圣誕前夜

A friend of mine named Paul received an automobile from his brother as Christmas present. On Christmas eve， when Paul came out of his office， a street urchin was looking around the shining new car， admiring it.

“Is this your car， Mister？” he said.

Paul nodded， “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.”

The boy was astounded， “You mean your brother gave it to you， and didnt cost you anything？”

“Boy， I wish...” he hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he has a brother like that. But what the boy said jarred Paul all the way down his heels.

我有個朋友叫保羅。他收到了一份來自他哥哥的圣誕禮物——一輛轎車。在圣誕前夜，當保羅從他的辦公室走出來時，一個街頭頑童正圍著他的新車打量，非常羨慕。

“這是您的汽車嗎，先生？”他說。

保羅點了點頭說道：“我哥哥送我的圣誕禮物。

小男孩震驚地說道：“你是說汽車是你哥哥送你的，不用花你一分錢？”

“小家伙，我希望……”他遲疑了。

保羅當然清楚他希望什么，他希望小男孩也有個那樣的哥哥。但小男孩說的話，使保羅大吃了一驚。

“I wish，” the boy went on， “that I could be a brother like that.”

Paul looked at the boy in astonishment， then he added， “Would you like to take a ride in my car？”

“Oh， yes. Id love that.”

After a short ride， the boy said， “Mister， 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.

“Would you stop at those with two steps？” the boy asked.

“我希望，”小男孩繼續說道，“我可以做一個像那樣的哥哥?！?/p>

保羅驚奇地看著小男孩，然后說了句：“你想不想坐我的車去兜兜風？”

“噢，想！我很樂意！”

跑了一小段路后，小男孩說道：“先生，您可以把車開到我家門前嗎？”

保羅微微一笑。他想他知道這個小家伙想要干什么，他想要向他的鄰居炫耀他可以坐一輛大汽車回家。但是，保羅又一次想錯了。

“您可以在那有兩個臺階的房子前停下嗎？”小男孩問道。

He ran up stairs. Then in a little while， Paul heard him coming back， but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He set him down on the bottom step， then sort of squeezed up against him and pointed to the car.

“There she is， buddy， just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and didnt cost him a cent. And some day， Im gonna give you one just like it. Then you can see for yourself all the prettiest things in the windows that I was trying to tell you about.”

Paul got off and lifted the crippled boy into the front of his car. The old brother climbed in beside him. And three of them began a memorable holiday ride.

That Christmas eve， Paul learned what Jesus meant， when he said， “It is more blessed to give than to receive...”

他跑著上樓去了。然后過了一小會兒，保羅聽到他回來的腳步聲，但他沒再用跑的了。保羅看見他攙扶著他跛腳的弟弟。他扶著弟弟坐在最底層的臺階上，然后輕輕地挨著他，指著這輛車。

“小弟，那就是我在樓上跟你說的那輛車。他哥哥送他的圣誕禮物，不用花他一分錢。將來某天我也要送你一輛像那樣的車。那時你就可以自己去看我以前盡力想讓你知道的那些漂亮至極的窗邊圣誕飾品了?！?/p>

保羅下車把跛腳的小男孩抱上了車的前座，他的哥哥爬上車坐到了他旁邊。然后他們三個開始了一段令人難忘的旅程。

那個圣誕前夜，保羅明白了耶穌所說的那句話：“給予比接受更有?！?/p>

Vocabulary

admire v. 欣賞（admiring是現在分詞形式）

hesitate v. 遲疑;猶豫（hesitated是過去式形式）

crippled adj. 跛腿的;殘疾的

point to 指向

memorable adj. 難忘的;值得紀念的