A Brother Like That像那樣的一個哥哥

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每到圣誕節前夕，孩子們都會精心準備一些禮物，和其他小朋友交換，大家都很期待自己會得到什么樣的禮物。但是，有些小孩子卻買不起圣誕禮物，但是他們有很美好的愿望，他們的愿望不是想為自己爭取什么，而是想要送給別人什么……

My friend Paul received an automobile (汽車) from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office， a boy was walking around the shiny new car， admiring (欣賞) it. Seeing Paul coming， the boy asked， “Is this your car， sir?” Paul nodded and said， “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised and said， “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you anything? Oh， I wish...” He hesitated (猶豫).

圣誕節時，保羅的哥哥送他一輛新車。圣誕夜當天，保羅離開辦公室時，一個男孩繞著那輛閃閃發亮的新車欣賞它。看到保羅走過來，男孩問：“先生，這是你的車?”保羅點點頭并說道：“這是我哥哥送給我的圣誕節禮物。”男孩滿臉驚訝地說：“你是說這是你哥哥送你的禮物，沒花你一分錢？天哪，我真希望……”他猶豫著。

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul all the way down to his heels (腳后跟). “I wish，” the boy went on， “That I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in astonishment (驚愕) and then he added， “Would you like to take a ride in my car?” “Oh yes， I’d love that.”

保羅當然知道男孩希望什么。他希望能有一個像那樣的哥哥。但是小男孩接下來說的話卻完全出乎了保羅的意料。“我希望，”男孩繼續說道，“我能成為送車給弟弟的哥哥。”保羅驚愕地看著那男孩，沖口而出地說：“你要不要坐我的車去兜風?”“哦，當然好了，我太想坐了!”

After a short ride， the boy turned with his eyes aglow (發亮的)， saying， “Sir， would you mind driving in front of my house?” Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big automobile. But Paul was wrong again.

車開了一小段路后，那孩子轉過頭來，眼睛閃閃發亮，對我說：“先生，你能不能把車子開到我家門前？”保羅微笑著，他知道孩子想干什么。那男孩必定是要向鄰居炫耀，讓大家知道他坐了一部大轎車回家。但是這次保羅又猜錯了。

“Will you stop in front of those two steps?” the boy asked. Paul stopped there and the boy got off the automobile and ran up the steps. Then in a little while Paul heard him coming back， but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled (跛腳的) brother.

“你能不能把車子停在那兩個臺階前？”男孩問。保羅在那兒停下來，男孩下車后跑上了階梯，過了一會兒保羅聽到他回來了，但動作似乎有些緩慢。原來把他跛腳的弟弟帶出來了。

The boy sat his brother down on the first step， then held his brother tightly and pointed to the car. The boy said， “There it is， Buddy， just like I told you upstairs. Paul’s brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it... then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”

男孩將弟弟安置在第一個臺階上，緊緊地抱著他，指著那輛新車。男孩說：“巴迪，這就是我剛才在樓上對你說的那輛新車。這是保羅的哥哥送給他的圣誕禮物，而且沒有花他一分錢。將來我也會送給你一輛像這樣的車，到那時候你就能自己去看那些在圣誕節時，掛在窗口上的漂亮飾品了，就像我告訴過你的那樣。”

Paul got out and lifted the crippled boy to the back seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him. The three of them began a memorable (令人難忘的) holiday ride. That Christmas Eve， Paul learned what Jesus meant when he said， “It is more blessed to give...”

保羅走下車子，把跛腳男孩抱到車子的后座。興奮得滿眼放光的哥哥也爬上車子，坐在弟弟的身旁。就這樣他們三人開始了一次令人難忘的假日兜風。那個圣誕夜，保羅才真正體會到耶穌所說的“施比受更有福”的道理。