“安靜日”的大發現

Reggie couldn't hear a thing. He was a normal boy， but he had been born deaf. He was well known to everyone in town， and they were all very fond of him. Unfortunately， though， he always seemed to end up being treated differently from everyone else. Children worried that they would hurt him， that maybe he wouldn't hear the ball being hit in his direction. Adults acted like he was incapable of understanding them， as though he was some kind of baby.

Reggie didn't like this very much. But the person who disliked it the most was his friend Michael， who decided one day that things had to change. Michael's father was the town's Mayor， and Michael managed to convince him that this year， in honour of Reggie， they should dedicate1） one day of the festival to deaf people. During that whole day everyone in town would have to wear earplugs2）.

People liked the idea， because everyone loved Reggie. The day became known as the Day of Silence， and when it arrived everyone stuck plugs3） in their ears， in a spirit of great fun. That morning was filled with practical jokes， mischief4） and laughter. But， as the hours passed， people became more and more aware of how difficult life was when you couldn't hear anything. However， learning about how life was more difficult for the deaf was nothing compared to the greatest discovery of the day： Reggie was amazing！

On that day no one was thinking of Reggie as just a deaf person. This meant he could be treated just like any other little boy， and people saw a whole new side of him. Not only that， but Reggie had a bright and sharp mind. On that day， using his usual gestures， Reggie was the one who could communicate best with everyone. This meant that people paid more attention to what he was saying， and they were surprised by his intelligence， his creativity， and his ability to find solutions to almost any problem. They realised that he had always been like that， and that in normal life all Reggie needed was a little more time than others to communicate. That was the only difference.

So the Day of Silence was the day Reggie's true nature became known. And it was the day everyone realised you have to give people a chance to show how valuable they are. People in town wanted to make sure that others would learn this lesson. So， from that day on， whenever a visitor came to town， they were welcomed joyfully and a helmet5） was plunked6） on their head. A helmet with great thick earflaps7）； a helmet which meant you couldn't hear the slightest thing.

雷吉什么也聽不見。他和別的男孩沒什么兩樣，只不過他天生失聰。小鎮上的人都認識雷吉，而且也都非常喜歡他。但令人遺憾的是，人們對待雷吉總是和對待其他人不一樣。孩子們擔心會傷到他，擔心他可能聽不到球正朝他飛去。大人們表現得好像他不能明白他們的意思，好像他是個嬰孩似的。

雷吉非常不喜歡這樣，不過最不喜歡這種情況的人卻是他的朋友邁克爾。有一天，邁克爾決心一定要改變這種現狀。邁克爾的爸爸是這個小鎮的鎮長，邁克爾設法說服了他爸爸，小鎮上的人今年應該為了雷吉拿出一天節假日給耳聾的人過節。在這一整天，小鎮上的每一個人都必須戴著耳塞。

人們非常喜歡這個主意，因為大家都很喜歡雷吉。那一天被定為“安靜日”。當“安靜日”到來時，每個人都抱著好玩的心態在耳朵里塞了耳塞。那天上午到處都是惡作劇和笑聲。但是，隨著幾個小時慢慢過去，人們越來越意識到聽不到任何聲響的生活是多么艱難。然而，與這一天最偉大的發現相比，發現耳聾人的生活更為不易就算不上什么了。那個偉大的發現就是：雷吉真了不起！

在那天，沒有人將雷吉當做聾人看待。這也就是說他們對待雷吉就像對待其他小男孩一樣。人們看到了雷吉全新的一面。不僅如此，人們還發現雷吉非常機靈，而且思維敏捷。那一天，雷吉利用他慣用的手勢，成為與大家交流得最好的人。這意味著人們將更多的注意力放在了他所“說”的話上，人們被他的智慧、他的創造力以及他幾乎能為任何問題找到解決辦法的能力驚呆了。他們意識到其實雷吉一直都是這樣的，在日常生活中他所需要的只是比別人稍微多一點的溝通時間。那就是他與別人唯一的不同。

于是，在“安靜日”那天，人們才了解了真正的雷吉。也就是在那一天，小鎮上的人們都才意識到必須給別人展示自身價值的機會。小鎮上的人們希望能讓其他人也意識到這一點。因此，從那天起，每當有人來到這個小鎮，都會受到人們快樂的歡迎，人們還會給來訪者戴上一頂帽盔。那頂帽盔的耳罩非常厚，戴上它你連最輕的聲音都聽不到。

1.dedicate [?ded?ke?t] vt. 把（時間、精力等）用于

2.earplug [???pl?ɡ] n. （防水、隔音、御寒的）耳塞

3.plug [pl?ɡ] n. 塞子

4.mischief [?m?st??f] n. 惡作劇，胡鬧，搗蛋

5.helmet [?helm?t] n. 帽盔

6.plunk [pl??k] vt. （驀地）重重放下

7.earflap[????fl?p] n. 御寒用之耳罩