The gift of forgiveness

陳志強（譯）

The summer I turned 16,my father gave me his refurbished 69-Chevy Malibu convertible（敞篷車）.Cherry red,V-8 engine—a gift wasted on me at that age.What did I know about classic cars?The im-portant thing was that Hannah and I could drive around Tucson with the top down.

Hannah was my best friend,a year younger but much taller,almost five foot ten.That summer she signed with a modeling agency.She had already been doing runway work.

A month after my birthday,Hannah and I went to the movies.On the way home,we stopped at the Mc-Donald's drive-through,putting the fries on the seat between us to share. “Let’s ride around a while”,I said.It was a clear night，a full moon hanging low over the desert.Taking a curve too fast,I drove it into a fullgrown palm.The front wheels came to rest halfway up the tree trunk.

我16歲那年夏天，父親給了我他翻新的69-雪佛蘭馬利布敞篷車。櫻桃紅，V-8引擎，在那個年紀我浪費了一份禮物。我對經典汽車了解多少呢？最重要的是我和漢娜可以自下而上地繞著圖森轉轉。

漢娜是我最好的朋友，比我小一歲，但高得多，差不多五英尺十英寸。那年夏天她和一家模特公司簽了約。她已經在做走臺的工作了。

Frightening blood was running down on Hannah’s face！Flaps of skin was hanging into her eyes.They took us in separate ambulances.In the ER,my parents spoke quietly:“Best plastic surgeon in the city.End of her modeling career.”

When her mother,Sharon,came into my hospital room,I started to cry,preparing myself for her anger.

She sat beside me and took my hand.“I rearended（追尾）my best friend when I was your age,”she said,“I totaled her car and mine.”

“I’m so sorry，” I said.

“You’re both alive, ” she said,“That is enough to my relief.”I started to protest,but Sharon stopped me.“I forgive you.Hannah will too.”

Sharon’s forgiveness allowed Hannah and me to get back in the car together that summer,to stay friends throughout high school and college,and to be in each other’s weddings，and to watch our children play with each other happily.I think of her gift of forgiveness every time I’m tempted to resent（怨恨）someone for a perceived（覺察）wrong.And whenever I see Hannah.The scars are so faded no one else would notice,but in the sunlight I can still see the faint shimmer（微光）just below her hairline—for me,an imprint(印記）of grace.

我生日一個月后，漢娜和我去看電影。在回家的路上，我們停在麥當勞的過道處，把薯條放在我們之間的座位上一起分享。“我們溜達一會兒吧！”我說。那是一個晴朗的夜晚，一輪滿月低低地垂落在沙漠上。驅車疾馳，我的車鉆進了一棵成熟的棕櫚。車子的前輪停在樹干的一半處。

猙獰的血從漢娜的臉上流下來了！她的眼睛里掛著一片皮膚。他們用不同的救護車把我們帶走了。在急診室，我的父母悄悄地說：“已經找了城里最好的整形外科醫生，但她的模特生涯結束了。”

當她的母親莎倫走進我的病房時，我開始哭起來，以便為她的憤怒做好準備。

她坐在我旁邊，握住我的手。“我在你這么大的時候，我和我朋友的車追尾了。”她說，“我把她的車和我的車都毀了。”

“我很抱歉。”我說。

“你們兩個都還活著，”她說，“這足以讓我松一口氣。”我試圖反對，但莎倫阻止了我。“我原諒你了，漢娜也會的。”

莎倫的原諒讓漢娜和我那年夏天一起回到車里，在高中和大學期間依然是朋友，參加了彼此的婚禮，并看著我們的孩子們快樂地一起玩耍。每當我想要怨恨一個犯了明顯錯誤的人時，我都會想起她的寬恕禮物。每當我看到漢娜。這些傷疤已經褪色了，沒人會注意到，但是在陽光下，我仍然能看到她頭發下面的微弱光澤——對我來說，那是優雅的印記。

Critical writing

What should we learn from Sharon and her daughter Hannah？What should we do if someone does a wrong to us？