經(jīng)典英語(yǔ)散文:一杯牛奶 A Glass of Milk

One day, a poor boy who was trying to pay his way through school by selling goods door to door found that he only had one dime left. He was hungry so he decided to beg for a meal at the next house.

一天，一個(gè)貧窮的小男孩為了攢夠?qū)W費(fèi)正挨家挨戶地推銷商品。饑寒交迫的他摸遍全身，卻只有一角錢。于是他決定向下一戶人家討口飯吃。

However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

然而，當(dāng)一位美麗的年輕女子打開房門的時(shí)候，這個(gè)小男孩卻有點(diǎn)不知所措了。他沒(méi)有要飯，只乞求給他一口水喝。這位女子看到他饑餓的樣子，就倒了一大杯牛奶給他。男孩慢慢地喝完牛奶，問(wèn)道：“我應(yīng)該付多少錢?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught me never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but it also increased his faith in God and the human race. He was about to give up and quit before this point.

年輕女子微笑著回答：“一分錢也不用付。我媽媽教導(dǎo)我，施以愛(ài)心，不圖回報(bào)。”男孩說(shuō)：“那么，就請(qǐng)接受我由衷的感謝吧!”說(shuō)完，霍華德•凱利就離開了這戶人家。此時(shí)的他不僅自己渾身是勁兒，而且更加相信上帝和整個(gè)人類。本來(lái)，他都打算放棄了。

Years later the young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where specialists can be called in to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly, now famous was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately, he rose and went down through the hospital hall into her room.

數(shù)年之后，那位女子得了一種罕見(jiàn)的重病，當(dāng)?shù)蒯t(yī)生對(duì)此束手無(wú)策。最后，她被轉(zhuǎn)到大城市醫(yī)治，由專家會(huì)診治療。大名鼎鼎的霍華德•凱利醫(yī)生也參加了醫(yī)療方案的制定。當(dāng)他聽到病人來(lái)自的那個(gè)城鎮(zhèn)的名字時(shí)，一個(gè)奇怪的念頭霎時(shí)間閃過(guò)他的腦際。他馬上起身直奔她的病房。

Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room and determined to do his best to save her life. From that day on, he gave special attention to her case.

身穿手術(shù)服的凱利醫(yī)生來(lái)到病房，一眼就認(rèn)出了恩人?；氐綍?huì)診室后，他決心一定要竭盡所能來(lái)治好她的病。從那天起，他就特別關(guān)照這個(gè)對(duì)自己有恩的病人。

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it and then wrote something on the side. The bill was sent to her room. She was afraid to open it because she was positive that it would take the rest of her life to pay it off. Finally she looked, and the note on the side of the bill caught her attention. She read these words

經(jīng)過(guò)艱苦的努力，手術(shù)成功了。凱利醫(yī)生要求把醫(yī)藥費(fèi)通知單送到他那里，他看了一下，便在通知單的旁邊簽了字。當(dāng)醫(yī)藥費(fèi)通知單送到她的病房時(shí)，她不敢看。因?yàn)樗_信，治病的費(fèi)用將會(huì)花費(fèi)她整個(gè)余生來(lái)償還。最后，她還是鼓起勇氣，翻開了醫(yī)藥費(fèi)通知單，旁邊的那行小字引起了她的注意，她不禁輕聲讀了出來(lái)：

“Paid in full with a glass of milk.”

“醫(yī)藥費(fèi)已付：一杯牛奶。”

(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly

(簽名)霍華德•凱利醫(yī)生

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as she prayed silently: “Thank You, God. Your love has spread through human hearts and hands.”

喜悅的淚水溢出了她的眼睛，她默默地祈禱著：“謝謝你，上帝，你的愛(ài)已通過(guò)人類的心靈和雙手傳播了。”