝世之後，還依然牢牢地記著老伴的某些樣貌特征。這一切激起了我濃厚的興趣。\\n\\n“爸爸，”我懷著真誠的好奇心問道，“你為什麼認為鵝的感情可以持續這麼久呢？”\\n\\n“這冇什麼好奇怪的，”父親語氣平淡地說，“大自然裡每一件事物都註定了是成雙成對的。渴望一個伴侶是一切有生命的事物的天性。結合、跟另一個人分享你的生活、關心自己以外的他人，正是這些賦予我們生活的意義。在追求這些的過程中，即使會經曆痛苦的失落和心碎，我們絕大多數人也仍然會尋找一個伴侶。”\\n\\n父親的話觸動了我，讓我想起：無論是巨大的歡樂還是悲傷，我們一般都會與身邊最親近的人分享我們的經曆，而這種分享又會極大地豐富我們的經曆。我女兒出生的時候，我欣喜若狂，但是這種經曆是不完整的，直到我在她父親的眼裡看到了同樣的喜悅。上週，我女兒帶了一些花來看望我。當我陶醉於鮮花的美麗和她遞花給我的動作時，她的眼睛一下子就閃亮起來，臉上綻放出美麗的笑容。給我買花為她帶來了歡樂，但是我收到花時的喜悅，讓她的歡樂得以完滿。\\n\\n父親停頓了一下，抬頭看了看天，然後總結道：“和你媽媽一起看日落，會比我一個人看的時候要美麗得多。”\\n\\n那天晚些的時候，格拉迪仍然站在保險杠旁陪伴著它的“老伴”。\\n\\n正巧我哥哥路過農場順便來看望我，於是我問他對這隻鵝的行為有什麼看法。他說：“我知道動物王國裡的許多物種都會尋找伴侶，並因失去伴侶而悲傷。在一對一的結閤中，失去另一半的悲傷是如此地強烈，就像人類一樣，因為喪偶而悲傷心碎的那一位甚至有時會失去生存的意誌。還好老格拉迪並冇有走上那條路，它設法找回自己的伴侶。”\\n\\n然而，格拉迪最終還是走上了那條路。在我那次探親後又過了十個月，我父母把那輛老貨車賣掉了，換了一輛更方便他們一起舒服地出行的小汽車。\\n\\n“爸爸，”我問道，“格拉迪怎麼看那輛新車的保險杠呢？”\\n\\n“噢，”父親難過地回答道，“新車的保險杠上塗了一層玻璃纖維，不能發光。冇有了那個閃閃發光的保險杠，格拉迪又一次失去了它的‘老伴’。它花了將近一週的時間在農場裡到處尋找老伴，但是找不到。它不停地高聲呼喚著它的老伴，讓我們聽著都快瘋了。它傷心了好些天，就在我們賣掉貨車後的第八天，格拉迪死了。”\\n\\n我當場就驚呆了，淚水模糊了我的雙眼。\\n\\n每個人的心裡都存在著分享的情結，它讓人生的快樂更甜蜜，讓失意的痛苦得到安撫，讓共賞的夕陽更加絢麗。\\n\\n\"

}