英語美文:最好的聖誕禮物
I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. The best gift I ever received was presented to me by a stranger. I never even knew his name and I only had contact with him for less than 60 seconds. His Christmas present to me changed the way I think about people and about Christmas.
這些年我收到過很多聖誕禮物，其中最好的禮物來自一個陌生人。我不曾知道他的名字，我倆之間溝通不到60秒。他送我的聖誕禮物改變了我對別人和聖誕節的看法。
I hate Black Friday sales. It's often a gathering of people who are there for many different reasons. Some are looking for a deal on that one item for their loved one, or perhaps themselves. Their intentions are completely unrelated to the festive time of year, and can merely be summed up with one word, "EBay!"
我討厭黑色星期五的特賣，總有很多人因爲很多不同的原因聚在一起。有些人是爲所愛的人或者可能爲自己買東西。他們的目的都跟一年一度的節日一點關係都沒有，只能總結爲一個詞：“便宜”！
It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child's bike that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle. After a while the whistle blew. It was like throwing a bucket of chum into a tank of sharks. I told my wife that if we obtained a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.
幾年前妻子讓我在“黑五”早上和她在當地百貨公司門口會和，他們正在特價銷售一款兒童自行車，她想買給我們的兒子。還有一大羣人站在那兒等着經理吹哨。過了一會，哨聲響起，當時的場景就像一桶三文魚被扔進了鯊魚水箱裏。我跟妻子說如果我們搶到自行車還好，如果沒搶到我也無所謂。
As the pallet of bikes began to gradually decrease in size, I saw my polite opportunity to wrap my hands around the corner of one of the boxes. I lifted it off the crate and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I looked up to see one of the largest gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. Intimidating was not the word to describe his presence. He was adorned with numerous straps of metal spiked leather around both arms and even his neck. Tattoos were an obvious passion of his.
貨架上的自行車越來越少，我看到了一個“文雅”的機會，把手伸到了一個自行車包裝盒的角上，把盒子拎了起來，突然感覺到有人輕輕地阻止我。我擡頭看見了平生所見的最高大的人，“嚇人”這個詞已經不足以形容他了。他胳膊上甚至脖子上滿是帶有鉚釘的皮帶子，很明顯紋身是他的最愛。
I started to relinquish the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, smiled, and said, "Merry Christmas."My wife and I went to the checkout, paid for the bike and went home. All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best Christmas gift I had ever received. The kindness of a stranger that broke all preconceived notions I may have had of stereotypes and prejudices. The tenderness of a human heart in a simple act. I will never forget it.
我想把盒子放回去，但他從他的方向輕輕把自行車推了回來，又推回到我手裏，然後直接放進了我的購物車裏，他看着我微笑着說：“聖誕節快樂”。妻子和我去了收款處，付完錢就回家了。回家的一路上我都在想那一刻是至今我收到的最好的聖誕禮物。一個陌生人的善良打破了我所有對於成見和偏見原有的看法，人內心的柔軟就體現在小小的行爲上，我永遠不會忘記這次經歷。
