An Invisible Smile　看不見的微笑

An Invisible Smile　看不見的微笑

◎ Marcia Byalick

Mr. Dawson was an old grouch, and everyone in town knew it. Kids knew not to go into his yard to pick a delicious apple, even off the ground, because old Dawson, they said, would come after you with his ball bullet gun.

道森先生是個(gè)脾氣古怪的老頭子，鎮(zhèn)上所有人都知道。孩子們知道不能進(jìn)入他的院子里摘美味的蘋果，甚至掉在地上的也不能撿，因?yàn)閾?jù)他們說，老道森會(huì)端著他的彈丸獵槍跟在你后面追。

One Friday, 12-year-old Janet was going to stay all night with her friend Amy. They had to walk by Dawson’s house on the way to Amy’s house, but as they got close Janet saw him sitting on his front porch and suggested they cross over to the other side of the street. Like most of the children, she was scared of the old man because of the stories she’d heard about him.

一個(gè)周五，12歲的珍妮特要陪她的朋友艾米在這里過夜。她們?nèi)グ准业穆飞?，不得不?jīng)過道森先生的房子。當(dāng)她們離道森家越來越近時(shí)，珍妮特看見道森先生坐在前廊，于是她建議她們從街道的另一邊走。跟大多數(shù)孩子一樣，珍妮特聽說過他的故事，對(duì)他很是害怕。

Amy said not to worry, Mr. Dawson wouldn’t hurt anyone. Still, Janet was growing more nervous with each step closer to the old man’s house. When they got close enough, Dawson looked up with his usual frown, but when he saw it was Amy, a broad smile changed his entire face as he said, “Hello Miss Amy. I see you’ve got a little friend with you today.”

艾米說不用擔(dān)心，道森先生不會(huì)傷害任何人。盡管如此，每向前走一步，離老人的房子越近，珍妮特就越緊張。當(dāng)她們走到房子那兒，道森抬起了頭，一如既往地皺著眉頭。但當(dāng)他看到是艾米時(shí)，一個(gè)燦爛的笑容改變了他的整個(gè)表情，他說：“你好，艾米小姐，我看見今天有位可愛的小朋友陪你。”

Amy smiled back and told him Janet was staying overnight and they were going to listen to music and play games. Dawson told them that sounded fun, and offered them each a fresh picked apple off his tree. They gladly accepted. Dawson had the best apples in town.

艾米也對(duì)他微笑，告訴他珍妮特會(huì)陪她過夜，她們要一起聽音樂玩游戲。道森告訴她們這聽起來很有趣，給她們每人一個(gè)從樹上剛摘下來的蘋果。她們很高興地接受了，因?yàn)榈郎奶O果是鎮(zhèn)上最好的。

When they got out of earshot of Dawson , Janet asked Amy, “Everyone says he’s the meanest man in town. How come was he so nice to us?”

當(dāng)他們離開道森的房子時(shí)，珍妮特問艾米：“每個(gè)人都說他是鎮(zhèn)上最吝嗇的人，但他為什么對(duì)我們這么好呢？”

Amy explained that when she first started walking past his house he wasn’t very friendly and she was afraid of him, but she pretended he was wearing an invisible smile and so she always smiled back at him. It took a while, but one day he half-smiled back at her.

艾米解釋說，當(dāng)她第一次路過他家時(shí)，他不是太友好，她還很害怕他。但她假裝他帶著一種看不見的微笑，所以她微笑著回望他。過了一段時(shí)間，終于有一天，他也對(duì)她露出了一點(diǎn)笑容。

After some more time, he started smiling real smiles and then started talking to her. Just a “hello” at first, then more. She said he always offers her an apple now, and is always very kind.

再過了一段日子，他開始真正地對(duì)她笑了，然后開始同艾米說話。開始只是一句“你好”，后來就越來越多。她說，他總是給她一個(gè)蘋果，很和藹可親。

“An invisible smile?” questioned Janet.

“看不見的笑容？”珍妮特問。

“Yes,” answered Amy, “my grandma told me that if I pretended I wasn’t afraid and pretended he was smiling an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him, that sooner or later he would really smile. Grandma says smiles are contagious.”

“是的，”艾米回答道，“我奶奶告訴我，如果我假裝不害怕，假裝他有著看不見的微笑，我微笑地回望他，遲早他會(huì)真正微笑起來。奶奶說，笑容是可以傳染的。”

If we remember what Amy’s grandma said, that everyone wears an invisible smile, we too will find that most people can’t resist our smile after a while.

如果我們記住艾米奶奶說的，每個(gè)人都有著看不見的笑容，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，大多數(shù)人在一段時(shí)間后都無法抗拒我們的微笑。

We’re always on the go trying to accomplish so much, aren’t we? Getting groceries, cleaning the house, mowing the lawn—there’s always something. It’s so easy to get caught up in everyday life that we forget how simple it can be to bring cheer to ourselves and others. Giving a smile away takes so little effort and time, let’s make sure that we’ve not the one that others have to pretend is wearing an invisible smile.

我們總是忙著去盡量完成更多的事，不是嗎？買東西，打掃房子，割院子里的雜草——總會(huì)有什么事。這就很容易讓我們被日常瑣事困住，而忘記了給自己和他人帶來歡樂是多么簡單的事情。綻放微笑所花費(fèi)的精力和時(shí)間非常少，我們要確保自己不會(huì)成為這樣的人——?jiǎng)e人總得假裝我們有看不見的笑容。

超多雙語閱讀，盡在聽力課堂