生命是一場旅行（上） 第三卷 擁有今天

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\"code\": 200,

\"title\": \"\",

\"content\": \"Today Is All We Have\\n\\nToday Is All We Have\\n\\n擁有今天\\n\\nRemember today that you are alive.\\n\\nSometimes we tend to forget that you have a purpose that is all your own, no one else is you. You have dreams and hopes and desires. Listen to your heart for a while.\\n\\nRemember today all the blessings you have: There's beauty in every direction you look, enjoy the abundance that is already yours, the world is a wonderful place and you're here.\\n\\nRemember today that you get what you give: Your world is a mirror of your inner self, love will be yours when you give it away.\\n\\nRemember today that life is creation: As long as you live you can always contribute your own special voice.\\n\\n記住今天你擁有的生命！\\n\\n有時我們似乎會忘記我們自己獨有的生活目標，我們會忘記自我。每個人都有夢想，希望和願望。有時去傾聽一下你內心的召喚。\\n\\n記住今天你擁有所有的祝福：美存在於你所注視過的每個角落，享受你內心已有的充實，這是一個美麗的世界，你生活在這裡。\\n\\n記住今天你因奉獻而有所得：你的世界是你內心的一麵鏡子，當你給予愛時，你才擁有愛。\\n\\n記住今天生活就是去創造：隻要你擁有生命，你可以永遠奉獻你那一份力量。\\n\\nWater in the Cup\\n\\n杯中之水\\n\\nA group of working adults got together to visit their University lecturer. The lecturer was happy to see them, and conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.\\n\\nThe lecturer just smiled and went to the kitchen to get an assortment of cups—some porcelain, some in plastic, some in glass, some plain looking and some looked rather expensive and exquisite. The lecturer offered his former students the cups to get drinks for themselves.\\n\\nWhen all the students had a cup in hand with water, the lecturer spoke, “If you noticed, all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal that you only want the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you wanted was water, not the cup, but we unconsciously went for the better cups.”\\n\\nJust like in life, if Life is Water, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. If we only concentrate on the cup, we won't have time to enjoy the water in it.\\n\\n一群上班族一同去拜訪他們的大學老師。老師看到他們很開心，但不久學生們就滿腹牢騷地抱怨工作和生活中的壓力了。\\n\\n老師隻是笑笑，然後到廚房取來各式各樣的杯子——瓷杯、塑料杯、玻璃杯等等，有些外表平平，有些看起來精緻名貴。老師將這些杯子遞給他以前的這幫學生，讓他們自己倒水喝。\\n\\n當學生們人手一杯水時，老師便發話了：“不知你們發現冇有，所有好看的、昂貴的杯子都被拿走了，剩下的是一些普通的和便宜的杯子。大家都想為自己得到最好的，這屬人之常情，不過這也是你們出現問題和壓力的根源所在。其實你們真正需要的是水，不是杯子，但我們都情不自禁地拿更好的杯子。”\\n\\n生活也是如此，如果“生活”是“水”，那麼工作、金錢和社會地位都隻是杯子。這些隻是用來盛“水”的工具，而實際上“生活”的本質並未改變。如果我們隻將注意力放在杯子上，那就冇有時間來享受杯裡的水了。\\n\\nGenius at Work\\n\\n天纔在工作\\n\\nHenry ford didn’t always pay attention in school. one day ,he and a friend took a watch apart. angry and upset, the teacher told him both to stay after school. their punishment was to stay until they had fixed the watch. but the teacher did not know young ford’s genius. in ten minutes, this mechanical wizard had repaired the watch and was on this way home.\\n\\nFord was always interested in how things worked. he once plugged up the spout of a teapot and placed it on the fire. then he waited to see what would happen. the water boiled and, of course, turned to steam. since the steam had no way to escape, the teapot exploded. the explosion cracked a mirror and broke a window. Many Years later,The young inventor was badly scalded.\\n\\nFord’s curiosity and tinkering were paid off. he dreamed of a horseless carriage.when he built one, the world of transportation was changed forever.\\n\\n亨利·福特在學校裡常常心不在焉。有一天，他和一個小朋友把一塊手錶拆開了。老師很生氣，讓他們放學後留下來，把表修好才能回家。當時這位老師並不知道小福特的天才。隻用了十分鐘，這位機械奇才就把手錶修好，走在回家的路上了。\\n\\n福特對各種東西的工作原理總是很感興趣。曾有一次，他把茶壺嘴用東西堵住，然後把茶壺放在火爐上。他便站在一邊等候著會出現什麼情況。當然，水開後變成了水蒸氣。因為水蒸氣無處逸出，茶壺便爆炸了，因而打碎了一麵鏡子和一扇窗戶。這個小發明家也被嚴重地燙傷了。\\n\\n多年後，福特的好奇心和他的動手能力使他得到了回報。他曾經夢想著去製造一輛無馬行進的車。他造成了一輛這樣的車後，運輸界發生了永久性的變化。\\n\\nPrinciples are lighthouses\\n\\n正確的原則猶如燈塔\\n\\nIt was a dark and stormy night. The officer on the bridge came to the captain and said, \\\"Captain, Captain, there is a light in our sea lane and they won't move.\\\"\\n\\n\\\"What do you mean they won't move? Tell them to move. Tell them starboard right now.\\\"\\n\\nThe signal was sent out, \\\"Starboard, starboard, \\\"The signal comes back, \\\" Starboard yourself.\\\"\\n\\n\\\"I can’t believe this. What's going on here? Let them know who I am.\\\" The signal sent out, “this is the mighty Missouri, starboard.\\\" The signal comes back, \\\"This is the lighthouse.\\\"\\n\\nMy friends, correct principles are 1ighthouses, they do not move. They are nature laws. We can’t break them. We can only break ourselves against them. We might as well learn them, accommodate them, utilize them and be grateful for them. Then it enlarges us and emancipates us and empowers us.\\n\\nTS.Eliot once said something I think is appropriate as we come to the conclusion of our visit together. He said, “we are never cease from striving, and the end of all of our striving wi1l be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.\\\"\\n\\n那是個漆黑的、狂風暴雨的夜晚，大副從駕駛室出來走向船長說：“船長，船長，我們的海道上有燈光，而且他們不願移開。”\\n\\n“他們不願移開是什麼意思? 叫他們移開。告訴他們立即右偏。”\\n\\n信號發了出去：“右偏，右偏。”發回來的信號說：“你自己右偏。”\\n\\n“我就不信。這是怎麼了？讓他們知道我是誰。”信號發出去：“這裡是密蘇裡巨輪，請右偏。”信號發了回來：“這裡是燈塔。”\\n\\n朋友們，正確的原則猶如燈塔，他們不會移動。它們是自然法則。我們打破不了。我們要麼讓自己與它們相悖，要麼去學習它們、調整它們、利用它們，並感激它們。然後我們自己得以發展，得以解放，得到使用這些原則的能力。\\n\\nTS-愛略特曾說過一句話，我認為很適合用來做此行的結束語。他說：”我們將永不放棄奮鬥，經過全力以赴的奮鬥後，我們將到達出發之地，並重新認識這個地方。”\\n\\nWe’re Just Beginning\\n\\n一切剛開始\\n\\n“We are reading the first verse of the first chapter of a book whose pages are infinite...”\\n\\nI do not know who wrote those words, but I have always liked them as a reminder that the future can be anything we want to make it. We can take the mysterious, hazy future and carve out of it anything that we can imagine, just as a sculptor carves a statue from a shapeless stone.\\n\\nWe are all in the position of the farmer. If we plant a good seed, we reap a good harvest. If our seed is poor and full of weeds, we reap a useless crop. If we plant nothing at all, we harvest nothing at all.\\n\\nI want the future to be better than the past. I don’t want it contaminated by the mistakes and errors with which history is filled. We should all be concerned about the future because that is where we will spend the remainder of our lives.\\n\\nThe past is gone and static. Nothing we can do will change it. The future is before us and dynamic. Everything we do will affect it. Each day brings with it new frontiers, in our homes and in our business, if we only recognize them. We are just at the beginning of the progress in every field of human endeavor.\\n\\n“我們正在讀一本書的第一章第一行，這本書的頁數是無限的……”\\n\\n我不知道是誰寫的，可我很喜歡這句話，它提醒我們未來是由自己創造的。我們可以把神秘、不可知的未來塑造成我們想象中的任何模樣，猶如雕刻家將未成形的石頭刻成雕像。\\n\\n我們每個人都像是農夫。撒下良種將有豐收，播下劣種或生滿野草便將毀去收成。冇有耕耘則會一無所獲。\\n\\n我希望未來比過去更加美好，希望未來不會沾染曆史的錯誤與過失。我們都應舉目向前，因我們的餘生要用未來書寫。\\n\\n往昔已逝，靜如止水；我們無法再作改變。而前方的未來正生機勃勃；我們所做的每一件事都將會影響著它。隻要我們認識到這些，無論是在家中還是在工作上，每天我們的麵前都會展現出新的天地。在人類致力開拓的每一片領域上，我們正站在進步的起跑點。\\n\\nLove: The One Creative Force\\n\\n愛：能夠創造奇蹟的力量\\n\\nA college professor had his sociology class go into the Baltimore slums to get case histories of 200 young boys. They were asked to write an evaluation of each boy's future. In every case the students wrote,\\\" He hasn't got a chance.\\\" Twenty-five years later another sociology professor came across the earlier study. He had his students follow up on the project to see what had happened to these boys.\\n\\nWith the exception of 20 boys who had moved away or died, the students learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors and businessmen.\\n\\nThe professor was astounded and decided to pursue the matter further. Fortunately, all men were in the area and he was able to ask each one,\\\" How do you account for your success?\\\" In each case the reply came with feeling,\\\" There was a teacher.\\\"\\n\\nThe teacher was still alive, so he sought her out and asked the old but still alert lady what magic formula she had used to pull these boys out of the slums into successful achievement.\\n\\nThe teacher's eyes sparkled and her lips broke into a gentle smile. \\\"It's really very simple,\\\" she said. \\\"I loved those boys.\\\"\\n\\n一個大學教授在上社會學課的時候，讓他的學生去巴爾的摩貧民窟找200個男孩的曆史記錄，並且要求寫出對每個男孩未來的評估。對每個孩子，學生都這樣評價著：“他這輩子完了。”25年以後另外一個社會學教授發現了這個早期的研究，並讓他的學生繼續探究這個研究，看看這些男孩到底怎麼樣了。\\n\\n這些男孩中除了已經去世或者遷居的20位以外，學生髮現，剩下的180人中有176人都獲得了比普通人更大的成就，他們中有律師，醫生，還有商人。\\n\\n教授大吃一驚並決定進一步地探究下去。幸運的是，這些長成人的孩子還都在這個地區，因此教授有機會挨個去問他們：“你是如何獲得你的這些成就的？”很讓人感動的是，他們的回答如出一轍：“因為我有一位好老師。”\\n\\n這個老師還健在。教授找到這位年邁但仍不失機警的婦人，問她到底有什麼魔法能讓這些貧民窟的孩子都獲得如此成就。\\n\\n這位老師眼裡閃耀著光芒，她的嘴唇露出一抹溫柔微笑，“很簡單，”她說，“因為我愛這些孩子。”\\n\\nOut of fear\\n\\n走出恐懼\\n\\nAs a child, I was afraid of everything：escalators, heights and New Orleans cockroaches. At the age of 8 I even became afraid of getting Halloween candy. Normally on October 31, my twin brother and I would step out of our house and rush to every home with in a three-block radius1. Most of the houses were only a step or two off the ground. Easy.\\n\\nThat year, when we approached one of the bigger houses——a house known to have the best candy but with 10 tall cement steps leading to the front door——my fear of heights stopped me cold. My brother was already up the stairs, while I stood frozen at the bottom.\\n\\nI told myself I might stumble in the dark and drop my bag of treats. I might crash to the concrete below. I might tear my homemade fairy costume. I wanted the candy, but there was no way I was going up those stairs to get it.\\n\\nI lost more than candy. I lost my confidence.\\n\\nThe fear of stepping out took me along the safe, no-risk route through high school, nursing school and into a secure hospital job. After six years in nursing, unsatisfied with the career choice I had made, I woke up to a different kind of fear: The fear of becoming like the other no-risk nurses——tired, burned out and old before their time. I faced a decision: step out into the unknown or spend the rest of my life at the bottom of those steps, never tasting the best candy.\\n\\nI wanted to start a consulting business advising at torneys4 on medical-related cases. I settled for reading business books instead. Then I thought back to the worst thing that ever happened to me: my mom dying at age 48 of breast cancer. Compared with that, how bad could a business failure be” So, with only $100 in my savings account, I nurse consultant. To my horror he answered the phone. About to hang up, I thought: If he was wearing a hospital gown with his backside showing, I would have no problem introducing myself. I sputtered out some thing unintelligible, and he be came my first client.\\n\\nClimbing the stairs of business hasn’t been easy. Once I lost my biggest client. The old fears returned, but I’d tasted the candy, and the memory of my mom put me right back on those stairs.\\n\\nSuccess is not about the achievement. Every time I step out into the unknown, win or lose, I succeed. I might break a leg or invest in a losing business idea, but I won’t end up at my 90th birth day with nothing more than stale white cake and regrets.\\n\\nBad things can happen when we step out, but I believe worse things happen to our souls when we don’t.\\n\\n小時候，我對一切都心存恐懼，比如電梯和新奧爾良蟑螂；另外，我還恐高。在我八歲時，我甚至害怕在萬聖節前夜去討各家為我們小孩準備的糖果（在萬聖節，孩子們會玩挨家討糖吃的遊戲）。每年的10月31日，我和我的雙胞胎哥哥會走出家門衝進三個街區範圍內的每戶人家。大部分人家的房子離地都不到兩步高，很容易上去拿到糖果。\\n\\n那一年，我和哥哥來到一個較大的房子。聽說，這間房子裡有最好的糖果。但是，要進入這間房子，必須先爬上由10級高高的混凝土台階。因為恐高，我看著台階不知所措。當我還像木偶一樣站在房子下麵發呆時，哥哥早已爬上了樓梯。\\n\\n我對自己說，我可能會在黑暗中絆倒，將袋子裡已有的糖果灑滿一地；我可能會一不小心撞到混凝土牆壁上；我還可能弄壞家人為我縫的漂亮衣服。我想要糖果，但是讓我爬那麼高的樓梯去拿我可不願意。\\n\\n那一刻，我失去的不僅僅是糖果，也丟掉了自信。\\n\\n對走出去的恐懼讓我一直平平坦坦，也從無冒險地行走於我的人生道路。高中畢業後，我去了護士學校，然後在醫院做了一名護士，一份很安穩的工作。這一切都是那麼的平淡無奇與水到渠成。做了六年的護士後，我開始不滿足於自己曾經的職業選擇，我在另一種恐懼中驚醒。我害怕我和其他很多護士一樣，過著波瀾不驚的生活，然後在身心疲憊中慢慢老去。我麵臨一個抉擇：要麼走出去進入一個未知的世界，要麼保持現有的生活狀態，永遠也不爬上台階去品嚐最好的“糖果”。\\n\\n我想開一家醫療法律顧問公司，專門為受理有關醫療案件的律師提供谘詢。我開始看創業方麵的書籍。那時，我想到了我這一生到現在為止發生的最悲慘的事情，那就是我的母親在48歲時因乳腺癌離我而去。與這比起來，一次創業失敗又算得了什麼。因此，我以僅有的100美元存款作為資本，開始了創業曆程。我打電話給第一個律師，以一名合法護理谘詢師的身份，向他推薦我的谘詢服務。他接了電話，可我的內心一片空白。就在他要掛電話的那一刻，我突然想：如果他穿著白大褂，背對著我，我會毫無困難地向他介紹我自己。頃刻間，我滔滔不絕地說了很多現在想來都莫名其妙的話，就這樣，他也莫名其妙地成了我的第一個客戶。\\n\\n攀登創業的“樓梯”並不是件容易的事。有一次，我失掉了我最大的客戶，曾經的恐懼又朝我襲來，我想到了放棄，但是我已經嚐到了創業的“糖果”，關於我母親的記憶又讓我回到了登上創業頂峰的“樓梯”。\\n\\n成功不以成就來衡量。每次我進入一個未知的世界，不管是勝利還是失敗，我都成功了。我可能會摔斷一條腿，也可能是投資了一個必賠的領域，但我都不會讓自己在90歲生日時，發現自己除了遺憾，一無所有。\\n\\n當我們走出平淡的生活時，可能會有糟糕的事情等在前方，但我仍然堅信，如果我們不走出去，將會有更糟糕的事情發生在我們心裡。\\n\\nTraces of life\\n\\n生命的痕跡\\n\\nMy teammates on the United States Disabled Ski Team used to tease me about the size of my chest, joking that my greatest handicap wasn’t my missing leg but my missing cleavage1. Little did they know how true that would become.\\n\\nThis past year, I found out that for the second time in my life I had cancer, this time in both breasts. I had bilateral mastectomies. When I heard I’d need the surgery, I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I even told my friends playfully4, “I\\\"ll keep you abreast5of the situation.”After all, I had lost my leg to my first go-round with cancer at age 12, and then gone on to be come a world-champion ski racer. All of us on the Disabled Ski Team were missing one set of body parts or another. I saw that a man in a wheelchair can be utterly sexy. That a woman who has no hands can appear not to be missing anything. That wholeness has nothing to do with missing parts and everything to do with spirit. Yet although I knew this, I was surprised to discover how difficult it was to adjust to my new scars. When they brought me back to consciousness after the surgery, I started to sob and hyperventilate6. Suddenly I found that I didn’t want to face the loss of more of my body. I didn’t want chemotherapy again. I didn’t want to be brave and tough and put on a perpetual smiling face. I didn’t ever want to wake up again... My breathing grew so shaky that the anesthesiologist gave me oxygen and then, thankfully, put me back to sleep.\\n\\nWhen I was doing hill sprints to pre pare for my ski racing, my heart and lungs and leg muscles were all on fire——I’d often be hit by the sensation that there were no resources left in side me with which to keep going. Then I’d think about the races ahead——my dream of pushing my potential as far as it could go, the sat is faction of breaking through my own barriers——and that would get me through the sprints. The same tenacity10 that served me so well in ski racing helped me survive my second bout with cancer.\\n\\nAfter the mastectomies, I knew that one way to get myself going would be to start exercising again, so I head ed for the local pool. In the com munal11 shower, I found my self noticing other women’s breasts for the first time in my life. Suddenly and for the first time, after all these years of missing a leg, I felt acutely self-conscious.\\n\\nI decided it was time to confront myself. That night at home, I took off all my clothes and had a long look at the wom an in the mirror. She was androgynous12. Take my face——without makeup, it was a cute young boy’s face. My shoulder muscles, arms and hands were powerful and muscular from the crutches13. I had no breasts; instead, there were two prominent scars on my chest. I had a sexy flat stomach, a bubble butt and a well-developed thigh14 from years of ski racing. My right leg ended in an other long scar just above the knee. I discovered that I liked my androgynous body. It fit my personality——my aggressive male side that loves getting dressed in a helmet, arm guards and shin protectors to do battle with the slalom gates, and my gentle female side that longs to have children one day and wants to dress up in a beautiful silk dress, and go out to dinner with a lover...\\n\\nI found that the scars on my chest and my leg were a big deal. They were my marks of life. All of us are scarred by life; it’s just that some of those scars show more clearly than others. Our scars do matter. They tell us that we have lived, that we haven’t hidden from life. When we see our scars plainly, we can find in them, as I did that day, our own unique beauty.\\n\\n美國殘障滑雪隊的隊友們過去常常拿我的胸形打趣，取笑說我最大的生理缺陷不是少了一條腿，而是冇有乳溝。她們無從知曉那將成為怎樣千真萬確的事實。\\n\\n去年，我一生中第二次發現自己罹患癌症，這次是在雙側**。我接受了**切除術。當我聽說自己需要動手術時，本來並未大驚小怪。我甚至和朋友們開玩笑說：“我會讓你們及時瞭解最新動態的。”畢竟，在12歲那年與癌症的第一次較量中我失去了一條腿，後來仍繼續前行成為了世界滑雪冠軍。在殘障滑雪隊裡，每個人都失去了身體的某個部分。我知道坐輪椅的男人可以魅力十足，冇有雙手的女人可以看上去健全。健全與殘缺的肢體毫無關係，隻與精神息息相關。儘管明白這一點，我卻驚訝地發現要適應我的新傷痕是多麼困難。手術後，當我被他們喚醒恢複知覺後，我便開始啜泣以致要強加呼吸。突然間，我發覺自己不願再麵對更多的身體缺失，我不想再化療，我不想勇敢堅強，永遠擺出一張笑臉，我甚至不想再醒來 ……我的呼吸變得很不穩定，麻醉師不得不給我吸氧，接著，謝天謝地，我又睡著了。\\n\\n當我進行衝山訓練以迎戰滑雪賽時，我的心肺和腿肌燃燒著活力——我經常被這樣的感覺侵襲，我已冇有餘力再支撐下去了。但之後我會想到未來的比賽——把自身潛力推向極致的夢想以及突破自身障礙後的滿足——這些將支撐我把衝山訓練堅持到底。在滑雪比賽中令我受益匪淺的執著精神同樣幫助我在與癌症的第二輪較量中挺了過來。\\n\\n**切除術後，我清楚使自己振作起來的方法就是重新開始鍛鍊。於是我前往本地的遊泳池。在公共淋浴間，我發覺自己生平第一次注意起彆人的**。猛然間，經過這麼多年失去一條腿後，我頭一遭感到自慚形穢。\\n\\n我想，該是正視自我的時候了。那晚，我在家裡脫得一絲不掛，久久凝視著鏡中這個趨於中性的女人。看這張臉——不施粉脂，如英俊小生的臉；肩膀肌肉發達，手臂因使用柺杖而變得強壯有力；**冇有了，胸前隻有兩道顯眼的傷疤；性感扁平的小腹，得意的翹臀和多年滑雪練就的發達的大腿；右腿在膝蓋上方以另一道長長的疤痕結束。我發覺我喜歡自己的中性身體。它符合我的性格——雄心勃勃的男性的一麵喜歡戴著頭盔、護肘和護脛在障礙滑雪的旗門間奮力穿梭，而溫柔的女性的一麵渴望有一天生兒育女，夢想穿上美麗的綢緞禮服和愛人外出就餐……\\n\\n我發現，我胸部和腿上的傷疤至關重要。那是我生命的痕跡。每個人都會被生活烙上印記，隻不過有些更顯而易見而已。傷疤並非無關緊要。它表明我們經曆過，我們冇有逃避生活。當我們用一顆坦然的心去麵對它時，我們會發現它獨特的美，就像我那天一樣。\\n\\nThank you for a good job\\n\\n謝謝你完美的工作\\n\\nMany years ago, when I was fresh out of school working in Denver, I was driving to my parents”home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. I pumped the tank full, stood in line at the cash register, and said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.\\n\\nI took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from my exhaust pipe. I pulled over and wondered what I should do.\\n\\nA car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.\\n\\nI wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for rescuing me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas package from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.\\n\\nYears later, I drove through a foggy morning to a conference in a nearby town. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day, and the battery was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealer ship1 was right next door. I walked over and found two sales men relaxing in a showroom2 devoid of3 customers.\\n\\n\\\"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford”“I asked and explained my trouble.\\n\\nThey quickly drove a pickup truck to my car, attached jumper cables, and started my car. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks.\\n\\nI received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.\\n\\nAnother few years had passed when a friend’s husband died. Pat had been a well-respected doctor at a big hospital, and hundreds of cards were sent to the family. Among them was a sym pa thy card from a plumber who had once worked at their house. He wrote that when Pat had paid the bill, he wrote on the invoice, “Thank you for a good job.”\\n\\n“Thank you”——the two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.\\n\\n許多年前，當我剛走出校門在丹佛工作的時候，有一次我驅車去密蘇裡州的父母家過聖誕節。我在距離俄克拉荷馬州加油站50英裡的地方停了下來，計劃去拜訪一位朋友。我將油箱加滿，排隊站在收銀機前，主動向一對也在付油款的老年夫婦問好。\\n\\n我發動汽車離去，但冇走幾英裡遠，濃煙便從我汽車的排氣管中冒了出來。我把車開到路邊，開始考慮下一步該怎麼辦。\\n\\n一輛車緊接著我的車停了下來。是我在加油站裡打過招呼的那兩位老年夫婦。他們說會把我送到朋友家。在去城裡的路上我們交談著，當我走下車時，那位老年男士遞給我一張他的商業名片。\\n\\n後來我寫了一封信對他們給予我的幫助表示感謝。不久我收到他們寄來的聖誕包裹。包裹中有張便條，上麵寫著：“為你提供幫助讓我們的假日生活變得更有意義。”\\n\\n很多年過去了，一天早上，我開車去附近一個城鎮開會。傍晚的時候我回到車旁，發現車燈亮了一天，蓄電池已經冇電了。但是很快我發現“伏特經銷處”就在隔壁。我走過去發現店裡冇有顧客，隻有兩個銷售人員在展示廳裡說話。\\n\\n“不知你們伏特公司能否幫我一下？”我邊問邊解釋了我的困境。\\n\\n他們很快開著一輛輕便小貨車來到我的汽車旁，接上跳線電纜，然後發動我的汽車。他們冇有收取任何報酬，當我回到家後，我寫信向他們表示感謝。\\n\\n我收到了一位銷售人員的回信。他說，冇有人曾經花費時間寫信給他向他表示感謝，而我的感謝信對他來說意味深長。\\n\\n幾年後，一個朋友的丈夫帕特去世。他曾經是一家大醫院中一位德高望重的醫生，此時家裡收到數百張卡片。卡片中有一張上麵充滿同情的話語，是曾經在他家乾過活的一位水管工寄來的。他提到帕特付賬單時在發票上寫道：“謝謝你完美的工作。”\\n\\n“謝謝”——這是兩個很有分量的字。它們雖然很容易說出口，但卻意味深長。\\n\\nLeaders\\n\\n領導者\\n\\nA teacher assigned her 8th-graders to pick a leader and write an essay. Most kids wrote about famous people, but a student named Julius titled his pa per“Benny: The Man on the Bus.”\\n\\n“I’ve been taking a public bus to school for years,”he wrote. “Most passengers were going to work and almost no one ever talked to anyone else.\\n\\n“About a year ago, an elderly man got on the bus and said loudly to the driver, “Good morning!”Most people looked up annoyed and the bus driver just grunted1.\\n\\n“The next day the man got on at the same stop and again he said loudly,“Good morning!”to the driver. By the fifth day, the driver greeted the man with a cheerful “Good morning!”and the man said loudly, My name is Benny. What’s yours”“The driver said his name was Ralph.\\n\\n“That was the first time any of us heard the driver’s name and soon people began to talk to each other and say hello to Ralph and Benny. After about a month, Benny extended his cheerful “Good morning!”to the whole bus. Within a few days his ‘Good morning!’was returned by a whole bunch of ‘Good mornings’and the entire bus seemed to be friendlier.\\n\\n“If a leader is someone who makes something happen, Benny was our leader in friendliness.\\n\\n“A month ago, Benny didn’t get on the bus. Some of us thought he died and no one knew what to do. The bus got awful quiet again. So I started to act like Benny and say,“Good morning!”to every one and they cheered up again. I guess I’m now the leader.”\\n\\n一位老師給她八年級的學生們出了一個作文題：我心目中的領導者。大多數孩子寫的都是名人，但一名叫尤利斯的學生的文章標題卻是“本尼：公共汽車上的那位老人”。\\n\\n“幾年來，我一直坐公共汽車上學，”他這樣寫道，“大多數乘客都是趕去上班，彼此之間幾乎從不說話。”\\n\\n“大約在一年前，一位老人上了車，他大聲地對司機說了一句‘早上好！’。不少人用反感的眼神瞅著他，就連司機也不滿地嘀咕著。\\n\\n“第二天，老人在同一站上了車，他又大聲地向司機說了聲‘早上好！’到了第五天，司機竟也愉快地問候了他一句 ‘早上好！’老人大聲說：‘我叫本尼。你叫什麼？’司機回答說他叫拉爾夫。\\n\\n“那是我們所有人第一次聽到司機的名字。此後不久，車上的人們就開始彼此交談並跟拉爾夫和本尼打招呼了。大概過了一個月左右，本尼快樂的‘早上好！’的問候感染了整個車廂。幾天後，他那句‘早上好！’就得到了所有人的迴應，整輛車上的氣氛似乎也更友好和睦了。\\n\\n“如果領導者是指那些促使事情發生的人，那麼本尼就是使我們深受感染的友善的領導者。\\n\\n“一個月前，本尼不再乘車了。乘客當中有人猜他死了，誰也不知道該為此做些什麼。車裡又恢複了可怕的寂靜。所以我開始像本尼那樣和所有人說‘早上好！’，於是他們又都振奮起來了。我想現在我就是領導者。”\\n\\nWho packing your parachute?\\n\\n誰為你的降落傘打包？\\n\\nCharles Plumb, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile.He was captured and spent six years in a Communist prison.\\n\\nOne day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said,“You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!”\\n\\n“How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb.\\n\\n“I packed your parachute,” the man replied. “I guess it worked!” Plumb assured him,“It sure did—if your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”\\n\\nPlumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb said, “I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform. I wondered how many times I might have passed him on the Kitty Hawk. I wondered how many times I might have seen him and not even said good morning, how are you or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.”\\n\\nPlumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship carefully weaving the shrouds3 and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know.\\n\\nEveryday we may make it through in safety. But when the day ends, most person will think what they obtained or what they lost. Maybe we can change our minds: Today we can lay on our comfortable bed just because other’s help and we never know who he is.\\n\\n畢業於美國海軍軍官學校的查爾斯·普拉姆，在越戰期間是一名噴氣式戰機飛行員。在完成75次作戰任務後，他的飛機被地空導彈擊落。他被抓獲並在北越監獄待了六年。\\n\\n有一天，當普拉姆和他的妻子在一家餐館用餐時，另一張桌子的一個人走過來對他說：“你是普拉姆吧？在越南的時候你在小鷹號上駕駛噴氣戰機。後來你被擊落了！”\\n\\n“你到底是怎麼知道這些的？”普拉姆吃驚地問。\\n\\n“你的降落傘就是我打的包，”那個人回答，“我想你的降落傘冇出問題吧！”普拉姆肯定地告訴他：“一點問題也冇有，不然，今天我也不可能在這兒了。”\\n\\n那個晚上普拉姆輾轉反側。他說：“我不停地想他穿海軍製服時的樣子。我很想知道在小鷹號上我有多少次經過他的身旁。我很想知道有多少次我可能看到過他卻從冇對他說一句早上好之類的問候。如果說到原因，你看，僅僅因為我是飛行員而他是水手。”\\n\\n普拉姆想那個水手不知道花了多少時間待在航母深處的某張長木桌旁， 在那兒他認真仔細地編織吊傘索併爲每個降落傘打包。在他手裡的每個降落傘都影響著那些與他素未相識的人的生命。\\n\\n每一天，每一個人都可能平安度過。然而，一天結束後，許多人會斤斤計較於得失，或許我們可以換個角度想一想：今天我們又能舒適地躺在自己的床上，是不是因為有什麼人幫過我，而我卻對此一無所知？\\n\\nLearning to Listen\\n\\n學會聆聽\\n\\nWe all know what it’s like to get that phone call in the middle of the night. This night was no different. Jerking up to the ringing summons, I focused on the red, illuminated numbers of my clock. It was midnight and panicky thoughts filled my sleep-dazed mind as grabbed the receiver.\\n\\n“Hello?”My heart pounded and I gripped the phone tighter.“Mum?”The voice answered. I could hardly hear the whisper over the static. But my thoughts immediately went to my daughter. When the desperate sound of a young crying voice became clear on the line, I grabbed for my husband and squeezed his wrist.\\n\\n“Mum, I know it’s late. But don’t ... don’t say anything until I finish. And before you ask, yes I’ve been drinking. I nearly ran off the road a few miles back and…”I drew in a sharp, shallow breath, and released my husband. Sleep stillfogged my mind, and I attempted to fight back the panic. Something wasn’t right.\\n\\n“... and I got so scared. I want to come home. I know running away was wrong and you’ve been worried sick. I should have called you days ago but I was afraid, afraid ...”\\n\\n13)Sobs of deep-felt emotion flowed from the receiver and poured into my heart. Immediately I pictured my daughter’s face in my mind, and my fogged senses seemed to clear, “I think ...”\\n\\n“No! Please let me finish! Please!” She pleaded in desperation. I paused and tried to think what to say. Before I could go on, she continued. “Mum. I know I shouldn’t be drinking now...but I’m scared, Mum. So scared!”\\n\\nThe voice broke again, and I bit into my lip, feeling my own eyes fill with moisture. I looked up at my husband, who sat silently mouthing, “Who is it?”\\n\\nI shook my head and when I didn’t answer, he jumped up and left the room, returning seconds later with a portable phone held to his ear. She must have heard the click in the line because she asked, “Are you still there? Please don’t hang up on me! I need you. I feel so alone.”\\n\\nI clutched the phone and stared at my husband, seeking guidance. “I’m here, I wouldn’t hang up,” I said. “I should have told you, mum. When we talk, you just keep telling me what I should do. You read all those pamphlets on how to talk to kids. You don’t listen to me. You never let me tell you how I feel. It is as if my feelings aren’t important. Because you’re my mother you think you have all the answers. But sometimes I don’t need answers. I just want someone to listen.”\\n\\nI wallowed the lump in my throat and stared at the how-to-talk-to-your-kids pamphlets scattered on my nightstand. “I’m listening,” I whispered.\\n\\n“You know, back there on the road after I got the car under control, I saw this phone booth and it was as if I could hear you preaching to me about how people shouldn’t drink and drive. So I called a taxi. I want to come home.”\\n\\n“That’s good honey,” I said, relief filling my chest.\\n\\n“But you know, I think I can drive now.”\\n\\n“No!” I snapped. My muscles stiffened and I tightened the clasp on my husband’s hand. “Please, wait for the taxi. Don’t hang up on me until the taxi gets there.”\\n\\n“I just want to come home, Mum.”\\n\\n“I know. But do this for your Mum. Wait for the taxi, please.”\\n\\nI listened to the silence in fear. When I didn’t hear her answer, I bit into my lip and closed my eyes. “There’s the taxi now.” Only when I heard someone in the background asking about a Yellow Cab did I feel my tension easing.\\n\\n“I’m coming home, Mum.” There was a click, and the phone went silent. Moving from the bed, tears forming in my eyes, I walked out into the hall and went to stand in my 16-year-old daughter’s room. My husband came from behind and wrapped his arms around me.\\n\\nI wiped the tears from my cheeks. “We have to learn to listen,” I said to him. He studied me for a second, and then asked, “Do you think she’ll ever know she dialed the wrong number?”\\n\\nI looked at our sleeping daughter, then back at him. “Maybe it wasn’t such a wrong number.”\\n\\n“Mum, Dad, what are you doing?” The muffled voice came from under the covers. I walked over to my daughter, who now sat up staring into the darkness. “We’re practicing,” I answered. “Practicing what?” she mumbled and laid back on the mattress. “Listening,” I whispered and brushed a hand over her cheek.\\n\\n我們都知道在半夜時分聽到電話鈴響是什麼感覺，那一夜並不例外。我從睡夢中被電話鈴驚醒，猛然坐起來，定睛看了看時鐘上發光的紅色數字。已經是午夜了，我抓起電話聽筒，睡思昏沉的腦子裡充滿了可怕的猜測。\\n\\n“喂？”我的心“怦怦”地跳個不停，把電話抓得更緊了。“媽媽？”那邊傳來一個聲音。由於有電流乾擾聲，我幾乎聽不見對方細小的聲音，但我立刻想到了我的女兒。當電話那頭那絕望而稚氣的哭聲逐漸清晰起來的時候，我一把抓住了丈夫，緊緊地捏住他的手腕。\\n\\n“媽媽，我知道現在已經很晚了，可是彆……彆說話，先聽我說完。不用你問，我自己招了吧，冇錯，我喝了點酒。在剛過去的那幾英裡（1英裡約等於1600米）路段上我差點衝出了公路而且……”我急遽地吸了一口氣，鬆開了丈夫。此刻，我仍有幾分睡意，我努力克服恐懼。事情有些不對勁兒。\\n\\n“……我很害怕，我想回家。我知道離家出走是不對的，害你這麼擔心。我應該幾天前就給你打電話的，但是我害怕，我真的很害怕……”\\n\\n充滿悲傷的啜泣聲從電話的另一頭傳過來，撞擊著我的心。我的腦海裡立刻浮現出女兒的樣子。那一刻，我似乎清醒了，“我想……”\\n\\n“不！請聽我說完！求你了！”她聲嘶力竭地懇求道。我停下不講，想著該說些什麼纔好。還冇等我開口，她又繼續說道：“媽媽，我知道我不應該喝酒……可是我害怕，媽媽！我非常害怕！”\\n\\n她剛說完，聲音就中斷了。我咬著嘴唇，感到自己的雙眼濕潤了。我抬頭看著丈夫，他靜靜地坐在那裡，用唇語問我：“是誰啊？”\\n\\n我搖了搖頭，冇有回答。丈夫起身離開房間，但很快就回來了，耳朵貼在手提式的電話分機上。電話那頭的她肯定是聽到了這邊的一些聲響，她問道：“你還在聽嗎？請彆掛斷電話！我需要你。我好孤獨！”\\n\\n我緊緊抓住聽筒，凝視著丈夫，想得到他的指點。“我一直在聽呢，我不會掛斷電話的，”我說。“我早就應該和你說了，媽媽。當我們交談的時候，你隻是不停地告訴我應該做什麼。你把關於如何同孩子交談的小冊子都看遍了，就是不肯聽我說。你從來不讓我說出自己的感受，似乎我的感受根本就不重要。因為你是我媽媽，你認為你理所當然地知道所有問題的答案。但是，有時候我不是要答案，我隻想有個人聽我說話。”\\n\\n我如鯁在喉，凝視著麵前散放在床頭櫃上各式各樣的關於如何和孩子交談的小冊子。“我在聽著呢，”我低聲回答。\\n\\n“你知道嗎，剛纔在半路上，我把車子控製住以後，看見了這個電話亭，似乎又聽到你在告誡我說，不應該酒後駕駛。所以，我叫了一輛出租車。我想回家。”\\n\\n“太好了，寶貝，”我說，我有一種如釋重負的感覺。\\n\\n“可是，我想我現在可以開車了。”\\n\\n“不行！”我急促地說。我全身的肌肉一下子繃緊了，我緊緊地握住丈夫的手。“好好等待出租車過來吧。車到以前不要掛斷電話。”\\n\\n“我隻想回家，媽媽。”\\n\\n“我知道。可是，為了媽媽，坐出租車回家，好嗎？在那裡等出租車吧。”\\n\\n我惶恐不安地感知著那邊的靜默。當我聽不到她的回答時，我咬緊了嘴唇，閉上眼睛。“出租車來了。”當我聽到電話那頭有個聲音在跟出租車司機說著什麼的時候，我緊張的情緒才舒緩下來。\\n\\n“我現在回家了，媽媽。”電話“哢噠”一聲掛掉了。我起身下床，眼裡噙著淚水。我穿過客廳，走進了16歲女兒的房間。丈夫從後麵跟上來，伸開雙臂抱緊了我。\\n\\n我抹去滑落到臉頰上的淚水。“我們得學會聆聽，”我對丈夫說。他端詳了我一會兒，然後問道：“你說她以後會意識到自己撥錯了電話號碼嗎？”\\n\\n我看了看正在熟睡的女兒，然後轉頭看著他。“也許不能說她撥錯了。”\\n\\n“媽媽、爸爸，你們在乾什麼？”女兒從被子底下發出微弱的聲音。我走近女兒，她坐起身來，努力在黑暗中睜開睡眼。“我們在練習，”我回答說。“練習什麼呢？”她一邊喃喃地說，一邊躺下繼續睡。“聆聽。”我輕輕撫摸著她的臉頰，小聲回答道。\\n\\nMarble Trader\\n\\n彈珠交易\\n\\nDuring the waning years of the Depression in a small southeastern Idaho community, I used to stop by Brother Miller’s roadside stand for farm-fresh produce as the season made it available. Food and money were still extremely scarce and bartering was used extensively.\\n\\nOne particular day Brother Miller was bagging some early potatoes for me. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising a basket of freshly picked green peas. I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas.\\n\\nI am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between Brother Miller and the ragged boy next to me.\\n\\n“Hello Barry, how are you today?”\\n\\n“Hello, Mr Miller. Fine, thank you. Jus admiring the peas... sure look good.”\\n\\n“They are good, Barry. How’s your Ma”?\\n\\n“Fine. stronger all a time.”\\n\\n“Good. Anything I can help you with? ”\\n\\n“No, Sir. Just admiring”the peas.”\\n\\n“Would you like to take some home?”\\n\\n“No, Sir. Got nothing”to pay for I’am... ？”\\n\\nWell, what have you to trade me for some of those peas？”\\n\\n“WeIl I got is my prize marble here.”\\n\\n“Is that right” Let me see it.”\\n\\n“Here’it is. She’s a dandy.”\\n\\n“I can see that. Hmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?”\\n\\n“Not’Zackley... but, almost.”\\n\\n“Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble.”\\n\\n“Sure will. Thanks, Mr. Miller.”\\n\\nMrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile she said: “There are two other boys like him in our community. All three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn’t like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, perhaps.”\\n\\nI left the stand, smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Utah but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys and their bartering.\\n\\nSeveral years went by each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died.\\n\\nThey were having his viewing that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon our arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.\\n\\nAhead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts... very professional looking.\\n\\nThey approached Mrs. Miller, standing smiling and composed, by her husband’s casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket.\\n\\nHer misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary, awkwardly wiping his eyes.\\n\\nOur turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and mentioned the story she had told me about the marbles. Eyes glistening she took my hand and led me to the casket.\\n\\n“Those three young men that just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim‘traded’hem. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size... they came to pay their debt.”\\n\\n“We’vd not a great deal of the wealth of this world,”she confided, “but, right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho.”\\n\\nWith loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three, magnificently shiny, red marbles.\\n\\n在經濟萎縮的大蕭條期間，我住在美國東南部愛達荷州的一個小社區，經常到路邊“米勒大哥”的攤子上買一些時鮮的農產品。那個年代食物和金錢的交易很匱乏，實物交換很盛行。\\n\\n有一天，“米勒大哥”正為我裝一袋早熟的馬鈴薯，我留意到一個小男孩，他有著細巧的骨架和精緻的五官，身上的衣服破舊但很乾淨。他如饑似渴地玩賞著一籃新采摘下來的綠豌豆。我付了馬鈴薯的錢，同時也挨近那些展示著的新鮮綠豌豆。\\n\\n奶油豌豆和新鮮的馬鈴薯一向對我有吸引力。我一邊考慮著要不要買豌豆，一邊卻又在情不自禁地竊聽米勒大哥和我身旁那個衣著破舊的男孩之間的對話。\\n\\n“你好啊，巴裡。今天過得好嗎？”\\n\\n“你好，米勒先生。我很好，謝謝。我在欣賞這些豌豆呢，它們看上去真不賴。”\\n\\n“可新鮮啦。巴裡，你媽媽好嗎？”\\n\\n“她很好。身體一天比一天強。”\\n\\n“太好了。想要點什麼嗎？”\\n\\n“不了，先生，謝謝。我隻想欣賞一下這些豌豆。”\\n\\n“想帶一些回家嗎？”\\n\\n“不了，先生。我冇有錢。”\\n\\n“那你有冇有什麼東西拿來和我換些豌豆呢？”\\n\\n“我身上隻有一顆很棒的彈珠。”\\n\\n“真的嗎？讓我看看。”\\n\\n“給，它可是很好的。”\\n\\n“我看得出來。嗯……隻可惜它是藍色的，我倒是有點想要顆紅色的。你家裡有一顆像這樣的紅色彈珠嗎？”\\n\\n“不是十足的紅色，但非常接近。”\\n\\n“這樣吧，你先帶上這一袋豌豆回家，下次過來的時候讓我看看你說的那顆紅色的彈珠。”\\n\\n“一定。謝謝你，米勒先生。”\\n\\n站在一旁的米勒太太過來幫我的忙。她笑著說：“我們社區裡還有兩個像他那樣的男孩子。他們三個都家境貧寒。吉姆喜歡拿豌豆、蘋果、西紅柿或者其它彆的東西來和他們交換一些東西。當他們帶著紅色的彈珠過來——他們是從來不爽約的——米勒就會跟他們說他其實並不喜歡紅色的彈珠，然後給他們一袋農產品帶回家，讓他們下次帶綠色或橙色的彈珠過來。”\\n\\n我離開了他們的攤子，暗自欣然，這個男人給我留下了深刻的印象。不久以後，我搬到了猶他州，但我從冇忘記這個男人和這些男孩交換實物的故事。\\n\\n歲月匆匆，轉眼幾年過去了。最近，我正好有機會拜訪住在愛達荷州社區裡的一些老朋友。當我到達時，聽說米勒先生剛去世了。\\n\\n社區裡的居民準備在當晚去見他最後一麵。我知道我的朋友都想去，因此決定和他們一同前往。我們一到達太平間就排起了隊，見了死者的親屬，儘量安慰他們。\\n\\n排在我們前麵的是三個年輕人。其中一個穿著陸軍服，另外兩個留著好看的髮型，穿著白襯衫和黑色的套裝……一派專業人士的打扮。\\n\\n他們走近米勒太太，在她丈夫的棺材前微笑而平靜地站著。每個青年都擁抱了米勒太太，吻了吻她的臉頰，簡單地和她談了幾句，然後走向米勒先生的棺材。\\n\\n她一直用藍色的迷濛淚眼注視著他們。那三個青年挨個在棺材旁邊短暫停留，用溫暖的手摸了摸棺材裡米勒先生冰冷而蒼白的手。他們笨拙地擦拭著眼睛，相繼離開了太平間。\\n\\n輪到我們和米勒太太相見了。我告訴她我是誰，並提起她告訴過我的有關彈珠的故事。她眼泛淚光，把我領到棺材前麵。\\n\\n“剛纔離開的那三個年輕人就是我當年提到的男孩子。他們剛纔告訴我，他們當年是多麼感激吉姆跟他們‘交換’的那些食物。現在，吉姆終於再也不能改口說他想要彆的顏色、彆的尺寸了……他們是來償還感情債的。”\\n\\n“我們從來不富有，”米勒太太說，“但倘若吉姆在世，他現在會認為自己是愛達荷州最富有的人。”\\n\\n她溫柔而充滿愛意地托起死去的丈夫那毫無生氣的手指。在手指下麵，放著三顆流光異彩的紅色彈珠。\\n\\n\"

}