All the Difference in The World

萬蘭

Every Sunday morning I take a light jog around a park near my home. There’s a lake located in one corner of the park. Each time I jog by this lake， I see the same elderly woman sitting at the water’s edge with a small metal cage sitting beside her.

每個星期日的早晨我都會繞著我家附近的公園輕松地慢跑。公園的一角有一片湖。每當我慢跑經過這片湖，都會看到同一個老婦人，身邊放著一個金屬籠子坐在湖邊。

This past Sunday my curiosity got the best of me， so I stopped jogging and walked over to her.

上個星期日我終于忍不住好奇，停止了慢跑，走到她身邊。

As I got closer， I realized that the metal cage was in fact a small trap.

走近時我發現金屬籠子其實是一個小陷阱。

There were three turtles， unharmed， slowly walking around the base of the trap.

三只烏龜安然無恙，繞著陷阱底部慢悠悠地爬著。

[ls]She had a fourth turtle in her lap that she was carefully scrubbing with a spongy brush.[/ls]

她正認真地用海綿刷擦拭著第四只趴在她膝蓋上的烏龜。

“Hello，” I said. “If you don’t mind my nosiness， I’d love to know what you’re doing with these turtles.”

“你好啊，”我說。“如果你不介意我多管閑事的話，我很想知道你在對這些烏龜做什么呢。”

She smiled. “I’m cleaning off their shells ，” she replied.

“我在清洗他們的殼，”她笑著回答說。

“Anything on a turtle’s shell， like algae or scum， reduces the turtle’s ability to absorb heat and impedes its ability to swim. It can also corrode and weaken the shell over time.”

任何烏龜殼上，像海藻、泡沫浮渣這些東西，都會減弱烏龜的吸熱能力并且阻礙他們游動，時間長了還會腐蝕龜殼，讓龜殼變得脆弱。

She went on： “I spend a couple of hours each Sunday morning， relaxing by this lake and helping these little guys out. It’s my own strange way of making a difference.

”她繼續說道：“每個星期天早晨我都會花幾個小時待在湖邊，邊放松自己，邊幫這些小家伙擺脫困難。這就是我奇怪的制造改變的方式。”

“But don’t most freshwater turtles live their whole lives with algae and scum hanging from their shells？” I asked.

“但是，難道不是所有的淡水烏龜都是伴隨著它們殼上的海藻和泡沫、浮渣度過一生的嗎？”我問道。

“Yep， sadly， they do，” she replied.

“遺憾的是，它們的確這樣。”她回答道。

“Well then， don’t you think your time could be better spent？ And 99% of these turtles don’t have kind people like you to help them clean off their shells. So， no offense… but how exactly are your localized efforts here truly making a difference？”

“那么，你不覺得你在浪費時間嗎？99%的烏龜都沒有遇到像你這么好的人去幫他們清洗龜殼。所以，無意冒犯…但是你在這兒，通過你一個人的努力到底能帶來多大改變呢？”

The woman giggled aloud.

老婦人大聲咯咯笑起來。

She then looked down at the turtle in her lap， scrubbed off the last piece of algae from its shell， and said， “Sweetie， if this little guy could talk， he’d tell you I just made all the difference in the world.

接著她看看膝蓋上的烏龜，把龜殼上的最后一塊海藻擦拭干凈，說道：“親愛的，如果這只小烏龜會說話的話，它一定會告訴你我剛剛改變了整個世界。”