中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
和一個人成為朋友是你能給予他們的最好禮物：友情可以融化彼此心中的隔閡，友情甚至可以挽救一個人的生命。
By Joseph J. Mazzella
卓言 選譯
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One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class who was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all of their books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.” I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt.[1] His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to[2] him. So, I jogged over to him and as he crawled around looking for his glasses I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, “Those guys are jerks.” He looked at me and said, “Hey thanks!” There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school until now. I would have never hung out[3] with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, “boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday!” He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors, we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke.[4] I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian[5] of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn’t me having to get up there and speak. Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself[6] during high school. He filled out[7] and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than me and all the girls loved him! Boy, sometimes I was jealous. Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!” He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. “Thanks,” he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach... but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.” I looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his mom wouldn’t have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard[8] at me and gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable[9].” I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize its depth. |
當我還是高中一年級新生的時候，有一天，我看到自己班上的一個孩子正從學校往家走。他叫凱爾。看上去他似乎帶著所有的書。我暗自心想：“大周五的怎么還會有人把所有的書都帶回家？他指定是個書呆子?！蔽业闹苣┯媱澘墒秦S富多彩（各種聚會，明天下午還有一場和朋友一起踢的足球賽），于是我聳了聳肩繼續(xù)向前走去。 走著走著，我看見一群孩子朝著凱爾跑去，他們向他沖去，打掉了他懷里所有的書，把他絆倒在泥地上。他的眼鏡飛了出去，眼看著落在了離他十英尺的草地里。他抬起頭，我看到他的眼睛里滿是可怕的悲傷。我心底泛起一陣同情。于是，我小跑過去，他在地上爬著四處找眼鏡，我看到了他眼中的淚水。我把眼鏡遞給他，說道：“那些家伙都是混球?！?/p> 他看著我說，“嗨，謝謝了！”他的臉上綻放出燦爛的笑容，是那種發(fā)自內(nèi)心的感激的笑容。 我?guī)退涯切鴵炱饋?，問他在哪兒住。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)他住得離我很近，于是我又問為什么以前從沒見過他。他說他以前一直在私立學校讀書。我之前從沒和私立學校的孩子一起玩兒過。那天我們回家聊了一路，我?guī)退е鴷Ｋ鋵嵤莻€很酷的男生。我問他愿不愿意星期六跟我和我的朋友們一起去踢球，他同意了。整個周末我們都混在一起，我對凱爾了解得越多，就越喜歡他。我的朋友們也是。到了周一早上，我又遇到了抱著厚厚一摞書的凱爾。我攔住他，說：“小子，你每天搬這么一大堆書，肌肉一定會練得很結(jié)實啊！”他只是笑了笑，便把半摞書遞給了我。 在接下來的四年里，我和凱爾成了最好的朋友。四年級時，我們開始考慮大學的問題。凱爾決定報考喬治城大學，而我則決定去杜克大學。我知道我倆一直都會是好朋友，距離永遠都不成問題。他將來會成為一名醫(yī)生，而我則獲得了足球獎學金，準備學習商科。凱爾是我們班的畢業(yè)致辭代表。我總是調(diào)侃他是個書呆子。他得準備在畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)言。我很慶幸那個要站起來走到臺上發(fā)言的人不是我。畢業(yè)那天，我看見了凱爾。他看上去很棒。他是那種在高中時期真正發(fā)掘并發(fā)揮出自己特長的人。他長胖了一些，戴著眼鏡，看起來很帥。他的約會比我要多，所有的女孩子都喜歡他！ 天哪，有時候我可真嫉妒他。今天就是那樣的時候。我能看出來凱爾對這次發(fā)言很緊張。于是我拍拍他的后背，說：“嗨，棒家伙，你會做得很好的！”他還是用那種（充滿感激的）眼神看著我，微笑著說：“謝謝”。 要開始致辭前，他清了清喉嚨，講到：“畢業(yè)典禮是一個要感謝那些在難熬的歲月里曾幫助你度過難關(guān)的人。你的父母、老師、兄弟姐妹，或許還有教練……但最要感謝的是你的朋友們。在這里我想對你們所有人說的是：跟一個人成為朋友是你能給予他們的最好禮物。我要給你們講一個故事?！?/p> 在凱爾講述我和他第一天相遇的故事時，我驚疑地看著我的好友。他那個周末本要打算自殺的，還講到他是如何清理了自己（在學校）的衣物柜，好讓他的媽媽不用再來整理，然后準備把自己的東西帶回家。他深深地望著我，對我微微笑了笑，“謝天謝地，我被救了。我的朋友挽救了我，讓我沒做成那件蠢事?！?/p> 當這位英俊又受人歡迎的男孩向我們講述他最脆弱的一刻時，我聽見人群中傳來一陣唏噓。我看到他的爸媽正看著我，臉上同樣帶著那個感激的笑容。直到那一刻，我才意識到那笑容的深意。 （來源：英語學習雜志） |
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Vocabulary: 1. run at: 向……沖去，突然襲擊；trip: 將……絆倒；dirt: 泥地。 2. go out to: （同情心等）被傾注，被表達。 3. hang out: 〈俚〉閑蕩，廝混。 4. Georgetown: 喬治城大學，是位于美國首都華盛頓哥倫比亞特區(qū)的一所四年制私立大學，成立于1789年，被認為是美國最好的25座大學之一；Duke: 杜克大學，成立于1838年，是一所位于美國北卡羅萊那州達勒姆的知名私立大學。教育和科研實力均世界領(lǐng)先，在全美排名始終保持前八位。 5. valedictorian: 〈美〉（在畢業(yè)典禮上）致告別辭的畢業(yè)生代表，通常是班上成績最好的學生。 6. find oneself: 發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的特長并加以發(fā)揮，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己所能勝任的工作。 7. fill out: 長胖，變豐滿。 8. hard: 專注地，熱切地。 9. unspeakable: 惡劣得說不出口的，可怕的。 |
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