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第3章

12. 人群一片寂静。我发誓,除了雨声,你什么都听不到。我们都静静地站着。接下来的几分钟没有一个人走动。母亲停了一下,在想着应该说些什么。

13. 有人也许会对此一笑了之,或者责备这孩子的不懂事,有人甚至不把她的话放在心上。但这却是一个小孩子一生中需要被肯定的时候。若受到鼓舞,此时孩子单纯的信任就会发展成为坚定的信念。 “亲爱的,你说得对,我们跑过去吧。如果淋湿了,那也许是因为我们的确需要冲洗一下了,” 母亲说。然后她们就冲出去了。

14. 我们站在那里,笑着看她们飞快地跑过停着的汽车。他们把购物袋高举过头想挡挡雨,但还是湿透了。好几个人像孩子般尖叫着,大笑着,也跟着冲了出去,奔向自己的车子。当然,我也这样做了,跑了出去,淋湿了。我也需要接受洗礼。环境或其他人可以夺去你的物质财富,抢走你的金钱,带走你的健康,但没有人可以带走你珍贵的回忆。因此,记得要抓紧时间,抓住机会每天都给自己留下一些回忆吧!

15. 世间万物皆有自己的季节,做任何事情也有一个恰当的时机。希望你有机会在雨中狂奔一回。

Damaged Goods毁坏的美好

1. The dust mites1 danced in the ray of sunshine that provided the only light in the rabbi’ s2 office. He leaned back in his office chair and sighed as he stroked3 his beard. Then he took his wire-mmed4 glas s and polished them ab ntmindedly5 on his flannel6 shirt.

2. “ So,” he said, “ you were divorced. Now you want to marry this good Jewish7 boy. What’ s the problem?”

3. He nestled8 his g zzled9 chin in his hand and smiled softly at me.

4. I want to sh ek. What’ s the problem? First of all, I’ m Ch stian. Second, I’ m older than he is. Third-and not least, by any means-I’ m divorced! Instead, I looked back into his soft brown eyes and t ed to form the words.

5. “ Don’ t you think,” I stuttered10, “ that being divorced is like being u d? Like being damaged goods?”

6. He ttled back into the office chair and stretched so that he was looking at the ceiling. He stroked the scraggly11 beard that covered his chin and his neck. Then, he returned to his spot behind the desk and leaned toward me.

7. “Say you have to have surgery. Say you have a choice between two doctors. Who are you going to choo ? The one ght out of medical school or the one with expe ence?”

8. “The one with expe ence, “I said.

9. His face c nkled 12 into a g n. “I would, too,” he locked his eyes with mine. “So in this mar age, you will be the one with expe ence. That’ s not such a bad thing, you know.”

10. “Often,mar ages tend to d ft. They get caught in dangerous currents13. They get off cour and head toward hidden sandbars14. No one notices until it is too late. On your face, I e the pain of a mar age gone bad. You will notice the d ft in this mar age. You’ ll call out when you e the rocks. You’ ll yell15 to watch out and pay attention. You’ ll be the person with expe ence,” he sighed. “And believe me,that’ s not such a bad thing. Not bad at all.”

11. He walked to the window and peeked between the slats16 of the blinds17. “You e, no one here knows about my first wife. I don’ t hide it,but I don’ t make a big deal about it. She died early in our mar age before I ved here. Now, late at night I think of all the words I never said. I think of all the chances I let pass by in that first mar age, and I believe I’ m a better husband to my wife today becau of the woman I lost.”

12. For the first time,the sadness in his eyes had meaning. Now I understood why I cho to come to talk to this man about mar age instead of taking an easier route and getting mar ed outside both our religions. The word “rabbi” means teacher. Somehow I n d he could teach me,or even lend me,the courage I needed in order to try again,to marry again and to love again.

13. “I will marry you and your David,” said the rabbi, “If you promi me that you will be the person who yells out when you e the mar age is in danger.”

14. I promi d him I would, and I ro to leave.

15. “By the way,” he called to me as I hesitated in his doorway, “did anyone ever tell you that Joanna is a good Hebrew18 name?”

16. Sixteen years have pas d since the rabbi mar ed David and me on a rainy October rning. And, yes, I have called out veral times when I n d we were in danger. I would tell the rabbi how well his analogy19 has rved me, but I cannot. He died two years after our wedding. But I will always be grateful for the p celess gift he gave me: the wisdom to know that all of our expe ences in life make us not less valuable, but re valuable, not less able to love, but re able to love.

1. 微尘在射进拉比办公室的那缕阳光中飞舞着,那缕阳光是拉比办公室里惟一的光源。拉比坐在椅子上往后仰,抚 着他的胡须叹息了一声。他摘下金属丝镜架的眼镜,漫不经心地在他的法兰绒衬衫上擦拭着。

2. “这么说,” 他开了口, “你离婚了。现在你想与这位犹太好小伙子结婚,有什么问题?”

3. 他用手把住他那有花白胡须的下巴,温柔地冲我微笑着。

4. 我真想尖叫。有什么问题?首先,我是基督教徒。第二,我比他年龄大。第三,这绝不是最不重要的--我离过婚!但我没有叫,而是迎向他那双温柔的棕 的眼睛,努力组织着话语。

5. “您不认为,” 我结结巴巴地说, “离过婚就像东西被用过一样吗?就像是受损的物品吗?”

6. 他坐在椅子上,头往后靠,伸直了腿,将目光投向天花板。他轻捋着他那稀稀拉拉的、遮盖了下巴和脖子的胡须,然后他将身子转回办公桌前并朝我这边俯过来。

7. “比如说你得做个手术。有两位医生可供你选择。你会选谁?选位刚从医学院毕业的,还是选那位有经验的?”

8. “有经验的那位,” 我回答。

9. 他笑了,脸上都是皱纹。 “我也是,” 他凝视着我说。 “那么在这桩婚姻中,你就是有经验的一方。要知道这并不是什么坏事。”

10. “婚姻往往像在水上漂流,会陷入危险的激流里,会偏离航向流向暗藏的沙洲。等注意到时已经晚了。在你的脸上,我看到了一桩失败婚姻留下的痛苦。在这桩婚姻中你会注意到流向。当你看到岩石时你会大喊一声,你会呼叫要小心些,注意点。你将是有经验的那个人,” 他叹息着说, “相信我,那并不是什么坏事,真地不是。”

11. 他走到窗边,透过百叶板向外瞥了一眼。 “你瞧,这里没有人知道我的第一位妻子。我并没有掩藏,但我也没有大肆渲染。我们结婚没多久她就去世了,后来我迁居到这里。现在,夜深人静时我想到所有那些我从未能说出的话,我想到所有那些我在第一次婚姻中错过的机会。我相信对于我现在的妻子我是个更好的丈夫,是因为那位我失去的女人。”

12. 他眼里的悲伤显露出了含义。现在我明白了为什么我选择来和这个人谈婚姻,而没有图省事去找不属于我们双方宗教的人为我们主持婚礼。 “拉比” 一词意味着老师。不知怎的,我感觉出他会教给我,甚至会给予我去再次尝试、再次结婚、再次奉献出爱情所需要的勇气。

13. “我会为你和你的戴维主持婚礼,” 拉比说, “但条件是,你要答应我,当你发现婚姻陷入危机时你要大声说出来。”

14. 我答应他我会的,然后我起身离开。

15. “顺便说一句,” 当我走到门口犹豫片刻时他叫住我, “有没有人告诉过你乔安娜是个好的希伯来语名字?”

16.10月一个下雨的早晨,拉比为我和戴维举行了婚礼。一晃16年过去了。是的,有几次当我感觉到我们身陷危机时我就大声地说了出来。我多想告诉拉比他的比喻让我多么受益。但是我无法告诉他。我们结婚两年后他就去世了。但是我永远感激他赐予我的无价的礼物:一种智慧,它使我懂得我们生活中所有的经历并不会使我们贬值,而是使我们更有价值,并不会使我们丧失爱的能力,而是使我们更有能力去爱。

Who Is Packing Our Spi tual Parachute? 谁为我们准备心灵降落伞

1. Charles “Chuck” Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietname p son. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on the lessons he learned from that expe ence.

2. One 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 Car er Kitty Hawk. You were shutdown!”

3. “How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb. “I packed your parachute,” the man replied. Plumb gasped in surp and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, “I guess it worked!” Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute hadn’ t worked, I wouldn’ t be here today.”

4. Plumb couldn’ t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wonde ng what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trou rs. I wonder how many times I might have en him and not even said, ‘Good rning, how are you?’ or anything becau, you e, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor.” Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’ t know.

5. Now, Plumb asks his audience, “Who’ s packing your parachute?” Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy ter tory-he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his e tional parachute, and his spi tual parachute. He called on all the supports before reaching safety.

6. Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, plea, or thank you, to congratulate people on something wonderful that has happened to them, to give a compliment, or just to do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this nth, and this year, recognizes people who pack your parachutes and nd them your gratitude.

1. 查尔斯?恰克?帕朗柏是越战中美国海军的一位喷射机驾驶员。在完成了七十五次战役任务后,他的飞机被一枚地对空飞弹击毁,帕朗柏跳伞逃命,却降落在敌方阵营里,他被越共俘虏并被关在监狱里六个月,之后,他从这场苦难中成功逃生。现在,他为人们演讲有关他从经历中所学到的功课。

2. 有一天,当帕朗柏和妻子在一家餐厅用餐时,隔壁桌一位先生走过来说道: “你是帕朗柏!在越战中,你驾驶从小鹰号航空母舰上起飞的喷射战机,当时你的战机被飞弹打下来了!”

3. 帕朗柏问: “你怎么知道这件事的?” 这位先生回答: “你的降落伞是我负责打包整理的。” 帕朗柏惊讶地倒抽了一口气,立即向他表示谢意。这位先生使劲地握着帕朗柏的手说: “我想那个降落伞确实发挥了功效!” 帕朗柏向他确认道: “它的确发挥了功效,否则我今天就不会在这里了。”

4. 那一晚帕朗柏无法入睡,心中一直想着那位先生。帕朗柏说: “我一直在想,当他穿着海军制服--戴着白帽、穿着工作背心和喇叭裤时,会是什么模样呢?有多少次当我看到他时,可能连一句 ‘早安,你好吗?’ 之类打招呼的话都没有说,因为我是战机驾驶,而他只是一位水手而已。” 帕朗柏想到那位水手在船内的长木桌上,花了无数个小时,小心翼翼地整理着吊伞索,并一一迭好每个降落伞,每一次他的手里都掌握着某个他不认识的人的命运。

5. 现在,帕朗柏总会问着听众: “是谁帮你们打包降落伞呢?我们每个人的降落伞都是由别人供应的,而为了打包这些降落伞,他们可能必需工作一整天。” 帕朗柏也指出当他的飞机在敌人领空被打下来时,他需要各种不同的降落伞:物质的降落伞、精神的降落伞、情感的降落伞和心灵的降落伞,在安全抵达地面之前,他需要这些降落伞的支持。

6. 我们每天面临生活中的挑战,有时候会遗漏了一些真正重要的事情。对于周遭的人,我们可能会忘了向他们打声招呼、说个请字或表达谢意,或是当某个人遇到好事时,忘了祝贺他、讲些赞美的话,或是单纯地做一些表达善意的行动。每当你过了一段时间后,也许是这个星期、这个月或今年时,请试着找出那些帮你打包 ‘降落伞’ 的人,并向他们致上谢意。

No Charge分文不收

1. Our little boy came up to his ther in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper,and handed her a piece of paper that he had been w ting on. After his m d ed her hands on an apron,she read it,and this is what it said:

2. For cutting the grass $5.00

3. For cleaning up my room this week $1.00

4. For going to the store for you $0.50

5. Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping $0.25

6. Taking out the garbage $1.00

7. For getting a good report card $5.00

8. For cleaning up and raking the yard $2.00

9. Total owed: $14.75

10. Well,I’ ll tell you,his ther looked at him standing there expectantly,and boy,could I e the me es flashing through her mind. So she picked up the pen,turned over the paper he’ d w tten on,and this is what she wrote:

11. For the nine nths I car ed you while you were growing inside me,No Charge.

12. For all the nights that I’ ve sat up with you,doctored and prayed for you,No Charge.

13. For all the trying times,and all the tears that you’ ve cau d through the years,there’ s No Charge.

14. For all the nights that were filled with dread,and for the wor es I knew were ahead,No Charge.

15. For the toys,food,clothes,and even wiping your no ,there’ s No Charge,Son.

16. When you add it all up,the cost of my love is No Charge.

17. Well,f ends,when our son finished reading what his ther had w tten,there were great big old tears in his eyes,and he looked straight up at his ther and said: “Mom,I sure do love you.” And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: “PAID IN FULL”.

1. 一天晚上我们的小儿子来到厨房,他妈妈正在那儿做晚饭。他递给妈妈一张已经写好字的纸。妈妈在围裙上擦干手后,看到上面写着:

2. 割草 5美元

3. 本周打扫自己的房间 1美元

4. 替你跑商店 50美分

5. 当你购物时看护小弟弟 25美分

6. 倒垃圾 1美元

7. 拿到优异的成绩单 5美元

8. 清理庭园并耙草、叶 2美元

9. 总计:14.75美元

10. 好的,我告诉你,他妈妈看到他期待地站在边上,孩子,我怎么能想到。她灵光一闪,拿起笔,把那张纸翻过来,她写道:

11. 在我肚子里怀你9个月,让你慢慢长大,一分都不收。

12. 为你熬的每个夜晚,照料呵护你,一分都不收。

13. 多年来由你引起的难熬时光以及为你流的泪,一分都不收。

14. 为充满恐惧和担心的 夜夜,一分都不收。

15. 玩具、食物、衣服,还有给你擦鼻子,一分都没收,孩子。

16. 当你把所有这些全部加起来时,我全部的真爱,一分都不收。

17. 朋友,当我们的儿子读完他妈妈写的这些,他的眼睛中闪烁着晶莹的泪花,抬头看着他妈妈说: “妈妈,我真的爱你。” 然后,他拿起笔写了几个大大的字: “全部偿付” 。

Hanover Square追忆似水年华

1. Can it really be sixty-two years ago that I first saw you?

2. It is tly a lifetime, I know. But as I gaze into your eyes now, it ems like only yesterday that I first saw you, in that small cafe in Hanover Square.

3. From the ment I saw you smile, as you opened the door for that young ther and her newborn baby. I knew. I knew that I wanted to share the rest of my life with you.

4. I still think of how foolish I must have looked, as I gazed at you, that first time. I remember watching you intently, as you took off your hat and loo ly shook your short dark hair with your fingers. I felt my lf becoming immer d in your every detail, as you placed your hat on the table and cupped your hands around the hot cup of tea, gently blowing the steam away with your pouted lips.

5. From that ment, everything emed to make perfect n to me. The people in the cafe and the busy street outside all disappeared into a hazy blur. All I could e was you.

6. All through my life I have relived that very first day. Many, many times I have sat and thought about that the first day, and how for a few fleeting ments I am there, feeling again what is like to know te love for the very first time. It plea s me that I can still have tho feelings now after all tho years, and I know I will always have them to comfort me.

7. Not even as I shook and trembled uncontrollably in the trenches, did I forget your face. I would sit huddled into the wet mud, ter fied, as the hails of bullets and rtars crashed down around me. I would clutch my fle tightly to my heart, and think again of that very first day we met. I would cry out in fear, as the noi of war beat down around me. But, as I thought of you and saw you smiling back at me, everything around me would be become silent, and I would be with you again for a few precious ments, far from the death and destction. It would not be until I opened my eyes once again, that I would e and hear the carnage of the war around me.

8. I cannot tell you how strong my love for you was back then, when I returned to you on leave in the September, feeling battered, bi d and fragile. We held each other so tight I thought we would burst. I asked you to marry me the very same day and I whooped with joy when you looked deep into my eyes and said "yes" to being my b de.

9. I’ m looking at our wedding photo now, the one on our dressing table, next to your jeweler box. I think of how young and innocent we were back then. I remember being on the church steps g nning like a Cheshire cat, when you said how dashing and handsome I looked in my uniform. The photo is old and faded now, but when I look at it, I only e the b ght vibrant colors of our youth. I can still remember every detail of the pretty wedding dress your ther made for you, with its fine delicate lace and pretty pearls. If I concentrate hard enough, I can smell the sweetness of your wedding bouquet as you held it so proudly for everyone to e.

10. I remember being so over enjoyed, when a year later, you gently held my hand to your waist and whispered in my ear that we were going to be a family. vBM2X/edeW5EHmFUllIsibppddI5M0IcEu6noT+Ivn+c0j0vLXX1eHYZdqy2Lzp0

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