幸福的秘訣

河北省阜城縣古城中學 張超 供稿

幸福的秘訣

河北省阜城縣古城中學 張超 供稿

An old man was hungry.He walked slowly into a restaurant with his stick1.His old jacket and worn-out shoes made him stand out from the usual Saturday morning breakfast crowd2.

A young waitress named Mary watched him move towards a table by the window.She ran over to him，and said with a smile，“Here，sir.Let me give you a hand.”

Without saying a word，he gave her a smile.She pulled the chair away from the table and helped him sit down.Then she put his stick against the table so that he could reach it. In a soft，clear voice，he said，“Thank you，Miss.You are very kind！”

“You're welcome，sir，”she replied，“My name is Mary.I'll be back in a moment，and if you need anything，just wave3at me！”

After he had finished a good meal of pancakes，bacon4，andhotlemon5tea，Mary brought him the change，helping him up from his chair and out from behind the table.She handed him his stick，and walked with him to the front door.Holding the door open for him，she said，“Come back and see us，sir！”The old man turned around，nodded6a thank you and said softly with a smile，“You are very kind！”

When Mary went to clean his table，she was shocked7.Under the plate，she found a business card and a note written on the napkin8，under which was a$100 bill.The note on the napkin read，“Dear Mary，I respect9you very much，and you respect yourself，too.It shows the way you treat others.You have found the secret of happiness.Your kind deeds10will shine through those who meet you.”

In fact，the old man was the owner of the restaurant.That was the first time that she，or any of his waitresses，had seen him.

一位老人餓了，他拄著手杖緩慢地走進一家飯店。他那舊上衣以及破破爛爛的鞋子讓他在星期六早晨就餐的人群中格外顯眼。

一個名叫瑪麗的年輕女服務員看到他走向一個靠窗的桌子。她向他跑過去，笑著說，“坐這里，先生，讓我來幫你吧。”

老頭沒說話，只是對著瑪麗微笑。她從桌邊拉過一把椅子，幫助老人坐下來，然后把手杖靠在桌邊，這樣他就能夠得著。老人用柔和清晰的聲音說：“謝謝你，小姐。你真是個善良的好姑娘。”

“不客氣，先生。我叫瑪麗，我先失陪一下馬上就回來，如果您需要什么，向我揮揮手就可以了。”瑪麗說。

在他享用完一頓由薄烤餅、熏肉和一杯熱檸檬茶組合的豐盛早餐后，瑪麗為他找了零錢。她把他扶起來，離開桌子，把手杖遞給他，陪著他向門口走去。她為他打開門，然后對他說：“歡迎再次光臨，先生。”他轉過身，微笑著點頭致謝，溫柔地說：“你真是個善良的好姑娘。”

當瑪麗回到桌子旁準備開始清理時，她大為震驚。在他用過的餐盤下面放著一張名片，旁邊的餐巾紙上寫著一些話，餐巾紙下面是一張100美元的小費。餐巾紙上寫著：親愛的瑪麗：我非常敬重你，你是個非常自重的人，這都體現(xiàn)在你對待他人的方式上。你已經(jīng)找到了幸福的秘訣———你善良的行為就像陽光一樣撒在每一個與你相遇的人身上。

事實上，老人就是餐館的老板。這是第一次瑪麗或其他女服務員見到他。

The Secret of Happiness