牛奶瓶

She was just another poor， bedraggled woman， struggling to feed her family. He saw them all the time， their faces careworn， and blank. The Depression had created hundreds of them. He was one of the lucky ones who still had his grocery and money coming in to feed his family.

She came one day to his shop， carrying two empty milk bottles， and wordlessly placed them on the counter in front of him. He took the empties and replaced them with full bottles， saying: \"Ten cents， please.\" She did not reply. She just took the bottles and left the shop. He might have gone after her to demand his money， or called the police， but he did neither. Her need was in her face， and he always felt a little guilty at being one of the lucky ones with money and a job.

She was back the next day with two empty milk bottles. He replaced them with full bottles and watched as she hurried out the door. She looked so worried that he wondered if she had a job at all. If she came back， he would offer her a part-time position cleaning the store.

She came again the next morning and exchanged her empty bottles for full without saying a word. He tried to talk to her to ask if she wanted a job， but she practically ran from the store with the milk. Her urgency worried him. He followed， wondering what he could do to help.

To his surprise， she headed away from the migrant camp outside of town. She went instead to the graveyard by the river. As he watched， she hurried up to a stone marker and then disappeared into the ground. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Then he heard the muffled cry of a baby. It was coming from the ground underneath the stone marker where the woman had disappeared.

He ran back to the store and phoned the police. Within minutes， the graveyard was swarming with people， and the workers started digging up the grave. When the casket was opened， the store owner saw the woman who had visited his store lying dead within it. In her arms， she held a small baby and two full milk bottles. The baby was still alive.

她，又一個貧窮、凄慘、為生計苦苦奔波的女人。他，一個每天與一張張倦容打交道的雜貨店老板。大蕭條使成千上萬的人們生計無著，而他算得上一個幸運兒了，至少他還有自己的雜貨店，還能夠養活他的家人。

一天，她走進他的雜貨店，手里提著兩個空牛奶瓶，一言不發地把瓶子放在了他面前地柜臺上。他收起了空瓶子，拿了兩瓶牛奶遞給她，說道：“10美分，女士。”她沒有應聲，就帶著奶瓶走出了店門。他本可以追出去向她要錢，或者報警，但他并沒有那樣做。因為，他知道她一定很需要這兩瓶奶，這個從她的臉上就能看出來。每次當他看到這樣的人，都會覺得有罪惡感，和那些人相比，他太幸運了，有份工作，還有一點錢。

第二天，她又拿著兩個牛奶瓶出現在他的店里。他又遞給了她兩瓶裝得滿滿的牛奶，看著她走出了店門。她走得是如此的急，他開始懷疑她到底有沒有工作。如果她回來，他想給她一份打掃店鋪衛生的臨時工作。

第二天早上，她又來了，還是一言不發地換走了兩瓶牛奶。他試圖和她交談，問問她需不需要一份工作。但她幾乎是拿著牛奶跑著離開的。她怎么會如此著急呢？這真的有些讓他擔心，于是便跟上她，看看他能不能幫上什么忙。

然而，令他驚訝的是，她并沒有向城外的貧民窟走去，而是奔向了河邊的墓地。他緊緊地注視著她。啊！她爬上了一塊墓碑，然后鉆進土里消失了！他實在是難以相信所看到的一切，狠狠地揉了揉眼睛。正在這時，他聽到那塊墓碑下面傳來了陣陣隱隱的嬰兒啼哭聲。

他拼命地跑回店里，報了警。幾分鐘后，墓地擠滿了人。工人們開始嘗試打開這塊墓。當棺木被打開的那一刻，雜貨店老板看到那個幾次到過他店里的女人躺在里面，早已死了，她的懷里還抱著一個小嬰兒和兩瓶裝得滿滿的牛奶——那個孩子還活著。

◆編輯：丁俊玲